How to fill an ink cartridge, Canon MG8220, CIS, Auto Reset Chips & Cli-251

Hi Everyone, I received a question today that I felt may benefit others, so I am posting it. Please remember you can always write to me. We specialize in aftermarket for Canon Pixma and can help you.

Dear InkjetReset:While trying to cut my printing costs down I came across your web page and found the list of printers on your FAQ page you recommend.I presently have a Wireless Canon Pixma MG6120 that I am replacing with a Wireless Canon Pixma MG8220 in order to gain DVD printing, Airprint and Cloud printing that my 6120 doesn’t offer.

 I see you have a couple of Canon 8120’s on your list, but not an 8220.

 My questions are . . .

1.    Do you have fillable or prefilled cartridges with resettable chips for the Canon MG8220. Doing a site search finds nothing for this printer. The new printer hasn’t arrived yet but I am pretty sure it uses the Cli-225 & Cli226 cartridges. 

2.   I had thought about trying to use a CIS ink system but after reading up on them it seems like I could generate a pile of problems trying to get it installed and working properly. I had tried refillable cartridges years ago but that didn’t work out good for me. Had ink everywhere. It appears that over time they have made the filling process a little easier and cleaner so I would be willing to try my luck at it again if necessary. I have seen some NON-OEM prefilled cartridges that looked like pretty high quality but they were only two dollars less than a genuine Canon cartridge. That is not a big enough saving for me to switch from genuine Canon ink.

3.   So my big question is do you have a recommendation of any products that you sell that would work in my new Canon Pixma MG8220 that would cut my printing expense without being too troublesome. Do you think I should go with a CIS system, refillable or prefilled cartridges for the best savings? Any guidance you could give me would be greatly appreciated. 

I have not received my new printer yet as it is in transit. I could return it but I don’t think that would help much with my decision. 

Thank you.

My Response: 

I need to update my website the 8220 came out after my last update, so it's not listed, but you're correct, it takes the cli-226 / pgi-225 carts, and we stock supplies for it.  

As of today, May 30, 2013, none of our wholesalers will admit to working on a resetter or chips for the new cli-251 / pgi-256 series, (I'll list those printers at the bottom of this blog.)

CIS - Continuous Ink Systems

As you have already found through your research, CIS setups may cause problems and this is why we do not stock them. We have not spoken to wholesalers about them for a few years, so they may have improved them, but through all my conversations, I have never had a wholesaler say they would guarantee these units not to leak or cause problems, which could be major problems when you are talking about so much ink. Thus we do not carry them and have not recommended them. 

If you plan to run a lot of photographs every week, then you need to see if you can find anyone who sells them and stands behind them because they would be an asset, The cli-226 carts are 1/3 smaller than the cli-8 carts were, so if you are going to be running a lot of prints, then you should keep two sets of carts, one in the printer and one ready to go. Then if you are in the middle of printing, you will not have to go refill ink carts and throw off your game. 

Are Empty Refillable Ink Cartridges with Automatic Reset Chips for You?

Our empty refillables with auto reset chips is what we use. They work fine for us and for many of our customers. 

However for some they are not the answer. The way they are designed, if you shut off your printer or take one out to refill, that resets your print monitor showing all of them as full. So if you rely on your print monitor, you need to refill all of them each time for the best experience. (Naturally, this is what the manufacturer recommends, but most Americans do not read instructions.)

Thus if you live in an area with many brown-outs, electrical storms, or you prefer to fully shut down every night, empty refillable ink cartridges with automatic reset chips would not be for you. 

We know we will be refilling every two weeks and that is our schedule so none of that matters to us. 

Pre-Filled Canon Compatible Ink Cartridges

In the past I used G&G carts without chips. I would reset the old empty cart in a chip resetter and then slide the chip off the old cart and slide it into the slot on the new one. This worked great for years, but when my eyes got bad, I found it too difficult to see the little slot and became frustrated, so I started refilling. 

My husband now does refilling and he never thought he would do that, but has discovered it is very easy to do with a syringe. 

How I Fill An Ink Cartridge:

• First I get all my supplies together. (I keep them in a little box, so they are always in one place - syringe, ink bottles and orange trays) and I place them on the counter next to the sink.
• I pull out my roll of paper towels from under the sink, place it on the counter. 
• I place a couple of paper towels on the counter, and then take one paper towel back to the printer with me.
• Then, one at a time, I take each cart out of the printer and place it sideways on the paper towel which I am holding in my hand.  
• I stack them sideways so the ink flow hole is not touching the paper towel. (You can let the ink flow hole touch the paper towel, but then you will need more paper towels because the towel will draw ink out of the cart, and I like to keep the ink off my hands.)
• Once I have my stack of carts, I take them to the sink. 
• I place them on the counter on top of another paper towel, then put the little orange trays onto the carts. 
• Now I am ready to refill them.
• So one at a time, I follow this sequence:
• Remove the plug at the top of a cart. 
• Open the matching ink bottle and using the syringe, I fill it with about 10ml of ink and then fill the cart. 
• Once the cart is full I put the syringe in the sink, 
• Replace the plug on the cart and 
• Replace the cap on the bottle, 
• Wash the syringe and then go to the next cart following the same routine. 

• Once all carts are full, I place them on a clean paper towel and go back to the printer. 
• Then one at a time, I carefully take the orange tray off and put each one into its correct slot in my printer. 

You may ask why are using another paper towel. Because when the orange tray is removed, often a little ink will come out of the cart, so better to catch it with a paper towel than have it fall onto your printer, your floor, or your hands. 

Then all that is left to do is rinse the trays, make sure the syringe is clean, make sure the caps are tight on the ink bottles, throw out the paper towels and put everything away.

I have taken the time to outline the steps because when you know the process, you will not have to think about how and thus will not end up having a mess of ink anywhere including on your hands. 

The Best Savings

The best savings is without question, refilling your own carts. This can save you over 90% in printing costs. The only question is if using the Asian chip series is the best choice for you. 

How To Refill Without A Mess Using Original Canon Chips
(Forget drilling, or loose unstable covers over the ink flow hole)

If you decide the Auto Reset Chips are not for you, you can buy a set of chipless empty reifllables and get a resetter. Then as each original Canon cart becomes empty, reset the chip in the resetter and then peel it off the canon cart. 

Pulling the chip off is easily done by putting a fingernail under the center of the bottom of the chip and pulling forward. It will release and you may have to twist or snap the last bit of plastic that holds it. 

Then slide that chip into place on your new cart. You can also glue it in place. Then fill it up by following the steps above. 

Why Use Original Canon Chips?

Using the original Canon chips with a resetter gives you everything Canon gives you, perfect print monitor information whether the printer gets turned off or not. 

I hope that helps. I will post this on my blog so others can use the information. Thanks for the question and for visiting inkjetreset.com

We try to give our customers all the help we can to go green, save money and take better care of our beautiful Mother Earth. 

Best to you,

Michele 

List of the new Canon Pixma printers. 

These use PGI-250 and CLI-251, At this writing, none of our wholesalers will confirm that a resetter or auto reset chips are even in research and development. But of course we suspect they are and I anticipate a new resetter for these will be available Fall of 2013.   

  PIXMA MG5420 

  PIXMA MG5422 

  PIXMA MG6320 

  PIXMA MG6320 White 

  PIXMA MX722 

  PIXMA MX922 

  PIXMA iP7220 

How to save money printing with Canon Pixma Printers

Canon Pixma Printers, Smart chips, Resetters, ARCs & how to save money printing

Canon Printers are designed to keep you coming back to Canon for expensive ink cartridges. Let me explain how you can purchase a great Canon printer and save over 90% on printing costs. 

What most people do not know about Canon printers is that they use a 'Smart Chip' system to keep you buying their ink cartridges. Those cartridges for a 5 cartridge printer can cost you over $60 every time you have to replace them! In many cases that is about half the cost of the printer itself. If you have children, or are going to school, or do printing for your church or club, or have a small business, which depends on printing documents, this cost can quickly become a money eating monster. 

We learned this when we purchased our first Canon printer back in 2006. So why not, refill those ink cartridges, and just buy ink? Won’t that work? 

Well it sounds like a great idea until you discover, like many of our customers have, that Canon Pixma printers will recognize the ink cartridge but they will continue to tell you that it is empty despite the fact that you have filled it with ink!

Why this is, is because of the ‘Smart Chip’, which Canon installs on all their ink cartridges. 

That little chip on the bottom front of your ink cartridge has to be reset to its original specifications before it will let the printer print no matter how much in you have poured into it. 

So what to do about that? 

Well it is not such an issue anymore because RKS back in 2004 broke the way for people to decode those chips. Today we have resetters and chips, and even auto reset chips for all of the Canon printers that take: Cli-8, pgi-5, cli-221, pgi-220, cli-226 and pgi-225 chips. 

At this writing, there are 47 printers that take these ink cartridges.

But unless you know which ones to consider, you may purchase one of the other Canon Pixma printers which will never have a resetter. This is where doing your homework can save you hundreds of dollars. The original cost a printer is not high, but if you have to replace cartridges every month, at the rate of $60, that will add up very quickly. 

So now that you understand what you need to know, below I have listed all the Canon Pixm printers, at this writing, which have aftermarket resetting capabilities. We stock resetters for each of these printers, we also stock empty refillable ink cartridges which come with auto reset chips already installed. These auto reset chips, or ARCs as they are called in the business, will automatically reset themselves to the original specifications, every time you remove them from your printer and put them back in. So now you have more choices in the way you can save money. 

1.)You can keep your original ink cartridges and buy a resetter to reset the chips each time. Filling an original ink cartridge can be done either by drilling a little hole in the top and filling with a syringes, or peeling back the top front of the label and pulling out the little dipple plug that seals the hole that Canon used to fill the cartridge. Then once you have filled it with ink, you can either use and aftermarket plug or just a drop of silicon to seal it back. 

2.) You can buy a resetter and compatible ink cartridges without the chips. Then when your original carts are empty you reset the chip, peel it off the cartridge and slide into the harness on the new compatible ink cartridge. With our G&G compatibles, it take about 2 minutes to do this. Price for a set of G&G compatibles, which come with excellent Everbrite ink is $11.92 

3) You can buy a set of empty refillable ink cartridges without chips and then just glue your original chips in place, reset them and fill the cartridges each time. 

4) You can buy a set of empty refillable ink cartridges with auto reset chips and then that is that. Just refill them and put them back in your printer. 

I hope this helped you realize how you can save money printing with most Canon Pixma printers. If you are in the market for a new printer or when you are again, make sure to check the list below or email me with your question or for an update. I will do my best to help you get a printer that will suit all your needs, save you money on printing and hopefully keep this planet green. 

Thanks for visiting - 

Michele & The InkjetReset family 

Please check our store for resetters, empty refillable ink cartridges with auto reset chips, plugs and other helpful aftermarket Pixma printer products. 

Printers using the CLI-8 & PGI-5 chips series include:  (30 printer choices)  See the resetter here: Cli-8 Resetter

iP3500, iP4200,  iP4300, iP4500, iP5000, iP5200, iP5200R, iP5300, iP6600, iP6600 D, iP6700, 

iP6700D, iX4000, iX5000, Pro9000

MP500,MP510, MP520, MP530, MP600, MP600R, MP610, MP800, MP800R, MP810, MP830, MP950, MP 970*, MX700, MX850

Printers using the CLI-221 & PGI-220 chips series include:   (11 printer choices) See this resetter here: Cli-221 Resetter

IP3600, IP4600, IP4700, MP560, MP620, MP620B, MP640, MP980, MP990, MX860, MX870

Printers using the CLI-226 & PGI-225 chips series include:  (6 printer choices) See this resetter here: Cli-226 Resetter 

IP4820, MG 5120, MG 6120, MG 8120, MG 5220, MX882

Please visit InkjetReset.com for all your Canon Pixma reseters, refillables & other money saving items. 

QE226 Chip Resetter Canon is HERE!

The new QE226 resetters came today! So I'm posting a buy button here, in case you need one while I work on setting up our new website page.

These resetters will reset the original chips for Canon MX882,  MG6120,  MG8120,  MG5120, IP4820


How do you know which cartridge your printer takes?  Just open your printer and look at the cartridges. On the top there's a number. All cartridges that say CLI-226 or PGI-225 can be reset with this resetter.


All our resetters come with a 6 month warranty, and we are right here in the USA, shipping from Oregon within 24 hours of receipt of funds.


QE226: $36.50 + shipping - goes by weight.
But just to let you know sometimes Paypal seems to charge too much and when it does we do refund money back to you. 

  
  

NEW CLI-226 RESETTERS IN STOCK NEXT WEEK!

This resetter will reset chips on all of these Canon Pixma models:

IP4820, MX882, MG5220, MG5120, MG6120, MG8120

The new resetters are on the way, there was a delay due to being told they were ready when only a very high priced version was ready. But finally they created the battery operated one and we received notice yesterday that they are on their way to us. We should have them in stock next week.

So please email if you need one, it is looking like they will retail for about $30 with shipping. Email us at inkjetreset @ gmail.com

NEW Resetters for Canon Pixma CLI-226 & PGI-225

We have been waiting since September 2010 for manufacturers to make a breakthrough in the Canon cli-226, pgi-225 chip series.

Got the note yesterday, that the code has been broken, and the new Canon Cli-226 , Pgi-225 chip resetters will be available by the first week of June 2011, but they are expensive and they are a little different than the resetters of the past.

First we are not totally sure on price yet but from the quotes we have received they will sell for $67 in the first batch, usually these prices drop after 6 months, but we were shocked to see prices like the first cli-8 resetters.

The good news is these new resetters will not have batteries, they come with a usb cord and will attach to any usb port, so you never have to worry about changing out a battery or having one fail.

There new resetters will work with this chip series on these Canon Printers:

Cli-226 / Pgi-225

IP4820 
MG5120,
MG5220,
MG6120,
MG8120, 
IX6520, 
MX882

iP4820, MG5120, MG5220, MG6120, MG8120 - Newest Canon Printers

Customers keep asking if a resetter is available for the newest Canon Pixma printers: iP4820, MG5120, MG5220, MG6120, MG8120, which use a cli-226 and pgi-225 ink cartridge.

So I will keep you informed here.

Manufacturers are working to break the code to produce a resetter for the new cli-226, pgi-220 chip series printers.

The only Canon chips that have resetters available today are: cli-8, pgi-5 and cli-221, pgi-220.

My experience over the years with manufacturers saying a resetter will be available at a certain time has never manifested in the months they project. So I have learned not to release this information till I have a tracking number for my shipment.

If you want to make sure there is a resetter available for a printer, I have listed all compatible Canon models below.

When you're considering purchasing a printer, always check under the hood (lol) to see what chip series it uses. When you look at the cartridges inside the printer, you will see a number on top of each cartridge. That number refers to the chip series. If it says 8, 5, 221, or 220, there is a resetter currently available for it.

Here's a picture of what you will see

If you are buying online and cannot look under the hood. look at the specifications details, or what's in the box, or additional supplies for the ink it will take and there should be a listing of the cartridge types and thus the chip series becomes obvious.

Canon Pixma Models using CLI-8 & PGI-5 chips include:
iP3500, iP4200, iP4300, iP4500, iP5000, iP5200, iP5200R, iP5300, iP6600, iP6600D, iP6700, iP6700D, iX4000, iX5000, Pro 9000,
MP500, MP510, MP520, MP530, MP600, MP600 R, MP610, MP800, MP800R, MP810, MP830, MP950, MP970, MX700, MX850

Canon Pixma Models using the CLI-221 & PGI-220 chips include:
iP3600, iP4600, iP4700,
MP560, MP620, MP620B, MP640, MP980, MP990,
MX860, MX870

Best & Cheapest Canon Inkjet Printing

We have been in this market for over 3.5 years. We started saving money by buying a cli-8 resetter and then peeling off our original ink chips and double sticking them to compatible ink cartridges. To say this is a savings is truly an understatement.

Buying a set of Canon cartridges, even at Costco is about $55 for five. That is the case whether you get the cli-8 carts or the new cli-221 carts, which hold about 1/3 as much ink as the earlier ones.

So since we started using a resetter and buying compatibles, we began to stock these. We now carry top of the line compatibles for both the 8 and 221 series. We stock brand new G&G Ninestar ink cartridges without chips. Buying a set of 5 of cartridges is an incredible savings.

5 Pack Compatible Cartridges without chips for CLI-8 / PGI-5
1 each Cli-8 yellow, cyan, magenta, black & Pgbk
For Canon Pixma Models:IP4200, IP4300, IP4500, IP5200, IP5200R, MP530, MP600, MP610, MP800, MP800R, MP810, MP830, MX850
Regular Price: $22.35  Introductory Price: $14.90 

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5 Pack Compatible Cartridges without chips for CLI-221 / PGI-220
1 each Cli-221 cyan, black, magenta, yellow & Pgi-220 For Canon Pixma Models: IP3600, IP4600, IP4700, MP560, MP620, MP620B, MP640, MX860, MX870 
Regular Price: $21.86  Introductory Price: $14.57 

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So we began our business with Canon resetters. Today we still carry the best resetters in the world for both the 8 and 221 chip series. The prices, as with anything in technology have dropped significantly.

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When we started we sold resetters for over $67 each. Today here are the prices:

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QE358 for cli-8 / pgi-5 with six month full replacement warranty is only $17.96  

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QE221 for cli-221 / pgi-220 with six month full replacement warranty is only $26.00  

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But we have gone into a much greater savings realm and a greener one too by refilling cartridges.

Canon CLI-221 Resetter - Go Green & Save 90% on ink!

If you have recently purchased one of these Canon Pixma Printers:

IP3600   IP4600   IP4700   MP560   MP610  MP620  MP630   MP640  MP980   MP990   MP988  MX860

You will find that Canon has reduced the size of the ink cartridges by about 1/3 compared to the cli-8 /pgi-5 cartridges, and they're still charging between $12.83 (Costco) and $14.69 (Staples) That means for a set of five cartridges, which contain approximately 63ml of ink all together, you are paying between $64.15 and $73.45!

You can buy a complete refill kit from us which includes: A chip resetter, a set of trays that will steady and seal your ink cartridges plus 550 ml of award winning premium wide gamut ink in clean-hands bottles for $95 including priority mail shipping, that gives you just under 5 refills for your pgi-220, and over 10 refills for each of your cli-221 cartridges, that is equal to 5 full sets of cartridges (averaged value $344) PLUS an additional 5 Color 4-packs (value $275.20) for a total savings of $550.40.

Then when you are ready to purchase more ink, you can buy the 5 pack (cli-221 cyan, black, magenta, yellow & pgi-220) for $55.50 including priority mail shipping. Or buy a bottle at a time for  $9.05 (cli-221 inks) or $10.79 (pgi-220 ink)

This is a  savings of $563.70 over the Canon cartridges, and the ink quality is superb. We have many happy photographers using our ink.

Finally we have a way to reset Canon CLI-221 & PGI-220 chips. The resetters are now in stock and they work exactly like our cli-8 and pgi-5 resetters. They have the same look, same removable base and CR2032 Lithium battery and are dependable.

And the price is great. We've listed them for $32 on Ebay and Ecrater with first class shipping to any US address.

6) Reset with Chip Extenders, and compatible cartridges

What are Chip Extenders?

Are they available for Canon Cli-8 & Pgi-5 Chips?

The answer is: YES!

The chip extenders are specially designed slips for Canon cli-8 & pgi-5 chips, which stay in the printer instead of on the ink cartridge. Now you can use cheap chip-free compatible ink cartridges.

Not only will you save money by using compatible chip-free ink cartridges, but you will never have to handle, peel, glue, or damage a Canon chip again. This is one of the safest solution for cli-8 & pgi-5 ink chips

Here are pictures of the RKS chip extenders, and how to use them.

Though all the Canon Pixma models that use the cli-8 and pgi-5 ink chips can use these (see models below) I only recommend you use them in printers that open 90% or wider, so you can see the print head and where you will place the extenders.

We have an MX850 and a ip4300. The MX850, like all the other multi-function printers Canon makes, does not open wide enough for me to get my head close enough to get those extenders in place.

But the ip4300 is a snap - easy as pie. So consider this before buying the extenders.

If you have any ip model on the list, no problem, if you have the Pro 9000, no problem.

If you have one of the MX or MP units, consider using auto reset chips in combination with refillable cartridges. I have also found yet another solution for you, but it is not yet available in the USA.

The RKS Chip Extenders normally come six to a package. But at inkjetreset.com, you can get these chips in the right number for your printer.

These little blue extenders are easy to use. Once in place, you never have to handle that chip again.

Original Canon chips have limitless reset capabilities.

RKS EXTENDERS are compatible with these Canon Pixma Models:

iP3000, iP3500, iP4200, iP4300, iP4500, iP5000, iP5200, iP5200R, iP5300, iP6600, iP6600D, iP6700, iP6700D, iX4000, iX5000, Pro9000

Compatible but not recommended for these models: MP500, MP510, MP520, MP530, MP600, MP600 R, MP610, MP800, MP800R, MP810, MP830, MP950, MP970, MX700, MX850

Keeping Ink Control with Canon cli-8 & pgi-5 ink chips

We have received so many questions over the last eight months, that I thought it would be good to share them with you.

Canon Printers consistently win top awards in their field. Canon produces great paper, great printers and excellent cameras. But when it comes to being 'Green' with planet earth, Canon does not make that very easy for anyone.

When you purchase a Canon printer, or multifunction machine, you pay a price that is sometimes downright unbelievable. Canon is known to add a printer to camera package, for as little as $10! They offer excellent printers for the amazing sum of $40 and up. And if you are a savvy shopper, you may find incredible deals on New Egg, Tiger Direct, J&R, Buy.com or even TechforLess.

What most people do not realize when they purchase a printer is how much they will pay for consumables.

In the case of cli-8, and pgi-5 Canon ink cartridges, you can expect to pay between $15 and $18 a cartridge, or if you go to Costco, you may get a four cartridge multi-pack for $55.

So how many color photographs or pages, will you get for all that money ($55 + $18 = $73).

Based on the standard of 5% color coverage, you will get as many as 280 pages. Please remember that 5% color coverage is certainly not an 8.5 x 11 full color photograph - you will get a whole let less of these. But for average documents, with a little color here and there, 280 pages is spot on, and you may even extend that number to over 300.

Well at this point, you need to ask yourself how much do you print?

If you print a couple of photographs every two or three months, and just run a few letters, you probably will only need to replace your cartridges once or twice a year - so your costs overall are not that high.

If you have children, and, or a home business, you may be replacing cartridges once every month, and that can be very expensive.

So what can you do?

Let's look at 9 options:

1) Refill your oem Canon cartridges, and over-ride your ink control warnings.
PROS: super savings on ink.
CONS: messy, annoying over-riding the ink warnings every time you print, invalidates your printer warranty, and if you have a fax - forget it, it will not work.

2) Replace your oem Canon cartridges with compatible ink cartridges.
PROS: much cheaper ($3 a cart versus $15 - 17)
CONS: you have to peel off the chip from your old canon cartridge, and glue it onto the compatible cartridge, and again you have to over-ride the ink warnings every time you print, which invalidates your printer warranty, and if you have a fax - forget it, it will not work.

3) Buy Compatible Ink Cartridges with chips.
PROS: Cheaper than Oem ($5 - $8 each versus $15 - $17 each), Ink Control works, Warranty is undisturbed.
CONS: Be careful if you purchase remanufactured cartridges - some do not meet the standard and may leak. Make sure you know the quality of the ink before you buy, because some inks have not been filtered properly, have excessive alcohol levels, do not have uv components, and thus may fade faster, or clog printer heads.

4) Use a Continuous Ink System (CIS) system.
PROS: never worry about ink control again, never run out of ink again, you can see the ink levels, bulk ink is very cheap compared to cartridges. this is a green choice.
CONS: Be careful choosing your system, there are no inspection standards developed yet for these. Some will be outstanding, but the horror stories if you get a poorly built system may not only ruin your printer, but they may ruin your furniture and carpet. So do your homework before you buy one of these.

5) Reset & Refill
PROS: Resetters are now available that will reset the chips on your Canon Cartridge so it will be recognized by your printer, and will continue to read ink levels. RKS Technik engineered the first stand alone resetter in 2005, and is currently into their fourth version as of this writing. All the cli-8/pgi-5 resetters are either old RKS versions (like those sold by Sudhaus) or are copies of the RKS. I will write another whole article about that later.
CONS: refilling is still a messy job. The worst part of course is plugging up the hole after you refill the cart.


Still to come:

6) Reset with Chip Extenders, and compatible cartridges
7) Reset with chips on Permanent Refillable Cartridges
8) Auto Reset Chips, with Ink Control, Chip Extenders, and Compatible cartridges
9) Auto Reset Chips, and Permanent Refillable Cartridges