Photo quality inkjet refills? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: steve30
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 02:58:05 am
content: I've been busy trying to resurrect some knackered printers, and up in the loft I have a circa 1999 Epson Stylus Photo 750. It hasn't been used since 2007 ish but it worked fine back then, and I suspect it'll work fine now (probably will need unclogging).Its a 6 colour photo printer (black, cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta, yellow) which was really good back in its day for photo printing (it was just slooooooow). Here at steve30 HQ, it was superseded by a Canon Pixma ip4000, which was better at printing documents, but worse at printing photos (albeit about 10 times quicker). Both these printers were built before they invented 'chipped' cartridges.I'm just wondering, can you still easily get ink to refill old inkjet cartridges, and are there any brands which are known to be good for photos? I specifically ask about quality as I always found manufacturer's original inks gave better quality and longer lasting prints, especially with photos, than generics, although some generics were better than others.[Yes, I know 6 colour photo printers can be bought new for fairly affordable prices, but if the old Stylus 750 still works I might as well make some use out of it - its stepper motors also make fun noises to keep you entertained if the TV/radio is boring.]Thanks.steve30

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 04:07:51 am
content: Sorry, can't help you with the refill ink. But maybe my experience buying replacement cartridges might help.I bought an Epson Artisan 1430 some years ago, used. Still in good condition, although it does something that drives me crazy (can't load a sheet of paper sometimes).Anyhow, I bought some cheap 3rd-party cartridges from Amazon for it. I was a bit skeptical, but they turned out to be just fine. (I think there was one defective cartridge out of about a dozen.)So if you could find aftermarket refill ink, chances are that it would work OK. Probably worth a try since it should be fairly cheap.

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 04:21:05 am
content: Quote from: steve30 on August 11, 2025, 02:58:05 amI would be surprised if you are able to get the print head unclogged.QuoteIt's a nice printer when it's working, but the printheads have turned out to be very unreliable. I would not stock up on ink, because it will probably fail sooner rather than later.QuoteYes you can still get bulk ink (and generic cartridges), and yes OEM ink usually gives better results.You can often find NOS OEM ink cheaply on eBay.One thing to watch out for is old Canon BCI-6Y cartridges (for the iP4000) - there's a white gunk that precipitates out and will clog the printhead. If you see any signs of the gunk, don't use the cartridge.QuoteThis is not really true - these days you mostly see 4 color tank printers that can't print good photos.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 07:34:24 am
content: Quote from: edavid on August 11, 2025, 04:21:05 amYou don't think that lots of denatured alcohol would dissolve any gunk there?

author: steve30
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 09:26:30 am
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on August 11, 2025, 04:07:51 amAny ink will "work" but the quality can vary considerably. I've used third party ink in my Canon and found it to smell funny, or make the page a lot more 'wet', or not as good colour, or fades when left in light.I do actually have some generic inkjet refill ink in my desk drawer I just remembered. So I can use that to test out the old Epson. But I only have CMYK, no LM or LC.Quote from: edavid on August 11, 2025, 04:21:05 amThe IP4000 has lasted me 20 years now and only cost £75 when I bought it. I stocked up on NOS cartridges last year, then the printhead died. I got a second hand chineseum printhead off ebay. The printer recognises this at least, but only half of it prints.I haven't seen any white gunk, but I have noticed the BCI-6Y cartridges go discoloured when they've been open for a bit. They start out as a bright orangey colour, then go to a dirty yellow. Not sure if that's just a visual effect of most of the ink being used up, or whether it actually goes bad.Epson make some 6 colour printers, as well as some CMYK + Grey + Photo Black. No idea what any of them are like.Quote from: Analog Kid on August 11, 2025, 07:34:24 amPrintheads can be salvaged, indeed I have salvaged them before with distilled water or alcohol or whatever it was I used. But some are too far gone.Anyway, back to the Stylus Photo 750. I dug it out this morning. Still has two (third party) cartridges installed with remnants of ink lurking around. Fired it up and the stepper motors were a bit seized. Turning them manually and running it a few times seems to have freed them up somewhat, but its still seizing up a bit.

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 03:50:18 pm
content: print heads can be indeed salvaged, i order cleaning kits on Ali or 'Bay, 500ml bottle syringes w small pipes, and clips who go on the headbut it does an incredible mess, the included liquid seems to be way more effective than iso propyl or else, i played with 50 and 70%i sometime find some complete printers for a few bucks, they have a lever in them to release the head assembly, and you can do the cleanupas for ink quality A BIG YES YOU DO have quality in theses, some will gunk over time, get thicker ... and for sure the paper quality too play a big role ..

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 05:29:34 pm
content: Quote from: steve30 on August 11, 2025, 02:58:05 am"Probably"?!?Epson inkjets from that era were hands-down the most clog-prone printers known to man, and would frequently clog irrecoverably just from sitting idle for weeks. (At the time, I recommended them only to clients who printed practically daily.)So the chance that it's not clogged after 20 years of storage is somewhere between "fuhgeddaboutit" and "when pigs fly". The chances that it's irrecoverably clogged are merely "highly likely".Other than for the pure challenge of it, nostalgia, or for some specialty application that requires the use of a specific printer, there's no reason whatsoever to invest any time in that printer.Quote from: Analog Kid on August 11, 2025, 07:34:24 amI doubt it. The specialty solvents, maaaybe.The problem with inkjet heads is that the nozzles are incredibly thin, so if ink gunks up inside them, the attack surface for solvents is incredibly small.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 05:31:48 pm
content: Quote from: steve30 on August 11, 2025, 09:26:30 amNeither: that's cross-contamination with other ink colors due to printhead failure. My beloved Pixma MP970 (otherwise going strong since 2008) suffers from that problem.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 05:33:32 pm
content: Quote from: edavid on August 11, 2025, 04:21:05 amWell you can get 6+ color cartridge printers quite affordably.There are few (consumer level) 6+ color photo ink tank printers, but they do exist. Epson makes one or two.

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 06:19:18 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on August 11, 2025, 05:33:32 pmI must be blind, because I can't find them. What models were you thinking of?QuoteI had ruled out the Epson ET-8500/ET-8550 because there are many complaints about the feed rollers making marks on photo paper. They are also pretty expensive.The Canon G620/G650 seems more promising.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 06:25:35 pm
content: Quote from: edavid on August 11, 2025, 06:19:18 pmWell, my Epson Artisan 1430, f'rinstance.Of course it's an older printer that I got used. 6 colors. I think I paid around $100 for it. Well worth it.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 07:45:26 pm
content: Quote from: edavid on August 11, 2025, 06:19:18 pmWell none specifically, but I know they make them. Checking the manufacturer websites, I quickly found the Canon PIXMA TS8750 and Epson Expression Photo XP-8700. Both are 6-ink printers under $200.Going up in price to more pro-level printers, you find things like the 10-ink Epson SureColor SC-P700 and 8-ink Canon PIXMA PRO-200S. Both can print A3/tabloid. And yes, I consider those affordable at around $500.Consider that adjusted for inflation, the 1999 Stylus Pro 750 costmorethan either of those A3 printers that are far better in every conceivable way.For sure, the range of available A4/letter photo printers has shrunk over the years, since we mostly view our photos on displays nowadays. But some remain available.

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 07:56:54 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on August 11, 2025, 07:45:26 pmThe Canon has been discontinued, with no direct replacement.In case anyone else is confused, the TS8750 is a Euro model; there is a similar TS8820 that's sold in the US, but it's overpriced.The Epson does seem like a reasonable choice, thanks. Amazon has it for $180 at the moment.QuoteBut I only paid $49 AR for my Pixma Pro 9000 II

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 08:23:57 pm
content: I thought my many year old Brother MFC-J6945DW (1) was finished and wasted almost a whole set of ink tanks cleaning the printhead, but the problem was just ink sticking to the plastic cleaning squeegee.My experience with third party ink tanks and third party ink is that even if you find a supplier selling ink that works, it could change and destroy your printer at any time.(1) The Brother MFC-J6945DW has poor printing quality compared to the Canon PIXMA iX7000 that it replaced, however it does print and scan 11x17 pages.

author: steve30
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 10:39:30 pm
content: There's the Epson XP-65 which is 6 colour. Looks to be around £170 which is similar to what my Stylus Photo 750 cost in 1999. £70 for a pack of cartridges though.There don't seem to be many 6 colour printers left though. I remember 8 colour printers being a thing in the 2000s, but the market for those seems to have moved to umpteen colour printers now.At least 4 colour is a good compromise though. I remember some old Lexmark mechanisms where you had a choice of EITHER a black cartridge OR a CMY cartridge. My grandfather had a Brother word processor with one of these. I tried to resurrect that back in 2020 - the black cartridge in it had long since dried up. I bought a NOS one (which had also dried up) and tried to refill them, but the built in heads were irrecoverably clogged (maybe something other than water or ink would have worked?). My grandfather did have an original CMY cartridge though lurking around, and to my amazement, that actually worked! (albeit the colours weren't right).

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2025, 08:45:05 pm
content: Quote from: edavid on August 11, 2025, 07:56:54 pmThe Canon isn’t discontinued; remember, I found it listed and available for saleon the Canon website. And it’s only been out for about a year and a half, which is actually not long nowadays, where printer models are seeing market lifespans of 3-4 years.

author: Adrian_Taylor333
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2025, 09:27:52 pm
content: There are plenty of both great OEM inks and resettable cartridges around.I've gone through various Epsons, many of them "photo", some with 8 inks IIRC (like 1800) etc, but finally settled on the "workhorse": WF-7640 ( predecessor of current WF-7840 IIRC).Awesome printer for the office. PrecisionCore head, 4 inks (CMYK), A3+ printing, A3 scanning, relatively fast text printing, resolution up to 4800x2400 for printing etc.And it's dirt cheap.Resettable cartridges ( 2 sets -one spare) were €20ish, it think.And ink was €10-ish per dcl. So bought 2x black + 1x other colors (5 bottles for €50ish).I'm using the same printer for 8-th year now IIRC.Works like new.Ink refill is faster than replacing the cartridges. I don't even have to take cartridge out of printer.Just pop the rubber cap off, inject the ink and plop it back on. 30 second job for each ink, or less...Cartridge chip resets itself and since I didn't have to take it out, there is no air in the plumbing, so no head cleaning is needed.

author: Hogwild
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2025, 12:10:33 am
content: As someone who's unclogged about 10 printheads, I suggest strongly that you don't use isopropyl alcohol alone for head cleaning.It can work sometimes, but if you've already got dried ink in the jets/head, you don't want to use ISO because it can dry clogs even harder. You want to moisten the ink, not dry it more. I found an unbelievably effective formula for this you can make yourself. Much cheaper than commercial cleaning fluids (some of which actually make things worse).Mix:- 3 % glycerine or propylene glycol (found at vaping shops, Amazon and more)- 20 % isopropyl alcohol (pharmaceutical degree without any additives), if you can not obtain it: 96 % potable alcohol- 77% distilled water for the remainderI've found this works extremely well, and quickly too. Instead of further drying the ink, you add the PG, which is a humectant. This moistens the clog and helps things flow.Never force the fluid. It should work with almost no pressure from your syringe. At least, it has for me. If it doesn't move easily, be patient, wait a while until the fluid humidifies the clog and read on.Again, take your time. You shouldn't need to apply any real pressure. It also helps to "pump" back and forth by pushing the syringe plunger a tiny bit forward, then a tiny bit back, repeatedly.If you have an unusually bad clog, add 3 drops of concentrated ammonia per 100 ml for even more cleaning power. Note that the ammonia has a very mild risk of damaging the printhead, in some cases.