Pigment Vs. Dye based inks

Art_in_MT · Joined: 17 Jan 2010 Posts: 2 Location: Missoula, MT

I recently bought a refill kit for a Pixma MP830. It came with 2 black inks. However they are both labeled the same - just BLACK. They don't specify which is DYE or PIGMENT based black.

Are these now considered interchangable? I understood that Dye based ink looks faded and a bit gray on plain bond paper when printing black text. I don't want to get my print head soaked with the wrong stuff in either cartridge path!

The ink is from DuraFirm, and was part of a UNI-KIT set for this printer.

Thanks!

rlesperance · Joined: 10 May 2010 Posts: 3 Location: Montréal

Hi,

I have the same question. Did you find any valuable answer to your inquiry ?

On eBay, most of the compatible cartridge sold there are filled with dye ink. Others proclaim that wothout pigment ink you will dammage your printer.

What is true and what is not ?

Regards.

Robert

Art_in_MT · Joined: 17 Jan 2010 Posts: 2 Location: Missoula, MT

I got a prompt courteous response to a direct email to their tech support. They indicated that many people use the dye based ink without problems.

I tried it in one cartridge, but found the blacks in text not as solid as I like, and the ink seemed too "wet," especially on large black areas (charts, graphs, borders.) I also had problems with excess ink on the BOTTOM rollers. I don't know if these issues were caused by a bad cartridge, or the ink.

I located pigment based bulk ink, started with a different cartridge, and cleaned my removable printhead. (Canon Pixma 830). I have had no problems since.

Conclusions - i think there is a difference in the inks, but I did not detect any print head damage from using the dye based ink.

rlesperance · Joined: 10 May 2010 Posts: 3 Location: Montréal

Thank you for your prompt reply ...

Where did you buy your pigmented ink and accessories from ? I found a few, but without buying you never really know.

Regards.

Robert