Converting from dye to pigment.

[enduser]

HP makes many printers with three colors and black.  The black ink is usually pigment and the colors are dye. Has anyone knowledge of using pigment inks instead of dye in the color positions. (Would obviously have to be refillables,)
The question is about the mechanical result, not to do with any third party effects.

[Paul Roark]

I have not tried what you're interested in, but my educated guess is that it can be done.  Here are some issues to keep in mind.

I assume HP's approach here was to make archival text that bled less than dyes would on plain paper, while at the same time making color glossy photos that did not have the pigment ink artifacts like gloss differential and bronzing.

The pigment inks must have the cleaners needed for a thermal printer.  That is, don't use Epson color pigments.  Use color pigments that are specifically made for thermal heads (HP and Canon).

Many, myself included, have use pigments in printers made for dyes.  The Epson 1430 series is the most common example of this. 

There used to be significant pH differences, but I believe that is mostly history now.

The Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) that are usually posted by the manufacturers can tell you a lot about the inks, particularly when you google the names of the chemicals.

Good luck.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

[nirpat89]

HP makes many printers with three colors and black.  The black ink is usually pigment and the colors are dye. Has anyone knowledge of using pigment inks instead of dye in the color positions. (Would obviously have to be refillables,)
The question is about the mechanical result, not to do with any third party effects.

Most of those HP printer cartridges have the head incorporated on it.  Those are hard to find refillables for.   You will have to use the same cartridge, clean it up and replace with the suitable pigment ink. 

I have been thinking about something similar for a different project.  I have a basic HP Deskjet with one black and one 3-color cartridge.  I am trying to learn if I can convert one of the cartridges into a refillable spongeless cartridge.  Anyone have any experience with this?

[enduser]

We're have an HP T120 where the ink tanks are separate from the the print head. We are using the refillables to hold a better dye than HP's.

(We'd really like to use Canon Chromalife 100+ but it's not obtainable for sale except in tiny 11cc cartridges.)

I will try an HP pigment in one color and see what happens.

[nirpat89]

We're have an HP T120 where the ink tanks are separate from the the print head. We are using the refillables to hold a better dye than HP's.

(We'd really like to use Canon Chromalife 100+ but it's not obtainable for sale except in tiny 11cc cartridges.)

I will try an HP pigment in one color and see what happens.

I guess I was looking at smaller and cheaper run-of-the-mill printers. 

CIS seems to have empty spongeless' cartridges as well as pigment inks for your printer:

http://www.cisinks.com/empty-refillable-ink-cartridge-set-for-711-designjet-t120-t520-hp711-p-3696.html

http://www.cisinks.com/pigment-refillable-ink-cartridge-kit-for-designjet-t120-t520-hp711-p-3695.html

One can only try and see...

Good luck.  Please report, if you do not mind, the outcome of your trial.

:Niranjan.

[Ernst Dinkla]

HP makes many printers with three colors and black.  The black ink is usually pigment and the colors are dye. Has anyone knowledge of using pigment inks instead of dye in the color positions. (Would obviously have to be refillables,)
The question is about the mechanical result, not to do with any third party effects.

Like the HP Officejet Pro that I have here. Tried refillable carts but they come without a pump on the cartridge, patent issue I guess. That kind of carts function lousy in my experience. Bought cartridge caps with removable chips that fit on the normal HP carts, changed Z3200 cart ink bags (130ML)  so the total fitted in the carts slots, black one is easy, the rest more complicated. Pumps function at least. Filled the bags at the top corner and fold that + a paperclip.  I mixed quad pigment inks for the 3 color channels as a trial to see what would work on wider models. HP PK Vivera pigment mixed with an OCP gloss enhancer medium meant for Kodak thermal heads. Straight Z3200 MK black ink in the black channel. Went well for more than a year if i recall it correctly, got some issues with the heads later on. The heads do not differ that much from Z3200 heads. (Even tried old Z3200 heads that got the Officejet head chip added, not a success) Have a similar set up now but with third party dyes and the Vivera MK pigment again, for simple office work though. Most printing is done from a Ubuntu system, anytime I use the Windows HP driver I have to exchange the chips on the carts soon in my experience. However some sets of chips and the driver forgets what has been used before. Seems to happen with more HP cartridge systems.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
March 2017 update, 750+ inkjet media white spectral plots

[Ernst Dinkla]

We're have an HP T120 where the ink tanks are separate from the the print head. We are using the refillables to hold a better dye than HP's.

(We'd really like to use Canon Chromalife 100+ but it's not obtainable for sale except in tiny 11cc cartridges.)

I will try an HP pigment in one color and see what happens.

Check whether the Canon Dreamlabo dry minilab is still used and find the consumables for it. AFAIK that one had an 7 ink system with Chromalife inks but possibly not with that name. Unit was very expensive, I think announced 4-5 years ago and I had doubts it could compete with Epson technology for that task.

The HP Vivera dye inks are not bad either.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
March 2017 update, 750+ inkjet media white spectral plots

[Peter McLennan]

printerknowledge.com

They have a lot of info on running pigments in dye printers.  As Paul says, the Epson 1430 is a common application.

In particular, a user called "ink stained fingers" is very helpful.