#1: RIHAC CISS for Canon Pixma MP830 Author: rrandall, Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:16 am — Hi, Folks,
I wanted to let you know about my experience to date with my RIHAC CISS for the Canon Pixma MP830. A bit complicated to install, but I've never done a CISS before, so some of that is just ultra caution on my part.
You order the CISS from Australia, and the shipping is considerable - that on top of the cost of the CISS itself presents an impediment. But after hearing so many good things about RIHAC, I decided to go for it. Came well packaged.
The service from "tech support" (Sam Cahir) has been outstanding - which I'd heard about but which I can personally testify to be the case. I called him twice as I was breaking my CISS installation in, and he was able to visualize my problems and walk me through the remedy. He even sent me remedial clips and seals at no charge as part of the deal. (I needed the clip, but so far not the seals.)
By the way, if you're calling Australia (or anywhere long distance, especially overseas), I highly recommend Skype - a VoIP service. SkypeOut (which you pay for) allows you to call conventional phones, too. I purchased $10 or SkypeOut credit and at 2.1 cents a minute it goes very slowly. I've been using it, of course, for my RIHAC calls, but I'm using it domestically too. The call quality is excellent, especially with my Plantronics DSP-400 headset (noise suppression, boom mike).
For anyone installing this system on an MP830, I can offer this supplemental hint. After initial installation, though I tried to follow the manual carefully, I was hearing quite a bit of "chunking" as the print head moved back and forth during printing. Where the ink tubes exit from the cartridges after installation, there's an issue of clearance above the protuberances at rear end of the printhead assembly. This is where the extra clip Sam sent me comes in. You have to put the clip on the tubes (tricky in and of itself) and paste it down on top of the right most two cartridges, so that the tubes exit the cartridge array perpendicular to the cartridges, flat down, and in front of that protuberance at the rear of the printhead assembly. Then, position the metal bracket provided with the CISS so that the tubes exiting the cartridges are aligned exactly beneath the tubes affixed to the metal bracket above. The manual doesn't really talk about this nuance, but it's an essential detail. After Sam walked me through all this, the printer is back to being quiet.
So far, after the above adjustment, the CISS has been troublefree, and print quality has been excellent. And as I said, tech support has been outstanding.
One other thing - again, the manual, as great and specific as it is, could be improved on placement of the ink bottle array outside the printer. I had the ink bottles on the same surface on which the printer rested - i.e., at the bottom of the printer. I was noticing that the ink tubes as they entered the cartridges were developing some air voids - an inch or two. Sam suggested I raise the level of the bottles 2-3 cm ("about the height of two CD crystal cases"), and that seems to have addressed the problem. I'm not even sure this adjustment was really necessary, but it again shows the expertise Sam brings to his product line.
I'd recommend the system. I've really just started using it, though, so I'm on the lookout for all the reliability problems others have mentioned with CISS in general. It was their warnings that led me to purchase this particular system: more expensive (especially with the shipping from AU), but hopefully worth the extra.
#2: Author: Martin, Location: South Yorkshire, UKPosted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:17 am — Mod Note: Sorry Randall you got caught by the spam filter... Corrected that issue (just try to avoid the keyword *shippin* in future - and no I'm not sure either).
Cheers.
#3: Author: Martin, Location: South Yorkshire, UKPosted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:22 am — Well it's good to hear that Sam is keeping his rep' intact... I came across his posts on stevesforums a ways back and he definitely seemed to know what was what, helping a great deal with my early forays into Canon territory.
I may have to try him on HP printers to see if he has any genius insights there too
