I have just received a couple of samples of Freelin-Wade multibore tubing, one 4 way and one 6 way length. I am awaiting pricing info from the UK agents.

As far as I am able to judge, this is identical to the tubing sold by MIS for DIY CIS systems (I have a length of that as well). The material is polyurethane which, according to their data sheet, is pretty inert stuff and hopefully should not react long term with inks. It is however quite significantly stiffer than the PVC (Tygon?) tubing which came with my Everest kit, so there might be an issue with the tubing touching either the print or the printer mechanism when in use in some applications.

It would be useful to hear from anyone who has used MIS tubing on their system as to whether there are routing problems, and any solutions or suggestions as to bracketry, supports etc.

Peter_G wrote:

As far as I am able to judge, this is identical to the tubing sold by MIS for DIY CIS systems (I have a length of that as well). The material is polyurethane which, according to their data sheet, is pretty inert stuff and hopefully should not react long term with inks.

I'll check to see if polyurethane is compatible with dyebase and pigment inks when I next speak to Gemini Colours..

Quote:

It is however quite significantly stiffer than the PVC (Tygon?) tubing which came with my Everest kit, so there might be an issue with the tubing touching either the print or the printer mechanism when in use in some applications.

Tygon tubing comes in multiple forms and is mainly just a brand name.. For what it's worth I have the Tygon R-3603 type in bulk in 1/16" ID, 5/32" OD and it's proven somewhat thicker than the MIS normal tubing (not the Canon thinner tube). The main problem I've hit with any tubing beyond compatability is problems with the tubing catching on itself or other printer parts due to the slight stickiness of the material. The solution to that has been to reduce the excess of tubing as much as possible (without causing kinks) and to use silicon lubricant to allow the tube to slide past parts or itself without catching. Overall that seems to work pretty well.

Comparison to MIS tubing I'd say it works pretty much the same but the Tygon stuff I have it just a little thicker walled so it doesn't bend as easily.. Not much difference in it though..

Quote:

It would be useful to hear from anyone who has used MIS tubing on their system as to whether there are routing problems, and any solutions or suggestions as to bracketry, supports etc.

Not really got much beyond the lubricant (don't use oil obviously as that would degrade the tube) and ensure that any brackets or mount points don't pinch the tube shut or restrict the flow in any way...


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Printers: (Canon) MP500/830, MX700, iP4000/4200/4300/4500/5200, iX4000(A3) (Epson) C84/86, D88, CX6600, R285/800/1900 (HP) K550, K850, K5400, L7680

Worth noting that you need to know exactly what sort of inner diameter (ID) you want if you're looking for tubing.

I've just received a large batch of very thin bore tubing (from Gemini Colours) that is between 1/16th and 1/32th inch ID and with my fittings being 1/16th" I've had an "interesting" time getting the tubing to fit. In the end my solution was to use a thin tipped soldering iron to help heat and loosen the tube opening so I could get the fittings and tubing to connect properly. Have to be careful with this approach though as it can melt the tube too much or split it as I found in my initial attempts.

For all that though, very thin tubing like this still works very well with the Canon Pixma models and ink still flows sufficiently fast for the cartridge to keep filled.


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Printers: (Canon) MP500/830, MX700, iP4000/4200/4300/4500/5200, iX4000(A3) (Epson) C84/86, D88, CX6600, R285/800/1900 (HP) K550, K850, K5400, L7680