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For several months I have been running a Kyson CIS; of course, some new info about it came out:
http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00JRDw
So... now I don't really want to go order refills (as I am in need). I am running a Canon i9900, and having a CIS has been really handy, so I need an alternative. Is MIS my only solution, or are there other viable alternatives?
- The smaller you grind particles, the more chance that friction and pressure in th grinding process will cause the particles to "sinter", to reattach to each other.
- Long before you ground a pigment to molecular levels, you would end up with
really dangerous
nanoparticles. It's one thing for particles to stay in colloidal suspension in liquid base, and quite another for them to be able to do that in air. Nano dust kills.
Dyes actually dissolve in the base, they do break down to molecules, mingling freely with the molecules of the liquid base. Epson piezo heads can print with almost anything: they use physical force (literally, little hammer blows) to "flick" cold ink at the paper. Canon and low end HP designs boil or vaporize some of the ink in order to use the steam pressure generated to shoot the majority of the ink at the paper. In order for this to work, the particular dyes chosen must boil well, and not undergo chemical reactions at printing temperatures that causes them to produce solid compounds. Pigments, already being solid compounds, coat thermal print heads, bringing them to a grinding halt. My sources say that HP gets around this in thermal printer certified for pigment inks, by adding one monster of a head cleaning mechanism. The Canon 9000 has nothing like this... Elsewhere in this thread, there's also mention of pigment inks also containing some dye. Maybe this is true of Kyson, but I've centrifuged Epson and MIS pigment inks, and there is no dye component.Add new comment