Introduction to CISS
Basically Ciss stands for Continuous Ink Supply System,
Other common names include
Cis
Continuous ink system
Bulk ink feed
Continuous inking
The cartridges insert into your printer as normal and are connected by tubes to external tanks, which sit at the side of your printer. When
the ink is used in the cartridge it is automatically topped up from the external tank.
70% of ciss systems come from china, some are very well made and some not so well.
You will find in the majority off systems that the instructions are multi suited which means pictures may not reflect your specific model but show one of the other models that the cartridges fit.
The reason for this is that the same cartridge can fit over thirty different printers and manufacturers will often make instructions to suit one or 2 models
and fit method is similar for others and on occasions may require logical thought from the buyer. Most suppliers will support you 100 % with installation
issues anyway.
In order of ease of fit in the following order
1st Epson
2nd Canon
3rd HP
Things to consider when buying these systems irrespective of price
Tubes & Ink
Tubes (some systems the tubes are made from PVC which after time can crack and leak) best systems contain silicon tubes, which remains flexible.
Ink Quality
There are many sorts of ink out there for these systems and we shall try and explain
And grade these systems highest quality 1st
1) Pigment ink - this is an oil based ink which is as close as you can get to the original manufacturers product, otherwise can be know as durabrite or claria,
Viera. When you buy a set of original inks and its pigment ink most of the time it is just the black ink that is pigmented - not many printers can handle all
colours being pigmented because pigment is a suspension and having all pigment in a ciss or printer can cause continual blocked print heads.
2) Profiled ink - this is normally a water based dye ink that is manufactured for your print series - i.e. only suitable for Epson printers or only suitable
for Canon - you cannot buy ink for a canon and fill in an Epson machine and expect brilliant results.
3) Universal ink - sadly a lot of cheaper brands use this ink and whilst some customers say they get good results this has to be placed at the bottom of the
pile for quality. At the end of the day the printer manufacturers are different and have different ink to produce best quality for there machine so putting a
universal ink in your printer will not get you the best results.
Ink refills - we have seen these from £9.99 for 6 100ml bottles of ink to £50 for six - you have to remember it's the ink quality you are paying for - without a doubt the £9.99 set is universal ink and although some people say it is ok, for best quality it is not.
Ciss for Epson
Continuous ink systems for Epson printers have been around for years and there are many sellers out there with big differences in prices - not necessarily with different profit margins - you are paying for the quality of the system and the ink.
Better systems and better ink cost more money - unless of course they are working for nothing.
Things to check when buying a Ciss for Epson
What sort of ink does it contain?
Are the tubes silicone or PVC?
How much can I save?
If you compare a typical R220 printer a set of originals costs around £40 for 48ml of Ink so that's £1.20 for 1 ml of ink
A set of compatibles costs around £10 and usually contain around 78ml of ink so that's £0.13 for 1 ml of ink
A continuous ink system that is prefilled with 100ml of each colour costs around £25 - £40 we have used an average price of £32.50 for the calculation this
works out at a mere £0.055 for 1 ml of ink
This price includes the system setup, which would not be required for refilling them, ink refills vary so much depending on the quality of the ink - for this
comparison we have used our own ink, which is not universal and is profiled for you printer. It would cost around £28 to refill all six colours and this works
out at just £0.045 for 1 ml of ink
In summary
600ml of original ink would cost £720
600ml of compatible cartridges cost £76.92
600ml of refill ink for your ciss system cost £28
So for those of you who use compatible cartridges a ciss system can still save you a lot of money
Ciss for Canon
These systems are very new on the market with these systems there is one very important factor and if you buy one without these you are likely to be plagued
with leaks. It only affects the cartridges below - all others are perfectly ok
For the bci-3 / bci-6 and cli-8 range of cartridges
If you take your cartridge out you will see a rubber seal which forms an airtight gap around the cartridge for ciss systems a small silicone seal is needed to put in place,
For other canon cartridges it is not required as the design of the print head is different
Things to check when buying a Ciss system
What sort of ink does it contain?
Are the tubes silicone or PVC?
Does it contain a silicone seal to put on top of the print head?
How much can I save?
If you compare a typical mp160 printer which uses the PG40-CL51 cartridges a set of originals costs around £25 for 20ml of Ink so that's £1.25 for 1 ml of
ink
A set of compatibles costs around £20 and usually contain around 40ml of ink so that's £0.50 for
1 ml of ink
A continuous ink system that is prefilled with 70ml of each colours costs around £51.99 for 280ml of ink and the system and works out at just £0.185p per ml of
ink. To refill this system would cost £33 for 600ml of ink just £0.06p per ml
In summary
600ml of original ink would cost £750
600ml of compatible cartridges cost £375.
600ml of refill ink for your ciss system cost £33.00
So for those of you who use compatible cartridges a ciss system can still save you a lot of money
Ciss for HP
Hp systems are relatively new on the market and although slightly harder to fit than then Epson and Canon they offer great value for money
Things to check when buying a Ciss for HP
What sort of ink does it contain?
Are the tubes silicone or PVC?
How much money can I save with using one of these systems?
How much can I save?
If you compare a typical HP 363 set of originals it costs around £25 but only contains 30ml of ink which makes it £0.83p per ml
A set of compatibles costs around £15 and usually contain around 30ml of ink so that's £0.50p per ml of ink
A continuous ink system that is prefilled with 100ml of each colours costs around £51.99 for 600ml of ink and the system, works out at just £0.09p per ml of
ink
This price includes the system setup, which would not be required for refilling them, to refill the system would cost around £28 that's just £0.046p per ml
of ink
In summary
600ml of original ink would cost £500
600ml of compatible cartridges cost £300
600ml of refill ink for your ciss system cost £28
So for those of you who use compatible cartridges a ciss system can still save you a lot of money
Some manufacturers claim that using non-original ink will void the warranty, this is not directly true, a printer warranty only becomes invalid if the ink you
use in the printer directly causes the fault.
In 4 years of selling ink cartridges and CIS we have only ever known 1 printer that blocked from
Using a compatible cartridge, this required a strip down and clean to resolve
About our systems
We spent 2 years trialling over 20 different brands of Ciss systems to find what we believe are the best mid range systems out there, and although we may not be the cheapest, there are reasons why we do not sell cheaper inferior systems with a low grade ink.
Our belief is if you are going to invest in a system we want to offer a good system with good ink and as a result we stay well clear of inferior
systems.
All our systems use PVC tubes
All our Canon range come with the silicone seals where appropriate
All of our inks are profiled to print series - i.e. only suitable to printer manufacturer and not a low grade universal.
We offer a 1year guarantee as standard and a lifetime's support on your product
And all the advice you need for life.
Every one of you that read this will have different opinions about dye ink quality and originals. This tutorial has been written to raise awareness of
continuous ink systems and the savings you can make.
Our websites can be found at www.cheapprinterink.co.uk and www.cityinkexpress.co.uk
Please feel free to post if you have any questions
Anyone who purchases one of our systems and can send us some pictures after installation will get 10% discount for life on refill inks - (details sent with the
system)
Best regards Shane
Original manufacturers do not make or endorse continuous ink systems - the brand names Epson, Canon and HP in the post are for reference purposes only and in
no way signify they are made by the respective company
