# CLI-42GY_SETUP Pixma Pro 100 starter inks?



## Sauropod (Aug 22, 2015)

The low ink warning came on my for my new Pixma Pro 100. I noticed the low cartridge is named CLI-42GY_SETUP. Does the Pixma Pro 100 ship with "starter" ink and, if so, is the ink:

A-Overfilled, to account for the initial printhead fill up? 

B-Underfilled, to hasten new ink purchases (and possibly making my conceived strategy of picking up additional $50 after mail-in rebate Pixma Pro 100 printers simply for the ink not the cost-effective cleverness that I envisioned)?

C-The same amount as a standard CLI-42GY, the _SETUP being used by Canon to simply track starter ink sets?

It certainly doesn't feel like the Gray lasted long. It has less than 10% left (based on my qualitative assessment of the ink bar levels). Light Gray and Photo Magenta have only 40% left while M, PC, Y, BK and C hover around 80% left. I surmise GY, LGY and PM are the most used colors (akin to PC and PM on my 9000 MK II)? 

Thanks!


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Sep 3, 2015)

In spite of some who deny that many printers ship with starter inks, they do. Usually, they do not have s significantly lower amount of ink, but the process of setting up the printer which uses a lot of ink, leaves you with a small amount. After all, The low price of the printer was purposely set low, Canon wants to get printers out in as many hands as possible. The profit comes from selling ink at high prices.

There are some excellent 3rd party inks, and some cheap junk. Do some research to find high quality replacement inks and save some money. Since it uses dye based ink rather than pigment, they are commonly available.

I see posts claiming precision color ink is good, but I have no direct experience. 

\http://www.precisioncolors.com/PC42.html


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## Sauropod (Sep 3, 2015)

Thanks for the reply! I purchased a second Pro 100 ($50 after rebate) and can confirm its ink also has the "_setup" moniker. I'll create a spreadsheet tracking number, size, paper type, etc. on this new CLI-42GY_setup cartridge and then purchase a "real" cartridge and compare the numbers. 

I have had not-so-good luck with 3rd party inks on various printers over the years (Lexmark 4000, Pixma IP7200, i995, Stylus 1280, about half a dozen others including a few HPs) so I'm reticent to try 'em on the Pro 100. I might try them on my Pro 9000 MK II though, I'll poke around some forums and see what I can glean. Thanks for the precisioncolors link, I'll start there!


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## sanfranchristo (Sep 4, 2015)

It's been a while since I used my Pro-100, but I seem to remember that included ink cartridges were explicitly indicated as samples and not full.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Sep 4, 2015)

The best way to compare is to weigh one of each type (starter and Retail. That will tell you how the amount of ink compares. Since a lot of ink goes into a initial startup, and since cleaning and use per image varies, a image count comparison would be inaccurate.

Obviously, you would need to plan ahead, and weigh the two before placing them in the printer, and few users are going to do that.


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## Sauropod (Sep 4, 2015)

My curiosity piqued I weighed an unopened CLI-42GY_SETUP:

30g in the shrinkwrap with orange plastic guard. 
28g with wrap and orange plastic guard removed.

I have ordered a CLI-42GY from Amazon and will report back on what it weighs using the same weighing conditions.

It does say "setup" on the CLI-42 cartridges that came with my Pro 100, great catch Sanfranchristo, I completely missed the little oval printed on each one. 

Amazon quoted $107.69 for a set of 8 cartridges, tax and freight included. I'll be curious to see the weight disparity and then determine if purchasing a Pro 100 on rebate for $100 and then trying to "flip" the now inkless, yet spacehogging, printer on a glutted (at least in Phoenix) market is really worth the time and effort.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Sep 4, 2015)

Sauropod said:


> My curiosity piqued I weighed an unopened CLI-42GY_SETUP:
> 
> 30g in the shrinkwrap with orange plastic guard.
> 28g with wrap and orange plastic guard removed.
> ...



What I see on the secondary market (ebay) is people selling the new unused print head, and then the bare printer with no head. They sell the startup cartridges as well. Looking at completed sales, this seems to work well as far as getting the most out of selling a printer.


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## Vivid Color (Sep 4, 2015)

When I got my Canon PIXMA pro 100 printer last year, the set of inks were not labeled set up and they lasted for way more prints than I thought they would.


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## Sauropod (Sep 6, 2015)

I procured a CLI-42GY (Amazon and Sunday delivery...who woulda thunk such a thing???) and weighed it 5 times on the same scale, same time of day, same temperature, placed identically within 10 seconds of one another.

The results?

CLI-42_SETUP - 28g
CLI-42GY - 27g

A second scale returned identical results.

For for these particular CLI-42GY and CLI-42GY_SETUP cartridges the starter set came with 1g more of ink. 

Each of the remaining 7 CLI-42xx_SETUP cartridges weighed 28g as well. I do not have any CLI-42xx non-_SETUP cartridges to determine if mayhap I have an anomalous CLI-42GY specimen. But I doubt I do based on the identical weights of each of the _SETUP cartridges. 

I presume 1g more of ink is to help seed the printhead initially. The next time I setup a fresh Pro-100 I'll weigh the cartridge before and after initial installation and see if I can determine how much ink the printhead absorbs. I'm wondering if it will come in around a gram? I'll also do the same when I actually install the 42GY and report back.

The strategy of procuring heavily rebated printers, other than the rebate hassle factor, the Craigslist/Ebay interactions, and the storage of the behemoth box throughout, seems to be a sound ink acquisition strategy if one's ink uses are in sync with Canon's rebate program.


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## Sauropod (Sep 20, 2015)

Quick update. The empty CLI-42GY_SETUP cartridge weighed 16g (the full one weighed 28g).

I weighed a CLI-8PC full and it came in at 28g, the empty CLI-8PC came in at 15g. 

I ran the -8PC all the way down til I was informed it had run out of ink. The -42GY may have had a bit of ink left in it as I changed it before it said it had truly run out of ink. That could account for the 1g difference in empty weight.

I will be curious to see if future CLI-42x cartridges come in at 27g or 28g. I weighed a complete set of CLI-8x and each weighed 28g. As my CLI-42x sample size is exactly one I can't comment yet.


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