Alright, let’s get into it. The Canon TR8620 printer ink situation. I’ve got one of these printers, the TR8620, sitting right here. Does its job mostly, prints photos okay, documents are fine. But man, the ink. That’s always the kicker with these things, isn’t it?
So, the other day, I started getting those low ink warnings. You know the ones. Flashing lights, messages popping up on the screen. It was the black ink first, then one of the colors. I knew I had to deal with it soon or I’d be stuck with a fancy paperweight.
What I Did About It
First thing I did was groan, honestly. Because genuine Canon ink, the stuff they really want you to buy, costs a fair bit. I looked it up real quick, saw the price for a full set, and thought, “Nope, not today.”
So, I did what most folks probably do. I poked around online, just browsing. Saw a few options:
- The official Canon cartridges (pricey, like I said).
- Remanufactured ones – basically used cartridges someone cleaned up and refilled.
- Compatible ones – totally new cartridges made by some other company, designed to fit.
I’ve heard mixed things about the non-Canon stuff. Some people say it works fine, others say it messes up the printer or the colors are weird. But the price difference was pretty big. I figured, what the heck, let’s try some compatible ones this time. Found a set that had decent reviews, seemed like a popular choice, and wasn’t dirt cheap but definitely cheaper than the Canon brand. Added it to my cart and checked out.
Putting Them In
The package showed up a few days later. Just a plain box, nothing fancy. Inside were the cartridges, individually sealed. Looked pretty much like the Canon ones, maybe the plastic felt a little different, I dunno.
So, I went over to the printer. Turned it on, lifted the scanner unit part – the big top lid. The ink carriage thingy automatically slid over to the middle so I could get at the cartridges. Pretty standard stuff.
I looked at the little lights on the old cartridges. Yep, the ones the printer was complaining about were blinking. I pushed the little tab on the first empty one, and it popped up. Pulled it straight out. No mess, thankfully. Did the same for the other one that was low.
Then I grabbed the new compatible cartridges. Took off the orange tape or plastic clip, whatever they use to seal it. Slid the first one into the empty slot, pushed down gently until it clicked. Felt secure enough. Did the same for the second one. Double-checked they were all seated properly.
Lowered the scanner lid back down. The printer started making its usual whirring and clicking noises, like it was thinking about things. Took a minute or two.
How It Went
Okay, moment of truth. The little screen on the printer lit up. It actually gave me a message, something like, “Non-Canon ink detected.” Yeah, no kidding. It asked if I wanted to continue using it and warned about potential issues or whatever. I just hit ‘OK’ or ‘Yes’. Had to do that for each non-genuine cartridge I put in, I think.
After clearing those messages, it seemed ready to go. The low ink warnings were gone. So far, so good. I went to the computer and printed a test page – you know, the nozzle check pattern thing. It printed out. Looked… alright? Maybe the black wasn’t quite as deep? Hard to tell right away. Then I printed a simple color document. Colors seemed okay for basic stuff.
I’ve been using it for a few days now with this compatible ink. Haven’t run into any major problems yet. Prints come out fine for emails, recipes, basic documents. Haven’t tried printing photos yet, that’ll be the real test I guess. But for now, it saved me some money, and the printer is working. We’ll see how long these cartridges last or if the printer decides to throw a tantrum later. It’s always a bit of a gamble with third-party ink, but sometimes you just gotta try it, right?