# All in one Review: Canon MP287's accessory: ESYINK Ink Tank System.



## Samarth 619 (Feb 23, 2014)

*Review: Canon MP287's accessory: ESYINK Ink Tank System.*

Hey guys, this is Samarth. I'm a Teacher in Rajasthan, India. I've seen this forum for long and although couldn't post much. Anyways, I wish to write my review of Canon MP287 alongwith its one very useful attachment: The ESYINK Ink tank system.

*i.imgur.com/ItjvVlx.jpg

*History:* I had an Epson ME535 Colour printer cum scanner 1.5 years ago. At Rs. 5500, I got it rather cheap I would say, given that it had Printer, that too color and scanner too. But, after owning it for some time, I found the catch. Its refills that claimed 225 prints/ cartridge of Rs. 400 claimed a meagre cost of Rs. 2 per page which was ok by me. But, nothing is what its claimed to be. The cartridges would give this output only if you print continuously. For normal 2-4 pages in a week, the output was rather poor, just some 50-70 pages/ cartridge.
I was ok by that too, after all the company's got to earn something. But what was not ok, was that its cartridges "Epson 141" were rarely available anywhere in my city... All the places, I had to place an order and wait for some days for it to come. And repeat this process again after 2 months as the cartridge expires soon. Plus, if you don't print for 5-6 days, its ink used to get clogged, requiring ink flush which itself flushes Rs. 100 worth of ink approximately.

I had enough!!  I sold it off by posting ads at OLX & Quickr both, for Rs. 3000 to some uncle. Then, after learning more about inkjets, I got hold of a Canon MP 287 with ESYINK ink tank system preinstalled at the shop.


*Canon MP287:* This printer cum scanner is actually better at printing quality than my old Epson. Photos come out beautiful (for a home based setup).

Print: Although, it doesn't have the studio level quality, but if the photo is a bright one, a layman mostly can't spot out a difference as the colors come out good.
However, compared to studio photos, this printer's photos have shadow clipping. The dark areas don't come out good. For this reason, sometimes photos have to be edited using PS before printing them. I don't even have Photoshop, I use a free alternative GIMPShop which works well for photos. And since, I have a DSLR (Canon EOS 600D) the photo prints work out good. Even images from my Nokia 808 Pureview are good enough, after editing them out.
Editing is required though. The image below shows some printouts from the printer. The bright one is edited and has pleasing colors, although with slight loss of background color in the process. But the result is good.

*UPDATE:* Now, I've started using manual tuning within printer options to increase brightness & contrast, and it makes things easy as I don't need to touch Photoshop everytime I print.

*i.imgur.com/zZTDi6k.jpg

But still, its a lot better than Epson on fine detail, specially of high resolution photo paper. A home printer can't give studio like quality, specially on 4 color inks. (Special photo printers have multiple ink cartridges, like 6 different inks or so).

Scan: The Scanner is 1200 dpi which is more than what's needed even to view the smallest of text. Using one software you can interpolate it to higher dpi's too, but on the length only, not breadth (or vice versa).

*i.imgur.com/cOGxBpL.jpg

Copy function: Without computer, you have the option of photocopying onto A4, A4 photopaper OR 4x6 inch photopaper. Plus, multiple copies upto 9 copies can be printed at once. "Fit to Page" option enlarges and copies a small photo onto a bigger paper. Copies can be B&W or Colour.

*imgur.com/leBMoZG.jpg

The above image shows a color photocopy on top, and original below, this was copied without using a computer, although I have a laptop.

The Canon MP287 All in One is a nice performer. Can you believe its price? Just Rs. 3600 or so. Although, be reminded that compared to Epson, this one doesn't have a LCD display. It only has a number display, like a calculator, only that the numbers are displayed in Yellow color.
Only one big demerit is that, just like Epson ME535, the print costs may get too expensive unless you install the.....


*ESYINK Ink Tank system:* I got the entire printer, with the ink tank installed only. This entire All in one with its INKTANK system in place, costed me Rs. 6500. I got it from a retailer in combined package, but the retailer didn't give me the original ink tanks, that Canon supplies in the box.

*imgur.com/zqZch6G.jpg

So, why did I choose an ink tank system? That is because this ink tank system breaks the company created barriers, it reduces the costs of printing so drastically that you wouldn't notice it. How low? Well, how about 10 paise/ page (including only ink's cost) of black color? or 20-40 paise/ page of color print? or under Rs. 1/ photo? Isn't it amazing?

*i.imgur.com/5iTpeWy.jpg

Epson company has tried cashing on to such system, but even in their mid-high end AIOs like Epson L210, L350, etc. (costing Rs. 10000+), the minimum ink droplet is still 3 picolitres (3 pl). It is 2 pl in my Canon, and lower is better here. Epson's quality & detail is not too high due to this reason. The benefit is that you get Epson company's enduring warranty & peace of mind. But I didn't choose that...

It gives good quality prints. No doubt. Despite the low costs, the print quality is good. But remember, print anything but keep printing atleast once in 2-3 days. If you stop printing, the head might clog and ink flush, although inexpensive on this system, may or may not clear the problem.

Only once or twice, I had some colors missing in a document as if one partcular ink color was not printed. I printed it again, and it came fine. Rarely, when I didn't use it for 4-5 days, the printout missed some lines in a Black & White document page. These 2 are not big problems at all. They happened only rarely... So, I'm happy overall with the printer and its performance.


*How to Reset:* Most printers don't have an accurate ink measurement system. They just try estimating when the ink cartridge is getting empty so that they just cut supply of ink, even its still filled a bit. Same with MP 287. But after some printing, if the ink monitor detects that you printed a good quantity of ink, it informs low ink level, for black & color separately using computer messages & light indicators on the printer.
Later these 2 yellow lights are accompanied by another yellow light: Alarm light. This is when ink is assumed to be emptied fully & PRINTING STOPS. Even if ink tanks are full, the printer's software will say the ink is empty.

When this happens, you just need to press the "Stop/ Reset" key for 20 seconds until both the color warning lights start blinking. Then, turn off and on the printer, using the power button on printer itself. These 2 lights will keep on blinking forever, but the printer can be used continuously without any problem. The ink counter is reset permanently. But you must not empty the ink tanks fully. Keep ink filled so they don't catch air, ok?



*Merits:*


Good Quality of printing for a home printer,
Its an all in one, so scanning & copying are possible,
Very low printing costs, in just some paises per page,
Easy to reset, no complicated functions involved,
Very low cost of equipment itself, just Rs. 6500 including Ink tanks,
Ink bottles cost just Rs. 300 per colour and last really long, some 3000 pages/ bottle,


*Demerits:*


Light Maintenance is needed. (You need to open the ink tank rubber covers before printing, so vacuum is not created. You need to shake ink tanks once in a while, so that the level of ink in the back (smaller) part of the tank is equal for all 4 colors (see the below image to understand this level).)
No Warranty for the ink tank system, even Printer warranty is given by Shop, not by Canon,
Very rarely, prints might miss some colors, specially if the ink tank tubes catch air bubbles, but with good maintenance this is avoidable, & no big problem at all as you can print another page,
Slightly noisy printer, but not a big deal at all, (EDIT: Later I found that it has a silent operation mode, which is time configurable. This mode is very silent, I've kept it configured for night times from 9PM to 8AM.)
Inkjet technology's common demerit is there: You have to print atleast once in 3-6 days, otherwise ink might clog the head,

*i.imgur.com/imZSmRo.jpg

*Conclusion:* Its a really great solution for a small shop/ home, because its cost efficient in all ways. Plus, it gives good quality too. Now, I have it only for 4 months or so. So, I'm waiting to see its actual life. I hope it can last long, because that would make it a near perfect offer. Those guys who want warranty on such a cost effective system should check out Epson L series printers and all in ones, but again, they're not that good at print quality. This Canon all in one is really good at quality.
My prior experience with an inkjet has helped me maintain it well, and its running good so far. Let's hope it continues so...
A solid assurance is that ESYINK is continuing to introduce more & more solutions for ink tank printing, like kits for 6 colors photo printers (!), kits for expensive printers, kits for large size A3 page printers(!), etc... Its a good sign, showing that the system is mostly a success, isn't it?

*Links:* ESYINK Website is: ESY INDIA - ESY JET - ESY Ink - Hi quality Color printing in Low cost
Canon MP287 specs are: PIXMA MP287 - Canon India - Personal

I, despite busy with my job, tried covering all aspects so that you guys could have an Owner's insight at a feasible option for 10 paise/ page printing...
If you have any questions, queries or requests, please post them... I'll try my best to reply back...


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## The Incinerator (Feb 24, 2014)

That was a lot of information,great work.Thank you.


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## Samarth 619 (Feb 24, 2014)

The Incinerator said:


> That was a lot of information,great work.Thank you.


Thanks buddy for appreciating me. 
I was seeing how many guys ask for a good printer with all functions, plus cheaper upkeep. So, I got one and thought I should guide others, towards one such option. Of course, there are few such options in the market, and this is just one of them...


*@ ALL:* Guys, my image links were slightly wrong, but I've corrected it now. You should see more images now.
If you right click the photos, and select "Open Image in New Tab", then you will see a higher resolution & more detailed version (of all my images in the 1st post).
Try it if you want to examine my pics in 5 megapixel detail.


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## $hadow (Feb 25, 2014)

Good work mate


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## saswat23 (Feb 27, 2014)

Nice review. But CISS costs around 1k only so the total cost should have been around 5k at max. 
Why 6.5k then?


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## Samarth 619 (Feb 27, 2014)

saswat23 said:


> Nice review. But CISS costs around 1k only so the total cost should have been around 5k at max.
> Why 6.5k then?


I was expecting this question. There is only one reason for this: *Profit.* 

Let me explain the breakup.
MP287 costed me around Rs. 3800 as per retailer's bill.
ESYINK Tank system for Canon MP287 costs Rs. 1799 (MRP).

Even this adds to just Rs. 5600.
But, the retailer expanded his own share of profits for installing the inktank system, which is around Rs. 900 I guess. And this is not all.... Despite my repeated requests, the retailer did not give me the original Canon Inktanks which itself have market value of Rs. 2000 approx, which I should've got because I purchased the printer entirely.

What can I say? They are profiteering just because they know how to install Inktank system. And I do not.. Sad but true. The retailer was: Arsh Vision, from Ajmer, Rajasthan.


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## snap (Feb 28, 2014)

great detailed review


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## kunalgujarathi (Feb 28, 2014)

Ok so I have MX437 series bought a year ago!
What I noticed by far that Ink Tank quality is far superior than CISS!
Hence I bought XL cartridges and refill it.

Basically way better than ink tank!


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## Samarth 619 (Feb 28, 2014)

snap said:


> great detailed review


Thanks man. Here's one more screenshot explaining the controls without using computer:

*i.imgur.com/oiPzkPk.jpg



kunalgujarathi said:


> Ok so I have MX437 series bought a year ago!
> What I noticed by far that Ink Tank quality is far superior than CISS!
> Hence I bought XL cartridges and refill it.
> Basically way better than ink tank!


But which CISS exactly? ESYINK or any other?
Like I said, my old Epson was on cartridges and the quality was inferior, compared to this Canon with Esyink CISS system. But this could be due to inferior quality of Epson, by a bigger margin.

So, you could be right about the quality, but for me it was a choice of whether I can accept the running costs, and non availability of cartridges in my relatively small city. Clearly, I couldn't.

Epson cartridge was not available off the shelf anywhere in my whole city. Nor are other cartridges, whereas ink bottles are available off the shelf in most places, you don't have to order them. I was fed up & had no choice. For me, CISS system is turning out well, I would say.


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## kunalgujarathi (Mar 1, 2014)

Samarth 619 said:


> Thanks man. Here's one more screenshot explaining the controls without using computer:
> 
> *i.imgur.com/oiPzkPk.jpg
> 
> ...



A confussion here!
Ink Tank refers cartridges!Genuine Canon Cartridges which I am reusing from 6 months


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## sujoyp (Mar 1, 2014)

very nice review...thanks a lot ....It will help m decide


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## saswat23 (Mar 2, 2014)

This seller is selli9ng the total kit for 5.5k only: 
Canon Pixma MP287 ALL IN ONE Printer With ESY INK Tanks System With Bill | eBay


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## Samarth 619 (May 29, 2014)

UPDATE: I got the ink bottles to top up the tanks (they were 75% but I like keeping things ok in advance) and the printer is doing very good so far...

Filling up the inks is a bit messy affair, and the ESYINK bottles are also not well made. If you press them to unleash more ink, it will instead come out from the bottle's neck where the top cap is screwed.
Very patiently, drop by drop it should be refilled. Refilling is done through the bigger hole of the Ink tanks...

If you hurry up refilling, your hands will look like they look after Holi... 


I still go to Printer options and increase Brightness and Contrast to get a good bright image. But the image turns out good for home purposes.
I've printed them and gifted them with glass, etc. frames to people, and they love it! Printing it on 270 GSM Photo paper is best. Otherwise, you shouldn't go below 200 GSM is what I believe... I've used both of these papers.



(NOTE: GSM is Gram/ Square metre and is basically an index of a paper's weight and thickness. The more GSM the paper is, the better and thicker the paper is and can absorb more ink.)


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## samaresh7 (Jun 27, 2014)

Where to buy online?? is ebay sellers reliable?


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## RON28 (Jun 29, 2014)

nice review keep it up


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## Samarth 619 (Nov 15, 2014)

Guys, one update... To get best results out of your photos, You must use good quality photo paper too...


For months together, I had used GoColor A4 Photo paper (240 GSM) which is around Rs. 9/ sheet, and I couldn't get good quality, but assumed that it is due to my printer...

Only recently, I got a set of 80 A4 Kodak Photopapers of 200 GSM which sell at Rs. 10/ sheet (in a group of 80 sheets), and I was surprised at the high quality photo printouts coming out...! Then, I noticed I'm using Kodak paper for the first time in life...! 

The results for daytime photos were lab-like quality!!! For night photos, it was slightly lesser than lab quality, but still surprising.


So, always use Photo papers from good companies like Kodak, HP, Epson, Canon, etc. for best results.... They do matter! I learned it the experimental way. And by using them you might be surprised at the results of your home printer itself.


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## shabbirc (Feb 19, 2015)

Really a great review!! Based on reading your review I had purchased the Canon MP287 with ESYINK Ink tank system through the Canon Service Center. However, I am right now facing an issue with the ink not completely going into the cartridges. Basically there is a vacuum between the cartridges and the ink in the pipes. 

Would you know a way to resolve this issue?


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## kunalgujarathi (Feb 20, 2015)

I too installed ink tank on my MX437
Pretty tough to work around but at last I succeeded.

Attached are the pics.





My first print(Just scanned and copied the cover of springpad)


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## GhorMaanas (Feb 21, 2015)

seems to be a good review! own the MP287 since 2011, but never spotted this thread. subscribed to it to go through it at leisure. good work  @Samarth 619 !


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## shabbirc (Feb 22, 2015)

Just got the answer from the Canon technician ... we need to use press the Tool key on the printer till "y" is displayed in the counter and then press the black or colour buttons for deep cleaning of the heads which in turn also removes the vacuum between the ink and cartridges in the pipes. You need to repeat these steps until the vacuum is removed.


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## Samarth 619 (Feb 22, 2015)

shabbirc said:


> Really a great review!! Based on reading your review I had purchased the Canon MP287 with ESYINK Ink tank system through the Canon Service Center. However, I am right now facing an issue with the ink not completely going into the cartridges. Basically there is a vacuum between the cartridges and the ink in the pipes.
> 
> Would you know a way to resolve this issue?


By "cartridges", do you mean the modified cartridges inside the printer, or do you mean the ink tanks outside the printer?

About me, well, I'm facing a problem that sometimes, instead of the ink, air flows through the pipes.... In other words, instead of continuous ink, there's a medium sized air bracket that flows inside the tubes. Well, I don't know of a permanent solution so far.

Its shown, in the pic below:

*www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/uploads/3434_cimg6745_640x480.jpg

But what I do is... As long as there is ink going inside the cartridge inside the printer, (I mean, as long as the air bracket is far away from the cartridge inside), I continue using it...
And when the air bracket in the pipes is close to the cartridge inside (as seen in the pic above), I just initiate "Deep Cleaning" from the Canon My Printer Menu. That flows some ink and clears the air bracket in the pipes.
Then, the printer can be used again with all its colors.

Of course, I admit its a hassle, but the cost benefits are huge anyways, for the kind of system.



GhorMaanas said:


> seems to be a good review! own the MP287 since 2011, but never spotted this thread. subscribed to it to go through it at leisure. good work  @Samarth 619 !


Thanks dude... I think if you have an older printer, you should just go for it! The cost benefits will be huge & noticeable immediately.
Of course, there will be a certain reliability factor, but its anyways not too risky in my opinion.
And you won't think twice even before printing pics.


So far, around 2 or so years have passed and I'm still using it. And openly, including photo prints, huge documents, e books from internet, etc, etc. 
And I've only purchased 1 bottle of cyan, yellow & magenta each and 2 of Black, total 5 bottles, and they're still not empty.


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## shabbirc (Feb 23, 2015)

Samarth 619 said:


> By "cartridges", do you mean the modified cartridges inside the printer, or do you mean the ink tanks outside the printer?
> 
> About me, well, I'm facing a problem that sometimes, instead of the ink, air flows through the pipes.... In other words, instead of continuous ink, there's a medium sized air bracket that flows inside the tubes. Well, I don't know of a permanent solution so far.
> 
> ...



Yes I was talking about the modified cartridges in the printer. Thanks for the detailed info Samarth .... I tried the same thing by doing deep cleaning and the issue got resolved. However, I am having only two modified cartridges (Black & Color) against six displayed in the pic for your printer. 

The current issue is with the Cyan ink not being printed, though the ink can be seen going into the modified color cartridge. I clicked the maintenance button and selected "A" in the LED and printed a nozzle check pattern page that displayed no color for Cyan. The Canon Tech told me the head must have gone and they would have to clean it with I guess Isopropyl ... if this does not work, then the color cartridge would have to be replaced. 

I would like your views on this if there is any other way to solve this issue?


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## Samarth 619 (Feb 27, 2015)

shabbirc said:


> Yes I was talking about the modified cartridges in the printer. Thanks for the detailed info Samarth .... I tried the same thing by doing deep cleaning and the issue got resolved. However, I am having only two modified cartridges (Black & Color) against six displayed in the pic for your printer.
> 
> The current issue is with the Cyan ink not being printed, though the ink can be seen going into the modified color cartridge. I clicked the maintenance button and selected "A" in the LED and printed a nozzle check pattern page that displayed no color for Cyan. The Canon Tech told me the head must have gone and they would have to clean it with I guess Isopropyl ... if this does not work, then the color cartridge would have to be replaced.
> 
> I would like your views on this if there is any other way to solve this issue?


Firstly, Sorry for confusing you. I took this image from the internet, just to explain the "air in tube" phenomenon. Its not my own image, and yes, my printer also has 2 internal cartridges, one Black and one color with 3 tubes going in it.

As for your issue, let me clarify that even if ink is going inside the cartridge, you may require upto 6-8 "Deep Cleaning" and a printout after each clean to check whether its resolved or not.
Sometimes, the ink just gets clogged with paper debris or gets dried up on the print head.

Feel free to use the same paper again and again for test print, as you will know when the Cyan starts printing, till then the cyan area remains empty.... and the rest of colors do get overwritten, which is not harmful anyways.
Yes, 6-8 Deep cleans might seem a lot. But I've had similar times as yours, when the ink seemed to go inside the cartridge but the print wasn't showing it...
Sometimes, only 2-3 deep cleaning repeats were enough, but at one time 6-8 cleans were required.


Although your symptoms match the ones for damaged print head, I still think that your issue is not related to print head as in that case, it should show a problem with all colors and there are symptoms like white lines running across the printouts.
If a good amount of Deep Cleaning does not solve the problem, then you can go ahead with what the canon service person advised.


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## Samarth 619 (Jul 12, 2016)

Finally spotted the biggest shortcoming of my ESYINK ink tank system:- Low Quality inks....!

I just noticed that some of my pics have the same shine as new, but others are gradually fading into yellow-orange like pic.
Firstly, I thought maybe due to photo paper quality but that was not the case, because all were Kodak paper of equal quality.
Now, I remember, the pics with great quality were printed when Canon's original ink was there in modified cartridges, but as that depleted, the ESYINK came into play, which is normally a good ink on quality, but it fades a whole lot faster.

So, guys, my suggestion is that you get yourselves high quality Canon Inks as their printers G2000 and G3000 have become official *(Epson inks have different tone from Canon)*..
or best would be, go for original ink tank printers itself, like Epson L220 or Canon G2000.


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## ROCKY77777 (Nov 24, 2016)

VERY NICE POST . detail information . where in rajasthan are you from because i am from rajasthan too .
also , is it really costly because i have visited amazon.in and read the reviews . many have rated them horrible . the cartrige goes down after few 50-70 color prints . thats terrible right ?


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## Samarth 619 (Jan 30, 2017)

ROCKY77777 said:


> VERY NICE POST . detail information . where in rajasthan are you from because i am from rajasthan too .
> also , is it really costly because i have visited amazon.in and read the reviews . many have rated them horrible . the cartrige goes down after few 50-70 color prints . thats terrible right ?


I think you must have seen reviews for MP287 only, not the one with ink tank installed (unofficially, not company fitted).

MP287: 3990.
With ink tank: 6500.
But these are old prices... The printer is discontinued now.
I have the ink tank installed, and so my ink didn't deplete...  Ink tank is working perfectly fine even after 3 years.... I only had to get one additional set of ink, that's it.
But the thing is, the rest of the printer from Canon wasn't built to give so many printouts that I've taken over 3-4 years... so the paper feed is now giving trouble. Will call mechanic today for repair.


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## Samarth 619 (Feb 10, 2017)

*UPDATE:* Called the mechanic and he gave me an offer of a brand new MP287 for Rs. 2500 in buyback. I said yes. So, the paper feed issue is solved as its a new printer now.
Ink tank working excellent as usual. The overall printer is doing good obviously.


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## kunnusingh (Apr 9, 2017)

I have a same Printer and Ink tank is really bad, You must need to put tank in top area or 2 foot above of printer else it will stop printing so later I remove ink tank and prefer to use "refill" option.

Its easy to refill and since my requirement is not big like 100 page per day or even 5 page per day so refill will be much better for normal usage.

I purchased a refurbished Cartridge which cost less and use old original empty color cartridge because of I don't need color copy and cost of color cartridge is high and it does not give even more than 20 color printout.

Once color empty from your cartridge then inktank color will not give correct color printout and you will feel that color tank is useless.


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