Primera Bravo SE Ink cartridges compatible with Dymo DiscPainter?
 

The Dymo Discpainter is still popping up (NiB) New in Box in several places... long after it was discontinued.

Its a small dedicated CD/DVD inkjet printer with a static print head and swappable Tricolor ink cartridge. I was scanning for other labeling options and the color of the plastic print cartridge of a Primera Bravo SE CD/DVD duplicator caught my eye, it was the same as the Discpainter. Upon looking very closely the (non-Lexmark) second generation 53332 and 53335 cartridges for the Primera Bravo SE in TriColor and solid Black looked identical to the Discpainter cartridges, right down to the print head mask and little plastic tabs and indentations.

I was skiddish of continuing to use the Discpainter for labeling, on the assumption the Ink cartridges from Dymo would be drying up after nearly ten years. (okay.. poor choice of words) :wink2:

But this opens up new possibilities (1) a new source (2) improved technology (3) third party Ink refill kits for the Primera Bravo 53332/53335 cartridges, typically ten refills per OEM cartridge might work on the Dymo cartridges.

Another thought is a Black cartridge might vastly extend the lifespan of a discpainter which was rated at 2000 discs. Three print head drivers all pumping out Black might last 2000 x 3 times as long.. or 6000 discs if managed to print only monochrome labels.

Swapping between Black and Tricolor opens up the idea of using it for either mode of printing discs as well, ideally a Black cartridge would last three times as long before a single refill.

My question is has anyone actually tried using a Primera Bravo SE cartridge in a Discpainter?

Not sure. You may have to be the guinea pig and try it.

I guess so.. also found the Mexico "Series 11" cartridge seems to have been an extremely popular generic cartridge for Dell and a whole slew of other normal track side-to-side Inkjet printers. They differ only in very minor raised bumps on the top back half of the cartridge. They are "all" Tricolor. They appear to "all" have the same shape and built in print heads.

I'm getting that sinking feeling again "everyone knew this but me.." and that this might be very common knowledge. :o

There might be literally hundreds of $5 and $8 cartridges that will fit the Discpainter and do the exact same thing.

Primera seems to have been unique in adding first a barcode to the Lexmark Ink cartridges which their printer scanned before allowing a print job to begin.. to prevent using generic cartridges. The next gen cartridges appears from "descriptions" to have been upgraded to an RFID tag inside the cartridge to prevent people from swapping the bar code from "used" to "fresh" Lexmark cartridges.. which were much cheaper than the Primera branded Lexmark cartridges.

The Mexico "Series 11" which Dell sold went for about $5 on the open market. The Discpainter looks to have not had any type of light scanner or RFID reader in the Inktray.. it was a far simpler device.. so probably would not enforce using only "official" OEM inks... but its only speculation.

I might get some cheap Dell Series 11 cartridges and see if they fit.

Can't speak to your question about cartridge compatibility, but your assumption that the ink can go bad is correct. Not only can ink dry up and clog the heads for all-in-one carts (even never used), but since most (all?) inkjet ink is organic, it can go bad, changing color. I used to think the expiration date on carts was just marketing, but I've used expired HP and Lexmark color carts whose color has gone off, up to a complete muddy brown.

I've only read about two types of ink, dye, and true suspension. The dye being a solution that would need a chemical reaction to change and the suspension inevitably 'settling out' or separating into layers in a kind of gel in the cartridge over time which can't practically be re-suspended while inside the cartridge. I think most cheap tricolors are based on the latter so they have a definite predictable glide path to expiration.

Dymo DiscPainter Compatible Cartridges
 

I know this is a bit old, but there's been a resurgence of these printers on eBay. We buy and refurbish these printers; and we've found a source for the original Dymo #11 (18C0970) cartridges, but they are getting scarce.

So, finding this post was helpful to get us started. Here is what we've found:

We tested the Primera Bravo 53332/53335 cartridges, and they are not compatible. The printer reports them as bad cartridges.

However, we have found that the Lexmark 18C0781 Color Ink Cartridge is a near-drop-in replacement for the original Dymo #11 cartridges.

We recommend one minor modification -- to snip one of the tabs off -- to let the cartridge retaining latch seat better.

We've added a couple of pictures to this posting.

I hope this helps the folks who still need to use CDs, DVDs, and BluRay media. Apparently, there are a lot of folks out there who still like to customize media.

Thanks for adding that tip. :congrats:

OK, it's all true. I've had Dymo Discpainters for years, and still have the need to deliver final products to clients on disc format. Only problem as you all know is Dymo quit making the Discpainter at least 5 years ago, and the ink carts if you can still find them are minimum of $40. My issue is that I may not print out a disc for 6 or 8 months at a time, and by then the Dymo ink is always dried up, so it goes to waste. I get a few prints out of it, then its done next time I need it. Ends up costing me several dollars of ink per disc.

I read the update on this thread about the Lexmark cart being a replacement for the Dymo ink, and quickly ordered one on amazon for $9 and change, with tax it came out to about $11 on my doorstep. Opened it today, clipped off one of the little plastic tabs and then filed it smooth. Placed it in Dymo and fired it up, and lo and behold, out came a nice clean black ink print of what I needed. I quickly ran 8 discs thru it that I need to ship out, all came out well. I clipped the part number off the box of Lexmark ink and taped it to the side of the Dymo with todays date to see how long it will last.

Hoping for good results.

Don't forget the Primera cartridges can be "refilled" up to five times.

There are ink refill kits on the "Bay" basically bottles of ink with syringes for piercing and refilling the ink chambers.

Also, don't forget to get a cartridge sealer, back in the day with Canon cartridges there were official and unofficial cartridge containers which "sealed" the cartridge up so the ink nozzles did not dry out and get clogged. I'm not sure.. I have not looked into "official" ones in a while.. but people have used very small tupperware spice containers for the same purpose.

I've seen other people use ziplock freezer bags.

The thing is to make sure NOT to lay them on their side so the ink drops can loose their minisus and run out. They have to be positioned up and down like they are when the cartridge is installed in the printer and held in that position.

What is not known for sure is if the ink will settle out over time, as discussed way above and turn to jelly. I tend to think not.. I think they are the "dye type" of ink.. but finding out would probably be an extreme case.. it would probably take 6 months to a year or two for that to happen.. accelerated by not sealing them up.

Excellent news however!

I'm eager to get my dymo printers serviced next month.

General Findings
 

Good news for the folks on this forum being able to revive their DiscPainters! Honestly, I thought I was just reporting on a dead thread. Since it's not, here are some notes we've compiled:

-- Refilling the cartridges with the Primera Bravo ink kits has yielded varying results. We've even taken cartridges apart, thoroughly washed them, re-inked them and had them work (but only for a while). Sometimes the refill prolongs the life of the cartridge, sometimes not. And, you do have to be careful inserting the needle -- too far, and you run the risk of piercing the foil ink supply leaves.

-- ALWAYS (yeah, all caps, sorry) seal your cartridge when it's not in-use and stand it up as if it were in the printer. You want gravity working for you with these, and you want to use a small plastic zipper bag that is air-tight. Regardless of cartridge (Dymo or Lexmark), they have been lasting for months between test discs we run for the refurbished Dymo DiscPainters we refurbish and sell on, as you say, the Bay.

-- If a cartridge appears to have dried out, try this: let it sit upright (as if in the printer) in a small tray with 1/4" water for a few hours, then gently wipe the head (across, side-to-side; not back to front) with a paper towel. Then, put it into the printer and run a "Heavy Clean" with the monitor program. We've seen this technique work time after time to revive the cartridge.

-- For test prints, we don't like to waste media. So, we buy CD labels (cheap, like $11 for 500) and using our Neato applier, put them on both sides of spent CDs. That way we can use the monitor program to run test prints (you know, the concentric rings of colors).

-- We've tested on nearly every OS. What we've found is that the original 32-bit (there is no 64-bit) software works on Windows 10 Pro w/o issue. See any of our listings for used/Refurbished DiscPainters on the Bay. We detail which OS we've tested, results, and warnings.

-- We have a refurbishing service on (once again, the Bay). For $85, we replace the failing belt (all of the Dymo DiscPainters we've acquired needed new belts), update the firmware to the latest, clean the mechanism and the tray that's used to clean the cartridge (always messy and full of old ink), and then we run a test print to make sure it's up-and-running. Just search for "Refurbishing service for Dymo DiscPainter" if you'd like our help.

Glad to hear our efforts have helped some folks out there!

Cheers!

Thank you for the useful information Cody.

Bumping this because I picked up one of these printers in supposedly new/open box condition and the prints are coming out wavy and distorted on Verbatim matte media. I thought it might be the SureThing software I'm using but even the included Dymo software produces poor results. Latest drivers and firmware. Any ideas?

Hi. It's one of three things:
-- The belt is slipping (most probable)
-- The disc is slipping on the platter
-- The media is a problem (for some reason).

My bet is the belt or the platter. Check the platter to make sure the rubber mat holding the disc is clean. You could put some sticky double-sided tape on, just to be sure.

If it's not that, I'd bet the belt is the issue.

One other thing -- get some paper disc labels and use them on some of the spent discs. That will keep you from burning through media, and the paper disc label will prove it's not a media issue.

Hope that helps.

Hey everyone, I'm incredibly thankful for this thread.

This message is really for everyone here, so I am just posting it as such.

If anyone might be able to give me some clarification regarding the Dymo DiscPainter and the use of the Lexmark 18C0781 Color Ink Cartridge as a replacement...

Devilonmyback, you said you tried it out and it dropped in perfectly (after the modification to the clip) and it printed black. This Lexmark 18C0781 Color Ink Cartridge I got is color. As it was the one that was recommended. Dumb question... if I drop it in after the modification and want to print black, will it do so?

I have yet to open to open my DiscPainter. Just got one used that is supposedly in working order.

Anyway, I hope my question is clear. Because I'd like to be able to buy these Lexmark 18C0781 Color Ink Cartridges and have them refilled when the run out of ink.

Anway input about this for clarification would be great. I'm used to dealing with a Bravo 4100 and all it's frustrating qualities, so I am looking forward to downsizing.

Thanks folks.

And man I'm sorry about all those typos, I was writing that post on my phone while standing on a train. =\

Thanks again.

I just wanted to add to this thread that I took the suggestion of trying the Lexmark 18C0781 which worked perfectly! It honestly holds up better than the original Dymos I can find (overpriced) on Ebay. Thanks a million for keeping this Discpainter relevant! Now if I could just find those paper circles...

Hi Cody, I think I got to see some of your videos on YouTube as well. I just got a DiscPainter, Open Box Model, Never used. I did all what was needed from the forum post for a Lexmark cart to be accepted, but it still flashes red. Then from what I've seen in your videos, another modification is needed for the printer to accept #1 carts. The printer is also on the latest firmware. What should I do next?

Thank you!