Canon PIXMA G5020

Canon PIXMA G5020 GI-20 Ink Bottles

The Canon PIXMA G5020 is a MegaTank refill-tank printer that prints with GI-20 Black (140 ml, about 6,000 pages), GI-20 Cyan (70 ml, about 7,700 pages), GI-20 Magenta (70 ml, about 7,700 pages), GI-20 Yellow (70 ml, about 7,700 pages). Clever Supplies compatible versions are filled to the original specification and carry a lifetime warranty.

Document volume is what a MegaTank is bought for, and the PIXMA G5020 is a refill-tank printer built around that work, with color tanks for the pages that need them. Its GI-20 bottles are therefore bought by tank, not by cartridge slot. Check the code on your current bottle against the listings below before ordering.

A full set of these bottles is rated at 6,000 black and 7,700 color pages in standard mode. The black bottle is pigment for documents; the three color bottles are dye-based.

Which ink should you buy for the PIXMA G5020?

Black bottle for documents: the Compatible Canon GI-20 Black Ink Bottle — $14.99 — the black bottle for document work, and usually the first tank to run low on a printer used mainly for text.
Cyan for cool tones: the Compatible Canon GI-20 Cyan Ink Bottle — $10.49 — the cyan supply behind blues and greens in photos, charts and everyday color pages.
Magenta for warm tones: the Compatible Canon GI-20 Magenta Ink Bottle — $10.49 — the magenta supply behind reds, pinks and skin tones in photos and graphics.
Yellow for warm highlights: the Compatible Canon GI-20 Yellow Ink Bottle — $10.49 — the yellow supply behind warm highlights, sunny tones and bright graphics.
Four-bottle BCMY set: the Compatible Canon GI-20 Set of 4 BCMY Ink Bottles — $37.44 — one bottle each of black, cyan, magenta and yellow, for a complete refill of all four tanks.

Refilling and everyday use

Refills do not change with the job: a document run and a color page both wait for the same tank to be topped up. Each GI-20 bottle fits only its own tank, so topping up is hard to get wrong: uncap the tank, seat the bottle, wait for the level line, done. Never mix colors or top a tank with a different GI family, because the keying exists since the ink formulations differ. If a refill leaves the level sensor confused, run the printer's ink flush or level reset from its maintenance menu.