Testing carts

[Ash]

OK after my print head having to be replaced I'm very concerned about putting a refilled cart in my machine again.

Are there any sure ways of testing the cart without causing any damage to the print head?

 

[Emulator]

If you do a few searches you will find a great deal of information about cartridges (OEM much preferred) or others. Information on testing, refilling, reconditioning the sponges (if any) and quick checks to see that the ink is flowing freely. As long as you stick to the popular inks and don't let the levels get too low you should not have problems. When asking a question, you are more likely to get answers if you provide information on printer make and model, age, cartridges and inks used etc.

 

[The Hat]

There are 3 things you can do, use OEM new carts or good brand compatible carts or refill your OEM carts yourself with good quality ink and no not ever refill compatible carts, just dump them when empty..

 

[Ash]

Printer is a MG5350 . Carts are OEM 521 and 501 just so I had the window to see the ink and I top filled them. Of cause I swapped the chips and reset them from the 526 and 525 carts.. Ink is all Octoink .

Here is my other thread about the black problem http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/mg5300-no-black-pgbk-printing.8879/#post-70612

The ink was flowing fine out of the black 520 PGBK cart but on printing there was nothing on the page and this is why the head failed.

I've been filling Canon carts for years now with my old IP4500 and never had an issue like this. I really like my new printer but now I've had this problem I was just looking of ideas and ways I could test a cart so this doesn't happen again.

 

[PeterBJ]

The ink was flowing fine out of the black 520 PGBK cart but on printing there was nothing on the page and this is why the head failed.

Probably nothing is wrong with your cartridges and refill technique. Canon print heads can fail electronically for no apparent reason. The total loss of PGBK is one typical symptom of electronic failure of the print head.

I've been filling Canon carts for years now with my old IP4500 and never had an issue like this. I really like my new printer but now I've had this problem I was just looking of ideas and ways I could test a cart so this doesn't happen again.

I refill both the older transparent BCI-3e/6 and PGI-5/CLI-8 cartridges and the newer windowed PGI-520/CLI-521 cartridges and a few opaque PGI-525/CLI-526 cartridges.

For the older transparent cartridges the German refill method with sharp needles and squeeze bottles works well for me and this is my preferred refill method for these cartridges.

I have had ink flow problems with the newer cartridges and a few of them would deliver no ink at all when inserted in the printer. I think they had the sponge damaged by the needle, so I now use the top filling method for these cartridges. I think the sponges in the newer cartridges are more fragile than those in the older cartridges and are more easily damaged by a needle.

Even with top filling these cartridges seem to develop problems with ink flow and capacity. The affected cartridges will not fill up to the normal full weight of a new and unused cartridge, but are more than 1 gram underweight for the CLI-520 cartridges and more than 2 grams underweight for the PGI-521 cartridges.

So weighing the refilled cartridges is a good health check of the cartridge and quality control of the refilled cartridge. The weight of a new OEM PGI-520 cartridges is 35.3 grams and for the CLI-521 cartridges it is 20.3 grams. The weights are without the orange clip and the vent sealing tape. If the pigment cartridge is more than 2 grams underweight or the dye cartridges are more than 1 gram underweight, I purge the cartridges. I have found that the cartridges need a purge for around each five refills.

You can test the ink flow properties of the cartridges by holding the cartridges over a sink or holding a piece of kitchen paper/paper towel under the ink outlet and blow gently into the vent. It should take very little effort to expel a drop of ink or two. If you have to blow hard to expel a drop of ink, something is wrong with the cartridge, and purging it may restore the ink flow. It is a good thing to do this test with a new OEM cartridge to get a feel of how little effort it takes to expel a drop of ink from a cartridge that is in perfect working order.

There are more than a handful of threads about problems with the newer cartridges, but I haven't searched for links.

I hope some of this helps.

 

[Emulator]

Peter, when you say blow into the cartridge vent, I assume you mean without physical contact, i.e. blow on the vent from about 3cm, as I do with the CLi8. This is sufficient to produce a drop of ink with a good CLi8.

 

[The Hat]

Peter, when you say blow into the cartridge vent, I assume you mean without physical contact, i.e. blow on the vent from about 3cm, as I do with the CLi8. This is sufficient to produce a drop of ink with a good CLi8.

Yes he does mean the full Monty but your method sounds even better so I would recommend using your method simply because it works and you can’t apply to much pressure, unlike physical contact..

 

[PeterBJ]

No, I put my lips into contact with the cartridge. I don't fear bacteria or toxic ink remnants, but with a cartridge of unknown origin I wipe the cartridge with isopropyl alcohol before doing the test.

I've just tried your method with a refilled cartridge that works perfectly well and passes my test, but I couldn't expel a drop of ink. I have also tried with a new OEM BCI-6 C cartridge, I couldn't expel ink from that cartridge either, using your method.

I just made a small ink flow tester using a 50ml squeeze bottle, a conical "needle", small pieces of silicone vacuum tubing and plastic tubing from a spray bottle, and a silicone gasket from one of Octoinkjet's flushers. It works, but not reliably. The problem is getting an airtight joining of the parts, between the silicone tubing and the silicone gasket. Maybe silicone sealant will work? Here is a scan of the tester:

 

[Emulator]

Well that is interesting. I also sometimes use a lens puffer to good effect, from a cm or so.

There is clearly a difference in the pressure. I tend to do it immediately after refilling, to test the cartridge and make sure the vent is clear. At that stage, if you remove the filler plug, you usually will get a drip or drips without any other action.

 

[Ash]

Probably nothing is wrong with your cartridges and refill technique. Canon print heads can fail electronically for no apparent reason. The total loss of PGBK is one typical symptom of electronic failure of the print head.



I refill both the older transparent BCI-3e/6 and PGI-5/CLI-8 cartridges and the newer windowed PGI-520/CLI-521 cartridges and a few opaque PGI-525/CLI-526 cartridges.

For the older transparent cartridges the German refill method with sharp needles and squeeze bottles works well for me and this is my preferred refill method for these cartridges.

I have had ink flow problems with the newer cartridges and a few of them would deliver no ink at all when inserted in the printer. I think they had the sponge damaged by the needle, so I now use the top filling method for these cartridges. I think the sponges in the newer cartridges are more fragile than those in the older cartridges and are more easily damaged by a needle.

Even with top filling these cartridges seem to develop problems with ink flow and capacity. The affected cartridges will not fill up to the normal full weight of a new and unused cartridge, but are more than 1 gram underweight for the CLI-520 cartridges and more than 2 grams underweight for the PGI-521 cartridges.

So weighing the refilled cartridges is a good health check of the cartridge and quality control of the refilled cartridge. The weight of a new OEM PGI-520 cartridges is 35.3 grams and for the CLI-521 cartridges it is 20.3 grams. The weights are without the orange clip and the vent sealing tape. If the pigment cartridge is more than 2 grams underweight or the dye cartridges are more than 1 gram underweight, I purge the cartridges. I have found that the cartridges need a purge for around each five refills.

You can test the ink flow properties of the cartridges by holding the cartridges over a sink or holding a piece of kitchen paper/paper towel under the ink outlet and blow gently into the vent. It should take very little effort to expel a drop of ink or two. If you have to blow hard to expel a drop of ink, something is wrong with the cartridge, and purging it may restore the ink flow. It is a good thing to do this test with a new OEM cartridge to get a feel of how little effort it takes to expel a drop of ink from a cartridge that is in perfect working order.

There are more than a handful of threads about problems with the newer cartridges, but I haven't searched for links.

I hope some of this helps.

Great advice, thanks. I was surprised the print head failed seeing as the printer was only a few months old and seeing as it happened just after putting in a refilled cart, I was sure that was the problem at the time. I will taking your advice about weighting the carts and the blow test.