A Better way to Refill the XL 551 Cartridges

[barfl2]

ThrillaMozilla You're either lucky or doing something right. Depending on ink and the method of filling, sometimes the entire charge of ink is converted to foam. That what I was worried about putting air back into the cart, even worse with an opaque one where you cannot see anything.

I have had Freedom refills which have gone like a dream, two or three pulls carts is full, but too many others where I get this foamy ink in the syringe. I always start with the cart on the top of the syringe. On the other hand the commercial products are the reverse. I have tried making a box type jig but it is neither better nor worse than the modified clip.

I am assuming the condition of the cart may have something to do with the ease or otherwise of this method? i.e. just out of the printer say, which ThrillaMozilla probably does rather than a cart just picked up at random which might be too dry.

I also noticed that one manufacturer now offers an Air Box to remove any air bubbles left. The blurb maintains NO refill method can completely be free of bubbles in the cart which can travel through and cause the well known banding and starvation.

 

[The Hat]

If you setup your syringe with plenty of ink in it, (more than you need) say 25 ml. and keep your cartridge on the bottom
the effects of any air bubbles that might form are negligible.

Your very first action is to pull a vacuum on your cartridge, now that will give you air bubbles in the ink in your syringe,
but when you let go of the plunger and wait a minute the only thing that can go back into your cartridge is ink, which is what you want.

All of the air bubbles will migrate to the top of the ink in your syringe and remain passive then burst and die,
it does help to have an excessive amount of ink in the syringe to achieve 100% success.

I used this setup on these cartridges because you never know how much ink is inside the opaque cartridge till you weigh it,
and if its not enough then you can apply the same procedure once again to bring the weigh up.

All of the commercial refill rigs do work but are way too expensive for just a simple refill
and making up one of your own can work just as affect, at little or low cost (Pennies).

Keep it going but don't get it to colourful, Ops..