A handy Refillers check list guide.

[The Hat]

This is mainly aimed at top refilling but some hints are for both methods.

Do not attempt to refill any cartridge while its still in your printer.
Using good quality inks from a well known supplier is essential for trouble free printing.

OEMs are most definitely the best cartridges to use for refilling by a country mile.
Always remember to reset the chip on your cartridge first before refilling.

Dont forget to put the orange shoe clip onto the bottom of your cartridge after you reset the chip.
Its important to reseal the hole in the top of your cartridge 100% air tight (No less).

Its prudent to keep a spare battery for your resetter; it will come in very handy.
If using ARC chips it is an essential to visually check the ink levels in each cartridge before starting a print run.

It helps to print a test page or nozzle check weekly to maintain a healthy print head.
If you have a clog or blocked print head do not print anything except a nozzle check till its clear and healthy again.

Its more economical to change all your cartridges together if one or more is showing the low ink warning notice.
The use of capped SquEasy bottles reduces the possibilities of ink spills when refilling.

Labelling your ink refill bottles clearly should help prevent you from using the wrong inks (especially photo colours).
When swapping over chips to new cartridges its always better to do them one at a time.

There are probably a dozen more handy hints that could be added to this guide so guys
Just add them on the bottom and it might even help some of us old guys stop cursing & swearing when we make silly mistakes..

 

[Grandexp]

Does it make any difference in resetting the chip before and after refilling the cartridge? Why does it have to be reset before refilling the cartridge?

 

[PeterBJ]

There is much less risk of ink spilling on the resetter and chip if you reset an empty cartridge. A refilled cartridge may drip if it is squeezed even slightly when resetting. Ink is electrically conductive and could cause the resetter and/or the chip to malfunction, maybe even ruin them. This thread by easytimes is about problems with one cartridge. The problems were most likely caused by ink on the resetter or chip: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=7275&p=1

So reset before you refill is a very good advice.

 

[panos]

Labelling your syringes with a CD marker (after you clean the surface with alcohol) should also help prevent contamination.

Never hesitate to replace and dispose of ink that is giving you troubles. Trouble free printing is far more important than saving a little money.

 

[PeterBJ]

Use latex gloves when refilling. Ink stains on your hands are hard to remove. It often takes 2 or 3 days for the ink to be completely gone, no matter how often you wash your hands.

 

[ghwellsjr]

There is much less risk of ink spilling on the resetter and chip if you reset an empty cartridge. A refilled cartridge may drip if it is squeezed even slightly when resetting. Ink is electrically conductive and could cause the resetter and/or the chip to malfunction, maybe even ruin them. This thread by easytimes is about problems with one cartridge. The problems were most likely caused by ink on the resetter or chip: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=7275&p=1

So reset before you refill is a very good advice.

Another good reason to reset before refilling is that sometimes a chip is bad, especially if you got a used cartridge from somewhere else and this is the first time you use it, so you'd like to find that out before you waste ink refilling a cartridge with a bad chip.

 

[joseph1949]

To: PeterBJ

I have a cure for ink stained hands. When I first started to fill carts I used latex gloves. I did not like using the gloves. The gloves were a super pain to put on. And taking the gloves off was not fun either, especially if you wanted to reuse the gloves.

So I stopped using the gloves and I got ink stained hands. So, what to do?

I discovered that spraying a weak solution of bleach and water on the hands and then add mild hand soap will remove the ink forthwith. You may have to apply the bleach/water/hand soap more than once. If you wait a while before applying the solution/hand soap the harder it is to remove the ink. Sooner is better than later. At least for me the solution/soap did not hurt my hands. Your result may differ.

Thank you.

 

[jtoolman]

The idea is to have a second set of carts already filled reset and ready to go.
Then you can refill the set you just removed at your leasure.
That IS the best scenario to prevent your printer from conduncting a purge after each individual cart is replaced. That would be occuring pretty often if you print a lot. The Domino Effect!
Depending on the number of carts your printer has, you will reduce the purging by that number.
This will greatly extend the life of your waste ink pad as well.

 

[Grandad35]

I discovered that spraying a weak solution of bleach and water on the hands and then add mild hand soap will remove the ink forthwith. You may have to apply the bleach/water/hand soap more than once. If you wait a while before applying the solution/hand soap the harder it is to remove the ink. Sooner is better than later. At least for me the solution/soap did not hurt my hands. Your result may differ.

I put about 1 pint (1/2 liter) of warm later in a bathroom sink, then add about 5-10% of household bleach to the warm water. Rub the solution over the stained areas of skin until the color is reduced to an acceptable level - it will be completely gone in a few hours even if there is a little color left after washing. Then, wash with a good hand soap to remove the bleach and rub in some hand cream to counter any drying or cracking. Obviously, keep the bleach from splashing into your eyes. With dye based inks, your skin is dyed by the ink (just as it is by certain juices), so the stain can't be "washed off" without removing the top layer of skin. The bleach is fading (oxidizing) the stain in your skin caused by the dye. As such, hydrogen peroxide and other oxygen bleaches should also work in this application (but I have never tried them).

Pigment ink is far more resistant to fading, but you should be able to wash off most of the pigment particles with a good hand soap like that used by mechanics. Some pigment inks also contain dyes, so it may be necessary to also use the bleach wash.

 

[gigigogu]

Never mix inks from different manufacturers. Always flush the cartridge before using a new ink. After swapping to new ink do a couple of cleaning cycles or print few pages to remove old ink from printhead.
Do a nozzle check after replacing a cartridge.
Do a nozzle check before and after lengthy print jobs.