A new way to fill

[ghwellsjr]

I remember seeing this video some years ago, but I think the CaBox Mini has been discontinued. IIRC it was very expensive, only intended for professional refillers.

If you want to experiment with this technique, here is a link to a Russian site with a simple way of doing this. The site also has an alternative version of "The German Method" using a curved needle to enter the reservoir from the ink outlet. For the vacuum fill method check out pictures 29 to 32.

I used Google translate to translate into English. I don't know if this link to the Danish Google Translate site will work outside Denmark ?

Your English translation works fine here in the USA but I couldn't find a vacuum method promoted there. Is that what you were suggesting?

 

[PeterBJ]

Hi Ghwellsjr

I think the trick is to seal the vent with a piece of tape, so you can create a vacuum in the cartridge. Then with a syringe filled with 10 ml of ink draw out 10 ml of air and release the piston. Ink should now be drawn into the cartridge.

Do you have the (sort of) English text and the pictures in the translation ? Here is what I think describes a vacuum method : (Italics mine)

Syringe plunger is pulled (Photo 30), creating negative pressure inside the cartridge, thereby sucking air into the syringe from the compartments.

After the cessation of air piston is released and the container are drawn into the ink (photo 31).

In an other thread about the workings of Canon cartridges a bottom fill method was described. I tried that and it was really a bad idea. I guess many creative methods of refilling Canon carts have been invented, but there must be a reason for for only top fill and the German method to have survived.

Added: Here is the link to my attempt at bottom filling.

 

[rodbam]

It seems that the serpentine air path is the fly in the ointment especially for beginners like me that have forced ink out of the air path after using faulty refilling techniques & have to purge the cartridge again to make sure the serpentine air path is free of ink. The Ross Hardie video at Inkjetcarts really appeals to me because the vent holes are exposed & pose no mysteries as the whether they are clean or not. I think I've read here that exposing these holes is frowned upon but I fail to see why this won't work with refilling OEM cartridges unless there's some science behind Canons serpentine air path other than having a vent that won't leak in transport & the consumer can just pop the cartridges into the printer without having to remove plugs from the vent holes. With my limited knowledge I'm not game enough to try Ross Hardies way. Plus I'm almost good at the German method now
http://www.inkjetcarts.us/support/a...ges-video-installation-overview-tutorial.html
When I think of the cost of chip resetter for under $20 I'm amazed someone hasn't adapted the expensive vacuum refilling jig to a cheap product for new refillers to try, surely the jig shouldn't be much more expensive to make than a chip resetter.
The thing that I noticed in these vacuum jigs is they have a soft material that goes against the air maze which will block the air coming in to be able to pull a vacuum & should also prevent ink escaping & blocking the air maze.

 

[Nifty]

Wow, that refill system doesn't look or feel right to me at all. Especially the one where the guy is cranking up and down on the syringe like he's trying to unclog a toilet.... yeesh!

 

[ghwellsjr]

It seems that the serpentine air path is the fly in the ointment especially for beginners like me that have forced ink out of the air path after using faulty refilling techniques & have to purge the cartridge again to make sure the serpentine air path is free of ink. The Ross Hardie video at Inkjetcarts really appeals to me because the vent holes are exposed & pose no mysteries as the whether they are clean or not. I think I've read here that exposing these holes is frowned upon but I fail to see why this won't work with refilling OEM cartridges unless there's some science behind Canons serpentine air path other than having a vent that won't leak in transport & the consumer can just pop the cartridges into the printer without having to remove plugs from the vent holes.

See this post for an explanation of the serpentine path and its associated parts.

 

[slocumeddie]

This is not a recommendation.........I just found it of interest, re the above thread.....

http://www.inkjetsaver.com/prounits.html

 

[ghwellsjr]

I would recommend products from inkjetsaver (Compubiz). In fact that is where I got my vacuum chamber as described in this article.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Hi Ghwellsjr

I think the trick is to seal the vent with a piece of tape, so you can create a vacuum in the cartridge. Then with a syringe filled with 10 ml of ink draw out 10 ml of air and release the piston. Ink should now be drawn into the cartridge.

Do you have the (sort of) English text and the pictures in the translation ? Here is what I think describes a vacuum method : (Italics mine)

Syringe plunger is pulled (Photo 30), creating negative pressure inside the cartridge, thereby sucking air into the syringe from the compartments.

After the cessation of air piston is released and the container are drawn into the ink (photo 31).

In an other thread about the workings of Canon cartridges a bottom fill method was described. I tried that and it was really a bad idea. I guess many creative methods of refilling Canon carts have been invented, but there must be a reason for for only top fill and the German method to have survived.

Added: Here is the link to my attempt at bottom filling.

If you have a cartridge with 10 ml of air in it and you have a syringe with 10 ml of ink in it and you draw out 10 ml of air, you will not get all the air out of the cartridge. You will only get half the air out. All you have done is taken the air at atmospheric pressure and put it in twice the volume which will result in the pressure being one half of atmospheric. It will be no where near a perfect vacuum. Therefore, when you release the piston, only half the ink in the syringe will go into the cartridge. If you just pull on the piston again, you will have to repeat many times to get all the ink from the syringe to the cartridge.

I didn't understand your reference to photos in your quote. Where are they?

Finally, you provided a link to what you call a bottom fill method. Are there any details, especially a video, on how this works? It doesn't appear to be related at all to vacuum filling, correct?

 

[ghwellsjr]

The Ross Hardie video at Inkjetcarts really appeals to me because the vent holes are exposed & pose no mysteries as the whether they are clean or not. I think I've read here that exposing these holes is frowned upon but I fail to see why this won't work with refilling OEM cartridges unless there's some science behind Canons serpentine air path other than having a vent that won't leak in transport & the consumer can just pop the cartridges into the printer without having to remove plugs from the vent holes. With my limited knowledge I'm not game enough to try Ross Hardies way. Plus I'm almost good at the German method now
http://www.inkjetcarts.us/support/a...ges-video-installation-overview-tutorial.html

Now that I have taken time to watch Ross Hardie's video, I see that he has some incorrect ideas.

First off, if he gave you the impression that Canon's complicated air vent system is there just so it won't leak in transport or that his modified compatible cartridges can just be popped "into the printer without having to remove plugs from the vent holes", you have been mislead. He specifically said you need to remove the one plug in the air vent and recommended making two more air vent holes, thereby totally disabling Canon's air vent system designed to prevent drying out of the ink in the cartridge. He either isn't aware or doesn't care about this. His only concern is that residual ink in the air vent system won't result in an ink flow problem.

Secondly, at around 13 minutes into his video, he claims that you can refill through his new air vent hole while the cartridge is still in the printer and that the ink will eventually flow into and refill the reservoir. This is not true. If you want to follow his process, there is a much easier way that doesn't involve any modification to a cartridge. Just turn it over and dribble ink into the outlet port until the sponge is saturated but before any ink drips into the gap between the sponge and the air vent system. The only problem with this method if you have chipped cartridges is that you will have to periodically repeat the process because you will have no way of knowing when it's time to do it. With the BCI-6 cartridges, the printer will tell you when it's time. But this is a problem with Ross Hardie's scheme too.

 

[Nifty]

So many of these refill systems seem to be taking a few steps backwards from new systems like the "German Method" and even a step backward from the "standard drill & fill method". For example, I don't see how Ross Hardies way is any better than what I was doing for 10 years (hole above tank side, fill, plug)... in fact, it seems way more complicated. It definitely is a ton more work (and mess) than the German Method.

I don't get it