Alternative way to refill Maxify's PGI-1200 / 1500 etc. Cartridges

[RWL]

I've read some of the refilling threads here on the Maxify series and have been watching the Youtube videos. I ran across this one where the person punctures a hole in the rear of the cartridge to refill it and then reseals it with hot melt glue rather than using vacuum from a syringe as everybody else seems to be doing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGsIntXKZc0
Has anybody here tried this? My guess is that he's using ink for a Canon Megatank printer. Any speculation on the long term effects of using this method?

 

[stratman]

Interesting video. Thank you.

It looks like he has more problems than lack of yellow. He does claim that the numerous horizontal loss of ink stripes resolve the more you print. IMO, they shouldn't be there at all. Maybe he has burned out some nozzles. Maybe they are clogs. Maybe it is the ink he uses. Maybe it is his refilling technique. Too many maybes for me.

My MB5120 uses pigment inks. I would only use pigment inks. Are the inks he uses pigment or dye-based?

Does the ink he uses offer good color fidelity? In the end, if he is satisfied then that is all that matters.

Ink level monitoring is turned off in his printer in the video. While this is acceptable, one must remain vigilant for ink starvation or else irreparable nozzle burnout can occur. Experience on the forum is that it is reasonably easy to obtain ARC chips from AliExpress and afix them to the OEM cartridges so that ink level monitoring remains functional.

The video demonstrates the personal aspect of refilling. There is more than one way to refill. People come up with inventive methods and refinements. Whatever floats your boat. As long as you enjoy your way and are satisfied with the results.

Just pick a method you feel comfortable trying and get started.

Hint: Listen closely to what @palombian and @The Hat say about their Maxify refilling techniques. They and some others have been through a lot, learned a lot, and can smooth the way for a new owner of a Maxify.

 

[Artur5]

Good points @stratman.

What I’ve learned after owning a Maxify for one year is that these are quite different machines from Canon Pixmas.
My refilling technique is quite simple. Wait for the red signal on screen warning that one cartridge is empty. Remove that cart, as recommended in the manual, refill it and reinstall. The ARC chip will reset to full. Other people refills all four cartridges at once, pulling the power cord and fiddling with a screwdriver to remove the carts, etc.. Probably that system saves ink because of less automatic cleanings but somehow I feel that the Maxify doesn’t likes at all those forced power shutdowns.

I learned too that after a cartridge change it’s quite usual to have a non perfect first nozzle check. In my case, the yellow stripes sometimes are contaminated with magenta, A normal cleaning fixes the issue, It has been said in the long thread of @palombian, that this is because of pressure compensations due to the sophisticated design of these cartridges, Anyway, with my current method, everything is fine with my MB5150

Last but non least, the choice of aftermarket ink. In my experience, Maxifys are more fussy than Pixmas in this aspect, The first brand that I tried wasn’t cheap at all but gave me no end of clogs and bad nozzle checks. The second one (Inktec) has been flawless so far.

 

[PeterBJ]

The normal price policy for printers and ink cartridges is that the printer is sold with little or no profit, the manufacturer gets the profit from the sale of expensive ink cartridges. An alternative to this price policy is the the opposite: The printer with ink tanks to be refilled by the user is expensive and the ink in bottles is not.

Some chemical tricks might be used in these inexpensive inks to prevent them from being used to refill expensive ink cartridges. These inks might react with remnants of other inks or even water used for flushing the ink cartridge. See this and this.

I would not use the bottled Canon GI-490 inks to refill the Maxify printer. I think you risk ruining the print head.

Even if the GI-490 bottled inks are made by Canon it doesn't mean that they can be used with all Canon printers. The coloured inks are dye inks and the Maxify uses pigment inks. Apart from dye/pigment there are more differences between inks used for different models of the same brand. Instead I recommend using a good quality refill ink specifically made for the Maxify printers.

 

[palombian]

I see no advantage to drill a hole in the side against refilling via the outlet except that the air will flow out this way without sucking/pushing.
And if I wanted to drill a hole I would have done it in the plug on the side near the air duct "Luftkanal zur Kammer" (from where Canon probably filled the cart).

https://www.octopus-office.de/info/...on/canon-pgi-1500-pgi-2500-cartridge-insides/

PS: My Cyan produces stripes also. It disappears for a while after a refill so the nozzles are not completely grilled yet but I can't find out what happens.
I still don't understand the vent system (why the maze is on the side meaning it should be under the ink level half of the time) but I could try to refill next time with the air vent upside.

 

[The Hat]

Has anybody here tried this? My guess is that he's using ink for a Canon Megatank printer. Any speculation on the long term effects of using this method?

I watched this guy’s video with interest, and it’s certainly another way to fill a Maxify cartridge and probably the best way to stab yourself into the bargain.

The refilling method does work and is a viable way to refill the carts short term, but the subsequent ways can cause all sorts of operational problems later, that's of course if the printer lasts the distance, I don’t reckon it will, because the print head will not take that abuse.

When it comes to Canon printers I don’t think this guy has any idea just how a bubblejet type printer works, otherwise he wouldn’t be running it in the way that he does.

This video clearly demonstrates how not to refill a Maxify cart, it shows all the things you shouldn’t do, like going at the cart with a knife that could easily cause severe injury to your hands, using a syringe that’s dirty and too small for the job and finally using DYE ink instead of pigment..

Foot note:- This is one way of refilling that I and many others could never recommend to anyone, the Maxify is a unique and special printer because it just works straight out of the box without any trouble and is so reliable, plus is a Refillers dream.. You can’t get better than that..

 

[palombian]

Oops, I should have read further:

> When filling, the air filter forms the natural upper edge or filling limit
<
Some refilling instructions mention you should close the air vent hole with a plug while refilling.
Will try this again.
Also try to flush the cart via the air vent, maybe the capillary canal or the air filter can become clogged by dried ink.

 

[RWL]

Thanks for your thoughts on this alternative method of refilling. My ink from @mikling arrived earlier in the week. Now if only the autoreset chips would arrive.

"Hint: Listen closely to what @palombian and @The Hat say about their Maxify refilling techniques."

I've read through all 32 pages of the saga. Remembering it all is the problem. The things that stood out as important were to refill OEM cartridges rather than aftermarket ones. Use pigment ink, and use the vacuum method. I'm still trying to figure out what to use on the syringe to seal the cartridge when refilling.

 

[The Hat]

I'm still trying to figure out what to use on the syringe to seal the cartridge when refilling.

Here’s a homemade gadget that I originally used for refilling and still do,
click to enlarge..
but if you want fancier ones then you can find a range of different types here.
www.octoink.co.uk/categories/Spares%2C-Parts-%26-Tools/Syringes%2C-needles%2C-luer-fittings/[/FONT][/SIZE]

 

[RWL]

@The Hat, Thanks for your picture and Octoink link. What Octoinks describes as a "tapered needle" is a pipette tip. I have some of those I saved from work and will try one of them when I get the ARC chips and actually refill my cartridges. What's different about the Octoink pipette tips (tapered needle) from mine is that theirs screws into a luer lock. Mine are made to slip onto a matching taper at the end of the mechanical pipette. I mention that for anyone looking to buy a pipette tip to do the refilling. Get one that mates with the luer lock on your syringe.