canon PGI5 refill woes - any ideas ???

[jimbo123]

canon PGI5 refill woes:

my PGI5 started streaking this AM. tried the usual maintenance efforts several times over, but to no avail

the last 3 canon PGI5's have done this after 2-3 refills, whereas the one before lasted for 18 refills

at first i thought it might be a print head issue, but since the new PGI5 works fine, does not appear to be the case

any ideas ???

thx

J

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Printers: Canon Pixma MP830, IP4500, MP830(spare in box)
Method: German Durchstich Method using Canon Cartridges
Ink: Hobbicolors, great guy to deal with
Misc: Squeeze bottles, needles, scabbards from Howard Electronics

 

[jflan]

Sounds like they could be drying out.
Keep them sealed airtight if they are kept in the spent state waiting to be refilled.
Have you tried purging (flushing) these carts before refilling ?

 

[jimbo123]

the last 3 PGI5's were brand new and sealed. they started streaking after 2-3 refills.

i do use the German Durchstich Method to refill and do not tape up or seal the refill hole.

was curious if any others using the German Durchstich Method have had similar experiences or any suggestions.

J

 

[jflan]

Have you tried purging (flushing) these carts before refilling ?

 

[Smile]

Try to vaccum fill them if you can that is

 

[siusiuenen]

I got same problem when i filled with formulab pigment ink. I gave up after trying everything. I notice that the sponge side is not saturated when i refill. I let my printer sit for a week and...boom. It's print fine again. I try to refill it with Hobbicolors's pigmentED without problem due to his ink mix with dye ink. Since that day, i always have another cart filled to ready for replacement. i used German Durchstich Method and i leave the fill hole open. You can give it a try. Sorry for my English.

 

[pebe]

.....I try to refill it with Hobbicolors's pigmentED without problem due to his ink mix with dye ink.........

But Hobbicolors' pigment black contains no dye.

 

[siusiuenen]

Hobbicolors offer 2 type of ink for PGI-5 : PIGMENT( pure pigment ink) and PIGMENTed <--- which he said it more friendly to the print head( and more friendly to the cart for me). I read somewhere or here what i don't remember that he mix with dye ink and it not waterproof as i confirmed. But that is not what i concern. I am not expert so i leave that for other. As i said above, i use PIGMENTed ink form Hobbicolors and jimbo 123 can give it a try or he let his cart sit for awhile before he use it if he have pigment ink what i guess

 

[pebe]

FYI: In view of what you said I was surprised to find that Hobbicolors do not advertise the part-pigment/part-dye ink. So I contacted them and they advised me that they no longer supply it.

 

[Tin Ho]

BCI-3ebk and PGI-5 (and some newer breeds of Canon PG cartridges) are supposed to be refilled with pigment black ink. If they are refilled with black dye ink the printed black text print will bleed a little. The result is text that looks fuzzy and poor quality. The text will smear easily when you use highlighter over the text. Flyers posted outdoors or Avery mailing labels will be subject to moisture/water damage when exposed to fog or rain. Unless you don't care about all these problems you really should refill with good black pigment ink. Good quality black pigment ink is far more expensive than black dye photo ink. If a seller offers a black pigment ink and black dye ink at a same or similar prices you can guess what kind of black pigment ink it may be.

There is a problem. When BCI-3ebk and PGI-5 cartridges are repeatedly refilled with good black pigment ink the sponges in these cartridges will eventually have enough dried pigments that clog and block the micro passages that ink and air normally flow through for the cartridge to work properly. This happens to such cartridges that are refilled at a longer period of time, because the pigments were given more time to dry up in the sponge. If the cartridges are emptied (by use of course) and refilled everyday such clog probably will less likely to occur.

The interesting thing about this is these cartridges will work just fine before they are refilled. They can be used until the last drop of ink is exhausted leaving some dried up pigments in the sponge. But as soon as fresh ink is injected into the cartridge the remaining micro passages in the sponge are then filled up. This changes the capillarity of the sponge significantly enough to drastically reduce the ink flow as a result. What happens next is the print head gets clogged and you will witness streaking on your text print.

I have learned to avoid this problem by purging my BCI-3ebk and PGI-5 cartridges once every month or every 3 to 5 refills. If you use spongeless cartridges this will probably never happen. If you use your printer frequently and refill frequently this will not happen either. If you don't refill. That means each time you plug in a new OEM cartridge. This will not happen either. It is a result of refilling.

This problem does not happen to all BCI-6 and CLI-8 ink cartridges. Color dyes are soluble to water. Dried up dyes in the sponge will be dissolved again when fresh ink is injected into an empty cartridge. I almost never purge any of my BCI-6 and CLI-8 ink cartridges. I never had problems without any purging.