Cleaned and empty cartridges from more than 2 years, do I need to restore the sponge functionality?

[Radeon89]

Hi all,

I have a set of cartridges (PGI520 CLI521) that I have cleaned and left empty very long time ago (> 2 years) but that now I would like to use.

In light of this, I am sure that the sponge is completely dry, so do I need to restore the sponge funtuctionality prior to fill the cartridge with the ink?

If so, would distilled water be enough? I assume that after I should also let them dry for a while with ghwellsjr's method (link to the method).

Many thanks in advance for your support

Cheers

 

[The Hat]

That’s a loaded question if I ever heard one, so you can if you wish fill them with distilled water, then wick dry with the ghwellsjr method, but think about that for a second before you start.

You already now have good clean dry sponges starting off, so after you have filled the carts with water and then dry them again, what are you left with, good clean dry sponges... ? ?

The choice is yours, will I or won’t I...
P.S. dribble a couple of drops of Alcohol into the carts before you fill with ink...

 

[Radeon89]

@The Hat
Well, technically, as you well know, even if you apply the ghwellsjr's method for some hours, the result is a humid sponge and not a dry one like it is now.

I was just wondering if I could just fill the cartridges with the ink or not; and I did not want to make mistakes and start the year with the wrong foot eheh.

From what you are saying, I understand that I can go ahead filling them directly with ink, I just need prior to that to dribble a couple of drops of Alcohol. Is alcohol isopropyl the correct choice for this?

Thank you The Hat, I learned a lot from you in these years.

 

[The Hat]

As I said there’s no need to but if it makes you feel more comfortable to do so then go for it, if it were me, I’d be dammed and just fill them as they are, but I love to learn from my mistakes.

The idea of the alcohol is to dampen the sponge to enable it to accept the ink more rapidly, dry sponges are very slow at soaking up ink, and 1 ml of isopropyl alcohol won’t dilute the ink.

P.S. another wicking method is to put the cart in a sock and swing it fast around over your head for a minute, but don't knock yourself out...

 

[stratman]

if it were me, I’d be dammed and just fill them as they are, but I love to learn from my mistakes.

Looks like we went to the same school, though you already graduated before me.

 

[stratman]

do I need to restore the sponge funtuctionality prior to fill the cartridge with the ink?

Some say yes, some say no. There is no forum consensus.

One method of restoring poor ink uptake by the sponge is to use Pharmacist's Solution to enhance hydrophilic nature of the sponge.

Maybe try refilling one dry cartridge and see what happens. You can always go to Pharmacist's Solution or The Hat's alcohol if not satisfied. It is up to you.

 

[PeterBJ]

Weighing the refilled cartridges is a good quality check. The weight of a properly refilled PGI-520 in good condition is around 35.3 g, and the weight of the CLI521 is around 20.3 g. If the cartridges are underweight the most likely cause is air in the sponges. A cure could be treating the cartridge with pharmacist's conditioning fluid and drying it with paper towels as explained by ghwellsjr. The sponges should not be completely dry after the treatment but left slightly moist.

 

[palombian]

The first 2-3 years my 525/526 refilling (with the Durchstich method) went smoothly, afterwards the situation degraded despite flushing the cartridges and buying new ink.
I used a scale to verify ink capacity.

I guess every cartridge was refilled on average not more than 5-6 times (I had over 50 of them running on 4 printers at 3 locations).

From my experience the cartridges do not last forever.

I am restarting now with cheap 3th party cartridges (Action, € 9.99 for a set of 5).
Until now no clogs or ink feed problems.