Cleaning Solution - Canon PGI-5 & CLI-8 Cartridge Flush

[ghwellsjr]

The sponges were completely dry. After I realized that the ink was not going to seep out of the reservoir into the sponge on its own, I injected some ink into the sponge directly but it only saturated one side of the sponge and when I tried to print with it, there was a lot of missing nozzles.

So is the correct procedure to first flush the cartridge with your formula until no more ink comes out, then blow as much of the liquid out as possible then immediately refill the reservoir with ink?

 

[mikling]

Are we making things more complicated than need be? I have flushed over 200 PGI-5s using Toronto ( recycled lake water in the tap ) city water that is very warm. These were allowed to dry over a period, then refilled using the traditional method using the same ink that ghwellsjr used and they all wicked perfectly. These PGI-5s were all recycled and had been totally dried out from their time in storage. These are as bad as it gets.

The method to control the amount of ink entering the top half of the sponge is simple to control. If you use a storage clip or orange cap to seal the bottom outlet when refilling, then after you have filled the reservoir around the height of the lower sponge or a tiny bit less you simply seal the air vent and then continue to fill the balance and plug the reservoir immediately. You can achieve this sealing of the air vent by many ways, the most obvious is to use a piece of tape. The faster and more convenient method is to simply put your thumb to cover the vent, then top up the reservoir and put the plug in. This takes place in seconds. I use my left hand thumb to cover the hole and use my right hand to control the syringe. Southpaws can do the opposite. The caveat is that the simplicity is aided immensely a plug that instantly and reliably reseals the reservoir without any "futzing" and a sealing clip that never allows ink to drip. In the absence of either of these, it is a more delicate operation and trickier. Considering that both these items are readily available now, why should one struggle?

It is possible that the water content in various cities can vary and they do by country. For example in Europe the type of auto coolant used is different from what had been used in Asia and the reason for that was apparently the reality that most service places used plain water from their tap in servicing autos. Thus the coolant was formulated to accommodate the type of water that was available locally. So in North America we are at the crossroads and we get all different types.
And North American auto mfrs also made their own type as well.

So far tap water has worked in my locale but that could vary.

 

[pharmacist]

Hi gwellsjr,

that's right, blow and refill immediately should do the thing. Here in Belgium the water contains so much calcium and other minerals that you actually need a waterfilter to make the water palatable and potable or making tea or coffee will become cumbersome.

 

[ghwellsjr]

So I should be able to take the cartridges that I thoroughly dried but did not inject ink into and put your conditioning formula into to resaturate the sponge material, blow it out and immediately refill and everything should work?

 

[pharmacist]

Yes it should do so, but take care the whole sponge material is impregnated well. It worked for me: I had a dried out PGI-5BK cartridge which did not absorb ink well, but after impregnating with my solution it sucks ink like hell. From my own experience this solution has only minimal effect with the dye cartridges, since the dye can be washed away completely (becomes immaculate white).

I hope you did not use pure propylene glycol, since you need only 3 % in 20 % isopropanol/distilled water solution. But it could be that the sponge contains too much dried up pigment: is it clean sofar it can be cleaned ? If not: use the same solution, but now with 5-10 drops of stronge ammonia per 100 ml conditioning solution and use this to clean the sponge (should be impregnated for several hours, blow out, flush with tap water until clean, blow out, and use the version without ammonia to impregnate again and blow out again and refill).

 

[ghwellsjr]

I made the proper mixture. I will try your explicit instructions next. Thanks very much.

 

[martin0reg]

I am refilling dried out cartridges (flushed and not flushed / german) and these are the main issues (and my ideas regarding these issues)

- refilling the reservoir is easy, air is exchanging - but afterwards the lower sponge is not absorbing the ink completely to the outlet.
Reason: sponge is too dry and water repelling?
Solution? Conditioner or refill of not totally dried out cartridges?

- just the opposite: during refilling ink is leaking out of the outlet or the refill hole because of ink pressure and no exchange of air.
Or during refilling the ink is not soaking in the lower sponge instead it is pressed to the upper sponge and up to the air vent.
Reason: Problems with air exchange. Sponge is (partly) blocked or outet filter is too "thick"?
Solution?

 

[stratman]

I am refilling dried out cartridges (flushed and not flushed / german) and these are the main issues (and my ideas regarding these issues)

- refilling the reservoir is easy, air is exchanging - but afterwards the lower sponge is not absorbing the ink completely to the outlet.
Reason: sponge is too dry and water repelling?
Solution? Conditioner or refill of not totally dried out cartridges?

- just the opposite: during refilling ink is leaking out of the outlet or the refill hole because of ink pressure and no exchange of air.
Or during refilling the ink is not soaking in the lower sponge instead it is pressed to the upper sponge and up to the air vent.
Reason: Problems with air exchange. Sponge is (partly) blocked or outet filter is too "thick"?
Solution?

Which cartridges specifically (model number and color) are you writing about?

Also, are you saying that the sponge has moved inside the cartridge and is now improperly seated?

 

[martin0reg]

These are BCI-6 OEM cartridges from ebay, empty and more or less dried out.

Some carts I have flushed 1-2 months ago and they are clean and dry. So dry that the refilled ink does not soak well into the sponge to the outlet.
The other case (ink going to the top of sponge and leaking out of the outlet during refilling) happens if I refill empty carts which are not flushed. Because I don't know how wet they still are I have tried to fill without flushing.

3 carts I have flushed yesterday, dried with a paper towel from the outlet wrapped around the carts. They are probably not completely dry. One of these I refilled now (cyan) and the sponge soaks very well - but not only in the lower sponge, the cyan ink goes in 1-2 minutes up to the top of the sponge leaving no white areas. I don't know if this will be block the air exchange from the vent of the sponge chamber to the ink chamber, I will try...

I will try to test the optimal drying time of flushed carts and refill another flushed one tomorrow (after two days)

The best thing to refill is probably a new empty OEM cart which is still wet with ink. But the most of my BCI-6 are as described above...

 

[stratman]

These are BCI-6 OEM cartridges from ebay, empty and more or less dried out.

OK. They are all dye-ink cartridges. This means that if there is dried, caked-on ink on and in the sponge, then your fresh refill dye ink will (eventually) dissolve the old dry ink and the cartridge will perform as expected.

It might be possible that the cartridge/sponge may have bacteria or fungal contaniments requiring a flush to restore optimal performance.

Depending on age and storage conditions, it might be possible that the sponge(s) has changed in structure to alter performance, but I haven't read about that much if at all.

It could also be that the sponges have moved from their proper orientation within the cartridge, so a gentle rap or two of the cartridge bottom - NOT on the ink exit port to prevent damage to the plastic geometry (according to some) - may be required to re-seat the sponges.

Some carts I have flushed 1-2 months ago and they are clean and dry. So dry that the refilled ink does not soak well into the sponge to the outlet.

This is not unexpected behavior. You can wait a few days to optimize saturation of the sponge. You might also inject a small amount of ink as you withdraw the needle to "prime" the sponge and use the cartridge immediately. If the problem remains, you might want to try "conditioning" the sponge per the recipe I will post below.

The other case (ink going to the top of sponge and leaking out of the outlet during refilling) happens if I refill empty carts which are not flushed. Because I don't know how wet they still are I have tried to fill without flushing.

This is the hit or miss nature of refilling a cartridge of unknown age, condition of the sponge, and saturation of the sponge. If the sponge is stiffer/less permeable from age or caked ink or contaminants, then the sponge will not take up refill ink smoothly or in expected quantities. The result may be overflow. Another cause is a sponge more saturated with liquid ink than you anticipate. It also might partially be refilling technique - injecting too fast - but probably is due to the other reasons. A flush may solve this problem by restoring the sponge to its optimal condition (if need be).

3 carts I have flushed yesterday, dried with a paper towel from the outlet wrapped around the carts. They are probably not completely dry. One of these I refilled now (cyan) and the sponge soaks very well - but not only in the lower sponge, the cyan ink goes in 1-2 minutes up to the top of the sponge leaving no white areas. I don't know if this will be block the air exchange from the vent of the sponge chamber to the ink chamber, I will try...

Not unusual behavior either. You don't have to wait until the sponge (actual sponges) are completely dry. The issue is the sponge has some residual water and that water is more abundant in the lower portions of the sponge, hence the lower portions of the sponge do not take up the refill ink as readily. In time, the ink and water in the sponge will equilibrate. Trying another paper towel to wick away more moisture, blowing into the vent to force more water out the ink ejection port, or letting the cartridge dry in a sunny warm (not too warm!) place for a day or two may resolve the issue. You could also inject ink slowly into the sponge as you withdraw the needle to help boost ink in the lower portion of the sponge.

As for no white areas on the sponge... it's ok. A completely ink-colored sponge does not necessarily mean trouble. If either the spongeless side or the sponge side have too much ink, the excess ink will drip out of the ink ejection port until the pressure/ink combination is equilibrated.


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My copy and pasted together compilation of posts on flushing, cleaning and conditioning solutions is as follows.



Nifty-Stuff.com Pharmacist's cartridge flush/conditioning solution recipe again:

-3 % propylene glycol (or 2 % glycerin)
-20 % isopropyl alcohol
-distilled water up to 100 %

To make this conditioning solution a cleaning solution to dissolve stubborn stains: add 5 drops of concentrated ammonia per 100 ml of this solution. This solution has been tested by several forum members already and they are very happy with it. It also enhances the absorption degree of ink into the sponge after flushing, especially with the difficult pigment based BCI-3eBK/PGI-5Bk cartridge.



Conditioning: after flushing the sponge has difficulty to absorb the ink well and tends to be become a bit hydrofobic (water repellent). By completely immerge and drenching the sponge material with this solution and then blowing as much solution as possible the sponge is revived again. The pigment BCI-3eBK/PGI-5Bk is the most difficult one and using this conditioning solution improves the absorption degree of your favourite refill pigment ink.

Cleaning: fill a cartridge with this solution (with ammonia) and execute a deep cleaning cycle to remove stubborn and tenacious clogging.



20 ml isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol)
80 ml distilled water
10 drops of propylene glycol
(optional: 5 drops of concentrated ammonia)


Ammonia Concentration: if used in cleaning cycle stick with 5 drops per 100 ml and when used to soak printheads externally increase it to 20-25 drops.

Fold a paper towell into a nice thick and even strip and drench it with the cleaning solution and put it under the printhead and let it soak for about 1 hour. After that, execute one cleaning cycle.


25-30 % ammonia: this is concentrated ammonia. If you use household concentration, increase accordingly.

Standard household ammonia in the UK is 9% w/w (weight for weight)