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

[fotofreek]

Severl years ago I was at a Staples store that had a recycle bin for used ink carts. They were paying for HP and Epson carts but not for Canons. People were throwing Canon carts into the bin anyway. I asked the manager if I could take a few out of the bin and she filled a bag with them! After throwing away the aftermarket carts, I ended up with about 85 OEM BCI-6 carts and about a dozen CLI-8 carts. I Sent a few dozen to one of the forum participants, and I made a small fill hole in the rest of the BCI-6 carts, purged and dried them, and stored them in an airtight container. This turned out to be a lifetime supply of refillable OEM BCI-6 carts, and I still have a few CLI-8 carts to purge someday when I need them for the next generation of printers, a few of which I just purchased on Craigs list.

Well flushed and completely dried dye-based ink carts sometimes don't take ink up into the sponge very well. Black seems to be the worst and yellow the easiest to get a saturated sponge. A few tricks I've found to get ink to be taken up into the sponge:

1) tip the cart at an angle with the reservoir side above the sponge and repeatedly tap against the table top. This assists gravity in moving the ink into, and air out of the sponge. Don't tap the ink outlet port against a hard surface, however, as you may damage the surface that creates a seal in the printhead.

2) If that doesn't work, CAREFULLY apply light suction to the air vent in a cart that doesn't take up ink in the sponge, or one that keeps a large "white" area without ink. I say carefully as I am not interested in tasting ink! This really works well in cleaned and dried carts with black dye based ink that just don't seem to permit refilled ink to flow into the sponge. For the squeaemish among us you might draw a light amount of vacuum with a vacuum cleaner to accomplish the same purpose. I just use my mouth GENTLY instead of doing the extra step of taking the vacuum cleaner out of the closet, plugging it in, and having it with me when refilling a few carts.

I should repeat that these carts are really very well purged and dried. It is not a problem of residual ink in the sponge. Once refilled, they perform perfectly for many refills before slowing down the delivery of ink and requiring another purge.

 

[pharmacist]

My conditioning solution should revive the absorption degree of flushed sponges not able to absorb ink optimally. Especially with the black pigment cartridges the improvement is very significant.

 

[martin0reg]

stratman + fotofreek, thank you for summing up your findings, it will help refilling my bagful of dry BCI's

pharmacist, regarding your conditioner:
When you only blow out the fluid the cartridge is still wet. And a wet cartridge will soak the refill ink better.
But it might dilute the ink for many prints, doesn't it?
And if you wait a week to let it dry, will the dried conditioner still help to soak?

 

[pharmacist]

Hi Martinreg: the secret is the very tiny amount of glycerol/propylene glycol which will stay there (the alcohol and water will be gone) and this is will make your sponge absorp the ink much better. The amount left in the sponge is so tiny, it will not affect the ink ink quality. Yes: you must dry the sponge properly. Glycerol and propylene glycol are both very hygroscopic and will not evaporate very quickly, because the boiling point of both substances are rather high.

 

[l_d_allan]

Here is my cartridge flush/conditioning solution recipe again:

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

I checked at two pharmacy departments to get propylene glycol or glycerin. Neither had it. Drat. I think the FDA discouraged its use for a laxative. One pharmacy would special order it, but it would be pricey.

I went ahead and mixed up the solution above, but just with 20% alcohol and 80% distilled water. My impression is that the glycerin's purpose is the facilitate ink wicking from the reservoir to the sponge area.

As a less than rigorous, scientific experiment, I had 30 carts that had been thoroughly purged with nice white sponges. I had two carts that had been blown out with a 60 ml syringe + #1916 plug , and were still rather damp. The ink wicked poorly in those carts.

Another two carts had been wicked much drier using ghwellsjr's most excellent paper towel method. The ink wicked very nicely from the reservoir to the sponges area. Within about 30 seconds, almost all the ink from the reservoir side was in the sponges. I topped off the reservoir side several time as ink continued to be wicked into the sponge area. Very impressive.

I then wicked the remainder of the purged, still damp carts with the ghwellsjr methold, and refilled them.

My conclusion is that the propylene glycol (or glycerin) ingrediant is no longer necessary to facilitate wicking into the sponges area.

Note that I use the "traditional top fill method" with a syringe through the inlet port. I would speculate that the German refilling methold would similarly benefit from the ghwellsjr wicking method.

 

[pharmacist]

Because the ink is still slightly wet, the glycerin is not necessary, but if the sponge is completely dry, then you will certainly profit of the small amount of glycerin or propylene glycol.

Besides: why is the glycerin so expensive in the states. I only pay 2 euro/100 ml's of glycerin. Wouldn't it be that they are a bit scared some might use it to nitrogenate it in order to convert it to .....nitroglycerin ???

 

[l_d_allan]

Because the ink is still slightly wet, the glycerin is not necessary, but if the sponge is completely dry, then you will certainly profit of the small amount of glycerin or propylene glycol.

Ok ... understood ... thanks for the clarification.

I haven't attempted to refill a completely dry cart. And since I'm unlikely to encounter that situation, I'll not need to make room for yet another bottle of refilling paraphernalia. Less to keep track of. Whew.

 

[emerald]

allan and pharmacist: My wife bought this 6 oz. bottle of glycerin about 2 years ago at the local Walmart in Omaha, Nebraska. She found it in the cosmetic/health care area. It's touted as a skin softener. The active ingredients are glycerin 99.5% and anhydrous....skin protectant. Is it the type that's suitable for your cartridge oonditioner?

 

[msmart]

emerald, I would say yes.

mrelmo uses the same product: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4115

 

[stratman]

Emerald - yes.

I found mine at CVS pharmacy/drugstore. I purchased it over the internet for $3 (regularly $5) for 6 ounces, but you can find it on the shelf.

If only using it for inkjet cartridges, this amount will last for generations to come.