CLI-42 Cart Flush - First Attempt

[martin0reg]

Just to add: here are some profound videos from @mikling about canon cartridges:
http://www.precisioncolors.com/Maintenance_Canon.html
At the end of "essentials #1" he explains what I called "ridges" (from min 4:00 on)

Note that these ridges are exactly as high as the lower sponge, so that the reservoir could "breathe" through them the air in the upper sponge.

 

[stratman]

Because it is Christmas, and he has been a good boy this year, I am going to agree with @The Hat. Filling a CLI-8 sponge up is not an issue for me either.

My CLI-8 cartridges used in my Canon MP830 can be filled to the top or near top in the spongeless side and the sponges completely saturated without performance issues. Of course, ink above the sponge or in the air vent may cause issue with dripping or ink flow, respectively speaking. Some gentle cartridge sidewall squeezing and/or letting it drip out by gravity removes the excess ink and the cartridge is good to go.

I also let one cartridge go to Empty before refilling it and the others (if there is no ink in the spongeless side) and have either never flushed the cartridges or flushed a couple several years ago and have had no need to flush thereafter to improve function. This is against current refill doctrine, at least for other sponged Canon catridges, per Mikling.

My print head worked after a 7 month inactive period while in storage, the print head and its cartridges installed in the printer the entire time. I did refill the cartridges and ran a couple of cleaning cycles and several nozzle checks, but that is all. I certainly do not recommend this type of hiatus, but, it was what it was.

These are my observation over the years for my MP830. Maybe the print head and/or CLI-8 cartridges were better made years ago when bought or the design continues to be forgiving.

YMMV.

 

[Grazer5]

Well,
As someone who does this for a living where we refill on average 150 carts a week I have some comments.
The OP's picture is a little overfull, but not by much. New carts are filled to almost the top, so that's what we do. No problems.
We use a hose attached to a faucet that fits in the outlet port to flush our carts. I had originally bought this gizmo to flush heads but I can't remember where I got it from. Just run warm water until the cart runs clear, then flush with distilled water from a syringe. You can drill a little hole in the seal from the clip and then suck almost all the water out of the cart with a syringe too. Then I put them upright in a food dehydrator for a day or two. I know Mikling uses a vacuum pump to suck the water out of his carts, I should look for one because it gets a little hard on the wrists after a while!

And don't worry about getting them pristine white, you just need to clear out the gunk in there.

 

[avolanche]

Well,
As someone who does this for a living where we refill on average 150 carts a week I have some comments.
The OP's picture is a little overfull, but not by much. New carts are filled to almost the top, so that's what we do. No problems.
We use a hose attached to a faucet that fits in the outlet port to flush our carts. I had originally bought this gizmo to flush heads but I can't remember where I got it from. Just run warm water until the cart runs clear, then flush with distilled water from a syringe. You can drill a little hole in the seal from the clip and then suck almost all the water out of the cart with a syringe too. Then I put them upright in a food dehydrator for a day or two. I know Mikling uses a vacuum pump to suck the water out of his carts, I should look for one because it gets a little hard on the wrists after a while!

And don't worry about getting them pristine white, you just need to clear out the gunk in there.

I use this. Works great, but you must not use too much water pressure. I flush and drain through the ink outlet. Then introduce a little of pharmacist's solution and suction it out to finish.

 

[The Hat]

but you must not use too much water pressure

Nice looking flushing aid, and I completely agree with you, pressure is not needed whatsoever, a very slow water flow is best to complete the job successfully without mishaps.
Nice one, @avolanche...

 

[avolanche]

Thanks, The Hat,
I should have mentioned that this works with the German method or top-fill. I have used German for years (but plan to try top-fill soon). But I prefer having a
hole over the tank with either method, than flushing through the "maze". It just seems a bit kinder to the sponges.