Cli 8 Saturated sponge

[Redbrickman]

the ones who use the German method are more brainy than the ones who use the top fill method

Mmmm...

Well so you don't feel too inferior as a top filler let me relate my disaster from last night.

As a convert to the German method I prepared to refill some carts.

I use the SquEasy bottles and proceeded to open a new bottle of black ink. I screwed on a new cap and needle and gave a gentle squeeze of the bottle to test the seal.

Whoosh....ink everywhere, including all over my hands which of course being a clever "Durchstich" refiller club member were not protected by gloves, because German method refillers never spill any ink

After mopping up I could not see any obvious cause of the leak except the needle looked to be at an angle. I had a spare cap which then got pressed into service and all went well afterwards.

So the moral of the story is, when you think you are clever and a member of the higher "intelligencia" refillers club, just remember ink makes a mess when it spills, so be prepared. Luckily all was contained in the sink and SWMBO was none the wiser to the Torrey Canyon disaster that had occurred earlier.

For those who suffer from technicolour hands after a fill, I recommend a Pumice stone to remove the ink. Just put your hands under warm running water and gently rub the inky parts with the stone. Note I sad gently, as otherwise you might as well use Wet and Dry abrasive paper

Please also purchase your own stone, as otherwise you will leave behind the evidence, as I did

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

I was filling slowly & the sponge sucked up the ink all the way to the top of the sponge.

It's OK for the sponge to fill all the way to the top. It's supposed to do that. As long as you still have the correct vacuum in the ink chamber when it's closed up, you're fine. If you leave the vent open and fill the ink chamber all the way to the top, I suspect you could oversaturate the sponge.

 

[fotofreek]

the ones who use the German method are more brainy than the ones who use the top fill method

Mmmm...

Well so you don't feel too inferior as a top filler let me relate my disaster from last night.

As a convert to the German method I prepared to refill some carts.

I use the SquEasy bottles and proceeded to open a new bottle of black ink. I screwed on a new cap and needle and gave a gentle squeeze of the bottle to test the seal.

Whoosh....ink everywhere, including all over my hands which of course being a clever "Durchstich" refiller club member were not protected by gloves, because German method refillers never spill any ink

After mopping up I could not see any obvious cause of the leak except the needle looked to be at an angle. I had a spare cap which then got pressed into service and all went well afterwards.

I've used the Howard Electronics squeeze bottles for several years. The weak link in the system is the soft plastic the cap is made of. I did strip out the screw thread on one when tightening the needle hub into the cap. No ink spill, however, as I saw the problem before beginning to refill some carts. I now routinely check the needles in the cap to be sure they are not cross-threaded and are securely screwed in without overtightening. Just a quick tug to be sure they won't pop out when applying pressure to squeeze the ink into the cart.

As a retired orthodontist I was used to wearing latex exam gloves at work and still use them for refilling. At about 5 - 6 dollars per box of 100 they are a convenience to avoid hand cleaning. A little dab of clorox works well if you do get some ink on your hands, but it is not particularly kind to skin and must be washed off ASAP.

 

[rodbam]

As usual that's good advice Hat

 

[rodbam]

I think when your in a hole stop digging..lol

As usual that's good advice Hat
I don't think our German friends will be too impressed with you Red letting the side down like that. Maybe it's because I'm new to this refilling lark so I don't bother about trying to remove the ink from my hands. When people ask me what it is I can bore them with my tales & joys of refilling cartridges. The ink on my hands seem to disappear when I shower so it's only on my hands for a week or so

 

[Redbrickman]

I had a box of gloves in the cupboard but didn't reckon on a spillage from a bottle

Of course the German method had nothing to do with the spillage, just a comment for you rodbam to assure you that top fillers are just as smart

 

[rodbam]

I have a foot in both camps at this early stage of my learning, I use the top fill method for refilling my iP5000 & the brainy German method for the pro9000. So far the German method has seemed more problem free so maybe the harder for me top fill method is the brainiest Anyhow I should stop being silly in case I lose my Guru status

 

[Redbrickman]

It's good to try both methods at first then settle on the one that suits you best. I started with top fill, but find that i don't have any ink spills (discounting the bottle incident above) using the German method.

 

[hceuterpe]

I totally did this with the magenta refill on a purge. It was so over saturated, that you could very easily get ink into the serpentine vent channels if you tilted it so the clip was up, even momentarily. More than 5 seconds, and if you were wearing gloves, you'd get ink on your hands from the vent.

I noticed it was very saturated all the way up to the top. With the vent uncovered, and the tank sealed, I stuck a paper towel underneath the port. Seems like that act simulated what the printer would do, and the top sponge quickly vacated some ink, and it wasn't uniformly saturated anymore (sorta looked like air bubbles in the top sponge almost).

Am I correct in thinking a sponge that saturated would have leaked into the printer? Did I do the right thing with the paper towels?

Btw, coming from a person who has to stick themselves with them every 2 weeks, they are called luer locks I wouldn't call them threaded.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Yes, if you had put that cartridge into a printer or just left it right side up with no orange cap on the outlet port, it would have leaked out ink. Putting paper towels on the outlet port to soak up some ink was a good thing to do but it may not be all you need to do. If you actually got some ink into the serpentine air vent path, you probably also got some ink into the wells along the path. It is difficult to get that ink out but the way I have done it in the past is to seal the outlet port, turn the cartridge upside down on a paper towel and squeeze the sides of the cartridge to force air and hopefully some of that ink out of the wells and out of the air vent.