Computer Friends 'little blue plugs'

[johnf440]

Greetings. This is my first post ever on this site...linked from Neil Slade's Inkjet Page. Great site so far..

My question is about the little blue rubber plugs from Cfriends. I just received their refill kit for my Canon i960 and immediately needed to refill 4 of my OEM carts. I removed the plastic ball from the original fill hole and filled the carts, then pushed the rubber plugs in the hole. Well, only one of the 4 plugs stayed down all the way flush with the top of the cart. the others had gaps, but appeared to stay aritight. I just put a small piece of tape to hold the plugs tight, strapped to the side of the other 3 carts and it seems fine.

Should those plugs all go in completely? If so, I wonder what I did wrong. I'll probably move to some type of screw/o-ring setup at some time, but wondered what the deal was. Anyone?

P.S. The ink seems to be pretty spot on with color - I think Neil posted that they are MIS inks in the kit. Viscosity of all of the refill inks also looks good (cart shake test)

 

[fotofreek]

Johnf440 - When I decided to start refilling I read Neil slade's info and bought the Computer friend's kit, thinking that they came with the blue plugs AND carts. I found that the blue plugs fit well on 5 of the 6 OEM carts in my i960, but I did the same thing you did and held the sixth one down with scotch tape. After a few months I looked more carefully at the one that wouldn't stay down. I went through my drill bits and found the one that just fit the 5 carts' fill holes where the plugs stayed down and then inserted that bit into the one that wouldn't keep the plug all the way down. The hole was slightly undersized, so I gently rotated the drill in the fill hole by hand and reamed it out to the same dimension as the ones that were working properly. Problem solved. Although I still have an extra set of the plugs I now prefer to leave the fill hole in the OEM carts intact and I use a hot paper clip wire to make a hole between the OEM fill hole and the closest end of the cart. I then screw in a #6 - 1/2 inch stainless steel pan head sheet metal screw with a tight fitting O-ring to create the seal. All of my carts are now set up that way, including some Arrowjet carts from Alotofthings, MIS virgin carts that had the little tiny rubber plugs, and some OEM carts that came with a new printer. the Computer friends blue plugs are very convenient, but the S.S. screws work well also. I did buy some thicker screws as well to use in some of the Arrow carts as the fill hole was slightly larger and the #6 screws barely cought the threads. They seem to seal ok, but I'd feel more comfortable on those carts with a slighty thicker screw, just to be sure that there is a good seal.

 

[johnf440]

Ahhhh. I'll try the drill bit trick for now. Thanks for the quick reply, also. Oh, and on the stainless screw..is that just a regular sheet metal or do you use the self-tapping? You just get that stuff at a local harware store, right?

 

[Nifty]

Hey john, welcome to the forum.

I use to use a small drill bit to open up my cartridges, but was always nervous about having little shavings end up in my carts. I have since converted over to heating up a big paper-clip and plunging it into the plastic. This always makes a nice hole for my stainless steel screws to go into.

Yes, the screw / o-ring is definitely the best way to go!

 

[fotofreek]

John - The first screws I bought had a little drill-bit-like end that drilled the hole as you screwed it into the cart. Not necessary. The fact is that all sheet metal screws are self tapping. You just make the starter hole that Rob and I mentioned above. straighten out a paper clip, heat it in a flame, and push it through where you want the screw. Be sure you buy Stainless Steel screws as the zinc plated ones deteriorated and leave a residue in the ink chamber. I don't know where you live, so I don't know what your source is for these things. I bought the first SS screws at an Ace hardware store in San Francisco. I needed more and was in San Rafael (Marin County) with a friend at a store called Yardbirds. The screws were 1/4th the price there. Since I needed some O-rings for another project I bought bags of 100 each of several sizes online for about 3 cents apiece. It is not always easy to find the really small o-rings that fit snugly on the screws. The first ones I bought (for a much higher price) at a local OSH store were a tad too large. Rob had leakage problems with his first attempt at this technique as the O-rings were a little too large and spread beyond the edge of the screw head when tightened and lost the seal. You also have to be sure that the top of the cart where you make the screw hole has to be dead flat for the best seal.

 

[Nifty]

fotofreek (as usual) is right on the money! A quick comment about getting the screw hole dead flat: Sometimes I use an exacto knife or razor blade to carefully cut off any plastic sticking up above the hole to make sure everything is as flat / flush as possible.

 

[neilslade]

Glad to read about o rings and screws-- I'll start trying this.

It has been almost impossible to punch out the G&G carts for refill- they use a really stubborn plug to fill, and at least 50% of the time when you punch it out, you can't seal it again--- why didn't I think of o rings!!

If a little blue plug from computer friends doesn't lie flush-- here's the cure-- tap it gengly with a hammer-- it works.

Make sure the cart is sitting on something like a folded paper napkin to absorb a little of the shock.

 

[drc023]

Neil,
I've been refilling Canon tanks for ages with various methods for sealing up the refill opening - hot melt glue, duct tape, making a hole on the side of the tank and covering with duct tape, etc... All will work if done properly, but they all have drawbacks in one way or another. I think my current way of using a 10-32 nylon screw is by far the most effective and easiest. A smaller 8-32 screw will also work. After removing the original fill plug I use the existing fill opening. If you have a metal screw of the same thread size, that can be used to cut threads in the fill opening if you don't have a tap and die set. With the nylon screws there really isn't a need for o-rings as the threads are self sealing, but I use them anyway just as insurance against air leaks. Fotofreek likes to use stainless steel screws and they also work very well. The main thing to remember is that ordinary steel screws shouldn't be used due to rusting. Hobbicolors.com sells a refill kit which also uses a nylon screw in the same way as the ones I use. One of these days some inventive soul will come up with a refillable cartridge which doesn't use plugs or screws, but instead has a flip up cap for the refill port which will securely seal the opening when snapped back into place.
--
Ron

 

[fotofreek]

Neil and drc - I did notice one benefit of the blue plugs (and drc's nylon screws) over the stainless steel screws I've been using. The original OEM fill hole is larger than the one I make to accomodate the #5 screw. The syringe needles I had been using were a much smaller guage than the ones that most ink vendors sell. I got them from my dentist. Most vendors sell 18 ga. needles. They are large enough that they block more of the air coming out of the smaller fill hole. This is only a problem when the filling is nearly complete and some ink bubbles out next to the needle. This doesn't happen with the smaller guage needles. Since they are all luer-lock needles I can put the smaller guage needles on syringes or on the new squeeze bottles I purchased from Howard Electronics and avoid that problem. The larger opening of the OEM fill hole avoids that problem, even with the larger diameter needles.

 

[johnf440]

I got a stainless steel sheet metal screw and small neoprene washer that I trimmed to fit the diameter of the screw head perfectly. Threaded into the factory fill hole and it has sealed like a champ. I guess I'll just do that to all of them on the next refill - it seems to work really well. Remember - stainless steel. Thanks again, guys.

Neil - it was an honor getting a response from you in one of my threads. I found your analysis of the i960 printer dead on and followed your advice on the computer friends kit. MIS and CF don't have any idea how many sales you have made for them...