Doubt on the flushing and cleaning procedures

[Radeon89]

Hi guys,
I have a doubt, after the flushing of the cartridges with hot water and the last wash with distilled water before use the pharmacist solution I must dry the sponge? I read various topics but this point is still obscured. :/

Thank you

 

[Radeon89]

C'mon guys! I'm ready to start, I just need to know this detail!

 

[Tudor]

The cartridge doesn't need to be dry before using the solution, but you should get most of the water out. A flushed cli-526 is around 12g.
Put your finger on the top hole and blow on the vent. Now switch. Do this a few times, then fill with pharmacist's solution.

After it stays with the solution in it for a while empty it (like above), then use ghwellsjr's drying technique in the link below.

 

[The Hat]

C'mon guys! I'm ready to start, I just need to know this detail!

Here is a quick drying solution that I use very regularly, compliments of ghwellsjr..

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=34175#p34175

 

[PeterBJ]

By coincidence there is one more thread on this subject among "Recent Topics" : http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=63071#p63071

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

The cartridge doesn't need to be dry before using the solution, but you should get most of the water out. A flushed cli-526 is around 12g.

How much is left? Do you know how much you are diluting the ink?

 

[Tudor]

Do you know how much you are diluting the ink?

The lowest value I got when drying a cli-521/526 was 10,5g and was reached by centrifuging it. The paper towel method leaves about 0,3g extra moisture in the cartridge (10,8g), most of it in the upper sponge. But... it's a simple method, a lot of people here use it and doesn't seem to produce any problems.

Just to be clear: flush, get water out by blowing into the vent and refill hole, fill with pharmacist's solution, get most of the solution out by blowing... , drying and refilling. These are the steps I take when using said solution.

How do you flush and dry your cartridges?

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

The paper towel method leaves about 0,3g extra moisture in the cartridge (10,8g), most of it in the upper sponge. But... it's a simple method, a lot of people here use it and doesn't seem to produce any problems.

But how much does the centrifuge leave? And how does that 0.3 g affect your profile? "Don't care, good enough" is an OK answer for some people, but I notice that some people go to extreme lengths to calibrate the heck out of everything with expensive profilers. No one seems to know how much they are diluting their ink with water. I'm just wondering. I don't know either.

If you do care, you might want to do a final flush with ink. I don't normally flush, but when I found some dried up cartridges in a bin, I flushed them with distilled water, drained them with the towel method or by sucking out water, then filled the sponge with ink and drained again. It's hopefully a one-time procedure.

 

[Tudor]

If you just suck out water you can get to 11,5g. That means an extra ml of water compared to the centrifuge method. If you fill the sponge with ink, then suck it out, you will still have an extra ml of water+ink. So you fill again the sponge with ink, suck, fill, suck... How many cycles would it take to make sure there is absolutely no water in the cartridge?

I'm kidding, of course. Or am I?

Maybe I'll kill yet another cartridge to find the answer to your question. But going to the extremes and worrying about those micrograms of water may take all the pleasure out of refilling.

 

[Radeon89]

Can I use the air compressor instead to blow? I bought the cartridges online and I do not want to lean my mouth directly on them and unfortunately I do not have straws.