Freedom Refill Method for Canon BCI 3, 5, 6 & CLI 8 & PGI 5 and others

[LeeE]

LeeE wrote:

My poster putty came in a 2 oz pack of 4 sticks (cyan blue in color), I used it to seal the tank hole I drilled in CLI 8 cartridge for about 4 years and only used about half of one stick.

LeeE, perhaps a strange thought, but would it be possible, to insert a syringe through the putty sealed tank hole, fill the ink chamber and retract the syringe without getting air in the ink chamber ?
It would be a top-fill, but through the putty.

I never tried do do such a thing, however (not very often ) when I was running very low on a color I filled a syringe with about 2 cc of ink (about 1/2 a tank full), open the access door to make head move to center.
Then quickly pull off the putty from the tank put the ink in the tank an put the putty back on. (obviously you don't want to leave the tank hole open very long or you may contaminate the colors).
I was sucessful however I wouldn't suggest attempting it as many things could go wrong...

If it's blue Tack we can get that down here so I will try it on the German Method hole. Does it just get applied to the surface or do you push it into the hole a bit?

As I wanted to make sure the tank was sealed, I would push it enough that some did go into the hole (may not have been needed as I never had a cartridge leak), to remove grab the top of the putty & pull up with a quick snap.
I think a larger hole made it come out cleaner. If any did fall into the tank it never seem to effect the operation.

I thought (perhaps I'm wrong) the "German Method" drilled the hole in the bottom of the cartridge, I've never tried it.

 

[rodbam]

Yes Lee the German Method hole is at the bottom & I cover it with tape but the blue tack sounds a lot easier to use.

 

[jtoolman]

Since I will soon have a set of OEM CLI 8 carts ( new Pro 9000MKII ) ready for refilling, I was wondering about the following.

The German method rellies on inserting a 2 inch neddle ( blunt or sharp ) from the sponge side and into the ink chamber, where then you inject a load of ink.

Or, I was thinking I can take out the factory sealling ball on the ink reservoir out, insert a plug, and inject ink with a thin 23 or higher gauge needle right through the plug into the main reservoir chamber.

Engineering and technically wise, would there be a physical or engineering difference? They way I see it is, they main point is to replenish the ink to the reservoir which then feeds into the sponge side which then feeds the printer.
I am a total newbe at Canon refilling so I could be over simplifying things of totally missing out on something.

I have a few dozen of the plugs that have an almost flat flush fitting top. Would it be feasable to drill and plug the area where German fillers normally inject ink and simply pass the needle through the plug, past the sponge and into the ink chamber or is there something in the internal structure in the OEM that would make that a "not so good Idea".

I just got a couple of set of carts from one of the major 3rd party companies and they are intended to be top filled. You know, plug the air vent, unplug the ink side, inject , replug ink side, umplug vent, but I just have to play and experiment with the OEMs the printer came with once they are empty since they are simply much better constructed from what you guys are saying.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Since I will soon have a set of OEM CLI 8 carts ( new Pro 9000MKII ) ready for refilling, I was wondering about the following.

Now's the time to try the Freedom Refill Method--before you go messing up your OEM carts. Do you understand how it works? Why don't you try it first and if you don't like it, you can always poke holes in your carts, forever ruining them so that there is no longer any advantage to the Freedom Method and forever worrying about all the issues that are being discussed on this thread that have nothing to do with the Freedom Refill Method except to show it's superiority.

 

[jtoolman]

Yes, I've been looking at the freedom method with great interest. Actually I have a pretty good machineshop at home and can fabricate pretty much anything. I was thinking about designing a rig for vacum filling these.
This is gonna be FUN!!

 

[ghwellsjr]

There's no machining in the Freedom Method, just cutting a couple hoses and melting a bend in the nozzle of a syringe. It's real simple and cheap.

 

[Redbrickman]

Might be best to test it on a dry cartridge first if using the German method, because with such a small hole you may find the putty stays in the hole, and the rest comes away from the cart in one piece.

 

[LeeE]

Now's the time to try the Freedom Refill Method--before you go messing up your OEM carts. Do you understand how it works? Why don't you try it first and if you don't like it, you can always poke holes in your carts, forever ruining them so that there is no longer any advantage to the Freedom Method and forever worrying about all the issues that are being discussed on this thread that have nothing to do with the Freedom Refill Method except to show it's superiority.

I agree ghwellsjr, the intent my "putty" suggestion was to have it used as another method of sealing the air vent, in your Freedom method, perhaps questions of drilling/sealing holes should be taken to another thread :/

 

[PeterBJ]

Success at last

I wanted to copy the adapters made by ghwellsjr but had no luck in finding hoses in the right dimensions. Checking Danish automobile accessories shops online I only found hoses in metric dimensions which were not the right sizes, so I made adapters from the orange bottom caps for Canon cartridges.

I found a couple of needle covers that fit perfectly on the 50 ml syringe bought at my local pharmacy. I bent them in a 90 angle using a candle for heating. I didn't want to ruin the syringe, this bending takes some practise to find the right amount of heat. I found that a pair of pliers type of leather punch is perfect for cutting holes in the bottom caps and the silicone rubber gaskets. A drill bit is no good at this. I used hot melt glue for glueing the bent plastic pipes to the bottom caps, after having made the surface of the plastic parts rough using a fibre glass pencil.

I found that keys to success are the use of a 50 ml syringe with low friction and getting an airtight seal. The 20 ml syringe in the picture has too much friction, so you will be tempted to push the the plunger and risk ink spraying out. Note the 50 ml syringe has an O-ring seal, and the 20 ml syringe has none. It is also important to obtain good airtight seals at the bottom and the vent. I tried different types of tape and the best was a double sided sticky tape intended for posters.

With this setup the method works like a charm for the BCI 3/6 and PGI-5/CLI-8 cartridges. No disconnection to get rid of air is necessary when using the 50 ml syringe.

For the transparent cartridges I think "The Freedom Method" is a winner and I will start using it. Has anybody tried it for the semi-transparent 221 series of carts and the opaque 225 series of carts ?

The PGI-5 cartridge in the setup picture has been filled with distilled water for testing/practise purposes. I strongly advise using water and a flushed cartridge for testing/practising purposes. You will be surprised to see how much ink is left in an "empty" cartridge if anything goes wrong!

Images here, click the thumbs to enlarge:
Bottom view: and the setup here: A suitable and a less suitable syringe:

 

[barfl2]

PeterBj Nice effort Is the hotglue waterproof? I usd 5minute epoxy for my adaptors. My latest creation is a Double Cart capacity either 2 small colour/BK or 2 large PG ones. Could be easily adapted to other sized carts with the relevant spacers. A couple of Photos attached

assembled

the component parts.

Its good to see more people trying this method, Its slower but time is not always everything. keeping carts completely original is the main advantage. One note of caution during my various trials I had to use some carts drilled for the German method which I covered with Hot glue. However I found that when testing for leaks under water (shows air leaks much more quickly) whilst pushing barrel in find area of leak these glued ones sometimes leaked. I had a lot more trouble getting a good vacuum with this double one than my earlier model but seems Ok now. Very good point about not using INK until you are quite sure everything works O.K.

barfl2