Hello, new here.

[diyandsave$]

Hi, I have found this place a great source of inkjet refill info. I have a Canon pro 9000 II. Still on the original carts but starting to run low. I am about setup for the German method. I bought a kit of IS ink from PC in Canada and 2 sets of OEM carts from the bay. One set of carts have been flushed and are currently drying. I could not locate long needles so I converted the ones that came in the kit to 2.5" x 21 gauge using hypo tubing. I strayed from the standard by drilling the needle holes at an angle. The hole was drilled starting at the dividing line between the 2 foams (where the date code is) down to the "window" into the ink tank.

I do have a question, Can I install refilled carts as the OEM runs out or should I change them all at once? Once all OEM ink is gone I will refill all carts when one runs low.

One thing I did notice, red and green cli-8 carts are not common on the bay but have read that they run out less often).

Hi and thanks for all the good people who keep this place useful!!

DIY.

 

[The Hat]

If you stray from the normal drill position youll find a whole new set of problems to contend with.

Many have tried just about every position there is to bore the hole and end back at the most desired position i.e. close to the bottom.

If you read through the refilling instruction for the German method you are less lightly to any teething problems,
try to master the technique before introducing your own new methods and then
if they work successfully please report back here with your findings.

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=26249#p26249

You can mix the I.S. ink with the OEM without having to purge first and you can also use both inks in the printer at the same time,
there will however be a very slight colour change and youll only notice it if your fussy about detail.

The red and green ink gets used on very high settings when printing on high glossy papers
and they do take a long time to get use up so just keep using them till empty..

 

[emerald]

Welcome to the forum. You posed this question: Can I install refilled carts as the OEM runs out or should I change them all at once? For the German method, it's better to let the OEM cartridge run out before refilling because if the sponge is saturated it presents a barrier against the air expelled from the reservoir side during the refill process causing the ink in the sponge to be forced out of the cartridge at the least point of resistance (output, refill hole, vent) creating a mess. See this link: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=29082#p29082

 

[Tin Ho]

I understand that the German method is very popular. I tried it and I did not find it easier than the top fill method. I remain to refill with the top fill method. The tricky part is the drilling on the top of the reservoir tank. It needs to be precise so that the plugs will fit and air tight. I used a hand drill and drilled the holes slowly and carefully. I never had any leaking problem. Not everyone will like the top fill method though. It's perfectly a personal choice. Just thought to point it out that it is an alternative and will work perfectly too.

I never waited all cartridges to become empty. I refilled CMY at the same time. And refilled PC and PM together too. The rest I just refilled whenever any became empty. I did not notice much color shift either. But it is really up to you how critical your eyes want to be. I had used quite a few different brands of inks, including IS, Hobbicolors, Alotofthings (long time ago), Inktec, etc. The inks to avoid are cheap Chinese made inks mostly available on ebay and flea markets. Those cheap inks may not give you problems quickly. But if you print heavily on a regularly basis you will find why they are bad for your printer eventually.

 

[jtoolman]

Why not simply remove the sealing ball. The left over hole is perfect as it was the factory one.

 

[Tin Ho]

I found it harder to mess with the plastic ball. You will have to remove the label on the top of it which is not that simple although not impossible. To remove the ball it is also not that simple although again not impossible. I did it before but I found drilling a new hole a lot simpler. I had a hand drill (a T shaped hand tool). Just insert the right sized drill bit and tighten the lock nut and it did the drilling job in less than one minute.

 

[diyandsave$]

Thank you for the advise. I read part of the multi page post before but hadn't gotten that far, covers a lot of info including why I slant drilled. So far I have filled 6 of my e_bay empties and 2 that came with the printer. I will post my experience in a new thread.

DIY.

 

[jtoolman]

Tin Ho.

Removing the ball is super easy if you know the trick. There are even replacement balls available.
A hand drill is a perfect way to produce irregular holes. But if you are having good luck with it then stick to it.

 

[Tin Ho]

I guess I did not figure out the trick. I can imagine some people might have tried to drill like I did and still do not like it. It's a personal choice. Either way should work just fine. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[The Hat]

I also drill the top of my cartridges and can agree with Tin Ho, it is easier and faster than removing the refill ball.

However I drill for another reason, I require and prefer a small hole (2 mm), that way I can cap the small hole much easier
using my hot glue gun wax which gives a perfect seal and is easily removed later..