How clean is a clean flush

[kdsdata]

Until recently I have for years been using a vendor at the local market to refill my carts. That was for the i9900. He won't do the CLI-42 for the Pro-100. He says to finicky and not enough after-market business for him. OK, so I started my own refilling, There were some bumps, which are getting sorted out. For part of the process I do have some particular questions. It is regarding the flushing.

1. I have purchased used Canon OEM CLI-42 carts, and on flushing, some carts are essentially snow white, but the odd one has an ever so slight colored hue. The hue is evenly distributed, meaning no small lumps/spots at all. It looks nicely flushed, except for the ever so slight hue, one yellow, one magenta, one cyan. Is that normal, or is there a problem lurking?

2. The final flush with water raises the question of when the Windex is sufficiently flushed. Is there a way tell, or does one simply push a lot of water through, but how much is a lot?

3. Lastly, how much drying is needed? I have watched most videos on this, but haven't seen what may be a definitive answer to this (or I missed it, sorry).

Again I will appreciate your input very nuch.

 

[The Hat]

It sounds like you’re better off without that ink fill vender, because the BCI-6 carts are the same as the CLI-42 carts, so filling is identical for both !, welcome to your own refilling world.

The is an awful lot of hype over how clean a cartridge should be, so if you have used Windex first to clean out the ink and then rinsed with water twice that is sufficient for any cartridge, they don’t have to be pristine clean.

You can dry the cartridge quite successfully using ghwellsjr method, its probably the best sure method there is and those that have used it (Me included) found it did the job successfully..
https://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/draining-a-canon-cartridge.4760/

 

[Roy Sletcher]

3. Lastly, how much drying is needed? I have watched most videos on this, but haven't seen what may be a definitive answer to this (or I missed it, sorry).

You can weigh the dried carts to ensure there is no residual water before you start refilling. Consider, a CLI-42 cart refills with about 12 or so ml of ink. with only a gram or ml of excess moisture before refilling you are introducing serious dilution, especially over 8 colours.

A small electronic gram scale costs about $25.00 or less on eBay or Amazon and is a very useful addition to your refilling arsenal if you are taking the procedures seriously.

I cannot recall the exact weight of a cleaned and dried 42 or 8 cart. I am currently 1,500km from home where I have it written down with my refilling kit. Memory is telling me 14g, but I am at the age where that needs to be verified. Others could jump in with the figure, or it is on file somewhere on this site. Google is your freind

One final comment. Depending on how fastidious you are, it may be worth considering the Pharmacists easily prepared solution for ensuring ink receptivity into a newly cleaned and dried cartridge. Google Pharmacists Solution on this site for more information. Lots of comments.

Good luck. If you have any paranoid tendencies refilling will feed them.


rs

 

[stratman]

Gleaned from somewhere sometime in the past:

One full Canon CLI-8 cart = 0.95 ounce

One empty Canon CLI-8 cart = 0.51 ounce

That translates to ‪26.93205‬ grams Full and ‪14.45826‬ grams Empty.

Good memory, Roy!

 

[stratman]

3. Lastly, how much drying is needed?

This is a matter of personal tolerance or expectation.

@The Hat's link to GHWells paper towel wicking method does a great job getting much moisture out. in a period of a couple hours and a couple paper towel changes, the sponge will still have some moisture. You can refill at this point. If you do, then know that there will be some dilution of the ink and that your prints may not provide the depth of color intensity you expect, but, within a handful of refills the dilution factor will be for all intents and purposes eliminated.

I have refilled before complete drying and also waited until after complete drying. The minimal dilution factor did not bother me at all. If you think any decrease in the intensity of color from dilution is a problem for you then let the cartridges dry. As Roy mentioned, a bone dry sponge may not take up ink as well as when there is some moisture in the sponge. It may take hours to saturate the sponge or not completely at all. If this is a concern of yours then you can flush the sponge before drying (or after if you want) with Pharmacist's Solution (see attached text file). The glycerin or glycol facilitates uptake of ink as well as acts as a bacteriostatic.

I know you want definitive answers but refilling, like photography and printing, is still part science and part art. The art part allows for augmenting the science aspect with individuality in methodology and ultimately in personal preferences.

 

[PeterBJ]

I have also noticed 26.9 and 27.0 grammes for new unused CLI-8 cartridges. IIRC the nominal capacity is 13 ml but you cannot use all of it. So 14.5 to 15 grammes is reasonable for a cartridge that is declared empty. A cartridge that has been declared empty by the printer often contains around 1 ml of ink. You cannot empty the cartridge completely as ink is needed for the cooling of the print head.

A flushed and dried cartridge does not contain any residual ink and is lighter than a cartridge that has been declared empty. I just weighed a flushed and dried CLI-8 Y. Its weight is 13.6 grammes.

 

[stratman]

You cannot empty the cartridge completely as ink is needed for the cooling of the print head.

There will be residual ink in the sponge even if ink monitoring is overridden and you print till ink starvation.

 

[PalaDolphin]

3. Lastly, how much drying is needed? I have watched most videos on this, but haven't seen what may be a definitive answer to this (or I missed it, sorry).

I'm of the opinion of dry is the way to go. I use a scale to determine how much water is left and keep notes on each cartridge as it dries. I also use my household vacuum with a clear vinyl hose the diameter of the bottom sponge hole and watch the water suck out.

 

[The Hat]

If you follow and maintain a proper refilling procedure, there should be no reason to keep purging your cartridges on a regular basics, once should be sufficient or later after many many refills if a cart starts to show signs of ink flow issues. (It does Happen)

It should be remembered that these cartridges were never meant to be refilled in the first place, so try and follow the refilling code exactly and you’ll have trouble free printing for years...

Shortcuts cost print heads...

 

[PalaDolphin]

If you follow and maintain a proper refilling procedure, there should be no reason to keep purging your cartridges on a regular basics, once should be sufficient or later after many many refills if a cart starts to show signs of ink flow issues. (It does Happen)

It should be remembered that these cartridges were never meant to be refilled in the first place, so try and follow the refilling code exactly and you’ll have trouble free printing for years...

Shortcuts cost print heads...

Good to know.