How do I drill hole for German "Durchstich refill method on a CLI-8???

[pearlhouse]

Ive been refilling 220 and 225 carts for sometime now but recently a friend asked to refill her CLI-8 carts. First off these are generic carts. When i went to drill the refill hole I found the cart looked a little different than what I was used to working with. It seems there is a an ink resevoir on each side of the sponge. Usually the sponge chamber is just on the inside of the first wall that I drill through. Also it looks like the first resevoir chamber does not extend all the way to the bottom of the cart. When i drilled the hole I went through the first layer of plastic and then into this extra small chamber, before hitting another wall of plastic that looks like it would let me into the sponge area so I can push the needle all the way through into the larger ink resevoir chamber where I want to inject the ink. Do I need to make this second hole into the sponge area, or maybe these carts are not refillable???? When I look at the large black carts they appear to be constructed like a standard Canon cartridge where the sponge chamber is all the way up to the outside wall. Has anyone else had this problem????

 

[PeterBJ]

Just out of curiosity, could you upload an image of one of these strange cartridges or a link showing a picture? From your description it sounds like these cartridges are totally incompatible with the German refill method. Maybe top fill is possible?

But many members refilling cartridges for Canon printers have found out that only Canon OEM cartridges are suitable for refill. Some third party cartridges work well, others might damage your printer by ink starvation or leaking. If you find some third party cartridges that work well, you can continue using them, but use them only once, they should not be refilled.

In my opinion the best thing to do is to find a set of empty OEM PGI-5/CLI-8 cartridges and use these for refilling after flushing and drying.

 

[pearlhouse]

Here are a couple of pics of the cart that Im wondering how to drill the hole for refilling with the German method.
Also there is a pic of the large blk generic cart that has the more common way with sponge against the left edge and then the chamber for your ink.
Not sure but the boxes she gave me these carts in were both from G&G if anybody is familiar with these. Also a top view of this lg blk cart.

Ive already drilled the hole into the first chamber and now after looking at this I think I screwed up. If that chamber fills with ink it will leak out ot the hole I just drilled. The sponge is what keeps the ink in the ink chamber in an OEM cart. So I may have to seal it up with hot glue and then use the top fill method. What do you guys think???

 

[Big_Al]

The pictures of your cartridges look like cartridges I have that are G&G.
Al

 

[stratman]

It is impossible to tell if the Durchstich method will work properly with that cartridge based on these images. More likely the traditional Top Fill method will be better accommodated.

I recommend you toss these strange cartridges in the garbage (or recycle them at a store) and obtain some new or empty OEM Canon cartridges if you want to refill. Why tempt fate. Frugality in this arena is not worth the price you may end up paying for a cartridge malfunction.

 

[PeterBJ]

I think the cartridges might be these, here is a description: http://blog.123inkcartridges.ca/200...sign-of-patent-and-normal-cli-8-series-of-gg/

I think these cartridges are not intended nor suitable for refilling. I think the manufacturers of pre filled compatible cartridges don't want you to refill, like Canon they want you to buy new cartridges.

If you are unlucky both leaking and ink starvation could damage the printer. Damaging your own printer is one thing, damaging a friend's printer is another.

May be this is worth considering, with or without the added resetter ? : http://www.inkjetreset.com/OEM-Canon-Chips.html

I would not try to refill these strange cartridges.

 

[pearlhouse]

After reaading all your advice guys I have decided to toss the carts. I am going to keep one just to experiment with. Plan on flushing it first and experiment filling with water to see how the extra chamber works. I now understand the idea behind the smaller sponge as it will hold a lessor amount of ink so there fore more of the ink is used for printing so the cart might last a little longer than an OEM. But then they say they hold a smaller total amount of ink than an OEM so this whole thing may result in approx the same final total output of ink. So what I dont understand is why the large blk carts have the full sponge just like an OEM. Why change the design on some and not the other. I have doubts there could ever be an ink starvation problem with any of these designs as long as you dont run the cartridge til its totally dry. Im wondering if the little chamber to the left of the sponge as in my pic is designed to be a safety resevoir which empties itself last after the main chamber. This would give you ample time to pull the cart and refill or replace it. All in all this is a very interesting subject trying to figure out whats in the minds of all these ink gurus working to make their product better than the original OEM.

 

[stratman]

No one makes a better cartridge for Canon printers than OEM Canon.

Those that try to copy Canon's design have had their products seized by Customs, so the incentive is to alter the design enough to get through without legal hassles and with the lowest cost of manufacturing while providing a cartridge that will have no/low failure rates for a one time use basis and be reordered by merchants.

 

[pearlhouse]

I can understand what you are saying about Canon keeping their patents for themselves but how come the large black G&G cartridge appears to look exactly the same as the Canon? Is there some mini difference inside that lets them get away with this.???

 

[stratman]

Dunno.