How to refill Canon CLI-8- and PGI-5-cartridges

[Beetlenut]

With much respect...I feel the sharp needle was made an issue in one of the 1st posts of the "German Refill Method" claiming that the sharp needle would CUT through the sponge fabric, causing damage, rather than PUSH it aside as with a blunt needle.

See this thread. Post #65 by Cannonfodder: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=719&p=6


Then visit the following thread for more info & discussion on this method:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2184

 

[pharmacist]

I've tried a blunt needle before (the ones shipped with Hobbicolors ink), result: a catastrophic effect on the ink flow and a displacement of the sponge. The reason was the essential high density cylindrical sponge coming out of the ink outlet was damaged/displaced by it, making the ink flow to fast. Neither would a sharp but thick needle be advisable. As on my pictures the finest and sharpes needle is to be used. Also: the original method was to make the hole using a electric drill, which I did once causing the drill hole to large, thus making ink dripping out (albeit very slowly) when refilling and even after it.

Those theoretical "buts" are just theoretical, when done well in practice it works very well and flawless. Besides: did you allready tried this method before (just one original cartridge) ? Use it until empty and refill again and again and let me know what the results are........ But: use only original Canon cartridges, since I can not guarantee it will work flawlessly with aftermarket carts.

The PM cartridge you see on my pictures is being refilled now for the 6th time now !!! It works great still, without any problems or leaking.

 

[mrelmo]

ok i am just getting ready to refill a cli8 for the 1st time, i am not normally a skeptic but my old way of refilling bci was working pretty well, but the german method seemed interesting. so to practice i took a bci that was brand new and proceded to suck the ink out then refill it using it's own ink. here is where i might have made a couple of mistakes, first it is a virgin oem cartridge, i did not take off the orange exit port clip, nor did i open the serpentine port on the top. when i sucked the ink out i only received maybe 25% until i opened the top vent, and i continued until all ink was removed, now when i injected the ink back in i had ink blowing out of the top serpentine vent hole, what a mess. i never have had this much ink come out and i feel that i was injecting slowly. on the plus side i did use a push pin to make the entry hole and used a sharp needle, the sponge did move a little at first but nothing to worry about when i made the entry hole this part went very well,i did have ink leaking out of the new hole right away but i attribute that to a full cartridge. at this point i think that i will remove the ball plug and use silicone plugs. unless someone can convince me differently

 

[pharmacist]

Maybe you should put your mouth on the breathing hole and give it a blow to remove the excessive ink from the sponge first. The fact that ink is coming out of the breathing hole is caused by oversaturation of the sponge, which is not good !!!. The sponge should be saturated only in the lower part of the sponge. Then try to refill again with the durchstichmethod again, but take care that the ink outlet is facing upwards and the needle is making a declining 45 degrees. You should remove anything (ball plug or silicone plugs): that's the beauty of this method ! Try again and it will work flawlessly and you will have a optimal balanced ink level in your sponge too (see my pictures).

 

[mrelmo]

ok i am a believer, i took the plunge and refilled with the german method, 2 cartridges that were almost empty about 95% on 1 and about 90% on the other. i could not believe how easy it was no more screws or o-rings and worrying about a perfect seal, the only draw back that i can fore see is on the black CLI-8BK it is diffecult to actually see when it is low or i have not used very much ink out of this cartridge yet. but hey i am very happy with this refilling method

 

[pharmacist]

Hi mrelmo, for the black cartridge defcon2k advised the use of a pocket lamp to shine a beam of light through it to so whether or not the cartridge is full, very helpful. I'm taking the cartridge and look at a bright lamp as a light source to check if the black cartridge is full or not.