Ink refill setup (contraption?) for Canon BCI-3/6 cartridges.

[drc023]

This is a refill base and setup I made for BCI-3/6 tanks. Its an alternative to some of the conventional methods and does have a few advantages. Its cheap to build, easy to use, makes refilling virtually mess free and holds refilled cartridges for later use. Obviously there is room for improvement and modifications. I hope that other users will provide suggestions and comments and also share with the rest of us any photos and write-ups you may have on any unique refilling techniques and contraptions.

Ron

Refill Base - Scrap plywood, 4 stove bolt w/nuts and washers, 3/4 sq. wooden bar, 3/16 wood strips, rubber mat. The rubber mat is cut from a piece of offset printing press blanket. Other materials such as very wide rubber bands, old inner tube, etc.. would also work. The wood strips are only for help in balancing the tanks before they are clamped down. They arent really necessary. One of the advantages to this base is that it can be used to store the ready to use refills.

The refill bottle is a standard 2 ounce bottle with a yorker cap. Very small diameter vinyl tubing extends to the bottom of the bottle so that when the bottle is squeezed, ink is pushed through the tubing. A 4 or 8 ounce bottle would be just as good. Less pressure is needed on the larger bottles to push ink through the tubing. The push pin stuck in the refill base is used to cap off the ink tubing. For those living in areas where obtaining syringes is difficult or illegal, using the refill bottle is a viable alternative. it is also somewhat neater as the bottle doesnt have to be opened and if the bottle is tipped over, spillage is not a problem.

The ink cartridges have been modified for refilling. The top label was cut back to reveal the ink fill opening. This one had a vinyl plug covered with plastic tape. Both were removed. The fill hole was enlarged by drilling a 5/32 hole and a 10-32 tap was used to cut the threads for a 10-32 nylon screw and o-ring. Normally the o-ring isnt necessary as a sufficient seal is made by the threads. Its just extra insurance to insure a 100% seal is made. The blackened screw on the refill base is from the black tank being filled. The white one on the empty base is an unused one. Instead of going to the trouble of converting the cartridges as I did, it would be much easier to simply order a refill kit from www.hobbicolors.com. They also have an eBay store under the name kbay2002. Empty cartridges are part of the refill kit. The bulk ink in the bottles is Sensient-Formulabs from www.alotofthings.com. They also can supply empty cartridges.

All of the above components are independent of each other. Instead of the refill base, you may prefer to stay with the original caps and rubber bands. The refill bottles and vinyl tubing can just as well be replaced by a syringe. Unless you have ink cartridges with very good plugs, they are the one item that I wouldnt change. Ive used several different methods of sealing cartridges and this is the best Ive found. Note that the original opening extends further into the tank so that the original plugs dont fall in. This also results in more surface area for the threads.

By using the above components I can refill an entire set of cartridges in very little time and with virtually no mess at all to clean up.

 

[fotofreek]

Very inventive devices and great pictures! Thanks for the posting.

 

[Nifty]

Wow... that's great! Do you have some larger images you can link to?

The only things I'd add:

Wingnuts instead of standard nuts for quick open / release (maybe even these guys somehow mounted to the board : http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=46805 )
Some type of vertical "tray" to hold the carts in place. Maybe a piece of 1x2 that has been dado'd out and mounted to the plywood base to hold a bci-6 or a wider slot for a bci-3ebk

I'll keep thinking about this. I realllllly like what you've done here!

 

[drc023]

The larger images exceed what I can store here. I'll send them directly to you via email. The top clamp holds everything in place so I don't think there isn't a need for anything else in that regard. I originally was going to use wing nuts, but being too cheap to spend 50 for the wing nuts, I used hex nuts instead at about 2 each. It doesn't take much pressure to secure the tanks and finger tight is sufficient, but wing nuts would be a little more elegant. The one problem with this setup is the need for an absorbant pad or something between each tank to absorb the ink that always drips when the reservoir is unsealed. I'm working on that now and it doesn't seem like much of a problem to resolve.

 

[Nifty]

Here are some larger versions of the cool images above:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/gallery/inkjet-refill-1/refill_contraption_1
and
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/gallery/inkjet-refill-1/refill_contraption_2

Regarding the drop of ink that is left over after the refill process: When I first saw the design I knew I'd have to deal with that drop of ink, but figured it wouldn't be much more than just wiping it off with a paper towel. That is what I currently have to do with my acrylic "storage clips" that I currently use when refilling.

 

[Nifty]

comeon people!!! Let's see some other brainstorming ideas. I just love contraptions!

 

[CanonPhreak]

You know, you can use a 60 cc syringe with a 18 gauge plastic taper tip needle and vacuum fill your cartridge. It works on both OEM (if you can safely remove the plug ball or make a large enough fill hold, about 1/8" diameter) and most cheap compatible sponge cartridges with the rubber plug style fill hole.

1. Fill the syringe with 13 ml of ink for color or 26 mL of ink for BCI-3e black.
2. Cover the exit ports on the cartridge to make it air tight. Cover the vent hole with a piece of tape.
2. Insert taper tip into the fill hole until the plastic tip fits tightly.
3. Pull up on the syringe plunger to the 60 cc mark. Air will bubble up through the ink. Hold for about 2-3 seconds then release the plunger.
4. Cartridge fills up. You may need to do step 3 a second time for the big black to get all the ink into the cartridge.
5. Remove the syringe and plug the fill port.

Cartridges are fully filled. This process is great for cartridges which are getting older (ie. the sponge has small amount of thickened build up) as it forces build-up to re-dissolve. You can also use distilled water or print head cleaner to restore old cartridges, just open the vent hole and suck the cleaner or water back out.

If you are one of those who refill as soon as the low ink warning occurs, cut back the amount of ink by 10% (round up about 2 cc less for small carts, and 3 cc less for large carts).

comeon people!!! Let's see some other brainstorming ideas. I just love contraptions!

 

[drc023]

Rob,
I just came across something to use a a seperator to keep the drips from getting on the other tanks. We had discussed using a clip similar to the acrylic clips that come with the ArrowJet tanks from alotofthings.com. The back side needs to be cut off to accomodate other brands of tanks since they don't fit well in the acrylic clips. If thos cartridges aren't available, a Tic-Tac container can be split into two halves and they are idea for this. The fit a BCI-6 perfectly. The rubber mat would be eliminated and just a small piece would need to be glued into the Tic-Tac container to act as a seal. It's a little sloppy looking but it will work.

 

[fotofreek]

DRC023 - I rummaged around and found a couple of possibilities. 1) the lowly "stake - top" bottle cap from a beer bottle. More fun to collect than tic-tac boxes! I used to brew some really good beer with a few buddies and we purchased caps that we put on the bottles with a lever-operated capper. They have a thin plastic seal which could be augmented with a piece of the rubber mat. 2) The old audio cassette tape boxes. Take them apart where they hinge and a bci-6 cart fits in the section that, except for the hinge holes, is a pretty good substitute for the Alotofthings cart holder. A little sealing pad, a support for the other end of the cart, and a dab of silicone sealer in the hinge holes looks like an easy solution. You would have to cut down the hight of the cassette box a bit. Put six of these side-by-side (for my i960) and you have the drips taken care of. 3) Why not go back to square one with the wooden base. get a piece of small diameter conduit or pip and sharpen the edge to make a punch with which to punch out several rubber seals. Set up your drillpress and drill a series of holes in which to place the seals and you will have each seal in a well, similar to the printhead. The rest of the base is the same as you made in the first design.

 

[Nifty]

get a piece of small diameter conduit or pip and sharpen the edge to make a punch with which to punch out several rubber seals. Set up your drillpress and drill a series of holes in which to place the seals and you will have each seal in a well, similar to the printhead. The rest of the base is the same as you made in the first design.

Now that is a freekin' amazing idea... and not just because it was suggested by a freek!