Is this possible ?

[duncan22]

I Guess no one would want to do this but is it possible to cut the top section of an ink jet cartridge which is directly above the sponge and replace it with a new sponge ? The top section would be sealed back in place using a hot glue gun.
Prior to replacing the sponge it might be possible fill the ink chamber as well providing the cartridge was held at the correct angle.
Other than asking the question is it possible the next question would be is it possible to obtain the correct sponge material ?

 

[The Hat]

duncan22

Curiosity has got the better of me on this one, but if you dont mind me asking why would you want to do that.. :|

 

[mrelmo]

one reason i can think of is the HP564 OEM cartridges are a solid color you can not see the ink level and there is no resetter for them yet. The after market cartridges are clear but have a sponge material that is inferior, if you could take the OEM 2 piece fiber and put it into the after market cartridge you would be able to see when they are low and when you have them filled completely.

 

[msmart]

I think cutting the top section off above the sponge section would destroy the integrity of the vent channel.

 

[qwertydude]

I think instead of using hot glue if you're careful you melt the top back on with a soldering iron. You'd have to be familiar with plastic welding but it would be feasible. Hot glue won't hold for very long.

 

[duncan22]

The Hat,
To be honest I have no reason for doing it... I Guess I posted the question in case anyone else had tried to do it.
Looking on these forums there is a vast range of information about every aspect of ink jet cartridges but I don't think anyone has gone as far as trying to change a sponge (assuming they are available).
From what I can gather genuine cartridges can only be filled from 5 up to 9 times before they start to give up the ghost possibly due to the sponge deteorating (not helped by the number of times a needle has been passed through it to top up the other chamber)

msmart,
Thats a fair point, perhaps it's possible to cut three sides of the top and bend it back so you would not damage the vent channel ?

And finally does anyone know what the commercial firms do with returned inkjet cartridges... do they just refill and resell them or do they have some method of replacing the sponge. ?

 

[The Hat]

duncan22 From what I can gather genuine cartridges can only be filled from 5 up to 9 times before they start to give up the ghost possibly due to the sponge deteorating

I am using the same Canon cartridges that came with the printer more than 5 years ago. They are still going strong after the countless number of times I have filled them. If they ever give me trouble its only a matter of a complete purge of the ink and there are back as good as new..

 

[Wondering_Mike]

The Hat,
To be honest I have no reason for doing it... I Guess I posted the question in case anyone else had tried to do it.

I feel the same way, I'm very curious if it is possible to do. My curiousity was first aroused when I accidentally took the top of a canon cl-511 cartrigde. Made a bunch of photo's and then put back together using cable ties a bunch of glue. So let us know if you learn more, it might be an interesting way to boost the capacity of the cartridge well within bounds of course

 

[alexh1]

I popped the top off of my Pixma ip6210 carts - that's an odd duck printer in that it has dual, 3 color carts and I think the actual ink metering is built into the cart.

With those carts, the sponge occupies the entire ink well. I had just refilled and I saw little to no standing ink when I removed the sponges.

At least with that cart, I think the top could be easily replaced but I'd probably use a few spots of super glue.

So what is the purpose of the sponge? I figure on the 6210 it's to prevent ink leakage from the vents on shipping but that can't be the only reason.
My refill success with the 6210 was very spotty in that I could get between 2-6 refills before it was very difficult to get a successful deep clean. In that case I suspect it was sponge debris clogging the passages since the hypo needle had to pass into the sponge.

I picked up a ip4200 (very nice printer) and it has the CLI-8 carts with a ink reservoir and separate sponge chamber over the ink discharge.
There are replacements carts w/o sponges so apparently they are not essential.

 

[qwertydude]

The sponge does hold all the ink. You're not going to see loose ink in those type of cartridges. The biggest problem with these cartridges is you have to fill them before they run out or you're not going to be refilling all that often as the cartridge seems like it fails. I refill my girlfriend's printer and she has the same cl-51 cartridge in hers and I can get about 20 or so partial refills before the nozzles give out. If you let it run out it's very difficult to re-prime, basically you have to fill it up and pressurize the color cartridge by blowing through the fill hole and let the ink drip out of the nozzle. It's really messy and ends up contaminating the other colors so that you have to blot the cartridge a lot to prevent permanent color contamination.