Monitoring ink level CLI-8 Cartridges

[canonfodder]

You can buy the silicone rubber sheet that is used on insulin vial caps to allow a sharp needle to puncture it and then be pulled out without any leakage. However, without a way to pull out the air from the ink chamber at exactly the same rate as the ink is injected, the ink that you inject will just be pushed directly into the sponge. Your goose will develop a bad case of diarrhea.

Grandad35 is correct about the air. Think about it. There sits the cart with a little ink in its tank side, and lots of air above it. If you push some ink in there through a sealed in needle, the ink has to go somewhere, but the air is captive and can't get out of the way, so the ink just goes into the sponge side and floods it, and probably the print head too. Maybe you could even get some ink out the sponge side air vent. Seal that vent, and now the ink HAS to go down to the print head. A successful mess for sure.

In order to refill a cart while still in the printer, you need a little invention. You add that special seal like an insulin vial has, and you pierce it with the newly invented COAXIAL NEEDLE and DUAL SYRINGE. The coaxial needle provides a path for ink to go in and a path for air to come out. You could stop there, and just let the air come out, but you still have the risk of some dripping while you fill. To really do it correctly, you must PULL air out at the same rate as you PUSH ink in.

The new dual syringe has ink in one barrel and a suction function for air in the other barrel. Of course as the ink side plunger goes down toward the needle, injecting ink, the air plunger is in effect moving up the other barrel, sucking in air in equal volume.

How about that Grandad? We could do that, couldn't we?

Check out the crude sketch below.

 

[jackson]

I just don't get it. With the safe and simple screw to close and open the hole and with the easy removal of the cartridge itself, why some go to great lengths to try and refill the cartridge with other means that are prone to failure and complications? ? ? ? ?

It's not the removing or filling that's the problem:it's the inserting the refill back in that's the problem.
If that part can be eliminated then it's all tickety-boo.

 

[Grandad35]

How about that Grandad? We could do that, couldn't we?

Yes, we certainly could, but we both have better things to do with our time.

This is developing into a case study of why the "kiss principle" (keep it simple) works so well. I refilled 23 carts of 6 colors a few days ago in about 45 minutes. Actually, the refill process only took about 1/2 of that time, with the remaining time devoted to setup/cleanup (getting the ink bottles from the basement, covering the counter with plastic/paper, etc.). Like mikling said, the "standard" refill process is so simple, fast and reliable that most of us have little to gain from alternative refill procedures.

 

[canonfodder]

Grandad3,

See my edited post. I just can't help it.

 

[jackson]

How about that Grandad? We could do that, couldn't we?

Yes, we certainly could, but we both have better things to do with our time.

This is developing into a case study of why the "kiss principle" (keep it simple) works so well. I refilled 23 carts of 6 colors a few days ago in about 45 minutes. Actually, the refill process only took about 1/2 of that time, with the remaining time devoted to setup/cleanup (getting the ink bottles from the basement, covering the counter with plastic/paper, etc.). Like mikling said, the "standard" refill process is so simple, fast and reliable that most of us have little to gain from alternative refill procedures.

The ink-into-the-tank bit is easy.It's the damn-things-wont-do-a-nozzle-check that's the pain.
Both oem and third party refills have the problem.
Pumping ink into the waste tank from repeated cleanings doesn't really solve the problem.It just hastens the day when you have to throw away the printer because no one has a clear method of dismantling the case- and wouldn't anyway because of the horrible mess.
After everything is primed, the tanks run fine;good to the last drop.
I recall an Australian? ink supplier who had a cart that could be filled in situ, but I can't remember the context of the thread.

 

[Grandad35]

The ink-into-the-tank bit is easy.It's the damn-things-wont-do-a-nozzle-check that's the pain.
Both oem and third party refills have the problem.
Pumping ink into the waste tank from repeated cleanings doesn't really solve the problem.It just hastens the day when you have to throw away the printer because no one has a clear method of dismantling the case- and wouldn't anyway because of the horrible mess.
After everything is primed, the tanks run fine;good to the last drop.
I recall an Australian? ink supplier who had a cart that could be filled in situ, but I can't remember the context of the thread.

It sounds like you have a problem extracting ink from your carts. Before you install each refilled cart, gently blow into the vent port to get ink to drip from the exit port (while holding the cart over a paper towel, of course). After a while, you will develop a sense of how much pressure is "normal" - excessive pressure indicates that the filter/sponge is becomming clogged.

This is exactly why a technique was developed to clean these carts (http://www.nifty-stuff.com/docs/canon-BCI-6-cartridges.php). Before starting to purge my carts, I often encountered the problem that you describe. I now clean my carts after 6-7 refills, and haven't had this problem in well over a year. This system has been so reliable that I don't even bother with a nozzle check or any other test after changing cart(s).

 

[vkakula]

I refilled 23 carts of 6 colors a few days ago in about 45 minutes. Actually, the refill process only took about 1/2 of that time, with the remaining time devoted to setup/cleanup (getting the ink bottles from the basement, covering the counter with plastic/paper, etc.).

There are people for whom it takes at least 45 minutes to dress up, drive to the store, find the cartridges, wait in the checkout line, drive home. True - you can buy buy 25 cartidges at once but you can also refill ~25 in that time as Grandad35 has done.

 

[ghwellsjr]

This is exactly why a technique was developed to clean these carts (http://www.nifty-stuff.com/docs/canon-BCI-6-cartridges.php). Before starting to purge my carts, I often encountered the problem that you describe. I now clean my carts after 6-7 refills, and haven't had this problem in well over a year. This system has been so reliable that I don't even bother with a nozzle check or any other test after changing cart(s).

Grandad35, I believe you only have printers with dye inks and no pigment black ink. I have never seen a nozzle check reveal a problem caused by a well used and maintained printer on the dye inks. It would be very difficult to even see a problem with one or two dye nozzles with the standard nozzle check because of the way it is presented. You have to do the extended nozzle check to see the individual dye nozzles.

The pigment black ink is a different story. It is common to see a few of those nozzles not printing, especially since the grid pattern makes it easy to see every nozzle with the normal nozzle check. The best thing I have found to do is cycle power. The next best thing is wait a day. The third best thing is remove the print head and clean the bottom of it. Fourth, do a normal head clean. If all that fails, put in a cleaning cartridge and do a deep cleaning.

But I doubt that any of this has to do with simply changing cartridges after a refill.