My MAXIFY 5350 is on refill ink

[palombian]

Thanks Palombian for contacting me quickly

Now I'm confused

OK - fill the cart via the top hole, no problem

Do you mean that the second hole down which is beside the little board and labyrinth is to be left completely open without any plug after filling?

The Ali site has the following which seems to suggest that (See point B)...


Note


A. Please try to refill inks to 80% of cartridge volume before you install printer;

B. Remove the colors air hole rubbers before plug into the printer

C. When the ink level goes to 10-15%,refill inks again;

D. When you take away the cartridge to refill inks, then plug into printer, the chips has been resetted.

E. Try to choose high quality printing inks;




View attachment 6203

They confirm the colored plugs are in the air holes and should be removed (but this can be confusing since most refillables use these colored plugs for the ink inlet).
80% seems to be 40 and 80ml. I would not fill less since there will be too much air in the bag and this could harm the correct pressure build up (you can't suck out air as with OEM's).

 

[Redbrickman]

That probably explains why the Octopus carts have a vaccum or pressure as they are sealed once the filler plug is inserted

I will be glad to remove the Octopus carts as today the black had another leak. There is no apparent reason for it because yesterday I printed about 50 pages and there was no leakage. Printed two sheets today and black comtamination, opened the printer and the usual pool of black ink was there on the back shelf

Will report back later on how well these work

Thanks a lot for your help

Alan

 

[Redbrickman]

Some more info. The small board or piece of material inside the cart at the top of the labyrinth has two holes and a membrane or mesh (arrowed) This cannot vent to the side of the cart because the area highlighted in my picture is sealed with a clear foil. Without cutting the cart apart it is hard to tell but it looks to me that the mesh or membrane covering the holes is to allow the labyrinth to vent into the same area were the pink coloured plug is inserted. I think this bears out the instructions to remove that plug after filling before inserting into the printer.

 

[Redbrickman]

When changing, remove all the carts quickly all at the same time. 1234.
When replacing, do the same and put them back all at the same time.1234.
No stopping in between.
If you want to refill one cart, it's OK. do one but do not remove one , refill, replace and then remove the other one and then refill and then the next. etc.
As soon as you replace the carts quickly, immediately start with some use. I always refill when I need to do long runs so I know I have ink for like hundreds of pages continuously. By doing this I totally ignore chip reports. The pressure sets up quickly with continual printing.
If you refill one, and then put it back and let it sit there while you work on another, the positive outlet pressure on the just replaced tank will cause the ink to leak out though the nozzles and cross contamination will result. The only way to get the pressure to set up is to use the ink and cause the pressure to set up. Looks like some have been running into this.
On sponge carts the sponge and ink characteristics control the ink release. On these spongeless carts, the generated pressure controls ink release. So new full carts need some use immediately to settle in and generate some negative pressure.

That is possibly what is happening with all the leaks etc.

With those new carts, I don't see the details but I suspect that the long plug is actually also sealing the priming chamber via a second hole at the top of the riser. If the design is what I think it is, these I have seen before on Brother refillable carts. You need to make sure that the plug seals a tiny side hole when the plug is fully inserted. If not, the pressure is not setup in the priming chamber. The small hole allows air to escape when ink is put it. It vents the priming reservoir and this must be sealed air tight after it is primed. The plug is supposed to do this when it is fully inserted. Look for a tiny hole at the end of the rise and it might be 1/32" in diameter. The riser is an easy prime feature but it can also backfire if the plug is too small in diameter to seal the side hole perfectly.

Good luck.

A small CISS might actually be a good idea on these Maxifys if you're doing large runs a lot of the time.. I am thinking of adapting mine to that.

I have looked carefully, not easy to see but I did not notice any small hole in the area the plug seals. I'm guessing that is maybe why they say to remove the plug prior to inserting in the printer?

 

[palombian]

.... I think this bears out the instructions to remove that plug after filling before inserting into the printer.

Something to think about.

As far as I could observe the ink bags of these "new model" refillables have a kind of air vent as the OEM's.
You can check this by keeping the carts with the ink outlet on top and press on the sides, there is a bit of ink seeping out (via the air chamber).
It must have some pressure equalising function.
There is a serpentine, and the smal darker structure ("mesh with 2 holes) on the exit could be a valve.

 

[palombian]

...
With those new carts, I don't see the details but I suspect that the long plug is actually also sealing the priming chamber via a second hole at the top of the riser. If the design is what I think it is, these I have seen before on Brother refillable carts. You need to make sure that the plug seals a tiny side hole when the plug is fully inserted. If not, the pressure is not setup in the priming chamber. The small hole allows air to escape when ink is put it. It vents the priming reservoir and this must be sealed air tight after it is primed. The plug is supposed to do this when it is fully inserted. Look for a tiny hole at the end of the rise and it might be 1/32" in diameter. The riser is an easy prime feature but it can also backfire if the plug is too small in diameter to seal the side hole perfectly.

...

The instructions @Redbrickman received point to this.
OTH they stipulate the colored plug should be removed after filling, so it rather should seal something before.

Maybe my provider had it wrong.
I filled the carts without.
But at this moment they perform well.

I still have no idea where the odd-shaped channel is for.
When I first filled the magenta I overfilled and the level stayed above to chamber as in the yellow. It equalised somehow since it was on the same level as the ink the second time.

Observe also that the maximum ink level is at the small thing with 2 holes where the serpentine is connected to the air chamber
(to be precise the carts are not horizontal in the printer but inclined to the ink outlet side).

 

[Redbrickman]

Mikling Said ...
With those new carts, I don't see the details but I suspect that the long plug is actually also sealing the priming chamber via a second hole at the top of the riser. If the design is what I think it is, these I have seen before on Brother refillable carts. You need to make sure that the plug seals a tiny side hole when the plug is fully inserted. If not, the pressure is not setup in the priming chamber. The small hole allows air to escape when ink is put it. It vents the priming reservoir and this must be sealed air tight after it is primed. The plug is supposed to do this when it is fully inserted. Look for a tiny hole at the end of the rise and it might be 1/32" in diameter. The riser is an easy prime feature but it can also backfire if the plug is too small in diameter to seal the side hole perfectly.
...

Ok I want to get all of this absolutely clear in my mind if I can.

Is the "Riser" that Mikling refers to the tube leading up from the Outlet port area - i.e. that tube which is half full of Magenta ink in Palombian's picture above or is it the labyrinth structure?

The long plug to me refers to one of the coloured plug If I read Mikling text correctly.

So my questions to Mikling if he can help clarify his thoughts on the carts, bearing in mind he has not physiclaly seen them so difficult to be completely sure :

Filling - which plug goes where and which hole to fill by?

Should the other plug be in when filling?

After filling should both plugs be fitted?

Like Palombian mine appear to be working at the moment but I would like to be sure they are set up for optimal performance

 

[mikling]

The long riser is to allow air to vent through so that the ink reaches the outlet automatically. No priming. Simple.

Want to see the function of the plugs? Simple again. Take a syringe and a half full cart. Now push some air into one of the holes. The air will go through the labyrinth and then exit at the bottom somewhere on the cart. That would indicate the air intake. The plug that seals at the top of the riser is the refill plug. That is why on the magenta cart the column of ink remains. If you remove the plug on the magenta cart, the column of ink will fall to match what is in the reservoir.
That round thing if it does not have a spring and again, I can't see the details is possibly a comforter of sorts.
The actual physics between these and the ones that Hat and I are using are possibly very similar. However the empty blocks need priming. Want a super easy way to prime. Fill it with ink. Now take a paper clip or small diameter rod or toothpick. Push the ball on the outlet and let some ink flow through. Done. Put it into the printer. The exiting ink will help set up the pressure actually. Heh Heh.

 

[palombian]

@mikling:

- what is the function of a "riser" ?

- as I understand the cartridge has a negative internal pressure, that's what you call priming and is done by purging ink after inserting a new cartridge - or pushing the ball, thanks - (I measured 5 ml for the color and 10 ml for the black cartridge, about 15-20% giving an internal pressure of 800-850 hPa).

- at the end of the serpentine the thing @Redbrickman shows probably is an overpressure valve (by oscilating temperature and barometric pressure the small amount of air in the bag is not enough to compensate), sealing by the long coloured plug for sure will avoid leaking during transport

@Redbrickman:

- ink must definitily be filled through the upper hole (do not use a needle, you could puncture the bag)

- presence of the long coloured plug in the lower hole while filling: leave it as described

- the upper hole must be sealed before printing and the coloured plug removed from the lower hole

 

[Redbrickman]

Thanks to both of you for all the info, I have learned a few things

@mikling - I had primed the other carts from Octopus using your method but I think these carts are slightly different as all of them after filling had ink in the outlet port with no priming.
Next time I fill I won't use a needle - lets hope I did no damage

I assume the cart is not filled like the OEM's i.e.the syringe does not make a perfect seal in the port when filling and is not cycled up and down to expel air/ink.

Time will tell how they perform but so far so good.

Found this image for the smaller capacity Maxify carts.