Need CLI-226/PGI-225 backups

[macbroom]

I'm confused. Like I said, I'm a German method man. So why are we talking about top-filling? Is it now necessary to top-fill with my system?

The carts from precisioncolors have plugs on the top of the carts that were put there to allow easy flushing by the seller. These plugs may hang up when your carriage goes under the plastic on both sides of it. All you need to do is remove the plugs, hot glue the holes and tape and you can use the German method as before.

 

[PeterBJ]

PenguinLust wrote:
I'm confused. Like I said, I'm a German method man. So why are we talking about top-filling? Is it now necessary to top-fill with my system?

No it is not. The German method is also my preferred refill method. Only if you have removed the Canon topfill seal, for instance to flush the cartridges, you will have to reseal the the ink chamber properly, and same reseal techniques as used in top-filling will be necessary.

@stratman: I never worked professionally with IT but circa 1970 I used this government surplus 45 baud 5 bit ITA2 printer in a communications related hobby: http://www.vmarsmanuals.co.uk/newsletter_articles/creed7b.pdf. The modem, called RTTY converter back then was home made using vacuum tubes, passive LC filters with ferrite pot cores and a polarized telegraph relay.

My first PC was a second hand IBM PC XT, I think OS was DOS 5.0 and my first printer for use with computers was a small dot matrix printer. I re-inked the type ribbon using a felt tipped permanent ink marker.

 

[PenguinLust]

Oh, I see. The seal's been removed for me. I had the idea that the seal problem is a bit of a headache. but you think the seal is easy to make? Easy enough that there's no need to go elsewhere for sealed 220/221s?

 

[PeterBJ]

You do not necessarily need to look for another set of cartridges. You may be able to reseal your purchased cartridges properly, but to answer your question a little more info is needed, like have the cartridges been flushed and have the cartridges been resealed and if so how? If a standard silicone rubber plug has been used you may have problems with clearance, and a better resealing method is required.

As mikling wrote in post #14 Canon OEM cartridges use two lines of defence against air leaks. Canon cartridges are top filled when manufactured. First line of defence is a plastic ball sealing the fill hole. The second and probably most important is the label covering the top of the cartridge including the fill hole. This is not unlike a car tyre valve. The valve stem provides a temporary seal when inflating the tyre, but long term seal is provided by the valve cap.

If the plastic ball is put back in place or a low profile silicone rubber plug has been used everything may be OK, but I would prefer to use a special quality tape to provide the second and more permanent seal. My preferred tape is this sold by websnail: http://www.octoink.co.uk/products/Aluminium-Tape-Strip.html and I use these plugs, the low profile variety recommended for MP/MG printers: http://www.octoink.co.uk/products/Refill-Plugs-[Canon].html

Maybe mikling has something similar?

Hot melt glue may also be used for sealing the top fill hole, but hot melt glue comes in many varieties, and not all are suitable for sealing the cartridges. A bad seal could cause a disastrous ink leakage inside the printer. so before using hot melt glue it is advisable to check that it has got a good bonding to the cartridge, i.e. it must not be easily peeled off the cartridge.

 

[mikling]

PeterBJ, I have some plugs for review. Maybe.

 

[PeterBJ]

I prefer the German method of refilling, but I have used the low profile plugs + aluminium tape to reseal top fill holes on purged PGI-520/CLI-521 cartridges. I pulled the plastic balls using a small eyelet screw and still have the plastic balls. Except from the hole left by the screw they appear to be undamaged. The screw hole doesn't go all the way through the plastic ball.

Should I replace the the low profile plugs with the plastic balls and use tape as a second seal ? What is your recommendation to me and to PenguinLust?

 

[stratman]

@stratman: I never worked professionally with IT but circa 1970 I used this government surplus 45 baud 5 bit ITA2 printer in a communications related hobby: http://www.vmarsmanuals.co.uk/newsletter_articles/creed7b.pdf. The modem, called RTTY converter back then was home made using vacuum tubes, passive LC filters with ferrite pot cores and a polarized telegraph relay.

Good golly - That looks like a Nazi Enigma machine! The Gutenberg printing press was more user friendly.

... a small dot matrix printer. I re-inked the type ribbon using a felt tipped permanent ink marker.

I admire people more frugal than myself but even I would have bought a new ribbon.


Thanks for sharing. I like the history of computers.

 

[mikling]

There really is no specific recommendation. You see everyone has their fave method of doing it. Here is what I have seen, The remanufacturers are using non lipped plugs for a few reasons I believe. The first is that it allows tape so seal flat over the plugs thereby keeping the top smooth so that consumers don't know how the cartridges are refilled. The second is that they need to use the plug hole to flush the cartridges. Remember the remanufacturers get cartridges in all sorts of condition and they must all be brought back to a common condition, thus flushing is required...and it must be done quickly to control costs. They will not use a lipped plug as that will create a bulge on the label and might hamper the label from sealing.

So if you have a lipped plug that seals well, then use it and don't worry. Does the ball seal better than the low profile plug. I really don't know and actually you can answer that better. If it does not leak, then it seals well. What I can tell you is that the ball does not seal that well in reality. So the rubber plugs you are using might actually do a better job...stick with it.

 

[stratman]

The best advice for PenguinList is to do this as easiest as possible the first time around and not fiddle with top holes, screws, plugs, tape or hot glue/wax because he is going to use the Durchstich method to refill. Top holes can always be made at a later date if needed --- and top holes are not required, although they can speed the process of flushing.

My initial goal was to help him prevent clearance problems with cartridges having a sealed top hole. The problem could be caused by the type - specifically the height - of the plugs Mikling uses in his photograph of his reconditioned cartridges. Too much hot glue/wax could also present a clearance issue.

Knowing this issue, the next logical step is to ask Mikling if he would sell empty cartridges that haven't been tapped yet. PenguinList can flush the cartridges without a top hole. Flushing can be done with or without a Durchstich hole. PenguinList could reasonably even skip flushing the dye-based cartridges.

Another option is to buy the OctoInkjet low profile silicone plugs that I linked to in an earlier post to seal top holes. OctoInkjet also has empty but unflushed and untapped cartridges PenguinList can use. Now it might be that Mikling may have a new plug - low profile? - for sale soon. Unfortunately for PenguinList, he must make decisions based on what is available now.

Hot glue/wax had already been mentioned. PeterBJ has added the suggestion of aluminum tape, commonly used for HVAC systems.

Of course, PenguinList could just purchase a new set of Canon OEM 220/221 cartridges, swap chips, and tap Durchstich holes after using up the OEM ink. However, this will not provide him with a second set of cartridges PLUS chips.

Thankfully we do not complicate this discussion further with vaccuum refilling, rigging up a Freedom Refill contraption, plastic balls (huh?) or some other outlier method.

 

[PeterBJ]

@mikling Thank you for info. I will continue to use the plugs. The cartridges don't leak.

@stratman As you might have guessed I'm an old timer radio amateur. I wonder if other forum members are radio amateurs too?

This anno 1930 teletype machine was British made, manufactured in Croydon by Creed Co. I admit that if the Nazis had captured one, they could have used it as a torture instrument. These machines were NOISY, imagine an electric drill running for an extended period of time and bursts fired by a toy sub machine gun in a small room at the same time. Normally they were used with a sound damping box, but i didn't have that box. These machines were replaced with more modern and user friendly machines circa 1960. The old ones were auctioned off. I guess Gutenberg's printing press was more reliable than these old machines and noiseless too!

The matrix printer used a non standard type ribbon not readily available, I would gladly have bought a new ribbon. But special Rube Goldberg/Heath Robinson type of re-inkers were availlable. The matrix printer was flimsy and unreliable and was soon replaced by a small canon monochrome B/W inkjet printer, the BJ 10 ex or sx.