Problems: green skin tone/banding, metal ball, ink leaks from sponge

[ghwellsjr]

Those caps look really neat, thanks for pointing them out.

 

[joseph1949]

To: ghwellsjr

Do you know of a place on the web that sells InkTec ink in bulk by the bottle for CLI-221/220 carts? How about a box of 10-20 ml containers?

To: all

Someone said on a post that they punched-out the ball valve on a cart. I tried this and the result was not very good. The initial hole was 11/64 inch and after using the punch the hole was 13/64 inch. I tried the plug that came with my InkTec refill kit and plug was not a tight fit. I am afraid using the supplied plug will cause the ink to leak from the tank. You could place some electricians tape over the hole to make the hole smaller so the plug would fit tighter. Another problem with the punched hole is that the hole has a number of cracks and breakouts around its circumference. Because of the cracks/breakouts I believe even if you use tape the plug would still leak. My advice--do NOT punch-out the valve ball!!!!!!

In my InkTec refill kit is a tool called a gimlet. The device is used to remove the PLASTIC valve ball. If the ball is METAL you cannot use the tool-big time! The tool looks like a screwdriver that has a tapered threaded screw on its end. You place the tool over the plastic ball and you pressed down and turn. You can remove the ball this way, but the resulting hole is not very round. The plug may or may not fit. You could have leakage. So what is the best method to create an opening in the cart for the ink to go into the ink tank?

The best method is to drill a hole next to the ball valve. You will need to use a circle template to accurately determine the size of the plug. The InkTec plug is 5/32 inch. You will need a low speed drill and the drill should be adjusted to its lowest torque setting. You need to use a small drill bit to drill the starter hole and the starter hole should be placed far enough away from the ball valve so that the 5/32 hole will not touch any part of the ball valve opening. After you have drilled the small starter hole you use the 5/32 inch bit. The resulting hole is a bit tight for the plug. I used a nail sitter (its tapered) to make the hole just big enough to accept the plug. Since I am anal and I do not what any leaks I placed some tape over the hole. I then gently pressed the plug into the hole. If this is a spare cart I placed some rubber bands around the cart and over the plug. This will help to keep the plug in place until you are ready to place the cart into the printer.

If you do not have a custom plug, you can do what some other people have doneuse tape (maybe!), hot glue, wax, stainless steel screw with an o-ring, etc.

WARNING: I have NOT placed any ink into any of the tanks after drilling the hole. The reason for this is that I do not want to take any chances the ink will leak. I will place ink into the tank when I need to replace a cart.

UpshotI cannot guarantee that using the above drill method will not cause a leak. I do believe that the drill method is sound and conservative. You be the judge.

P.S. I am thinking of creating a flat spot on the PLASTIC ball valve so can I drill a small hole down the center of the ball. I believe that if you heat-up a nail sitter or a small punch just enough to melt the plastic you can create a flat spot on the ball. After drilling the small hole all the way through the ball you can then take a bit that is just a bit bigger and drill a bigger hole through the ball. You release the drill with the drill bit still in the ball and twist the bit until you can pull the ball from the opening. This should give you a very neat hole to place your plug!!!!!

 

[ghwellsjr]

To: ghwellsjr

Do you know of a place on the web that sells InkTec ink in bulk by the bottle for CLI-221/220 carts? How about a box of 10-20 ml containers?

Not in the USA. The only supplier here that I am aware of is inkjetcartridge.com but unfortunately, the only way they sell the inks for the CLI-221/220 carts is in their kits which cost twice as much as their individual bottles which already cost twice as much as bulk ink.

 

[l_d_allan]

Those caps look really neat, thanks for pointing them out.

Here are some images:

Note that the starter kit I received had larger caps, which I suppose are for the black cartridges of other printers.

 

[l_d_allan]

When trying to remove ball from cart I found it very difficult to remove ball with supplied gimlet. I removed ball with a small flat head screwdriver. I tried to crush ball with pliers. Cannot crush. Super plastic??? Used a magnet. Ball is metal!!!

Joseph,

I wanted to check that the "crushing ball with pliers" was after you had gotten it out of the cartridge. I can't figure you would try to crush it while it was in the cartridge to get it to fall through into the reservoir, but ... who knows?

My printer has CLI-8 cartridges, which are different from your CLI-221 cartridges. My impression ... perhaps incorrect .. is that they are pretty similar, and many of the same techniques applie. Perhaps I'm confused ... wouldn't be the first time.

I can't visualize how you would get what you call the "ball valve" out of the cartridge. Seems like you would have to pretty much destroy the cartridge to be able to get it out.

BTW, does this ball actually function as a valve, or just a tight fitting ball meant to seal the cartridge? On my CLI-8 carts, it really is snug fitting.

 

[l_d_allan]

Someone said on a post that they punched-out the ball valve on a cart. I tried this and the result was not very good. The initial hole was 11/64 inch and after using the punch the hole was 13/64 inch.

Joseph,

I guess that would have been me, an acknowledged newbie, so "consider the source".

Perhaps our cartridges are different. Mine are CLI-8 for a Pro-9000-2, but my impression is that they are quite similar. If not, then please accept my apologies for providing incorrect info.

On the CLI-8 cartridges, I believe you scrape off just enough of the tape near the "Push" white circle on the top above the reservoir to get to the indentation with the plastic ball in it.

It's kind of a "tunnel", sort of like a "punch" to guide a drill bit, except full size so whatever you are using as a push tool won't move around, I suppose. By the way, I have my doubts if the plastic ball serves as a "valve".

I think the design of the cartridge is intended that you push this plastic ball through into the reservoir. It was a snug fit, but I was able to use a small hex allen wrench tool that just fit inside the indentation leading to the plastic ball. There was a yellow tool that came with my R-Jet Tek starter kit that seems meant to push the ball through, but it didn't seem long enough to serve this purpose.

Once the plastic ball had been pushed through, I used the "tapered / indented / stepped" rubber'ish plugs #1916 that came with the starter kit. The hole hadn't been enlarged by pushing the ball through, so they fit just fine with a good seal (at least I hope so). I suppose if you push the ball through with a threaded screw, like a "press", it would enlarge the hole. That wasn't the case for me, however. YMMV.

Some illustrations:





Note: my impression is that forum participant Irv refills by pushing the syringe needle through this rubber'ish plug, with the cartridge held upside down. According to the RJetTek webpage, this seems to be the recommended technique. So far, I've placed a #1813 cap on the outlet port to seal the bottom, removed the #1916 plug, refilled the cart, put the #1916 back in, and reset the chip. If i was putting the cart right back in the printer, I would remove the #1813 cap, and insert the cart in the printer. Time will tell if this works out ok ... I could be "shooting myself in the foot".

 

[pharmacist]

Very nice cap indeed: how much do you pay for these black rubber caps ?

You should notice that using the top refill method, one should always tape of the breathing hole above the sponge area very tightly when the ink level is about 50 % and continue ot refill up to 100 % and then seal. This will ensure the cartridge will reach the necessary sub pressure level. If you just fill up to the tope, the sponge will become oversaturated and this will cause dripping and even banding during printing. So too much ink will cause banding !!!

Another alternative is to milk the cartridge (pushing the cartridge wall together), so the sponge can loose 5-10 drops of ink, but this will put pressure on the cartridge wall and will wear out much quicker.

 

[l_d_allan]

Pharmacist:

The R-Jet Tek online catalog shows them as 25 each for the #1813 outlet port cap

You should notice that using the top refill method, one should always tape of the breathing hole above the sponge area very tightly when the ink level is about 50 % and continue ot refill up to 100 % and then seal. This will ensure the cartridge will reach the necessary sub pressure level. If you just fill up to the tope, the sponge will become oversaturated and this will cause dripping and even banding during printing. So too much ink will cause banding !!!

Is this the area you mean? If there is a breathing hole, it must be pretty small. I suppose it is part of the "serpentime labyrinth"?


I looked a little closer, and there seems to be some tape/cellophane material covering the area that resembles the X. You can just make it out in the upper Magenta cartridge. It seems to be under or part of the black tape with the Canon 8 on it. I wonder if it is sealing the breathing hole?

I suppose I could see what happens to pour water into an empty, spare cartridge. Out of newbie ignorance, I somehow ended up with 5 of the less used CLI-8-Magenta carts, and only 2 of the more used CLI-PM carts. Scratching my head on that one.

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

Do you know of a place on the web that sells InkTec ink in bulk by the bottle for CLI-221/220 carts?

http://www.inktec-usa.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?p=5&q=Canon

 

[joseph1949]

To: ThrillMozilla

Thank for your reply.

I went to the site and it looks like what I have been looking for!!! I just have to double check that the site is in the U.S.A. and will ship to the U.S.A.

Thank you