l_d_allan
Fan of Printing
This is a adaptation of what could be an "alternative top refill method" suggested by R-Jet Tek (and also used by Irv Wiener, IIRC):
Then I thought it might work to do the equivalent of purging the cart by forcing warm tap water through it.
* BTW, in Colorado Springs, we have excellent water quality from snow-melt.
* I left the 20 ml syringe needle piercing the #1916 plug into the reservoir through the inlet hole that used to have the plastic sealing ball. I didn't drill any other hole in the cart, but simply pushed that plastic ball through the existing "tunnel" into the reservoir. [Edit] Works better with a 60ml syringe.
* I removed the plunger of the syringe and put warm water in the syringe barrel.
* Then I pressed the plunger to force the water into the reservoir side. Out came ink from the very small upper vent hole, and the outlet port on the bottom. I had an old dish washing basin sitting in the sink to avoid W.O.W. (wrath of wife)
* Then I placed enough of the cart into a cup of warm water so the outlet port could suck up warm water into the foam/sponge area as I reversed the plunger direction. I believe this to be an advantage ... you can push/pull water (and later air) in and out of the cart, including the vent hold air maze.
* Then again removed the plunger from the syringe, and dumped the water diluted with ink.
* Then again refill the syringe barrel with warm water, insert the plunger, and force through the reservoir side.
* Back and forth several times. The syringe needle remains stuck through the #1916 rubber'ish plug into the reservoir. The foam/sponge got whiter and whiter.
* I varied the place of outflow and inflow by covering the bottom outlet port with a #1916 outlet cap. This forced the water in and out of the top vent hole, which sped up flushing ink out of the sponge/foam area at the top. Probably best to not exert too much force to keep internal cart pressures low and not mess up the top vent air maze.
* I also varied by using my finger to seal the upper vent hole. Probably didn't accomplish much.
* Within several minutes or less, the foam/sponge was absolutely white without a trace of residual ink.
* Then I "pushed and pulled" air with the plunger up and down to accelerate draining of warm water out the bottom outlet port and upper vent hole. I varied the cart being right-side up and upside down.
* [Edit based on suggestions below] Use 10-15+ ml of distilled water in the syringe barrel for the final fill of the cart. Let sit for a while to displace some or most of the minerals in the tap water.
* Again "push and pull" air with the plunger up and down to drain the distilled water out the bottom outlet port and upper vent hole. I varied the cart being right-side up and upside down. This avoids using the mouth to blow out the excess water from the cart.
* Wick excess moisture from the cart.
* The cart is now drying out, and my speculation is that it would be ready to refill with ink and use within a day or so. I probably won't refill it, but leave it empty for further playing around.
Feedback appreciated on whether this approach has problems of which I'm unaware. Revisions to improve? Steps to add or leave out?
Also, my perception is that purging of carts is no longer recommended, and now is considered unnecessary. "Doesn't help, but doesn't hurt if you do it right."
[Edit] My current inclination is that purging is probably appropriate with empty carts purchased from eBay for which you don't know the history. If it is a 'virgin empty', you can tell that the plastic ball is still in place at the inlet port, and there are no extra holes drilled in the cart.
That is strong enough evidence ... at least for me ... that it was only used once. I have been satisfied with the virgin, empty Canon oem CLI-8 carts I have purchased via eBay. I haven't ... and would not ... purchase non-oem carts, or carts that had been used more than once. YMMV.
I would not purge a cart that I had purchased and the been the first and only one to use. My practice is to put a cap on the outlet port when I remove it from the printer, so the ink in the outlet port area doesn't dry out.[/Edit]
I would consider using this approach to purging on a new OEM cart that was now empty of OEM ink, but there is still some ink in the foam/sponge side, and perhaps some in the reservoir. This would be prepping it for the non-oem ink so there was no mixing of oem and non-oem ink.
[Edit] I had a batch of 30 Canon oem CLI-8 carts purchased from eBay that I decided to purge. I reused the #1916 inlet port plug that had been pierced by a sharp needle, and inserted a blunt 18 ga needle instead of the sharp needle. After removing the plastic ball from the inlet port, I left the #1916 plug on the blunt needle for all 30 carts. Used a 60 ml (about 2 oz) syringe.
I did this with warm water, and it seemed to work ok. I would have thought the needle might have some trouble piercing the rubber'ish #1916, but that was a non-issue.
Then I thought it might work to do the equivalent of purging the cart by forcing warm tap water through it.
* BTW, in Colorado Springs, we have excellent water quality from snow-melt.
* I left the 20 ml syringe needle piercing the #1916 plug into the reservoir through the inlet hole that used to have the plastic sealing ball. I didn't drill any other hole in the cart, but simply pushed that plastic ball through the existing "tunnel" into the reservoir. [Edit] Works better with a 60ml syringe.
* I removed the plunger of the syringe and put warm water in the syringe barrel.
* Then I pressed the plunger to force the water into the reservoir side. Out came ink from the very small upper vent hole, and the outlet port on the bottom. I had an old dish washing basin sitting in the sink to avoid W.O.W. (wrath of wife)
* Then I placed enough of the cart into a cup of warm water so the outlet port could suck up warm water into the foam/sponge area as I reversed the plunger direction. I believe this to be an advantage ... you can push/pull water (and later air) in and out of the cart, including the vent hold air maze.
* Then again removed the plunger from the syringe, and dumped the water diluted with ink.
* Then again refill the syringe barrel with warm water, insert the plunger, and force through the reservoir side.
* Back and forth several times. The syringe needle remains stuck through the #1916 rubber'ish plug into the reservoir. The foam/sponge got whiter and whiter.
* I varied the place of outflow and inflow by covering the bottom outlet port with a #1916 outlet cap. This forced the water in and out of the top vent hole, which sped up flushing ink out of the sponge/foam area at the top. Probably best to not exert too much force to keep internal cart pressures low and not mess up the top vent air maze.
* I also varied by using my finger to seal the upper vent hole. Probably didn't accomplish much.
* Within several minutes or less, the foam/sponge was absolutely white without a trace of residual ink.
* Then I "pushed and pulled" air with the plunger up and down to accelerate draining of warm water out the bottom outlet port and upper vent hole. I varied the cart being right-side up and upside down.
* [Edit based on suggestions below] Use 10-15+ ml of distilled water in the syringe barrel for the final fill of the cart. Let sit for a while to displace some or most of the minerals in the tap water.
* Again "push and pull" air with the plunger up and down to drain the distilled water out the bottom outlet port and upper vent hole. I varied the cart being right-side up and upside down. This avoids using the mouth to blow out the excess water from the cart.
* Wick excess moisture from the cart.
* The cart is now drying out, and my speculation is that it would be ready to refill with ink and use within a day or so. I probably won't refill it, but leave it empty for further playing around.
Feedback appreciated on whether this approach has problems of which I'm unaware. Revisions to improve? Steps to add or leave out?
Also, my perception is that purging of carts is no longer recommended, and now is considered unnecessary. "Doesn't help, but doesn't hurt if you do it right."
[Edit] My current inclination is that purging is probably appropriate with empty carts purchased from eBay for which you don't know the history. If it is a 'virgin empty', you can tell that the plastic ball is still in place at the inlet port, and there are no extra holes drilled in the cart.
That is strong enough evidence ... at least for me ... that it was only used once. I have been satisfied with the virgin, empty Canon oem CLI-8 carts I have purchased via eBay. I haven't ... and would not ... purchase non-oem carts, or carts that had been used more than once. YMMV.
I would not purge a cart that I had purchased and the been the first and only one to use. My practice is to put a cap on the outlet port when I remove it from the printer, so the ink in the outlet port area doesn't dry out.[/Edit]
I would consider using this approach to purging on a new OEM cart that was now empty of OEM ink, but there is still some ink in the foam/sponge side, and perhaps some in the reservoir. This would be prepping it for the non-oem ink so there was no mixing of oem and non-oem ink.
[Edit] I had a batch of 30 Canon oem CLI-8 carts purchased from eBay that I decided to purge. I reused the #1916 inlet port plug that had been pierced by a sharp needle, and inserted a blunt 18 ga needle instead of the sharp needle. After removing the plastic ball from the inlet port, I left the #1916 plug on the blunt needle for all 30 carts. Used a 60 ml (about 2 oz) syringe.
. My water supply is good quality but loaded with calcites, and I use distilled water in a plastic squeeze bottle to purge. I just press the nozzle of the bottle into the top port after removing the ball, then gently force water down and through the sponge and out of the outlet port. It takes very little time and not much distilled water until the cart is clean.
