Refilling PG-830/CL-831 carts

[alexandereci]

I got myself an MP190/198 printer instead of the other models since my scanner decided to go kaput as well. I figured getting a 2-in-1 would be cheaper. I hope! Anyways, this baby comes with the 830/831 carts, which are like the 40/41 carts but with less capacity.

I asked myself, how can a cart that is the same size and shape as another, have less capacity? The answer... smaller sponge. Grumble, shucks, and other comments.

Anyway, this brings me back to my concerns regarding these types of carts. I know some if not most of you would recommend popping the top, but I am looking a way around that. So, here are my questions:

1. Isn't this type of cart "locked in place" by squeezing it into some kind of lock on the printer carriage? If that's the case, won't popping the top mean that over time, the cart can "dis-align" itself and result in the strip not making proper contact with the pins on the carriage? I was thinking it would be better to bore holes on the cover, then refill through those holes, that way the integrity/alignment of the strip/cover/cart/carriage would be intact.

2. Since the 830/831 carts have a smaller sponge, but the SAME amount of chamber space for each color, what negative effects would I get if I were to "overfill" each chamber a bit, so that not only is the sponge soaked, but there's an ml or two of ink sloshing around in each chamber as well?

3. How many ml can the 830/831 carts hold? I have yet to refill my carts, you see.

4. How do the professional refillers refill these carts? I've had my 40/41s refilled before, and they don't pop the top or make holes, and the stickers (those that cover the tiny holes) stay in place, so any ideas?

5. Is it necessary to align the carts after each refill (I pull out the carts to refill, is there any other method??)?



Looking forward to hearing from you guys!

 

[panos]

Do not overfill above 3 ml each color.

Aligning only affects quality, so you can safely make your own tests.

see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bicu36aTXw

and then this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n7VhGZaByE

 

[mikling]

There is a good reason to pop the top and it is this. We all know that not all colors are used equally sometimes Cyan runs out first etc. It all depends on what was printed. That means that the remaining ink for each color is really unknown. If you were to inject the same amount of ink into each cavity, then it is possible to overfill a certain color that was not completely empty.

What is the danger or overfilling?, simple cross contamination. That is when the color that is overfilled leaks ink out from the bottom of the printhead nozzles and then it crosses over to the nozzles of other colors and then gets absorbed UP into the other color's sponge. The resultant print is awful.

By popping the top we can see how much full each sponge is when we refill it and never overfill it thus eliminating the possibility of cross contamination.

The pros use an evacuation clip that pulls ink out of the cartridge after immediately refilling. If there is minimal cross contamination, then it can remove the affected ink. Sometimes, it is necessary to remove a lot.

Popping the top is simple and makes refilling near idiot proof.

Additionally after a bunch of refills you run into the contaminated sponge issue where after refilling the cartridge does not want to print properly yet has been refilled. By having an exposed sponge, this allows you to remove the sponge, rinse out the old ink and then reassemble. You can now service the cartridge. Neat huh?

 

[pharmacist]

Another reason not to buy these printers: not only you have to refill much more often, but these types of cartridges will wear out very quickly (sponge fatique) and when you accidentally pierce through the bottom sieve then you are out of luck: the affected colour will leak, rendering the cartridge useless.

I had numerous people asking me to refill these and the HP 21/22 cartridges and I now refuse to refill the colour cartridges. The black cartridges are less cumbersome to refill. Ohh, my God, not these cartridges again......

 

[alexandereci]

Thanks for the links, panos, but IMHO that guy is an idiot for touching the contact strip on the carts. Still...

Milking, I totally agree with you on your points, but what about my, er, "theory" regarding the cover and the alignment (see #1 above)?

Pharmacist, I am careful where I insert my needles, it is at the bottom 1/3 for the blue/yellow/black, and on the lower right for the red ink, so no worries on piercing. I do agree with you that these carts are too much work, but IMO, it's easier for me to throw away a defective cart and buy a new one (with a new printhead) than it is to send my printer to a repair shop 4 cities and 6 hours away. Damn, I miss my 3300.

 

[mikling]

A bit of tape will hold the top down nicely and is easy to remove when refilling the next time. This sticking of of the top is fine and when popped and put back carefully it realigns properly.

These two cartridge printers are simply meant for light duty use. They do very well for folks that don't print for long stretches but are not really meant for frequent use. The same target market for HP printers that sport those 21/22, 94,95.

If you use the printer often, you are always better off getting seaprate ink tanks. The heads are meant for heavier duty cycles and even has a bit of heat sinking as opposed to the integrated cartridges which literally have none.

 

[alexandereci]

Yeah, I guess I'm back to popping off the top. Plus I got a spare 40/41 cart that has a busted printhead, I'm gonna try swapping the foam.

If you use the printer often, you are always better off getting seaprate ink tanks. The heads are meant for heavier duty cycles and even has a bit of heat sinking as opposed to the integrated cartridges which literally have none.

Don't rub it in too much. My first integrated printhead in a long while was my 3300, and I'm not sure whether to love it (coz of all the fine prints it gave me) or to hate it (coz it barely lasted a year!).

 

[alexandereci]

I decided to have some fun and swapped the foams from 40/41 carts into the 830/831 carts. I've had success with the 831 color cart, but now my 830 black won't print. Dabbing tissue on the printhead shows that there's no ink coming out of it even after two deep cleans. I'm soaking it on a piece of tissue with alcohol right now to see if that'll suck out the ink, then maybe a couple of cleaning runs again later.

Any advice on how to get the ink flowing again? Any idea what I did wrong on the black cart?

 

[pharmacist]

Yes there is: use a bottom puller to remove the air from the area around the nozzles, which is the most common cause of "clogs".

 

[alexandereci]

I do not have a bottom puller, and the modified 830 black cart printed fine before the modification. The 831 was fine as well, and is still working perfectly after the modification so I'm baffled why the 830 would have this problem.

After so many cleaning and deep cleaning cycles, the black is starting to show. Maybe when I replaced the foam, I also pushed some air into the printhead, so now I have to suck that air out. Is there any way to do this in place of a bottom puller?