Revised Refill for Pro 1 Cartridge (With some Photos) Part 1.

[The Hat]

To Refill the PGI-29 ink Cartridge correctly you need to start off properly with the right equipment using the right procedure and lots of Patients and common sense.

I’ll break the refilling instructions in two parts the first part will be the refilling procedure itself and the second part will be some of the necessary equipment needed to complete the job safely and successful.

To start with you have to weigh the cartridge first to know exactly how much ink that will be needed to bring the cartridge back to a safe working level.
Click all Photos to enlarge

These Cartridges when empty weigh in at 43.5 grams, and when full the cartridge then should weigh no more than 86 gram + / - a gram, so 43 ml of ink will fill a cartridge full.

To start filling first stand the cartridge on its label with the outlet facing up and you now are ready to begin the refill procedure, did you remember to weight it first !

Next is to fill a syringe with the correct amount of ink that you have calculated previously and then screw the refill plastic tip onto the syringe.

Now insert the syringe into the cartridge outlet and push down until the refill tip fits snugly into the outlet port, you must keep the syringe firmly pressed into the outlet during the refilling to hold down the spring valve inside.
Empty Syringe used for Demo plus there's a missing Photo here **

Then pull back on the plunger slightly to create a small vacuum, now you’re ready to start refilling.

Next push down gently on the plunger nice and slowly till all of the ink has gone into the cartridge.

Now if any resistance is felt on the plunger just stop pushing and pull back on the plunger just a little bit and then proceed to push till the syringe is empty. (Repeat if necessary)

When finished injecting the ink allow the plunger to rise up a little by itself just to naturalise any pressure that might have built up during the refilling process.

In fact pull it up yourself till you get just a drop of ink coming back into the syringe and stop then wrap a small piece of paper towel around the refilling tip as you twist the syringe to lift it out of the outlet, it may dribble a small bit or it may not.

Weight the cartridge once more to check that you put sufficient ink in to it, you should try for a weight of no less > 84 gram and more < 87 gram, once that’s achieved then you can safely use the cartridge in your printer.

One further thing to note here is you’ll have to make some provisions for replacing the on board chip because running this printer with the ink monitoring disabled is not recommended because of the unnecessary excessive cleaning that this printer will do.

This is the same procedure that I’ve used to fill more than 200 cartridges plus (I’ve lost count now) and it works for me, so it will work for you also and if you can find a much better way than this or improve on it in any way then I hope you will share your new ideas with us also.

Happy Refilling..

Part two of these instructions will deal with the necessary tools and extras you’re going to need if you wish to refill these cartridges properly.

** I'll put the missing photo in part two because I have exceeded the amount of photos that I’m allowed in this thread.
Here's part two...
http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/revised-refill-for-pro-1-cartridge-with-photos-part-2.8670/

 

[stratman]

I used to buy Playboy magazine just for the articles. However, I looked at your pictures.

Nice job!

 

[The Hat]

You mean you really bother to read the articles too...

 

[jtoolman]

Hat, so I assume the single use chips you got from China are working well?
Great shots and great instructions. Seems almost as easy as the PGI-9s.
Too bad about no resetter yet.

Joe

 

[PeterBJ]

That's a very elegant refill method

I wonder if this method could also be adapted to the HP88 and similar cartridges? That would be more convenient than the suggested refill methods for these HP cartridges. I think the cartridge designs might be similar, both using a plastic/aluminium ink bladder.

I have a defective HP Officejet Pro K5400. If I manage to get the printer working again, I will certainly give this refill method a try.

 

[Frederik Forsberg]

Hi guys!
This seems to me as a great (and simple) guide, especially if viewed with Jtoolmans excellent youtube videos on the subject. I just have a quick question that I hope you may be able to clear up for me. I hope others might be able to use the answer too.

I just started printing and find myself using a lot of ink (for obvious reasons). But how does the printer check the ink level of the cartridges? My understanding is that its preprogrammed and it tracks how much is being used (as opposed to tracking the weight)? In that case, I'm guessing that you will need enough 'empty' cartridges to fill up whole cartridges and then change the chips too, in order to have it accept the refilled ink - is this assumption correct?

I have a lot (or about 20) of 'empty' and I am trying to figure out if I can refill the ink from these cartridges to my functioning cartridges before they run out? And if I need to also change the chips for the printer to accept the new ink?

 

[The Hat]

I just started printing and find myself using a lot of ink (for obvious reasons). But how does the printer check the ink level of the cartridges?

The unfortunate side of printing your lovely photos is the cost, and O’ boy doesn’t the OEM cost, the carts your use have a small white stick poking out of them and that is a light probe that your printer uses to calculate how much ink is left in the cart.

When the ink gets low in the cart, it’s detected by the printer using this light probe, and that then starts an ink nozzle count and after many more ink drops used up, the printer declares the cartridge empty, but of course it’s not. !

You can salvage and reuse the remaining ink inside the empty cart and store it in a bottle till you have enough to fill the cart again, but as you guessed you’ll need to change the chip for this cart to be recognised once more.

The reason why a cart is declared empty when it still has at least 10 ml of ink left is to protect you from air being sucked into the system, which would then cause ink print issues and you’ll be forced to run a system flush to remove that air, causing you to lose 35% of all ink x 12 !... Ouch…

When you own a Pro 1 there are no shortcuts to take, and if you try the printer will detect them and waste even more of your expensive ink, this beast has a very bad drinking problem and needs to be handle very carefully.
P.S. You need to be selling some prints to recover the costs…

 

[Frederik Forsberg]

When you own a Pro 1 there are no shortcuts to take, and if you try the printer will detect them and waste even more of your expensive ink, this beast has a very bad drinking problem and needs to be handle very carefully.
P.S. You need to be selling some prints to recover the costs…

If only I could sell my prints, haha! I guess I will have to buy some OEM cartridges along the way - I doubt I will ever get through enough cartridges to fill a whole cartridge again

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[The Hat]

I doubt I will ever get through enough cartridges to fill a whole cartridge again

There is only 44 ml of ink in each cart, so 4 empties would give you a new refill..

 

[palombian]

I recently bought 2 PGI-29 OEM's (M and R) to use the ink in the PRO-10 and could suck out 38 ml (2ml more than declared).
The chips are still "full", if anyone can use them ?