Storage Clips for Cli-8 anf BGI-5bk

[The Hat]

Ill go with Toms Tank Tube too..

 

[Redbrickman]

Yeah, Tom's Tank Tube is a great name


Tom,

Just start a new thread now, entitled "Tom's Tank Tube", or "Seal your Canon Port the Tank Tube way"

 

[stratman]

TankTube FTW

 

[ghwellsjr]

The picture shows empty cartridges but I presume this is really going to be used on refilled cartridges, correct?

If this is used on cartridges that were refilled with the German method, I predict that you will get a lot of ink dispelling from the refill hole as fluctuations in the normal daily atmospheric air pressure forces air in and out of the refill hole. Even if you cover it with tape, as opposed to sealing it securely like is required with a top fill hole, it will still allow air flow in and out everyday. Even if it doesn't result in any ink loss, it will cause a gradual drying out of the ink in the cartridge.

But even if this tube is put on a cartridge that was refilled with the top fill method, I have my doubts about the absolute air tightness of this method. It may work but it needs to be tested.

I believe that unless you allow unrestricted access to the air vent, you are not taking advantage of the serpentine path and the three wells that prevent an exchange of ambient air with chamber air.

I would suggest that you cut the tube on the top part to make it narrower so that it would expose the air vent and then you should store your cartridges in a flexible air tight bag with a piece of paper towel soaked in water.

 

[The Hat]

ghwellsjr

If this is used on cartridges that were refilled with the German method, I predict that you will get a lot of ink dispelling from the refill hole as fluctuations in the normal daily atmospheric air pressure forces air in and out of the refill hole. Even if you cover it with tape, as opposed to sealing it securely like is required with a top fill hole, it will still alow air flow in and out everyday. Even if it doesn't result in any ink loss, it will cause a gradual drying out of the ink in the cartridge.

I will have to disagree with you on this one George, but only regarding the top fill method.
With the German method there is a permanent hole in the side wall which could lead to dry out or leakage
of the ink inside, while using this Tank Tube (Untested).

But when using the top fill method the cartridges are not compromised by any hole in the sidewall
and therefore have no Possibility of leakage or ink drying out.

I top fill and always cover the air vents when the cartridge is in storage waiting to be used
with no degradation in performance of the cartridges at all.

Some of my cartridges can be left for 3 to 4 months without use depending on the level of printing that I do.
So the new Toms Tank Tube should make redundant the need to seal the top air vents
and use of the orange shoe clip for the ink outlet all in one go.

If it is indeed as successful as Tom Hock claims,
lets Test his simple and brilliant invention.

I am now looking for an old bicycle tube..

 

[Tom Hock]

Time will tell! I have only been doing this for 7 refills over a week now but don't anticipate any problems with the venting. I fill using the German method but I always put a small electrical tape patch over the 1/16" hole used for refilling. I do this because I suspect some air could be drawn through this hole during the purge cycle vacuum and make priming less effective (air does not belong in the print head).


I have always completely sealed all openings, and vent, even prior to using this tube method and never had any leakage, even for tanks lying on their side. I don't think I would feel comfortable putting these in my flight luggage where pressure changes can be fast and severe, but even then the rubber tube, unlike tape, would lift slightly off the vent if there was much of a pressure build-up.

 

[Redbrickman]

Theoretically ghwellsjr is spot on with his observations.

The top vents are probably making up for changes in atmospheric pressure, however I am guessing that the inner tube is not that flat on the top of the cart and therefore the seal is not completely airtight.

From a engineering perspective it is a fact that something can be watertight but the same seal would not be totally airtight. So that in my mind means that the rubber band stops ink leaking out of the outlet, but air can move freely in and out of the serpentine.

Speculation is a wonderful and sometimes dangerous thing

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

A new cartridge has a sealed vent, a somewhat sealed exit port, and there is no refilling hole. Yet when you open the vent, you don't hear a 'phht'. No, the cartridge is already at atmospheric pressure. That means it's not hermetically sealed, and it has already had many changes of air due to changes in atmospheric pressure, without drying. So I wouldn't worry about changes in pressure. Do seal the refill hole, however, or it WILL dry out through that big hole.

 

[l_d_allan]

and never had any leakage

Tom ... not meaning to "beat up on you" at all ... but ...
I'm gradually learning ... the hard way ... that "no leakage" doesn't necessarily mean acceptable refilling technique. If everything is too sealed, then the cart won't necessarily breath correcty and I think you could get "ink flow problems". That's what the R&D behind the elaborate serpentine labyrinth maze and vent hole bought, and we pay for, when we shell out a premium for oem carts.

I used to think that a good nozzle check was sufficient to have confidence in my refilling technique, but no longer .... ghwellsjr patiently corrected the error of my ways on that one also (belated thanks). You can have an excellent nozzle check and still have banding in a print (Why do I know that? ).

My evolving understanding is that a fuller test is a 4x6" or larger print of the solid, fully saturated CMYK color in question. To me, the internal logic of print-drivers falls into the category of:
Arthur C. Clarke;
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"

but this extreme test may force the print-driver to hammer those nozzles with a maximal demand for ink flow within a short time-frame. The ink has to go from the reservoir through the foam, sponge, outlet filter, inlet mesh filter, and finally the nozzle itself.

But NOTE!!!!! This is hard on each and every nozzle in the print-head that is clogged ... could cause overheating and therefore baked-on ink that is even harder to declog.

I think this "hammer test" would only be a final double-check after the standard nozzle check looked excellent, to confirm the declogging was complete. I suppose it would also be a check on whether a cart needed purging, and your overall refilling technique.

And I suppose the real test of your refilling technique is something like the "hammer test" on a cart you've refilled 10x times. That gives more time for problems to develop. One refill does not an expert make ... (speaking to the guy in the mirror )

Or do I Still have a flawed understanding of what is going on within these pesky devices? Inquiring minds want to know?

 

[Tom Hock]

There may be some misunderstanding about sealing the top vent. The top vent is only sealed when the refilled ink tank is being stored and before the ink tank is placed in the printer. When the tube is removed from the ink tank both the outlet port and the top vent is open, just as is the case when a new OEM Canon ink tank is removed from its package and installed in the printer .. no difference. The picture shows the tube covering both the outlet port and the top vent, but this tube must be removed to install the ink tank so the the top vent is automatically opened at time of installation.