To seal or Not to seal the refill hole for the German method?

[dvdit]

I did my first refill of the black opaque 226 cartridges with success. However, I am reading a conflicting report here about whether one should seal the refill hole with tape or not. I sealed mine with small duct tape because I am not a heavy user and I am afraid the small hole might cause the cartridge to dry if unused for more than two weeks or more. So is it recommnded to seal the refill hole for infrequent users ?

 

[rodbam]

The ink in the sponge area is exposed to the air anyway through the vent pathways on top so I don't know if there will be any more evaporation of the ink. I used to seal with tape but got fed up doing it & now I leave it open & have never had a problem. So really it depends on your own piece of mind, if you worry about it being open then tape it if not it's quite safe to leave it open.

 

[dvdit]

Thanks, Rob.

 

[Tin Ho]

The vent is through a tiny passage in a maze designed to trap moisture in it. The moisture trapped in the maze can prevent ink from further drying up but does not affect the ink flow when the printer is printing. The hole drilled for refilling has no such feature. Ink will dry up though the wide opening hole. It is better to cover it up. I know some people will swear that it makes no difference. But I was told by an ink vendor that it should be covered and should be air tight like the one in the top fill method. I was specifically told that if I print large photos continuously the hole should be plugged.

 

[dvdit]

+2. I was told by an ink vendor where I bought my new ink from, that the refill hole should be taped.

 

[PeterBJ]

I also cover the hole, even if I don't know if it is necessary. The Canon OEM cartridges are not just simple ink containers, a lot of engineering went into their design. Leaving the hole open changes this design.

Tin Ho wrote:
...I was specifically told that if I print large photos continuously the hole should be plugged.

That is an interesting point. When printing photos the ink demand is much higher than when printing plain paper documents. Used ink must be replaced by air drawn in through the vent and sponges. An uncovered refill hole might provide a short-cut for air, making air entering the printhead through the ink outlet and causing ink starvation. Also because of this I will continue sealing the hole.

 

[Tin Ho]

An uncovered refill hole might provide a short-cut for air, making air entering the printhead through the ink outlet and causing ink starvation.

Excellent point. That's is exactly what the problem is.

 

[panos]

I don't seal the durchstich hole.

Whether I print dozens of full color borderless A4 covers (with a very high demand of yellow ink for red tones) or reams of duplex documents or nothing for a month, my cartrirges work perfectly.

 

[rodbam]

I would imagine the air required for the ink to flow to the print head wouldn't change no matter how big a hole is, atmospheric pressure remains the same. The size of the hole would affect evaporation but at the rate & price of the inks we use I can't see it being a problem.
How does the size of the print affect the workings of a cartridge?

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

Evaporation. Why not do an experiment? Weigh the cartridge periodically and see how much evaporates through that hole. You have to try one with tape and one without. Then reverse the tape on the two. I can tell you that the manufacturers thought enough of this problem to engineer a tiny hole with a long channel to retard evaporation.