What happens if I 3/4 refill and reset cartridge?

[ghwellsjr]

When we are talking about how full a cartridge is, we're talking only about the reservoir compartment, not the sponge compartment. I have a lot of unopened Canon OEM cartridges too and they are all almost completely full, ie, they have a small bubble in the top. If you start with an OEM cartridge that has gone low or empty for the first time and you refill via the German method and you are careful to inject ink only into the reservoir and not let any of it escape into the sponge and then you turn it over to let the ink soak into the sponge compartment and then you top up the reservoir side again, the top of the sponge will not soak up any ink and will remain white, just like an OEM cartridge.

If you look at my videos on German refilling, you will see that the top of the sponge remains dry (even though I actually inject ink into the sponge side in the first video because it was a dried out sponge).

It is very important that you cover the refill hole with a piece of good tape or you can get a leak out of it a long time after you refill while the cartridge is in the printer.

 

[OM2]

those videos are great - especially for a newbie

It is very important that you cover the refill hole with a piece of good tape or you can get a leak out of it a long time after you refill while the cartridge is in the printer.

well... this is something i'm still scratching my head about
the octoink - instructions elsewhere clearly state that u can just leave the hole open - or u can cover it if it makes u feel good, but is not necessary

i definitely needed to seal - i had leaking
i used a paper sticker... ooops... i think i need to check if ok still!

but why would they say u don't need to cover the hole?
i can't remember... but i'm sure they say if u refill properly,t hen covering is not needed

 

[ghwellsjr]

They say you don't have to tape the German refill hole because they are comparing it to the top fill hole where the seal has to be absolutely air tight. But until they have a leak in a spare cartridge outside the printer, they won't become a believer. When they have a leak inside the printer many weeks after they refill, they will just think the chip lost track of its ink usage, how will they know?

Everyone agrees it can't hurt to cover up the German refill hole so why not do it?

When this debate came up in late 2009, I was arguing to tape the refill hole, not because I thought it would leak but because I knew it would contribute to the ink drying out inside the cartridge. So as a test, I refilled two cartridges identically via the German method. I taped their outlet ports and left their air vents open. On one of them, I covered the refill hole with a piece of tape. On the other one, I left it open. I set them upright on a shelf exposed to ambient air. Now after 16 months, the ink in the reservoir of the taped cartridge has gone done by 3/8 inch while the ink in the cartridge that was left open went down by 1 1/4 inches--it only has 1/4 inch of ink left in the reservoir. So just based on that argument, I don't see why anyone would leave the German refill hole open.

But now that I have experienced a leak in a spare cartridge sitting on a table that I reused the plastic tape on and wasn't making a good seal (like I show in the second video), I have switched to Gorilla tape which is like duct tape and provides a very firm, air tight seal. I now use a fresh piece of tape each time. The leak I'm talking about wasn't just a few drips, the cartridge was sitting in a puddle of ink.

 

[Redbrickman]

I decided to tape mine too. I don't know what you can buy in US but here in UK there is a very thin aluminium tape which I think 3M make. It can be rubbed down over the German refill hole and conforms nicely to the surface. It is also very hard to take off, and so far has made a perfect seal.

For all UK users I just noticed today that Lidl have the same tape on offer.

 

[rodbam]

I was going to use the silver duct tape but I came across some black gaffer tape that a lot of musicians use to fix everything from broken mikes to cut fingers & this seems to stick really well.
Regards Rod

 

[bsanotrun]

I decided to tape mine too. I don't know what you can buy in US but here in UK there is a very thin aluminium tape which I think 3M make. It can be rubbed down over the German refill hole and conforms nicely to the surface. It is also very hard to take off, and so far has made a perfect seal.

For all UK users I just noticed today that Lidl have the same tape on offer.

For other UK people you can also get it from Toolstation when Lidl offer has finished.
http://www.toolstation.com/ pt,no 97723
And Boots the chemist do Household ammonia at 1.75 for 500ml, for mixing with isopropyl and distilled water for print head de-clogging

mike

 

[OM2]

And Boots the chemist do Household ammonia at 1.75 for 500ml, for mixing with isopropyl and distilled water for print head de-clogging

mike

that's good news, i can get from boots - will this same mixture help purge cartridges?
AND where do i get isopropyl from!?
thanks

 

[pharmacist]

Local pharmacy or perhaps at Halfords. Sometimes it also called rubbing alcohol. Isopropyl alcohol = isopropanol
It should be relatively cheap

 

[OM2]

great. thanks for that.

just one other thing, maybe it's stating the obvious, but i thought i'd ask anyway: are these ingredients highly dangerous and need to be kept away from small kids?

 

[pharmacist]

ammonia: yes, caustic like any strong detergent, but the incredible pungent smell will keep children certainly away, as well as your pets. Isopropyl alcohol: highly flammable, like any alcohol, but I think a bottle of Chanel n.5 is likely to be very flammable as well, because it contain 70-80 % alcohol. When swallowed isopropylalcohol is much less dangeours compared to the dangerous methyl alcohol, which causes nerve paralysis and damage and blindness. Yes you will become drunk and dizzy, but the dangers of a sweet and fruity breezer drink are much more to be afraid off, when your kid is offered by someone unknown...