What is "draining too fast"?

[kdsdata]

The question probably spawns a number of new questions.

The problem I have is that some refilled carts are messy right from the time they are refilled from the initial clean state, meaning they had been rinsed with water, windex, and again with water, before drying for a long time (like a month). The messy experience is for about 5-6 subsequent refills (of sets).

Interestingly, at each refill of a set, it does not appear to be the same colours that are messy.

I recognize that it could be many things, but based on the symptom I wonder if it is no more than pressure variations. Either not relieved by opening the plug, or by not holding the cart properly, or with warm(er) fingers.

In any case, I have not seen any inordinate ink usage, so I don't think that the inks continue to drain through the head once the carts are installed.

I thank you for sheding some light on this issue.

 

[The Hat]

@kdsdata, if your referring specifically to the procedure of refilling your cart then the problem is more and likely the method your using is incorrect, yes I know your refilling for ages but that my point, complacent !

With the orange clip on the bottom and the refill hole open fill the reservoir side to 75% full and let each cart stand for say 5 minutes, then top up the reservoir side to 75% again and plug the refill hole, and that’s all there is too it.

Now the only thing that can make the cartridge drip ink continuously when you remove the orange clip from the bottom is, the refill hole has not been sealed properly, I mean the hole must be sealed 100% airtight.

When you remove the orange clip from a properly filled cartridge, it may drip a few drops but no more, that’s how you know your refilling procedure has been successful, and everything is back to normal and no mess...
Most of us Refillers have in the past been guilty of the same thing...

 

[Redbrickman]

Yours truly forgot to put the refill plug back in once and took the orange clip off

 

[turbguy]

Yours truly removed the outlet clip of a new OEM cart before removing the serpentine vent cover (yeah, it's possible, just not easy)...AT 7400' ALTITUDE! The cart must have been filled near sea level. It equalized pressure....OUT THE OUTLET (what a mess)!

 

[PeterBJ]

If you normally use the German refill method but would like to try out topfilling then remember to seal the German refill hole before filling ink into the reservoir. Else ink will leak out over your hand holding the cartridge.

@kdsdata I guess the cartridges are OEM CLI-42 for the Pro-100 and you are topfilling them? If you suspect that variations in barometric pressure or temperature is the cause of the leak, then I suspect the vent on the offending cartridge may be blocked with dried ink, maybe from overfilling the cartridge. If the fill plug does not seal 100% the cartridge will also leak.

 

[berttheghost]

@kdsdata, how did you re-prime the sponges when you first refilled the cleaned carts? Sponges can be as hard to refill with ink as they are to clean or dry And yes, a sponge full of air bubbles can account for your problem.

 

[PeterBJ]

@berttheghost This is a good idea. I only thought about leaking cartridges but "draining too fast" could also mean too little capacity. So @kdsdata Is the problem ink leakage and/or too low cartridge capacity, meaning the cartridges run empty before expected?

Air in the sponges can cause loss of capacity and a sponge that is too dry can have difficulties in absorbing the ink. A remedy could be treating the flushed cartridge with "pharmacist's conditioning fluid" to restore full capacity.

You can read more about capacity problems in this lengthy thread.

I have no Pro-100 printer but several printers using the PGI-5/CLI-8 cartridges. AFAIK the CLI-8 and CLI-42 are identical except for the ink, label and chip- This means the weights of a properly refilled cart equalling the weight of a new and unused OEM cartridge must also be the same. Weighing new unused OEM CLI-8 cartridges I have found the weights 27 +/- 0.2 grams. This weight is without the foil wrapping and the orange clip. If the weight of the refilled cartridge is significantly lower than 27 grams this is the reason of the missing capacity.

 

[Photographic Memory]

@kdsdata, if your referring specifically to the procedure of refilling your cart then the problem is more and likely the method your using is incorrect, yes I know your refilling for ages but that my point, complacent !

With the orange clip on the bottom and the refill hole open fill the reservoir side to 75% full and let each cart stand for say 5 minutes, then top up the reservoir side to 75% again and plug the refill hole, and that’s all there is too it.

Now the only thing that can make the cartridge drip ink continuously when you remove the orange clip from the bottom is, the refill hole has not been sealed properly, I mean the hole must be sealed 100% airtight.

When you remove the orange clip from a properly filled cartridge, it may drip a few drops but no more, that’s how you know your refilling procedure has been successful, and everything is back to normal and no mess...
Most of us Refillers have in the past been guilty of the same thing...

Is this the proper way to refill a Cartridge? 75%? Because if so I have been doing it wrong from the start. I usually fill to 50% and then block the serpentine and then fill the rest to 95%. Never once when it comes to putting in these refill Carts into the Printer when taking off orange Clip have they ever dripped.

Oh dear.

 

[PeterBJ]

@Photographic Memory There are different opinions on how topfilling is best done. Some seal or block the vent at some time during the refill, others don't. Here is an instruction from Precision Colors. This looks to be the method you are using.

 

[kdsdata]

@kdsdata, if your referring specifically to the procedure of refilling your cart then the problem is more and likely the method your using is incorrect, yes I know your refilling for ages but that my point, complacent !

With the orange clip on the bottom and the refill hole open fill the reservoir side to 75% full and let each cart stand for say 5 minutes, then top up the reservoir side to 75% again and plug the refill hole, and that’s all there is too it...

Thanks for all contributing comments. But @The Hat is probably mostly correct, there is a level of complacency (and I am accepting that comment in a nice way). I thought I was doing the procedure correct, because I had been doing it for years. However, this "draining too fast" had been going on for quite a while. I just hadn't addressed the issue. I see that I also did it slightly different. I had the orange clip "off", and the hole "not plugged". I thought that there needs to be a path to bleed off air while ink soaks in. It appears I all along "assumed" wrong

Per @The Hat, the method to have the orange clip "on" the bottom, and to fill to 75% in two (or more) steps seems the next thing to try. Then with the hole plugged, there should be less dripping when the orange click is taken off prior to installation.

One last question @The Hat, do you say 75% so that there is an air space on purpose? Would this be so that the cartridge is less sensitive to pressures caused by handling during installation?

Thanks again to all contributing to this conversation.