Additional refill techniques for Canon BCI-6 carts

[Grandad35]

This link points to a lengthy article on refilling that describes a few techniques that can be used to remove air from the sponges on Canon BCI-6 carts. Be forewarned that these techniques are suitable only for hard-core, dedicated refillers who use a lot of ink.
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/docs/inkrefill.php

 

[Nifty]

AMAZING!!!

Great work Grandad! Those videos are amazing and the technique is intriguing.

I think you are spot on that this, or a similar procedure, is how they get the ink into the cartridges at the factory. Have you noticed that there is often a bit of sponge at the top of OEM carts that does not have any ink in it? Any ideas about this?

Another quick question: If I understand correctly, to get all of the ink out of the cartridges you need to create the vacuum which pulls all the ink out of the outlet hole, then as soon as the ink is out you release the vacuum which pulls air (not the ink) into the cart?

Great article!

 

[Grandad35]

Nifty-Stuff,

My guess is that for the initial fill they seal the exit hole, connect an ink injection system with a shutoff valve to the fill hole, and pull a vacuum through the vent hole. The injection valve would then be opened, a metered amount of ink injected, the injection valve closed and the vacuum on the vent hole released. This would completely fill the ink chamber and account for the ink pattern seen on the upper sponge, as can also be seen on the video clip where the ink in the ink chamber was pulled into the sponge chamber when the vacuum was released. Injecting more or less ink will raise or lower the final fill point on the sponge.

You are correct about pulling air back into the cart when emptying it. You have to be sure that the exit hole is not near any of the ink (or even the foamed ink) that was just pulled out of the cart, especially if more than one cart was being emptied at the same time. Tipping the jar to stand on end works well for this step.

 

[Nifty]

Grandad,

I've got a tool that I created for my old Canon BC-02, BC-05 and BC-06 cartridges that was a syringe and a piece of rubber from an old bicycle tube (I think).

I used this tool to force air into the cartridge and through the printhead. This worked VERY well at removing clogs. I'm wondering if I used this tool to force air into the refill hole while plugging the outlet hole and/or maze if this would also force ink into the air pockets of the sponge?

Here is my tool:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/gallery/inkjet-refill-1/syringe_tool1
and
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/gallery/inkjet-refill-1/syringe_tool2

 

[Grandad35]

Nifty-Stuff,

Your device looks like it will be easier to seal to the refill hole than my tacky putty around the needle. Just be sure to stop pushing air when the ink level in the ink chamber drops below 1/2 full that no air is pushed into the sponge chamber. Of course, you could put ink in the syringe to keep the ink chamber full.

You can probably develop some serious pressure with this rig, so be sure to keep a lot of force on the seal over the exit hole. You might also want to push a little ink through the exit hole (say 1CC) when you are done to guarantee that the filter is full and that the interface between the filter and sponge is full.

I don't believe that the pressure technique will force a lot of air from the sponge in the area close to the filter, but it should help in the area close to the ink chamber. If you refill the cart as soon as the ink chamber empties and you get a warning from the printer, the only area of the sponge that should have air bubbles is close to the ink chamber, so this should extend the number of refills that you can get on a cart. It will also increase the number of prints that you will get from a refilled cart because you will push extra ink into the sponge chamber, so the number of prints that you get over the life of a cart should be even greater.

A logical extension of this technique would be to combine this system with refilling a cart when the ink level falls to 1/2" in the ink chamber. Very little air would have been pulled into the sponge at this point and that air should be locallized to the top corner of the sponge next to the ink chamber. Ink pushed back into the sponge has a very good chance of pushing this air out. The extra ink that is forced into to the sponge chamber would almost double the number of prints between refills (since the "working volume" of the ink chamber is only about 4 CCs when yiu refill with 1/2" of ink remaining). I'm sure that you have noticed that new carts print quite a number of pictures before the ink chamber even begins to empty - that ink comes from overfilling the sponges.

 

[rehardwick]

I have been given some Canon 3, 6 and 8 cartridges for refilling without the orange bottom plugs. I have been unsuccessful in coming up with an effective way of plugging the cartridge when in a plastic zip lock bag for storage and they leak ink. I have tried a variety of sticky tapes and they all leak after a while. I have no problem sealing the air vent hole on top. Anybody have a neat solution?

I see that suppliers are now selling new empty cartridges with a replaceable twist off plug, but I would prefer not to make an investment in these since I have so many existing cartridges.

 

[jflan]

I have been given some Canon 3, 6 and 8 cartridges for refilling without the orange bottom plugs. I have been unsuccessful in coming up with an effective way of plugging the cartridge when in a plastic zip lock bag for storage and they leak ink. I have tried a variety of sticky tapes and they all leak after a while. I have no problem sealing the air vent hole on top. Anybody have a neat solution?

I see that suppliers are now selling new empty cartridges with a replaceable twist off plug, but I would prefer not to make an investment in these since I have so many existing cartridges.

Wow, this is an ancient thread :|
If you don't have the original orange plastic caps, something in the way of a silicone rubber pad + tape would work.
Like these, but they're a little spendy (IMO) from this vendor. Island Inkjet use a similar product....it's a long shot, but you might be able to buy them there.
http://www.inksupply.com/partnumber.cfm?action=search&search_part_number=MIS-SEAL-10

 

[yupkime]

If they are properly sealed they shouldn't leak.
I am using electrical tape that is strongly stretched over the hole and that seals fairly well.
Make sure that it overlaps and wraps around the top and it should be ok.
Cheap and effective enough.

 

[ghwellsjr]

You do not want to seal the air vent hole on top. All you need to do is seal the ink outlet hole on the bottom. The fluctuations in the ambient air pressure cannot be sealed with any kind of tape and you don't need to. The cartridge is designed to not dry out or leak ink when you leave the vent on top unsealed. That is what it is for. If you seal the air vent on top, there is a good chance that ink will leak out of the outlet hole. Just stretch some good electrical tape across the ink outlet hole and you won't have any more leaking problem.

 

[turbguy]

I suggest you try these clips for carts. They are inexpensive! They work GREAT!! Look throuhgh the site for more items of interest

http://www.inkjetsaver.com/bci6clip.html