Do I Need to Flush Before Refilling?

[bobjoek]

I have a Cannon MX870 with CLI-221 and PGI-220 cartridges that I plan to refill with OCP ink. I will be using the German refill method per the excellent advice on this site. The OEM cartridges are freshly out of my printer and they have been capped, so there should not be any dried ink. I use this printer for general work (no photos), so I am not too concerned about color contamination with the residual ink in the cartridges. Do I need to flush the cartridges before refilling? When I start refilling, how often is a cartridge flush necessary?

Many thanks for your advice.
Bob

 

[ghwellsjr]

No, you do not need to flush.

You may not ever have to flush as long as your cartridges continue to work. If at some later date you discover a particular color passes a nozzle check but still doesn't deliver ink, then you can flush to see if that solves your problem.

 

[on30trainman]

I disagree with that advice. OCP and Canon inks are not the same color/intensity. If you mix inks (OCP into Canon) it will be quite awhile before you have all OCP ink in the cartridge - actually never. If you are making printer profiles yourself or buying them, make sure your cartridges are only one ink. YES - flush.
As an aside - I tried the German method and returned to top filling. That ought to cause a stink here - but it's just my experience and results. Could be due to my preferring squeeze bottles instead of syringes. Top filling is just as fast as the German method and no more messy.

Steve W.

 

[ghwellsjr]

He said he doesn't print photos and he doesn't care about color contamination, so why should he flush?

 

[rodbam]

I care a lot how my prints look & I got great results without flushing but now I have a Colourmunki I've ended up flushing all my cartridges & the prints look just as good as they did without flushing

 

[msmart]

I didn't flush the first time I refilled my OEM carts with IS inks. If the OP isn't concerned with the slight color change, no need to flush.

 

[emerald]

bobjoek:

There are conditions where flushing is needed. In particular, if a printer or a set of cartridges has been idle for a long period of time (months), the Canon OEM yellow will take on a dark hue. Other colors can become stale also. To restore photo brilliance, it's best to flush the stale, dark ink out of the cartridge before refilling. Flushing is easier with the top fill method. I use both methods, top fill and German. There are advantages to both. If you go through the trouble to prepare the factory refill hole for flushing, you might as well use the top fill method - no reason to drill another hole.

 

[barfl2]

bobjoek I had some OCP ink formulated for HP I found it fine,when I switched to a Canon MP760 I asked much the same question and Pharmicist advised it OK to use it and I had no problems did not flush.it was fine.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Flushing is easier with the top fill method. I use both methods, top fill and German. There are advantages to both. If you go through the trouble to prepare the factory refill hole for flushing, you might as well use the top fill method - no reason to drill another hole.

No reason to drill any holes if you use the Freedom Refill Method, not even for flushing. You can flush without making any holes and you can use the Freedom Method to clean out the reservoir. So if you have OEM cartridges that haven't been drilled yet, at least take a look at the Freedom Refill Method before you decide.