HowTo? Leak test to confirm refill ready to use?

[l_d_allan]

Is the following a legitimate check to have confidence that a refilled cart probably won't leak in the printer, or cause cross contamination with other carts:

* With "traditional top filling", seal the inlet port. I use an RJetTek #1916 plug, covered with plain 3M vinyl electical tape that has very little sticky residue when removed.



* [Edit] Reset chipped carts while the cart is empty ... less likely to have mess on resetter. My resetter won't work correctly if an outlet cap is in position ... your resetter may be different.

* I use an RJetTek #1813 outlet cap while refilling (and also for storage). Others use the original orange Canon outlet cap with rubber band(s).





* Remove the #1813 outlet cap and let the cart sit upright on newspapers. Generally, there are a few drops of ink in the #1813 cap from the refilling when the inlet port was open. I clean this up by wiping inside the #1813 cap with a paper power, and find something else to do for a few minutes.

* If the cart hasn't leaked onto the newspaper while sitting for several minutes with the #1813 cap off, then it probably is ok. If it does leak, something is very wrong ... and good to find out now rather than when in the printer.

* [Edit] Reset chipped carts (if not done earlier).

* Put on the #1813 cap if storing cart for future use, or put the cart back in printer for immediate reuse. Note: it isn't a good idea to leave the print-head empty without the cart for too long ... dust/grit/crud could get into the nozzle opening.

Above seem reasonable? Improvements / refinements / corrections appreciated.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Excellent and perfect. You've done your homework and the pictures are fabulous.

 

[Redbrickman]

To avoid any mess, reset your cart before filling.

 

[l_d_allan]

I tend to do the Cart-Reset as almost the last step before storage or replacing in the printer, but it certainly could be earlier.

[Edit] Uncle ... doing the chip resetting earlier while the cart is empty has advantages.

My thinking (and feedback appreciated if following is flawed):
* If I got the cart sealed up ok, it better not leak, even with the #1813 cap off (or orange Canon outlet port cap)

* I'd just as soon have it leak on the resetter than in the printer.

* The R-Jet Tek webpage for the resetter I purchased for CLI-8 carts mentions it is good for only 100 reset. I've had it apart and it has a common 2032 battery. That seems like a really low number, but I admit ignorance on this.

* My further impression is that the chips on the cartridges stop allowing resets after a certain number of resets .... like the reseting is a bit hard on their circuitry. My speculation is that this is a fairly high number, like 50+.

* Anyway, my workflow isn't that "set in stone" yet, so I tend to not be sure if I've reset the cart chip or not. "Just to be sure", I have found myself doing multiple resets on the same cart at different steps in the procedure. And more than once, I've inserted a cart into the printer, turned it back on, checked the ink levels, and had a cart reporting low or empty ... apparently because I didn't reset it. Drat. I want to get in the habit of doing the chip reset at a specific point.

* At the step described for chip resetting, the cart is fully ready for storage and/or inserting back into the printer. That's not the case if I reset earlier.

* I have thought about resetting the cart chip just before putting in the printer, but that would be flawed if I didn't have the chip resetter with me, or if it decided to be balky and uncooperative.

YMMV. Consistency seems advised.

 

[Redbrickman]

* At the step described for chip resetting, the cart is fully ready for storage and/or inserting back into the printer. That's not the case if I reset earlier

YMMV. Consistency seems advised.

You are correct, be consistent.

Develop a routine and stick to it, then forget about it, and enjoy printing lots of nice photos

 

[msmart]

To avoid any mess, reset your cart before filling.

Brilliant!!! While I've never had a problem doing it afterward, I never considered resetting before refilling. That would be just too easy.

 

[emerald]

Experience obliges me to concur with redbrickman. Reset the cartridge when it's EMPTY and avoid the mess. Even if you have a perfect refill and there's no dripping, you'll find that resetting the cartridge requires a firm grip which in some cases will force ink from the outlet and all over the resetter.

 

[l_d_allan]

Experience obliges me to concur with redbrickman. Reset the cartridge when it's EMPTY and avoid the mess. Even if you have a perfect refill and there's no dripping, you'll find that resetting the cartridge requires a firm grip which in some cases will force ink from the outlet and all over the resetter.

Good advice ... glad I asked. I think I'm being overly influenced by concerns of resetting the chip redundantly at several steps. I'll edit the above. Thanks!

 

[Redbrickman]

I claim no originality for the reset before filling tip.

Our experienced and friendly member The Hat suggested I do it that way.

It makes perfect sense to me, why risk ink on the reset device if one can avoid it by a simple change of the process.

 

[tigerwan]

I would say... if ink is being squeezed out when resetting, then you have over filled the cartridge.