Sealing the refill hole BCI-6 BCI-3

[PeterBJ]

Speaking of saturating the sponge, I can’t stop that happening to all my cartridges, but thankfully it doesn’t seem to affect the ink flow ..

You can avoid over saturation of the upper sponge by sealing the vent when top filling the cartridges. Note posts #4 and #9 by mikling in this thread. I found that a product similar to Blu-Tac is excellent for sealing the vent.

But as long as ink doesn't enter the vent, ink going to the top of the sponge might cause no harm, over saturation might not take place even if it looks so. Here is a post with an excellent work by mikling, documented in a photo series. The download still works, I've just downloaded the archive. The whole thread is certainly worth reading, it has a wealth of information about Canon cartridges and sponges.

 

[The Hat]

I have tried just about everything there is to try and it still ends up getting saturated, I have even tried cooling and heating the ink first, neither worked, it’s just can’t be helped I reckon..

 

[Grandad35]

I have tried just about everything there is to try and it still ends up getting saturated, I have even tried cooling and heating the ink first, neither worked, it’s just can’t be helped I reckon..

I just let it get saturated. After the refill hole is sealed, blow into the vent to remove the excess ink and you're good to go. As long as there isn't any free ink above the sponge, I never have a problem. In fact, I prefer having the sponges fully saturated because the extra ink requires fewer refills (and purge cycles, ink in the waste pads, etc.).

 

[fotofreek]

I just let it get saturated. After the refill hole is sealed, blow into the vent to remove the excess ink and you're good to go. As long as there isn't any free ink above the sponge, I never have a problem. In fact, I prefer having the sponges fully saturated because the extra ink requires fewer refills (and purge cycles, ink in the waste pads, etc.).

Same as my experience. The whole tecnique of refilling the older Canon carts - BCI-6 or newer - can be reduced to very simple steps. my feeling is the one should not "over-think" the process. Just follow the Kiss principle which literally translates to "Keep It Simple Stupid!" (Stupid, by the way is directed to me and not to Grandad35!)

 

[stratman]

I do not fear the saturated sponge. I once tried to keep the ink at a level similar to OEM new ink/sponge levels but then I found out the same as Grandad35 posits.

Also, and equally if not more heretical, I fill the reservoir side up to 1-2 mm from the top.

Signed,

Refilling Rebel

- sticking it to the man for years.

 

[ghwellsjr]

I just let it get saturated. After the refill hole is sealed, blow into the vent to remove the excess ink and you're good to go. As long as there isn't any free ink above the sponge, I never have a problem. In fact, I prefer having the sponges fully saturated because the extra ink requires fewer refills (and purge cycles, ink in the waste pads, etc.).

You don't have any Canon printers that use pigment ink, correct? I think it is more of a problem with pigment ink. I have many BCI-3eBK cartridges that I have refilled that simply don't work any more and I assume the problem is the ink won't allow air flow through the upper sponge material. Whatever the cause, this is one reason that I have switched from Canon printers to an Epson printer with pigment ink cartridges so large that last so long I don't even bother to refill anymore.

 

[Grandad35]

You don't have any Canon printers that use pigment ink, correct?

Correct - I only use dye inks.

 

[fotofreek]

You don't have any Canon printers that use pigment ink, correct? I think it is more of a problem with pigment ink. I have many BCI-3eBK cartridges that I have refilled that simply don't work any more and I assume the problem is the ink won't allow air flow through the upper sponge material. Whatever the cause, this is one reason that I have switched from Canon printers to an Epson printer with pigment ink cartridges so large that last so long I don't even bother to refill anymore.

No pigment based printers for me either, although I do have several five-cart Canons that have the one black pigment-based cart. I suspect that an important issue with flow problems in the bci-3eBK carts would be the difficulty in disolving the pigment residue when a purge is necessary.

 

[The Hat]

Running a dye/pigment Canon printer is not that difficult to maintain so long as you find the right inks for it and you learn to refill your OEM cartridges properly, drum roll for Mikling's videos.

The pigment cartridge needs no more attention than the dye cartridge once you find a good pigment ink for it, one that doesn’t need a head clean every time you want to print something, I found that in the KMP black pigment and now use nothing else, it simply doesn’t clog..

 

[ghwellsjr]

Running a dye/pigment Canon printer is not that difficult to maintain so long as you find the right inks for it and you learn to refill your OEM cartridges properly, drum roll for Mikling's videos.

The pigment cartridge needs no more attention than the dye cartridge once you find a good pigment ink for it, one that doesn’t need a head clean every time you want to print something, I found that in the KMP black pigment and now use nothing else, it simply doesn’t clog..

I think you may be right. Many years ago when I started refilling Canon BCI-3eBk and BCI-6 cartridges for the 5-cartridge printers like the iP4000 and the MP780, I bought hundreds of virgin cartridges on ebay because I was refilling for several of my friends and for a long time, I never refilled a cartridge for the second time. When I finally started doing that I started having problems that I never could solve and by that time the heads were starting to spontaneously fail and I couldn't keep those BCI printers going so I switched to Epson.