Refill gone awry

Refilled Canon CLI-42 carts with Precision Inks. I probably missed a step or two, because the outcome is very unsatisfactory. But I am not complaining about the inks. I am sure I missed something due to lack of understanding.

The cartridges are Canon CLI-42 (for Pro-100), with a large tank, a small sponge, and what looks like a couple of snakey passages on each side of the sponge. Not just the straight divider with the small opening between tank and sponge. There was no ball valve, just what appeared to some small plastic "something". I can't find any description of this type of CLI-42.

I reset the chip, drilled the hole, filled with ink, and plugged the hole. The result is very inconsistent nozzle check print-outs. After each cleaning I get a different "large change" of pattern. Sometimes the black/greys are there, then not. Sometimes the patterns are all cyan.

From my reading I am guessing that that is a clumping issue. My second guess is that I should not have mixed OEM ink and PC ink. If so, I would appreciate help in how to proceed.

Does flushing work in this case, or should I go for new refill cartridges. My concern is purchasing the correct cartridges, as compared to what I have described above.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Go to YouTube and search for cli 42 refill. Lots of stuff there, including from @jtoolman.

apetitphoto said:

Go to YouTube and search for cli 42 refill. Lots of stuff there, including from @jtoolman.

Click to expand...

Cant't beat Jose Rodiguez (AKA JToolman) videos for clarity and explaining the complexities in a straightforward simple manner.

Just google them on Youtube.

Alternatively Precision Colors website has a lot of help including videos.

rs

kdsdata said:

Refilled Canon CLI-42 carts with Precision Inks. I probably missed a step or two, because the outcome is very unsatisfactory. But I am not complaining about the inks. I am sure I missed something due to lack of understanding.

The cartridges are Canon CLI-42 (for Pro-100), with a large tank, a small sponge, and what looks like a couple of snakey passages on each side of the sponge. Not just the straight divider with the small opening between tank and sponge. There was no ball valve, just what appeared to some small plastic "something". I can't find any description of this type of CLI-42.

I reset the chip, drilled the hole, filled with ink, and plugged the hole. The result is very inconsistent nozzle check print-outs. After each cleaning I get a different "large change" of pattern. Sometimes the black/greys are there, then not. Sometimes the patterns are all cyan.

From my reading I am guessing that that is a clumping issue. My second guess is that I should not have mixed OEM ink and PC ink. If so, I would appreciate help in how to proceed.

Does flushing work in this case, or should I go for new refill cartridges. My concern is purchasing the correct cartridges, as compared to what I have described above.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

looks like some kind of fancy compatible. Is that correct?

kdsdata said:

Refilled Canon CLI-42 carts with Precision Inks. I probably missed a step or two, because the outcome is very unsatisfactory. But I am not complaining about the inks. I am sure I missed something due to lack of understanding.

The cartridges are Canon CLI-42 (for Pro-100), with a large tank, a small sponge, and what looks like a couple of snakey passages on each side of the sponge. Not just the straight divider with the small opening between tank and sponge. There was no ball valve, just what appeared to some small plastic "something". I can't find any description of this type of CLI-42.

I reset the chip, drilled the hole, filled with ink, and plugged the hole. The result is very inconsistent nozzle check print-outs. After each cleaning I get a different "large change" of pattern. Sometimes the black/greys are there, then not. Sometimes the patterns are all cyan.

From my reading I am guessing that that is a clumping issue. My second guess is that I should not have mixed OEM ink and PC ink. If so, I would appreciate help in how to proceed.

Does flushing work in this case, or should I go for new refill cartridges. My concern is purchasing the correct cartridges, as compared to what I have described above.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

The source of the problem might be that trick compatible cartridge you are attempting to use. Why?

kdsdata said:

Refilled Canon CLI-42 carts with Precision Inks. I probably missed a step or two, because the outcome is very unsatisfactory. But I am not complaining about the inks. I am sure I missed something due to lack of understanding.

The cartridges are Canon CLI-42 (for Pro-100), with a large tank, a small sponge, and what looks like a couple of snakey passages on each side of the sponge. Not just the straight divider with the small opening between tank and sponge. There was no ball valve, just what appeared to some small plastic "something". I can't find any description of this type of CLI-42.

I reset the chip, drilled the hole, filled with ink, and plugged the hole. The result is very inconsistent nozzle check print-outs. After each cleaning I get a different "large change" of pattern. Sometimes the black/greys are there, then not. Sometimes the patterns are all cyan.

From my reading I am guessing that that is a clumping issue. My second guess is that I should not have mixed OEM ink and PC ink. If so, I would appreciate help in how to proceed.

Does flushing work in this case, or should I go for new refill cartridges. My concern is purchasing the correct cartridges, as compared to what I have described above.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

I smell Non OEM Carts?
Joe

Thanks for all your replies. I had watched the good videos from Jose. Unfortunately they don't mention anything about the carts (see attached).

First I need to apologies, that I referenced the wrong carts. Sorry, I didn't look, I assumed I had OEM Canon. In fact I have G&G filled replacement carts. This only proves that Joe has a good nose



I have now researched the G&G, and find that their inks apparently do not mix well with PC. So I have definitively confirmed that the problem is my fault. This now raises the question should I get new carts, or should I flush and dry the G&G carts.

New refill carts are not really that expensive, and I could 2 sets to have the second available and fully prepared when a fast change out, as recommended, is necessary. But new sets are the length of the delivery time away. Flushing and drying the G&G carts, if it works, would be faster solution.

Your comments will again be greatly appreciated.

kdsdata said:

Thanks for all your replies. I had watched the good videos from Jose. Unfortunately they don't mention anything about the carts (see attached).

First I need to apologies, that I referenced the wrong carts. Sorry, I didn't look, I assumed I had OEM Canon. In fact I have G&G filled replacement carts. This only proves that Joe has a good nose

View attachment 5796 View attachment 5797

I have now researched the G&G, and find that their inks apparently do not mix well with PC. So I have definitively confirmed that the problem is my fault. This now raises the question should I get new carts, or should I flush and dry the G&G carts.

New refill carts are not really that expensive, and I could 2 sets to have the second available and fully prepared when a fast change out, as recommended, is necessary. But new sets are the length of the delivery time away. Flushing and drying the G&G carts, if it works, would be faster solution.

Your comments will again be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

Using Canon OEM CLI-42 cartridges are the only way to go. They last through many refills and are basically trouble-free if used properly. I'd totally forget about 3rd party cartridges for refilling a Pro 100. You will save a ton of money just by refilling. The cost of a couple of sets of empties will pale in comparison to having issues with 3rd party ones.

kdsdata said:

Your comments will again be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

You have a perfectly good printer which is capable of producing beautiful coloured prints, so why in hells name are you using these crap refillable cartridges instead of refilling your OEM’s...
Someone had to say it...

They are not even refillable. They are intended for single use. It looks to me like The vent hole was drilled larger and used for refilling and sealed using a silicone plug. There are several channels in these cartridges for air and ink. Vent air goes from the vent opening to an air chamber through the green channel and from the air chamber to the sponge chamber through the yellow channel. Ink passes from the reservoir to the sponge through the serpentine (cyan) on the side of the cartridge.

Drilling the vent hole and plugging it interferes with the intended function of the cartridges. It is not recommended but if you want to refill those cartridges, then Freedom Refill seems to work well. At least for filling the reservoir and clearing the vent system. Priming the serpentine might be a problem. I have only done a test refill using water, I have no intention of reusing these cartridges.



What happened to the Canon OEM cartridges and their orange clips that came with the printer? The OEM cartridges are excellent for refilling and the refilling is well documented on the forum.

WOW. I sense emotions.

I actually feel chastised. But duly so. I accept the chastising, I know it is given with good intent. WOW.

Why did I use the G&G? I don’t really know. I suppose because they were available at the booth at our local market, where I had been getting carts refilled for years. That changed with the Pro-100. The guy now had packaged carts, at considerably lower cost than the OEM from Canon. So that’s where the G&G came into the picture. They worked fine. But then I had never tried to refill them. That’s where recently the problem started, and mostly, I know now, due to a lack of homework on my part. Unfortunately the original OEM Canon carts are long gone, but I still have the original clip-ons.

Anyway, the (unsatisfactorily) refilled G&G are now in the trash. Last night I did try to flush a G&G, and true to others predictions, that did not go well. The G&G are definitively made to be essentially not flushable. I did succeed to say 99%, with a lot of quizzing and sucking, all the while turning and rotating the cart. Took almost an hour. But what is really impossible in the end is the drying. Because of the multiple passages (see PeterBJ’s post; thanks for the explanation) there is no way to get all the flush-fluid out sufficiently for refilling with ink. So all in all, it proves that the G&G are not refillable.

I have been able to clean up another set with some ink still in the carts, which I had kept according to my hording habit, to use until I can get my ducks in a row with new equipment. So I am not in a panic right now, and I can proceed properly to get the right carts.

As I have indicated in an earlier posting, I want to get 2 set of carts. One for in the printer, one to have for filling in preparation for a reload when one goes low.

I am thinking that a third set is probably a good idea to have, for loading with cleaning fluid when the print head shows the inevitable signs of clogging. And I suppose it’s not a bad idea if the set are all the same manufacture.

I do have a refill kit from PC. Everything was in order except the cart for yellow. When I tried to swap the chip, the little knobbies in PC cart where to flimsy and would not survive the chip insertion. I am therefore questioning if I should get the 3 sets from PC, or are there more robust types elsewhere.

I really want to thank all of you for your input, and for REALLY setting me straight on how these carts work, as well as Joe’s comprehensive set of videos. All is very much appreciated.

I look forward to your comments on what new carts to get.