Another failed German refill

[rodbam]

As you know I had problems with the sponge soaking up too much ink & causing leaks on my CLi8 cartridges & it seemed I should have let the ink well empty before filling. This time the ink wells were completely empty & the sponge was fully saturated with ink for about 3/4" from the bottom with the lighter speckled colour above. I started refilling very slowly & in no time at all I was getting ink leaking out of the main outlet, I only managed to half fill the tank & ink started coming out of the sponge vents.
I think one of my problems is the hole I made for the syringe is almost the exact size of the needle so I can't get much manoeuvrability to get the needle fully into the ink well, my needle goes in under the sponge & hits a stop when the needle is only about less than 1/8" into the ink well as seen from the side & top.
I like the fact that I didn't have to make a hole in the sponge doing it this way but obviously this is not working if the sponge is well inked. Some questions for you please.
1, Should I make the needle hole bigger so as I approach the inlet to the ink well I can angle the needle up to get it further in the well.
2, Or was my main problem the sponge was still fully saturated. (The ink hight in the sponge (3/4") looked like a fully filled cartridge)
3, Should I push my needle more through the sponge & not worry so much about it going in underneath.
4,How safe is it printing with an empty cartridge but with 3/4" of ink in the sponge. I'm in fear of starving the print head.
5, Should I go back to the top fill method

 

[pharmacist]

DO NOT INJECT if the needle does not reach the ink compartment. First: overcome your needle problem. Carefully look at the pictures I posted on the corresponding 2 topics about the german Durchstich refill method. I think your hole should be slightly larger. A strong and sharp awl would do the thing to drill the refill hole.

 

[ghwellsjr]

4,How safe is it printing with an empty cartridge but with 3/4" of ink in the sponge. I'm in fear of starving the print head.

It is perfectly safe to use a cartridge with ink just in the sponge as long as you are sure that this is the condition. The problem would be that if you reset the cartridge, the printer will not warn you when the sponge itself gets empty, so it's really only a good idea on a temporary basis.

 

[stratman]

Injecting ink while the needle tip is still in the sponged compartment may cause backflow and lead to leaking. This is probably what is happening to you, although one cannot rule out an overly saturated sponge or a stiff sponge from caked or contaminant as part or whole of your leaking when refilling issue.

The Durchstitch hole needs to be big enough to allow for a small amount of wiggle room for the needle so you can angle the tip into the spongeless side. Sounds like you need to enlargen the hole, but go slow and just enough by testing any alteration with a needle until you get the hang of it. I use a push pin and rotate it, torquing hard on the pin as I rotate it.

The sponge can hold 30-50% of total amount of refilled ink depending on what amount one refills. As ghwellsjr said, a reset chip does not know how much ink you have refilled, so if you under fill and then reset the chip, you run the risk of running out of ink and burning up a print head. This is why I always refill to at least 4 mm from the top of the spongeless side and never had a problem with lack of ink. The other solution is to refill sooner, before the cartridge is marked as empty, or to watch the prints to see if loss of ink occurs. Just because you run out of ink during a print job (one photo or one plain paper) does not necessarily mean you will damage your print head, BUT, why chance it. Fill fully or fill often.

 

[rodbam]

Thanks mates. As far as I can see I was in the sponge area.
http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i406/rodbam/_MG_6306.jpg

I've now made the needle hole a bit bigger & the needle goes easily all the way in now, I think/hope this will cure all my problems.
http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i406/rodbam/_MG_6307.jpg

 

[stratman]

That's it, rodbam. Looks like you're now in the right place after the hole re-tap.

 

[Nifty]

 

[rodbam]

Yes the secret is to have the hole a bit bigger than the needle to enable to get the needle all the way in as I've just filled up a cartridge with the needle all the way in & not a drop of ink or blood was spilled.
This will teach me to not to rely on near enough is good enough & to follow the world best practice espoused here more closely as my beginners luck on my first refill led me astray....Or was it Stratman that did that

 

[stratman]

This will teach me to not to rely on near enough is good enough & to follow the world best practice espoused here more closely as my beginners luck on my first refill led me astray....Or was it Stratman that did that

 

[websnail]

... my beginners luck on my first refill led me astray....Or was it Stratman that did that

Oh my bet is with Stratman...

Evil, bad Stratman... !! :/

Now, back in your cage you...