Chipped CLI-8 & PGI-5 Carts

[jru]

Hi folks,

I have an canon ip4300, and I found someone who is going to give me a bunch of used OEM CLI-8/PGI-5 carts from their printer, which I would like to purge and refill.

I believe the answer is no, but the chips don't record what printer they were used in, do they?

I.E. any reason to think these carts would not work in my ip4300?

Thanks!

 

[stratman]

If all you are going to do is purge, refill and override your printer to use the refilled cartridge, then you will have no usage issues beyond the usual potential problems that can happen to any refiller.

There were reports of problems of compatability of re-using refilled and re-programed chipped cartridges in the same printer, but these issues were related to a specific chip resetter that cost several hundred dollars and is not widely used.

 

[jru]

Stratman,

Thanks for your reply.
I just purged a bunch of carts for my first time, I think successfully.

Thank you to Pharmacist, who suggested filling the spongeless chamber with distilled water before beginning the purge, saving having to make any additional holes. (Actually, I have whole house carbon filtered water which comes out of my tap).

After filling the reservoir with water, I then did the purge, then withdrew the water in the reservoir with the syringe still in place.
This pulled colored water out of the vent maize and back into the sponge (in reverse direction).

Then I refilled the reservoir with more clean water and purged again.... repeating this cycle until water came out clear.

The CLI-8 carts come out very clean looking.
Did you purge PGI carts as well? They did not come as clean looking, but I'm hoping will still work.

Did you invent some way to keep water off of the cart chips? or just let them dry thorougly in the sun.

When done with the purges, did you just let them air dry in the sun? For how long, before refilling?
I remember that someone said not to let them dry out completely, or the sponge would have a hard time absorbing ink.

Thanks!

jru

 

[Tin Ho]

I wrap a small piece of paper tissue into a ball to plug right on the exit hole and keep it there with a rubber band. In less than 10 minutes the ball will suck out as much water it can from the sponge. The ball will be completely wet. Need to change with new balls a few times to suck all the water out. But you do want to leave some moisture in the sponge. Refill it right away and store them with ink is what I do.

 

[jru]

Tin Ho,
Thanks for your reply and the tissue paper ball way to wick moisture from the exit port.
How much time do you let pass with carts drying before refilling after a purge. Days? Just a few hours?
I can still see some moisture droplets in spongeless reservoir. Wait till they're gone?
And have you purged PGI carts as well?
Thanks!

 

[fotofreek]

There are different approaches, and all apparently work! I've found that the easiest way to purge the carts (I have a fill hole between the factory "ball" and the closest end of the cart that I seal with a stainless screw and O-ring) is with the simply device described in Grandad35's thread. Just put the tubing over the ink outlet and turn the hot water on. You can see the ink wash out of the cart very quickly. I blow the majority of the water out with my mouth and then use an old vacuum to pull water out from all the holes - the ink outlet, the fill hole, and the air vent. To dry them out I set the carts up opposite a small table fan and leave them until I can't see any more condensed drops in the cart. I let them dry thoroughly before refilling. Sometimes the ink just flows into the sponge quickly and sometimes I have to tap the cart gently on the table or apply a bit of suction at the air vent with my mouth (don't overdo this or you will have ink for lunch!) This has worked flawlessly for years. The best carts to use for refilling are OEM carts. With the chipped carts you have no choice as there are very few compatable carts and you then have to deal with transferring chips.

 

[stratman]

JRU:

The sponge may take several days to dry completely depending upon your ambient temperature and relative humidity. It has been discussed that a slightly moistened sponge will not dilute the ink too much and will have less influence on output when you refill subsequent times given the fact that you need to purge CLI-8 dye-based carts once every 5-10 times or never again per various comments in this forum. Purge residual water will not harm the ink except to dilute it and potentially cause a slight color shift - critical if you sell prints or determine the output as unacceptable. Diluted ink may not archive as long as well. Of course if there is a fungal infection in the cartridge or ink, you will have flow and color shift issues like anyone else.

Dry sponges after purging appears to be more critical with PGI-5 Pigment ink because residual purge water and pigment ink don't live so happily together and may cause more issues than dilute ink and color shifts.

The key is to have a second set of cartridges so that empties can be swapped out in seconds with full refilled carts and the printhead does not run the risk of drying out with a cartridge removed for long periods of time waiting for the sponge to dry - that could cause early printhead failure.

Personally, I use Canon OEM PGI-5 pigment ink carts and refill all the CLI-8 carts. I highlight tect often and Canon's ink performs well in this regard. Doing this may head off certain other issues people have complained about in the forum like their printer needing one OEM never marked as empty cartridge to print or the issues of underperforming Pigment replacement ink. And since I use a laser printer for most text, the PGI-5 lasts a loooooong time!