Dribble method expected time, PGI-72

[Ketil Wright]

I just refilled 5 of 10 empty PGI-72 cartridges for a Canon Pixma Pro-10 with Precision colors ink, using the "dribble method". I only stopped due to running out of time for the day.

I referred to a video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGBzHSQx5bU (which discusses this with the similar pgi9 cartridges), as well as instructions from PC. The youtube video suggests that it ought to take approximately 3 minutes per cart.

However, the process of filling just 5 of my 10 carts took me 4h 30 minutes. To be fair, the carts weren't completely empty (based on their weight), so I did take some time to flush them with a couple of milliliters of PC ink (and drain it back out with a syringe), but that was a small percentage of the time spent.

Some observations I had:

1. A couple of the carts filled quite quickly ( Photo Cyan and Photo Magenta). Red went a bit slower. Yellow and PhotoBlack both took a very long time, over an hour each.
2. Both of the slower fills exhibited a lot of "bubbling" at the ink port, and much of the time I spent was waiting for those to subside. Even when I tuned my technique to avoid the bubbles, the PBK and Y carts absorbed much slower than the others.
3. I bought these carts "as is" online. I have no idea how long they sat empty, or how they were stored. They did arrive in an airtight bag.

I wonder if bubbling and slow absorbtion is just a characteristic of various ink colors, or if it indicates trouble (air?, clogging?) in the cartridge itself, which I should address prior to putting these refills into the printer (once I finish the other 5 cartridges).

 

[jtoolman]

I have never experienced such long refill times. I can top off a cart in a matter of a couple of minutes. In fact on the video I really take my time and that was not very long as you can see.
Something is definitely not right.

Joe

 

[palombian]

I use this method (invented by Joe I suppose).

From my own experience:

As I understand it works by the suction of the internal bag.
There should be no air in it.
Therefore, the first time you refill a cartridge, you must suck it empty with a flush clip (as shown here but you can make one yourself):
http://www.octoink.co.uk/products/Flush-Clip-for-PGI%2d9-{47}-PGI%2d72.html

Normally, when you keep cartridges closed with a clip, the membrane at the outlet will stay humid and avoid entrance of air, you'll have no problems refilling the cartridges very fast afterwards.
Do this on a scale. If you can't refill until the full weight of 30 - 30.50g, there is air in it.
(IMO the same applies when refilling sponge based carts with the Durchstich method)

PS:
Possibly the outlet membrane of your cartridges was clogged and/or dry.
Try to recondition them with "pharmacist solution".

 

[The Hat]

@Ketil Wright, I can sympathise with you on your refilling when it actually goes wrong and you don’t exactly know why, when you followed all the steps you'd seen.

The simple answer to your problem was air inside the cartridges, now there shouldn’t be air inside them but these cartridges had obviously been left empty for some time and this can sometimes cause the bladder inside the cartridges to inflate with air and I reckon this is what happened to you.

The dribble method is really a great way to refill these cartridges when you have just one or two and when refilling the lot from empty it does take some time, but there is a much faster way especially when the carts are completely empty.

You can use the refill clip in this link below, which can be had for a few dollars or make your own one up if you wish, these clips are great for refilling, flushing and cleaning the cartridges but more importantly it can instantly remove all the air from within a cartridge before refilling if you need too.

http://www.octoink.co.uk/products/Flush-Clip-for-PGI%2d9-{47}-PGI%2d72.html?setCurrencyId=3

Here is a video showing how quick and easy it is to refill using one of these clips, it’s a matter of a quick wash in soft water and you can reuse the same clip again and again but having several of these clips is far handier.

I would recommend you use the dribble method for topping up each cartridge but the refill clip is much faster to use if completely empty..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnaWgfQDMJQ

 

[Ketil Wright]

Since my OEM carts were nearing empty, I decided to drain all of them, and refill those using PC inks.

That went much faster, with almost no bubbling. While I didn't achieve Joe's 3 minute speed, I was able to get to about 7 minutes each, (except Yellow, which took almost 13:00). Note that I drained all carts, measuring each to within PC's specified 16.7 to 16.9 grams.

So I think the culprit in my case were the use of the carts I bought "as is". On some of them, I distinctly remember seeing caked on pigment at the sponge prior to flushing. That appeared to be gone when I finished the flush operation. Perhaps I wasn't thorough enough.

I just compared a nozzle check pattern of the refilled carts against one I did earlier today with OEM ink. Looks pretty close. Perhaps red and yellow are a bit lighter than OEM. I will now fetch the PC icc files & compare some saved prints.

Thank You all.

 

[palombian]

The inks for the PRO9500 are also very close (some colours more gloss difference), and they can be mixed with OEM (as all 3th parties, how else could they sell them ?).

If I know the Canon cartridges are "fresh" used, I refill them without draining or flushing.
When flushing you have to rinse with a few ml ink, but even then you risk a small dilution of the colour.