First experience refilling and resetting CLI-271 / PGI-270

[PeterBJ]

@RWL There is one thing that just came to my mind, The clearance over the cartridges when installed in some MG model printers is very tight. That is the reason for the introduction of the low profile plugs and zero clearance plugs.

So I suggest to flatten that "blob" on top of the hot glue plug. There have been posts on the forum about a standard plug being pulled out from the refill hole, resulting in all ink leaked out from a cartridge. A too high plug might also cause the cartridge to jam, and maybe damage the printer mechanism.

So my recommendation is to use the "Zero clearance plugs" from Precision Colors instead of the hot melt glue plugs. Remember to secure the plug with a piece of aluminium tape.

These plugs are not easy to handle, but a wooden cocktail stick or toothpick is a good tool to handle the plugs. Make sure the tip of the stick/tooth pick is not too sharp, so you don't puncture the plugs.

You can read more about top clearance in this (lengthy) thread.

 

[stratman]

There is one thing that just came to my mind, The clearance over the cartridges

Good advice, Peter. I brought this up earlier in post #9. OP has not responded whether he had clearance issues with his plugs or his hot glue. Nor is it clear if he bought or was sent the correct silicone plugs.

 

[PeterBJ]

It might cause some confusion that the plugs I recommend are named "Zero Clearance Plugs" if they are bought from Precision Colors, but are named "Low Profile Plugs" if they are bought from Octoinkjet UK. To further complicate matters Precision Colors sell some "Low Profile Plugs" that are a different type.

 

[stratman]

It might cause some confusion

Yes, which is why I highlighted this in post #5. OP has stated his supplies come from Precision Colors. I do not recall whether OP ever clarified whether he had the original or Low Clearance Plugs, though his image of plugs certainly does not look like Precision Colors' Zero Tolerance Plugs and the 5/32" hole he drilled sounds like the instructions for the original plugs and not the Low Clearance Plugs.

 

[RWL]

Good advice, Peter. I brought this up earlier in post #9. OP has not responded whether he had clearance issues with his plugs or his hot glue. Nor is it clear if he bought or was sent the correct silicone plugs.

I was careful when I made the glue plug not to have it heaped up too high. If dripped in just right, it sags into the ball hole and is slightly concave. When it's heaped up, I have a metal spatula that I used to squish it down. You can see the clearance inside my printer in the photo below. In the resting state there's about 1/4" (~3 mm) clearance over top. The print head lifts up closer to that overlying ledge when it's active so in reality there's an estimated 1.5 mm of clearance.

The plugs that came in the refill kit were the standard plugs rather than the low clearance plugs. You can see the two cartridges on the far end have them sticking up. They're outside the ledge, so no problem. I think I got the wrong plugs and probably an old set of instructions for the 250/251 cartridges. The zero clearance plugs that Peter has mentioned look like little white corks with a small central hole in the large end for grabbing with the toothpick. They and aluminum duct tape may be easier to deal with than hot melt glue. As mentioned in message #16 I ordered a set of ARC cartridges from Precision Colors. I'm currently waiting on an inquiry from @mikling regarding whether I need to flush the yellow cartridge before I refill it. It's in the low warning area but has not run out yet. I ran a nozzle check this morning and no cyan in the magenta. Either the cartridge is no longer overfilled, or the glue plug I used to patch the hole into the sponge worked as intended.

 

[The Hat]

Using the 271 refillables cartridges properly is a special art, to start with you fill and use as normal, but here’s where it gets tricky, you need to run the cart till it’s declared empty by the chip.

It’s a little bit different than normal cartridge use, but when empty you then need to flush out the cart, dry thoroughly and refill with ink again, now you have the cart back in its original condition and it will preform as any cartridge would.

The Problem with these refillable carts is they are not very reliable and can suffer badly from ink starvation after only one refill, and purging the cartridge is the only way to ensure that won’t happen...

If you want to use Hot Glue on your carts you need to drill a separate smaller hole, and this makes applying and removing the dried glue much easier, the OEM refill hole is far too big to use reliability...

P.S Setup up carts are useless for refilling, beside you tend to be refilling every five minutes to be sure there’s ink still in them, or you'll lose your print head..

 

[RWL]

Using the 271 refillables cartridges properly is a special art, .... snip .....you need to run the cart till it’s declared empty by the chip.

At least for the Precision Colors refill cartridges, that may have changed. Here's a quote from @mikling earlier in this thread:

The 270/271 chips reset when the indicator is LOW. The initial 250/251 did not.

If you want to use Hot Glue on your carts you need to drill a separate smaller hole, and this makes applying and removing the dried glue much easier, the OEM refill hole is far too big to use reliability...

A hole just big enough to admit the refill needle would be more convenient. It takes some finesse to fill the large ball hole. Since I have some new ARC cartridges on the way I plan to refill my small volume setup cartridges and use them as the interim cartridges when the ARC cartridges run low.

The TS9020 printer seems to be wasting less ink on purging than the previous printer. The setup cartridges lasted me about 4 months. Full sized 250/251 cartridges used to last me about 6 months with the old printer.

 

[stratman]

estimated 1.5 mm of clearance

That's not much! No wonder Mikling has the Zero Tolerance plugs.

You can drive a truck through the gap in my MP830.

The plugs that came in the refill kit were the standard plugs rather than the low clearance plugs.

Thanks. That's what I thought given the instructions and image you provided.

whether I need to flush the yellow cartridge before I refill it.

Yes if you are going to refill the OEM Canon Yellow cartridge CLI-271. Mikling should be able to tell you the unique procedure for flushing.