Help! (problem with hobbicolors refill system!)

[fotofreek]

Leaking is more probably from not getting a complete seal at the fill hole.

 

[hpnetserver]

ggn, you have a leaking Magenta. Your Magenta cartridge may be defective or as many have said the screw is not sealing tight and causes the leak. If your Magenta sponge is over saturated you can blow through the vent to get some ink out of the sponge throught the ink outlet at the bottom. Sealing of ink fill hole is a critical requirement for the ink cartridge to work right. If you have over turned the screw you may have damaged the thread. You may want to use an o-ring as many suggested. The orientation of the cartridge during storage really does not matter.

 

[ggn]

Thanks for your replies. I bought a whole new set of compatible cartridges today- I swapped the magenta but the ink level still shows 1/3 full as it showed before and after I tried to top up the magenta before with the refill. What can be causing the gauge to be stuck? Do I need to send it in for repair?

Thanks

 

[hpnetserver]

Ggn, remember Canon printers do not actually measure ink level out of the ink cartridge. They estimate ink consumption by keeping nozzle firing counts in the memory inside the printer. When you swap a cartridge the printer will not know if you put in a new one or a used one. So the printer will not change the ink level status because you swap one out and put in another. However, if you plug in a completely empty one the printer's optical sensor will detect it being empty. The next time when it sees it no longer empty by the same optical sensor it assumes that you have swapped out the empty one and put in a new one. It will then reset the ink level to full. The optical sensor can only see if the ink tank is empty or not. It can not measure the actual ink level. If you want to reset your ink level you need to have an empty cartridge. Plug it in and let the printer see it being empty first. Then replace it with a new full one and the ink level will be reset to full as well.

I am curious if your Magenta leak is fixed now by the new cartridge.

 

[ggn]

Hi, thanks for the explanation. Yes, as soon as I replaced the magenta with the new cartridge it was able to print a test page and photo without any cleaning! However I think the ink in the compatible cartridge isn't as good as the hobbicolors ink as I noticed the magenta was quite lot darker and the print came out a little yellow. Is there a way to clean the hobbicolors cartridge so it can be reused?

 

[panos]

Yes, search for grandad's cartridge purge method

 

[ggn]

Thanks I'll have a look for it. I just read on the hobbicolors instructions that ink should be used up within 12 months - I bought mine in January and the pots are only about 1/2 full! Can I still go on using the ink past 12 months?