Hobbicolors refill instructions anomoly.

[Osage]

Like may others I have been attracted to these forums by the excellent advice with a personal stress on printing economy. I had been using prefilled bulk third part Canon cartridges from a reviewed vendor. But recent favorable posts prompted me to try ordering a hobbicolor kit so I could try refilling. I had tried refilling HP and Lexmark cartridges some years back and made a total botch of it.

So I was motivated to get things right----and ordered a 4&5 color kit from Hobbicolors for my two Canon
printers.---which Hobbicolors promptly shipped---with all ordered components there--so no complaints there--and each kit had a printed intruction manual which I read and re-read as I wanted to get things right.
I had been waiting to get a low ink warning on one of the bulk ink cartridges that were working well in my printers to provide the motivation to actually take the plunge but had the time on my hand s yesterday so I decide to get some of the virgin cartridges prefilled so I could have them ready.

While the Hobbicolors instructions says "Please observe the clear plastic tape and the tiny air vent underneath the tape towards the rear end of the tape and on top of thecartridge"------a somewhat vague sentence that says observe (why?) but does not say remove tape---nor is the sentence accurate because the tape is inboard of and does not cover the air vent----and hence the air vent is not underneath the tape. But I did not remove the clear plastic tape and Dave at Hobbicolors has conformed that is correct.

A very brief synopsis of the hobbicolors instructions for a virgin BCI-6 cartridge is as follows (1) Leave inklet inlet cap on, remove ink inlet screw above the reserve section. (2) Without sealing the air vent inject 8 cc of ink into the reserve tank-----wait some time and the ink should self transfer to the sponge section---with the sponge being "70-80% saturated at that point." (3) Using tape or thumb pressure seal the air vent---and inject about 6 cc of ink--or until the the reserve tank is 90% full.---but don't put a total of more than 15cc of ink into the BCI-6 cartridge (4) Replace the screw above the reserve tank----and the virgin cartridge refill process is complete. Except for removing the tape blocking the vent---but I'll leave the air vent sealing tape on until I get ready to use the cartridge.
But ideally the instructions seem to say you will have a reserve tank 90% full and a sponge section about 80% saturated.-----which is how some of my unused third party cartridges appear.

In practice I got different results------I injected the initial eight cc of ink into the reserve tank without sealing the air vent------in about a minute or so-------the reserve tank completely emptied as the ink
was wicked into the sponge---and the sponge was completely infused with color---no visable off white sponge was to be seen from a top or side view.-----I then sealed the air vent with scotch tape and injected another 6 cc of ink which filled the reserve tank about 80% full--and it took another 1 cc to get the reserve section to the recommended 90% level. So I replaced the screw and repeated the process with the identical results for the total of 7 BCI-6 cartridges in the kit-----in all cases the sponge 100%
color infused after the injection of the initial 8cc-------a later inspection shows no liquid ink
in the small air gap between the top of the sponge and the top of the cartridge --and all dye based colors--cymk --behaved basically the same.

The larger BCI-3eblk virgin cartridges behaved in a somewhat similar manner---injected an intial 16cc
with an unsealed air vent---sponge showed 100% ink saturation from a side view but some white sponge could be seen from a top view------took almost 28cc to get the reserve tank up to even 80% after the air vent was sealed----again no liquid ink shows in the air gap between the top of the sponge and the top of the cartridge.-----and the sponge now looks black from the top view.

Emailed Dave at Hobbicolrs noting the sponge saturation anomoly---he found no fault in my technique but basically recommended some slight squeezes to the cartridges when I do remove the ink outlet cap. And over the correct ink bottle so I can reuse the what if anything that drips out.

But I write this somewhat longish post to alert some that all may not go as indicated or for any who do critque the technique used.

 

[on30trainman]

Osage,
My experience with the sponges in Hobbicolor cartridges is the same as yours - they get completely colored with ink. I looked at a set of third party cartridges I bought but haven't used yet - the sponges in the M and C were completely colored (like the Hobbicolor ones) and the Y shows only a small uncolored area. A new Canon 6BK does have a larger uncolored area.

As far as your comment about the tape (if I understand your comment correctly) - it is covering the most of the vent over the sponge filled tank. There is a maze of what looks like three vents under the tape. Only one small section is left uncovered when the first 8 cc of ink is injected. Then the rest of the vent is covered with a small piece of tape or your finger as the reserve tank is filled. There is also a vent over the reserve tank that is not covered during the filling process. Some on this forum say that that vent should be covered if the cartridges are to be stored for a period after filling before being used. I do agree that the directions can be somewhat confusing. I think that when Dave of Hobbicolor says rear of cartridge he means when viewing a cartridge installed in the printer.

Good point about giving the cartridges a slight squeeze before installing in the printer. Two of the four cartridges I used had a drop of ink at the outlet hole when I snapped the orange cap off. I daubed the outlet hole on a tissue and didn't see any additional drops form. BTW, I am going to use the Compubiz holders for loading even new cartridges from now on. Should be easier and less messy. Will let me have two hands free to get the fill hole screw back in. Can't let go of the cartridge with the orange cap installed.

On another topic - anyone have suggestions for a printer profile using the Hobbicolors? I am using Kirkland paper from Costco. I do notice a difference in the CYAN in prints - sky color is different. I used the manual setting and set C to +10. But am interested in others experience and print driver parameter changes.

Steve W.

 

[hpnetserver]

All my Hobbicolors cartridges are 100% colored. I think what really matters is not if the sponge has some uncolored portion at the top or not. It is the total amount of ink the sponge is permitted to hold that matters. If it is fed with too much ink the cartridge is not likely to be able to function as it should. The sponge is a simple material to hold ink and control the amount of ink to feed the print head. Except when one is full, most of the time the sponge is in a state of only partially saturated until eventually all ink is consumed then the amount of ink in it goes empty. That must be the optimal state for the cartridge to function. So I can understand why Hobbicolors cartridges or any 3rd party cartridges should not be overfilled. I don't remember if I followed Hobbicolors' instructions closely. I think I always overfilled my cartridges. But before using them I will always squeeze some ink out. The trick seems to work very well. I believe only if the sponge is near 100% full of ink it will cause problems. It's not necessary to keep a portion of the sponge dry.

 

[Osage]

Thank you on30trainman and hpnetserver for your prompt responces.
Just nice to hear I am not the lone ranger here on the 100% sponge saturation
thing. I do note its especially disconcerting and confidence shattering for a new refiller------when the instructions says the sponge should 80% color saturate and
the sponge stubbornly does not follow the instruction sheet. Leaving the user wondering what they did wrong.-----but now that I know this seems normal I will worry much less.----and hopefully any that see this thread will know its normal also.

In fairness to Dave at Hobbicolors I should note he recommended gently sqeezing the cartridge up to two to three times losing as much as a total of 1 cc of ink---but I will cross that bridge when I break off the ink cap outlet hole--and see if liquid ink oozes out or if the the outlet area is basically dry.-----but good to see other concur with Dave on the squeeze recomendation.