Hot bath and/or alcohol fix for tired carts

[Nifty]

MOVED TO THE APPROPRIATE FORUM THREAD HERE:
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1322#p1322

 

[Lilla]

I would like to do the procedure below, but in step 6 how do I determine the temperature of a cartridge?

What kind of a themometer is needed?
I don't think a candy or meat thermometer will work, right?

Where on the cartridge do you place the thermometer to determine the temperature?

Is this safe? Has anyone ever had a cartridge blow up or anything?

Fotofreek,

I have recently tried the microwave, as suggested by Craig, and it is a lot easier than using hot water.
1. Put 5-10 drops of alcohol onto the filter of each cart to be conditioned (with the cart turned upside down for this step).
2. Seal the exit port, but leave the vent (and refill hole, if there is one at this time) open.
3. Put as many carts as you want to heat right-side-up in a food container with a lid that is not completely sealed to contain any mess - just in case.
4. Put a large glass of water in the microwave along with the container of carts - the large mass of water in the glass absorbs most of the energy so the carts will heat more slowly. Also, you can damage the microwave tube if the "load" is very small.
5. Start with a 10 second heating cycle, then test the carts to see how warm they are.
6. Repeat with short bursts of heat until you get the carts to the desired temperature (about 150 degrees F - 65 degrees C), .
7. If some carts get hot faster than others, just remove the hot carts and repeat with the cooler carts.
8. Once the carts are at the desired temperature, let them set in the food container until they cool - they will stay warm longer in the food container.
9. Be sure to let the alcohol that was put in the filter drip out before using the carts. Normally, you can do this by leaving the exit port open for a short time while you are refilling. You can also blow into the vent if you aren't refilling the carts.

BTW - can you describe your symptoms that indicate that the carts aren't working as well as before? Are some colors more of a problem than other colors?

 

[fotofreek]

lilla - I did this before Grandad35 came up with the purging technique. That is really the best way to rejuvinate carts after several refills.

 

[Grandad35]

Lilla,

It is very difficult to measure a cart's temperature without specialized equipment. Like Fotofreek said, the hot water purge procedure works better and has superceded the alcohol/heat procedure.

There is no danger of the cart "blowing up" because the exit and vent ports are open during the test, preventing any internal pressure buildup.

 

[Lilla]

fotofreek & Grandad35,

Thank you both VERY much for your feedback and help.

I will get into Grandad35's purging technique.

Lilla

 

[chippedoff]

Hi.

I've been using the microwave trick for years best trick so far, though there are a few cartridges that do not like it.

Also to any one wishing to try the MW trick. Remember to remove the chips or any other metalic items first. Yes i've seen several fools that tried to MW trick with HP & lexmark inkjet cartridges.... Don't ask.

The mw trick goes well with the canon bci-3/6 and cli/pgi cartridges (chips removed). Though i've heard of generic refill cartridges that have a foam that melts in the microwave. However i've yet to see those.

The MW trick does not work well on BCI-24x without mods. However at about 4$ a cartridge. You might as well just put the old used cart in the recycling.

Certain epson cartridges including some of the old sc880 seem to have a diaphram (generic) that does not work well with the mw trick.

Always use distled water.

I've tried a gravity flush while using a 2ltr bottle filled with warmed up distled water with a cap and aqaurium hose with a needle at the end that fits into the hole you make on the back of the bci-3/6 cartridge. Simply let sit in the sink and let it flush. Air/breather holes taped up of course. Safer than MW trick but it uses a-lot of water.

Breathing (blowing) air into the back feed/fill holes often works on cartridges that do not seem to be leaking out the ports. This usualy means that it's time for a MW cleaning. That or you have a diaphram membraned cartridge ( i hate those).

Here is my trick.

Requires only distled water.

Standard sandwich plate (glass/ceramic)
distled water
2 paper towels
good tape
A microwave (duh).
Possibly a shallow bowl (again glass or ceramic)

Place first paper towel on plate (to soak up ink)

Fill the number of cartridges ex 2 or 3 cartridges with distled water (no need to heat)

Place the good tape over the entire top of each of the cartridges (maker certain it's on good). Will explain below.

Place those cartridges on the paper towel/plate (upright /ports down as if they were in the printer)

Place the second paper towel over the tops of the cartridges.

You may need a shallow bowl to put over the top paper towel to keep it down (like a pot cover).

Place your plate and cartridges in the MW.

Most microwaves can run this on full power unless you have one of those super modeles.

Run on full for about 45 seconds to a min.

Remove from MW let cool a little.

Keep the same paper towels and plate.

Add another refill of distled water and repeat the MW heating.

Usualy no more than 2 passes in the MW and your sponge will be new again.

To explain why i seal the tops:

A: To prevent contamination of the breather/vent pathways from ink & water converted to steam.
B: To preserve the breather pathway seals.
C: To avoid using alcohol in the often chance that it causes loose ink to clot near the top of the cartridge.

You will notice that the ink is forced out the bottom ports.

Using paper towels in just a way to keep cross contamination in check and easier to clean up.

I've seen epson cartridge foams come out white with this process.

So long as it is done slow (with inter cooling peroids) it works like a charm.

I don't recomend adding windex to the water. Since the amonia in the windex will foam up it might
block the water from reaching certain areas.

On my original ip3000 cartridges i have about 20 refills. Not bad, not bad at all.

Enjoy.

P.S> You might wish to get some old usless cartridge to experiment with first. As no single microwave oven is the same as another . It's upto you to see how it heats. 45 secs to a min is an estimate for 3 bci-6 or one Epson s020189 SC860/880 colour cartridge.

You can start at 30 seconds which is a pretty safe bet.