Inaccurate refill and print head damage.

[InkFu]

Hey all,

I'm currently having a problem with my cyan cli-226 cart. I refill my carts by calculating weight but with my cyan cart I can't refill up to the stock weight of 20.3g. Instead I'm only reaching 17.9g before it starts overfilling. It may be the same volume but of course it's not the same weight and I'm worried it will empty before the printer realizes and ruin the print head. I'm already thinking of swapping the chips to a non-opaque OEM cartridge. However, if it's some sort of problem with sponge saturation then it could happen with non-opaque carts and I'll have the same worries again. Any ideas on how to resolve this?

Best Regards,
InkFu

 

[stratman]

Flush the cart then refill.

The sponge can become non-compliant and have problems with flow and saturation. Also, ink can fill above the sponge and get into the air reservoir system which leads to refilling and function issues.

For further instruction and information, read my post here: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=38244#p38244. Do use ghwellsjr's paper towel method to quickly begin refilling after a purge.

 

[PeterBJ]

Hi InkFu

I too have experienced exactly the problem you described but with CLI-521 cartridges. They are almost the same cartridges as yours, the difference being windows and a chip for a different region. So I think windowed or opaque cartridges make no difference except that the windowed cartridges are easier to refill. As stratman suggests flushing the cartridges can help. That has worked for me.

You are not the only person to have experienced this problem with newer Canon cartridges, see these threads: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=7822 and http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=8012

 

[InkFu]

Thanks guys. I'm glad to know there's a solution to the problem. I think I'll go ahead and switch out carts for the refilling convenience. Though I'm sure it would still be a good idea to weigh them when they're full.

 

[PeterBJ]

InkFu wrote:

I think I'll go ahead and switch out carts for the refilling convenience. Though I'm sure it would still be a good idea to weigh them when they're full.

I also think that is a good idea. I weigh my windowed PGI-520/CLI-521 after refill as a quality control of the refill / health check of the cartridge. The weight of the windowed and opaque cartridges is the same.

My findings for a set of new unused OEM cartridges without the orange clip and vent dealing tape:

PGI-520: 35.3 g, CLI-521C: 20.3 g, CLI-521M: 20.2 g, CLI-521Y: 20.2 g and CLI-521BK: 20.4 g

Good luck with refilling.
Peter.

 

[The Hat]

Thanks guys. Though I'm sure it would still be a good idea to weigh them when they're full.

I am curious Peter as to why youd want to weigh your windowed cartridges in the first place,
what exactly does it achieve over the usual visual inspection. ?

 

[PeterBJ]

The Hat wrote:

I am curious Peter as to why youd want to weigh your windowed cartridges in the first place,
what exactly does it achieve over the usual visual inspection. ?

I have experienced cartridges being underweight after a German refill even if I filled the ink reservoir 100%, some of these underweight cartridges have also given problems with inkflow. I think the problem is caused by the sponges being partially blocked by dried dye or pigment. Normally after purging and drying the cartridges fills up to the normal weight again and the inkflow problems are gone. But I have had a problem with a PGI-520 that I couldn't make absorb ink in the sponges, even if I topfilled it and left the fill opening open. The sponges behaved like they had been water/inkproofed.
So I use weighing the windowed cartridges as a kind of health check of the cartridge. If the cartridge is more than one gram underweight for a dye cartridge or two grams underweight for a pigment cartridge, I think it is time to purge it.

 

[The Hat]

I have experienced cartridges being underweight after a German refill even if I filled the ink reservoir 100%, some of these underweight cartridges have also given problems with inkflow. Normally after purging and drying the cartridges fills up to the normal weight again and the inkflow problems are gone. But I have had a problem with a PGI-520 that I couldn't make absorb ink in the sponges, even if I topfilled it and left the fill opening open. The sponges behaved like they had been water/inkproofed.
So I use weighing the windowed cartridges as a kind of health check of the cartridge. If the cartridge is more than one gram underweight for a dye cartridge or two grams underweight for a pigment cartridge, I think it is time to purge it.

Thank you for your explanation and I can see the merits in what youre doing alright (Belt and Braces).

I found in my case when the sponge refused to absorb ink it was down to the sponge getting to dry
so I just put a couple of drops of alcohol in the outlet hole after filling and the cartridge printed alright later..