New technique to clean BCI-6 carts

[Lilla]

Any suggestions for drying when you don't own a wet/dry vac?
Jane

Jane, here's some alternate ideas I've come across...

1) Use your mouth by Jackson
Post #56 this link.
snip Lacking an air pump, I applied my lips to the exit hole (no remarks please) and though not skilled in this technique, blew out a lot of the residual water. I expect I will have to wait awhile for complete drying.


2) Make a simple suction device using a syringe by thrif-t
Post #17 this link.
I had an idea about how to clean ink tanks without all the plumbing, and without a cartridge clip. This is an easy do-it-yourself project. You'll need a 10 ml syringe (no needle) and the orange cap that comes with each new tank. snip Now attach the ink tank and pull the plunger back quickly, this will suction out a lot of the water, repeat until you don't get water coming out, then finish drying it by whatever method you like, if you have time, let the sun shine on them for a day. snip

There is more information posted at the link above so you'll want to read his entire post.


3) Use an old vacuum cleaner and your hands by fotofreek.
Post #56 this link.
snip I blow most of the water out by just blowing into the ink outlet hole and then use an old vacuum cleaner to pull as much water out at the fill hole and vent as possible. The vacuum cleaner has a hose. I just hold my hand around the cart and the hose end to get the best seal such a crude approach permits. It works fine. ...snip... Some carts I purged last week were just left on my desk after vacuuming them, and they dried themselves really well in three or four days. snip

Post #58 snip The fan technique actually worked quite well. I would still use it, but I was just too lazy to go down to the basement to get a fan. snip

Post #21 this link.
snip I added a simple "forced air" system which worked quite well. I left all ports open, rubber banded them together in groups of six, and stood them up in the path of a small room fan for several hours. snip


I hope his helps.

Lilla

 

[Jane]

I have been looking for a long thread that I remember about sealing the refill hole on Canon OEM BCI-6 carts and can't find it even after doing a search. But, did run across this drying idea http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1404 which looks like something I want to try since I don't have a wet vac.

The reason for looking for the sealing thread is that with the iP6000D there is not room for the 216 brass screw eyes (#N118-653 by National Mfg. Co. at Ace Hardware in US) that I had used on an earlier printer. They were inserted into the original ball to use as a handle to pull the ball out and reinsert when refilled. I have also tried some Canon Self-Tapping Screws from CompuBiz Inkjet that need an Allen Tool, also from them. I decided to go back to the screw eyes applied to the original balls and thats when I discovered there is not clearence for them!

Anyone want to tell me where to look or give suggestions?
Thanks
Jane

 

[hpnetserver]

There is another way. Have you seen this photo?

This photo is on an ebay item sold by Hobbicolors. Perhaps this is what you are looking for? This is the ebay item:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...MESE:IT&viewitem=&item=250075504433&rd=1&rd=1

I have been using Hobbicolors refill kits, that came with plastic screws for sealing the cartridges. This photo shows something new. It seems a promising sealing method to me.

 

[jackson]

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=10101#p10101
I tried these Hobbicolor plugs in an oem BCI-6 tank (after extracting the plug) and they were a loose fit.
The ink ran out.
I don't know if they would work in the CLI tanks that the refill ink kit is marketed for as I don't have the newer printer.

 

[Lilla]

I have been looking for a long thread that I remember about sealing the refill hole on Canon OEM BCI-6 carts and can't find it even after doing a search. ...snip... Anyone want to tell me where to look or give suggestions?

Is this the thread you saw? Sealing the refill hole BCI-6 BCI-3

For a list of various screws used to seal the refill hole along with related links -- see post #159 this link.

Lilla

 

[hpnetserver]

I just looked at the Hobbicolor's ebay item again and realized it is for PGI5 and CLI8 cartridges. It says to drill a hole on the top of the reserve ink tank of 1/8th of an inch. So the plugs are not for sealing the original ink fill hole which is a lot bigger I believe. The plug is for sealing the hole you drill. This is actually an easier route for refilling these PGI5/CLI8 cartridges. I think you can apply this to BCI-6 cartridges as well. Don't mess with the original fill hole and the ball plug inside. I have tried it before and it was quite difficult to unplug the ball, despite some people said it's not hard. Drill a new hole should be easier. The problem was how to seal the hole you drill. Now this plug from Hobbicolors seems to be one that will work. Has anyone bought the kit and tried it?

 

[Lilla]

Don't mess with the original fill hole and the ball plug inside. I have tried it before and it was quite difficult to unplug the ball, despite some people said it's not hard.

I've been removing the ball in the Canon BCI-6 OEM cart for years. I think the ease (or difficulty) of doing it depends upon which instructions you follow. I follow the instructions below, but just up to the point the ball is removed.
http://www.atlascopy.com/knowledge/Canon_Refill.pdf

Lilla

 

[Defcon2k]

Today I bought 3/8" tube (9-10mm on the inside) and some other parts. I hope I won't need that for quite some time, but at least I've got the tools now.


As you might know, I use a different refill technique, where the refill hole is in the front of the sponge chamber near the exit hole.
Would you recommend to drill another hole in the ink reserve chamber for your flushing technique? Or would it be sufficient to have the normal vent hole and my refill hole at the front of the sponge chamber?

 

[Grandad35]

Would you recommend to drill another hole in the ink reserve chamber for your flushing technique? Or would it be sufficient to have the normal vent hole and my refill hole at the front of the sponge chamber?

Without a hole in the ink chamber, the ink chamber won't be purged. Of course, the ink chamber isn't usually a source of contamination, so it doesn't really need to be purged. However, you will have a mixture of ink and water in the ink chamber that will be impossible to empty properly so that you can dry the sponge. I would open a hole in the ink chamber, purge the entire cart and use any of the many methods covered in this forum to seal the hole after the cart is dried.

 

[Grandad35]

Well, it finally happened - I found a cart that didn't respond to purging. The cart is an "Old InkGrabber" prefilled cart that was first purged over 2 years ago and has been successfully refilled at least 8 times since then.

The problem occurred after the first refill following the second purge on this cart. When the cart (black) was first installed, the prints looked normal. After the printer sat for a day or two, the next set of prints looked really strange in the darker areas. A nozzle check showed that the black was completely missing. The carts were all reseated and found to be tight, so a cleaning cycle was run and the nozzle check reprinted. The nozzle check looked good, as did the re-prints that were made immediately following the cleaning cycle/nozzle check. The same problem reoccurred a few days later. Again, a nozzle check showed that the black was not printing.

Blowing into the vent showed that it took far more pressure than normal to get ink to drip from the exit port, so this cart was replaced with another cart. That was 2 black carts ago, and both replacement black carts functioned normally.

During this morning's refill cycle (33 carts) the problem cart was examined. Removing the refill screw showed that this cart only dripped from the exit port at a rate of 1 drop every 6 seconds, compared with 2 drops/second on a clean cart. The ink was blown out and clean ink was injected into the ink chamber. The ink was rapidly absorbed into the sponge, so it seems that the blockage was in the filter. The problem cart was discarded and replaced with a spare.