newer canon 226 carts, caannot view the ink level

[pearlhouse]

I just finished filling all the color "226" carts to my printer. As I was holding one in my hand and sealing the fill hole with my glue gun, I guess I squeezed the sides of the cart. a little bit and at the other end of the top surface some ink started oooz ing out.
Is this a defect or crack in the cartridge?
Or is this a breather by design.
Since these carts are no longer clear I cant tell when the cart is full so I just fill it all the way up and then draw back a little bit so I dont get ink back out of my filler hole. Can i seal this second area with a glue gun????
Do I have the cart to full and that is why I have this seepage?
thanx for all help!

 

[gigigogu]

I suppose you are top filling.
If so, from your description, the cartridge was overfilled.
The area with oozing is the air vent (breather), that must be free and permeable during use.
Now that you have ink in air vent it would be a good idea to blow some air in air vent (warning, only over a sink as some ink will come out from outlet port), to be sure it is not blocked with ink.
For next refills temporary seal the air vent with some tape or a finger during refill.

 

[pearlhouse]

ahhhh thanx for the reply thats kinda what I thought after thinking about this. At first I thought I had a cartridge with a crack in it. I guess I need to figure a better way to tell when the cartridge is full.

 

[gigigogu]

Cartridges are only meant to be refilled 2 or 3 times max before they're done.

Really? Please don't tell this to my cartridges as I already refilled 525 cart 12 times and 526 carts 4-6 times.

 

[jtoolman]

Not true! As long as you are not causing physical structural damage to the cart or to the chip, you can fill pretty much for ever as I have been doing. Oh and the PGI-9s which you fill up using the least invasive method? Probably for the life of the printer. Now if you want to include carts with built in thermal heads, that's a different story. But still I've done my Lexmark 16 and 26s probably ten times and they still print a clean nozzle check on my Primera Bravo Printer.

 

[The Hat]

ahhhh thanx for the reply thats kinda what I thought after thinking about this. At first I thought I had a cartridge with a crack in it. I guess I need to figure a better way to tell when the cartridge is full.

You should consider getting a set of 200/221s as they are much easier to refill and will work perfectly well in your printer.
With a chip swap on the cartridges the printer will not know any different besides
its a better option than fiddling around trying to refill the opaque 226 cartridges..

 

[Big_Al]

ahhhh thanx for the reply thats kinda what I thought after thinking about this. At first I thought I had a cartridge with a crack in it. I guess I need to figure a better way to tell when the cartridge is full.

You should consider getting a set of 200/221s as they are much easier to refill and will work perfectly well in your printer.
With a chip swap on the cartridges the printer will not know any different besides
its a better option than fiddling around trying to refill the opaque 226 cartridges..

1. Will a 221 cartridge fit a CLI8 printer (MP600)?
2. If it fits, do I need to change the chips?
3. Will a resetter for the CLI-8, reset the 221?
Thanks, Al
P.S. My guess is yes, yes, no.

 

[The Hat]

Big_Al
1. Will a 221 cartridge fit a CLI8 printer (MP600)? No
2. If it fits, do I need to change the chips? Yes
3. Will a resetter for the CLI-8, reset the 221? No

Thanks, AlP.S. My guess is yes, yes, no.

A 221 cartridge will however fit a BCI-6 printer..

 

[pearlhouse]

Now you guys aare really makin this interesting. So you say a 220 will work inlplace of a 226? But i need to change the chip. And how would one go about doing this. Are these chips available or do i steal them off my old 226 carts. Do they just pop off or do you glue them back on????
man you guys must spen half your time playin with these things. It is really greaat to be able to get this kind of info.

 

[stratman]

Now you guys aare really makin this interesting. So you say a 220 will work inlplace of a 226? But i need to change the chip. And how would one go about doing this. Are these chips available or do i steal them off my old 226 carts. Do they just pop off or do you glue them back on????
man you guys must spen half your time playin with these things. It is really greaat to be able to get this kind of info.

The Hat may be enjoying a refreshment so I'll pitch in.

Take a look at The Hat's own post on chip swapping here .

The 220/221 cartridges have a transparent window that lets you see the amount of ink in the spongeless side that will make refilling easier. You will need to transfer (swap) the chips from your 225/226 cartridges onto the 220/221 cartridges and purchase a chip resetter for the 225/226 cartridge chips in order to reset ink level monitoring.

If you prefer not to swap chips, you can refill the 225/226 cartridges, but the complete opacity of the plastic prevents easy visual cues to guage the extent of the refill. Using a scale to weigh the cartridge before filling allows you to approximate the amount of ink needed to properly refill. You will need to know what a completely empty cartridge weighs, as well as a new OEM cartridge weight and the weight of an ml of ink in order to refill using a scale. People here have already figured these things out if you search or ask. I don't know all these weights.

Whatever method you select to refill, the process will become second nature and take very little time to complete (minutes for a complete set). Having a second set of cartridges filled and ready to go will make things even easier if you prefer to refill at your leisure and not when the printer demands it during the middle of a print job.