Purging the PGI-9 cartridges

[rodbam]

Thanks Hat I ordered the new fangled clip along with the resetter. I did see your cut out clips but in my invention, I will call it "The don't Work Method" you only cut away the silicon seal so when you pump or drip ink through the modified glued on thingy the ink should flow across the whole sponge. Brilliant a

 

[mikling]

reread #32
reread #44

I will say no more.

 

[rodbam]

Bugger, so that's where I got the idea from I haven't even ordered my refill ink yet because the missus said I've spent too much but I'm working on it. I've told her if the OEM cart empties & I can't refill it straight away the cart will be unusable. The problem is after buying the little scales, & the redsetter I've spent way more than my full 9000 refill ink kit costs. Ah well saving lots of money on refilling is not meant to be easy I spose

 

[DBCossini]

I am very new to this, please bear with me, I have a Canon Pro 9500 MKII I just got a set of Precision Color Image Specialists pigment inks, along with the reseter scale serynges etc. I have cleaned or purged if you will the PGI-9 carts till the water runs clear, my question is how long after I purge the cart can I fill it and begin to use it, in other words how long till it is fully dry with no water drops inside of it? Also I used the serynge and the little orange cover that has been modified with a serynge needle tip to get the water out and rinse it is this okay, will nothing be damaged insdie the cart? I was very gentle in doing this. Thanks

 

[rodbam]

The Hat said he just left the carts near a mild heat source or on a sunny window sill for about an hour but you don't want to let the outlet pad get overly dry. What did you use to flush your carts out?

 

[mikling]

Why did you clean or purge the PGI-9 carts? Were they bad or recovered carts? If they were not, you should not have as you will have created a ton of work for yourself. Readers..listen up. If they are carts were working do not purge or flush. Please.

Assuming that they were recovered and you wanted to refurbish them. What condition were they in? If the pad was dry when you got them, and the spring had expanded then you should also rinse out the ink inside as well..with something known to be safe.

Assuming you used water internally and externally, you should NOT let the pad dry out. Immediately after withdrawing the water and air with the vacuum adapter, put about 3 ml of ink inside with the dribble/stream method. Why this method? because the absorption of the ink will tell a lot about whether the cartridge is functioning properly. With the bellows fully flattened and the spring compressed to the max, the uptake of the ink should be fairly quick. That means a continuous stream of ink will be absorbed as fast as you put it on.
After putting the 3 ml internally. Put the clip back on and shake the cartridge violently for a period. You are now trying to flush out the water that is in there . At the same time, you are to listen to the paddles internally. They should rattle with a distinct sharp sound and not be lazy muted. After doing this and you are sure that the paddles are working properly then you are to immediately remove all the fluid you have inside with the vacuum adapter and discard the fluid. If the sound of the paddles is now good, you are now ready to refill. If not, repeat with ink again.

When refilling again, initially use the slow method because you will again judge the condition of the cartridge by the uptake of ink. When finished, immediately replace the orange clip on the cartridge.
If the cartridges were working properly, pad moist and stored away with the orange clip or just came off the printer, there is NO need to flush as the ink is fully compatible with the Canon ink.

As I and Thrilla keep stating, if you understand how these cartridges work, You should not dry the pads out because doing so will allow the spring and bellows to extend and cause more work. Worse yet, if air gets into the bladder and allows the paddles to stick to the sides, because of the pigment resin, it will be difficult to release them to allow the paddles to function inside. That is why it is important to listen to the rattles.

These are not sponge cartridges so the old ideas do not work here.

 

[mikling]

You are NOT dealing with dye ink.
Pigment ink can have funny effects when mixed with various chemicals....even with water in certain proportions. Even if you don't understand the term flocculation, the effect is as bad as it sounds. So tread carefully when attempting purging with water which you ideally should not.
Pigment ink is composed of charged solid particles suspended in a base that is precisely formulated to keep the particles in suspension or neutrally floating.
Pigment particles are solid particles and over time some will lose charge and settle and sink.
Some settlement is inherent in all pigment inks regardless of the quality. It is never 100% perfect.
There will be more settlement in the darker shades than the lighter shades generally, simply because they contain more solids and thus particles.

Want a simple picture? Think runny glue with a bunch of colored particles that is always floating inside the glue. Disturb the mixture too much and all particles can start to settle or do odd things.

Just like automobiles use detergent based lubricants that keep the engine internal clean of deposits over a long time, a similar regimen needs to be considered to keep the outlet channels and outlet pad clear of buildup of pigment particles over time. In the engine, as the oil flows, it is cleaning the internals, whatever refill method you choose should backflush the ENTIRE pad and channels of the buildup as well. In the auto, you can choose not to use detergent oils and wait till sludge builds up and then attempt an engine clean. Similar to the cartridge, you can wait for the pigment to build up and then attempt a flush. In the engine, if the sludge builds up too much, you could ruin your engine as the oil will be impeded by the sludge. On the cartridge, if the buildup is too much,the ink will be blocked by the settled pigment particles and there is the potential to damage your printhead as well.

Life is all about choices.

 

[rodbam]

Thanks Mike I've now got it through my thick head & when I get my ink I will be doing exactly as you say. My scales & resetter should be here soon & then I can work on the missus to shell out for the ink & spare carts.

 

[rodbam]

I have just received my mini scales & weighed the new OEM carts & they weigh 31.32g. In Joe's video he refills his carts to 33g which I imagine is what his new full carts weighed. Do you think this difference is in our scales? I'm wondering because I'm not sure when I refill whether to fill to 31.32g or 33g like Joe. What do you lot fill to?

 

[Emulator]

Hi Rod

I checked my scales by weighing a 1 coin. If you google for your national coin weights, you'll find yours listed somewhere.

for example here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coins_of_the_Australian_dollar

Regards Emu