Refilling BCI-24 questions

[alexandereci]

When refilling the color ink tank, I notice it has only one "outlet hole" for all 3 colors. I tend to refill each color "port" until I notice ink dropping out of the outlet hole, then refill the other colors using the same method. I am worried and curious about the risk of "color contamination"... won't the excess ink mix and then flow back into whatever vent hole is closest and contaminate that color ink?

I'm thinking of widening the outlet hole for 2 reasons - let excess ink out faster and to let any ink residue dry quickly (leaving the cartridge inverted for a day or two). Any thoughts on this?

Perhaps there exists a cutaway or descriptive view of how a BCI-24 ink works?

Also, is it better to use OEM cartridges and then just refill that, or buy 3rd party cartridges and refill those? I notice a difference in the material used at the exit port on OEM and 3rd party cartridges.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[d86cfv]

How to fill a BCI-24 C

Pop the cap off with a sharp knife (don't cut it, just pop it)

You'll see 6 holes, 3 for the pegs, and 3 air holes

Get your syringes with VERY fine needles and fill about 3-4ml per colour

Get 2 sheets of kitchen roll, and fold it about 4 times into a thick pad

Hold the cart firmly down (upright) on the tissue

Very slowly inject the ink into the correct chamber (the hole is above each colour, easy to tell)

DO NOT put the needle all the way down so that the top of the needle seals around the air hole otherwise your forcing the ink out the bottom and not letting the air escape!

Fill intill either the ink is gone, or the ink is starting to bleed onto the tissue, stop immediately and pull back about 1 ml of ink

Between each colour hold the cartridge up and look at the exit hols, if the ink wants to drip it is over full, take some out.

I've found this to be the most successful way and I've filled thousands of these fiddly little things!



BCI 24 BK

2 methods

1, drip about 10ml onto the sponge with cart upside down

2, my way is with a syringe and no needle, just put the end of the syringe flat on the sponge and inject (remember with no needle) apply just enough force to push the sponge in a tiny tiny amount otherwise the ink wont want to actually go into the sponge. This is much faster than option 1


Regs

D

 

[alexandereci]

Hmmm... You refill the colored ink tanks upright? That's new. I once brought these tanks to a professional refiller, and they put ink through the ports at the bottom of the cartridge. However, this makes a bit of sense since I won't have to worry about colors mixing...

I'm not sure about OEM cartridges since I tore apart a 3rd party cartridge, but that cartridge had sponges in it, how do I "pull back 1ml of ink" after it has gone to the sponge??? Also, the top was very hard to pry off... not only was it "pegged" in, it also had some sort of ridge on it to act like a seal. I'm not sure if it was glued on or was just really stubborn.

With regards to the black ink tank, I'm not much worried there since there is no "ink contamination" issue. I refill it through the ink port with the tank inverted, and stop when ink comes out through the vent hole. Funny, I remember a refill kit instructing me to refill via that vent hole..... was very frustrating.

However, I don't see the need to "force/push the ink" into the sponge, it always seems to go into the tank in a nice, easy manner.

Thank you very much for the nice instructions. Nice to know the colored tanks hold about 3-4ml per color... how many ml for the black tank?

 

[alexandereci]

I successfully pried off the top of a BCI-24 color cartridge. However, this leads me to a few more questions:

1. Do I have to put the top back on?
2. If #1 is yes, can i just tape it on, or do I have to securely glue it on?
3. A webpage I visited suggested that the holes at the top of the ink tank be drilled wider, and that the needle is to be pushed all the way through, slowly withdrawing it as you inject ink to "soak" the foam as thoroughly as possible. Any thoughts on this?

 

[alexandereci]

A friend of mine came to my house today, and noticed my setup. He has a Canon S200SPx that still prints a few colors (although streaked, it doesn't bother him). We got to arguing about how to "store" filled ink tanks (we're talking about, say, for just a couple of hours or up to 6 months or more).

He inverts his ink tanks, saying that makes sure that the sponge retains just enough ink (excess ink has a chance to overflow) to retain their "sponge-ness" and that keeping the tanks upright (in the snap-on thingie) tends to drown the sponge and affects the way the tank transfers ink to the printhead. Therefore, inverted = good, upright = bad.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[Grandad35]

I store mine upright like this (http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=4254#p4254). New carts are obviously placed in every imaginable orientation during shipping/storage/handling, so the position may not be all that critical, as long as the cart is sealed in a proper container or bag at 100% RH. However, I do seem to remember that the instructions for some 3rd party cart recommended storing a new cart in the upright orientation for at least an hour before installing it in the printer.

I can't see the benefit in storing the carts in an inverted position - if the exit filter dries out, the cart won't feed ink correctly.

 

[alexandereci]

Ah, so position isn't all that important. I agree with you on the danger of the exit filter drying out.

To bump up a few questions:

1. Do I have to put the top back on?
2. If #1 is yes, can i just tape it on, or do I have to securely glue it on?
3. A webpage I visited suggested that the holes at the top of the ink tank be drilled wider, and that the needle is to be pushed all the way through, slowly withdrawing it as you inject ink to "soak" the foam as thoroughly as possible. Any thoughts on this?

 

[SCSI]

I tried to remove the top off and in the process really destroyed my cart. It is very hard to take that thing off. Maybe I will just try and fill it from the exit ports.

 

[alexandereci]

To remove the top, get a thin-bladed knife and insert it in the small gap between the top and the cartridge. I insert it through the front... getting it in takes a little work since you are not only prying the top off, you are also working against some amount of glue. Once the blade is 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch in, give it a little twist to pop off the top.

Once the top is off, I find that I can't get it back on properly, so I tape it on. I'm thinking I might not even have to return the top, but I'm thinking the top keeps the cartridge in the proper position once inserted in the printer, so I just tape it on to be safe.

 

[alexandereci]

Bumping a question:

Is it essential to return the top of the cartridge after refilling, or can I put in into the printer without the top? Does the top serve any other purpose aside from keeping excess ink?