refilling Canon MP 610

[duncan22]

I seem to have a fair problem with filling inkjet cartridges. Sometimes the needle hits the gap in the wall first time and then no problem but other times I have to insert the needle many times before hitting the gap... Am I causing damage to the sponge each time I reinsert the needle to find the gap ?
Should I forget about the gap and try pushing the needle through into the chamber ?
I Have refilled about a dozen times so am still fairly new at this game but do not seem to be improving on the hit and miss with the gap, one problem being that you cannot see the needle until the tip enters the second chamber through the gap.
Any hints or tips... or is it just a matter of practice ?

 

[qwertydude]

It's just a matter of practice, I find that sharpening the needle helps some. With a diagonal sharpening like a hypodermic you can actually guide the needle by turning it. The needle will naturally follow the slant of the needle.

 

[ghwellsjr]

You definitely do not want to poke your own hole through the wall. Are you making your refill hole as close to the bottom of the cartridge as possible? If you are doing this and you are refilling Canon original cartridges then the needle will slide along the bottom of the sponge with no resistance and it won't matter how many times you try. I find it necessary to rotate the needle to get over the little lip at the entrance to the reservoir.

 

[ian]

Im not sure why you guys have to make holes and poke needles in this cartridge for anyway? MP 610 takes 3E black right? you do not need to make holes or stick needles in this cartridge type. This is how i refill them.

First get the orange cover they use to cover the bottom of the cartridge, Cut the edges off to make it round and drill a 3mm hole through the middle of it to put your syringe in then use a electric glue gun so seal it.

Next

Get some good sticky tape (i use electrical insulation tape) and cover the top of the cartridge sealing all the air vents and holes nice and tight. Then turn your cartridge up side down and get your syringe fill of ink and place it over the small hole on the cartridge. Push hard and make a good seal and force the ink into the cartridge.

My mate just uses a rubber mat and clamps the cartridge up side down to the mat on the table, This way works really well as well.

 

[ghwellsjr]

MP 610 takes 3E black right?

No, the MP610 uses the newer chipped cartridges, the PGI-5Bk for the pigment black and four of the CLI-8 dye inks.

But the process to refill PGI-5Bk is identical to the BCI-3eBk. So let's say you're refilling a printer that uses the BCI-3eBk. I don't see how your process can put any ink in the reservoir and without that the printer will continue to say that the cartridge is out of ink. How do you know when to put more ink in it?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your proccess. Could you upload some picture to show us how you do it?

 

[duncan22]

ian,
That idea seems interesting but if there was any problems with the seals I guess Ink would be all over the place.
Is not the simplest way to make a hole in the top of the chamber but as close as possible to the wall and inject the ink in with the cartridge standing on it's edge and finally seal the hole with a small soldering iron to melt the plastic.
I have never tried this but am tempted to have a go UNLESS others on this forum have tried and have had problems.
The point ghwellsjr makes is interesting regarding the cartridge still showing out of ink if the chamber is empty... would it still do this if a redsetter was used. I Know it's something you would not want to do but just for general interest it would be useful to know.

 

[headphonesman]

ian,
The point ghwellsjr makes is interesting regarding the cartridge still showing out of ink if the chamber is empty... would it still do this if a redsetter was used. I Know it's something you would not want to do but just for general interest it would be useful to know.

I have long suspected that the optical detection of an empty chamber no longer works , empty chambers are decided by Nozzle Firing Count alone being reached.

I have just carried out the following experiment :-

Printer = MP600
Canon PG5 Large Black = Empty purchased off web many months ago , main outlet sealed with Orange cap. The chamber is clear and transparent , no ink smears at all. The Sponge looks normal.
RedSetter = one of the first issued ex the German Supplier...original battery still going strong

I first tested the PG5 in the MP600 machine , as expected it was flashing , not re-set , chamber was empty , Status monitor showed low/empty.
I took out reset using the Redsetter (did not refill) , placed back in..........Red Light now steady.....Status monitor showed Full.

I did not further prove by operating a genuine print as this would have exhausted the ink left in the head giving me a nice little airlock , which I can well do without.......

So yes....you can operate a cart if you replenish the sponge alone.....and reset the cart ...but its not the way I would do it......proper Durchstich for me by refilling the chamber.Some are of the opinion that the optical empty warning will kick in if there is "a sudden loss" of ink from the cart and chamber......saving the

head..........I have little faith in this happening for the above reasons !

 

[leo8088]

The optical sensor is the very last protection watch dog for preventing the printer from frying the print head heaters when the ink chamber of the ink cartridge is empty. It is only disabled when the ink level status is disabled. You can check the sensor safely. As long as the sponged chamber is not bone dry the optical sensor should immediately send an alert to the printer when you command the printer to print at the time the ink chamber is empty (regardless what the chip is saying).

It occurred to me several times that I commanded my ip4300 to print without knowing that one of the cartridges had been emptied. I discovered that by finding a missing color on the print. Luckily the print head wasn't fried and there was no clogging either. I did not use a resetter so the optical sensor was disabled. Since you use a resetter you can check out the optical sensor safely. Reset your chip but not refill. Print while the ink chamber is empty. You will know if the sensor works or not.

 

[headphonesman]

The optical sensor is the very last protection watch dog for preventing the printer from frying the print head heaters when the ink chamber of the ink cartridge is empty. It is only disabled when the ink level status is disabled. You can check the sensor safely. As long as the sponged chamber is not bone dry the optical sensor should immediately send an alert to the printer when you command the printer to print at the time the ink chamber is empty (regardless what the chip is saying).

It occurred to me several times that I commanded my ip4300 to print without knowing that one of the cartridges had been emptied. I discovered that by finding a missing color on the print. Luckily the print head wasn't fried and there was no clogging either. I did not use a resetter so the optical sensor was disabled. Since you use a resetter you can check out the optical sensor safely. Reset your chip but not refill. Print while the ink chamber is empty. You will know if the sensor works or not.

I think I already know ......without trying to print with an empty chamber and causing an air-lock /and /or frying the head.

The optical prism (although still present) at the bottom of the chamber , became redundant the day Canon added chips to the carts. The statement that the Optical sensor did not work for you because you had disabled the ink level status is incorrect ......the Optical sensor was not working before you disabled , the ink status was being decided purely on the number of firings the cart had recorded on the chip.

I have monitored the threads here for some time and have never seen anyone (with a chipped machine abled or dis-abled ) , praise the "back-up optical ink out indicator " for saving their printhead when the ink chamber has run dry..

I stand to be corrected if someone is willing to undertake my test to the limit and report back that their head was safe because an "ink out " warning was given immediately a print was asked for on a machine that had 1 empty (recently re-set), cart that had a bone dry reservoir.

 

[leo8088]

There must be reasons why the optical sensor is still present. As I said it is the last line of defense for the print head. The chip already has the protection against the possibility of frying the print head (printing with an empty ink cartridge). But if an ink cartridge lost a lot of ink because of too many cleaning cycles or if the chip somehow gets written with a bad data the chip may tell the printer that there is still some ink while it is actually empty. This is when the last line of defense is there to prevent the printer from printing. It is probably very rarely kicked in so nobody ever saw it actually doing its job.

I have not seen it doing its job either. So I too stand to be corrected if anyone actually saw it working (or not). I wonder why it is still present if it no longer functions. The optical sensor may cost a little extra to the overall cost of the printer only but it will add up and it is not wise to waste it if it is there for no functionality.