Refilling Canon Pixma ip4700 ?

[Trigger 37]

Bertil,...Tell us more about the silicone you use and how does it dry. I hope you don't let any of it get down into the ink reservoir. What is the brand, how do you apply it,..how long does it take to dry.

Also,.. mikling has a completely different thin clear plug that he uses on the Canon Compatible ink carts. They look VERY THIN. Just look at the pictures in his store for the Canon CLi-221 ink carts.

 

[mikling]

Sorry for the dashed hopes, the plugs don't clear. The trouble with thin plugs is that the tops eventually tears. Maybe using a sharp razor to shave some would be ok. I am pursuing the suggestion by mrelmoto see how that works.

Now wait a minute this thread is for the 4700...for which there are no clearance problems....similar for the 4600 and 4820 etc. Just the AIO machiness with the scanner on top. Just to remind ourselves.

 

[gigigogu]

... I suspect if a screw is used to grip the plug, it will also work. Again. I have not tried this yet.....

It works with a screw (for wood). Used myself for one cartridge.

I wish to suggest another material for flat sealing the refill hole, it was presented by LeeE here http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=46890#p46890.
Tested myself and I had no problem both for short and medium term use.
Mine is called UHU patafix.

 

[Trigger 37]

I really like the idea of the "poster Putty" and I'm going to try it. I might also mention I tried one other very simple thing that has been used by others since day one,... and that is I just replaced the original Canon "BALL" that I pulled out of the refill hole. However, just as soon as I filled it I saw it leak out of the bottom of the orange Canon clip held in place by a strong rubber band. So I don't know just how well a "Re-used Ball seals". Anyone have any history.

 

[mikling]

The Canon ball does not seal perfectly. After having removed hundreds of them, around 50% will show ink past the ball in virgin carts. In reality, it is the label that is over the ball that provides the perfect seal we seek.. If you reuse the ball, then you should provide a second line of leak defence such as aluminum tape.
When removing the ball, make sure that the upper part of the tunnel is not nicked or gouged. The newer plugs on the way require that the surfaces within the tunnel be perfect to seal. I will test them then report back as to their effectiveness.

 

[joseph1949]

To: milking

After reading your post #55 I got to thinking about my carts.

Before I tell you what I was able to find out about my carts let me tell you and others about what printers I use:

I use two-Canon PIXMA MX870 printers. Each printer uses 4-CLI-221 carts and 1-PGI-220BK cart. This gives me a total of 10 carts. The 10 carts are a mix of Canon OEM carts and Caboodle carts (i.e. Canon OEM carts with Caboodle ink).

I use the Top-fill method to fill my carts. I drill a fill hole next to the original fill hole. I use hot glue as the plug material to seal the fill hole. On each one of the carts I peel back the label to expose the original fill hole and remove the label just to the left of the original fill hole. I did not expose the air vent. Based on your post #55 I should have not done this. I should have left the label as is and kept the original fill hole covered-up. Based on my testing of my 10 carts I believe you are right.

I tested each of my 10 carts my removing each cart and I touched each of the seal balls with a tissue. On half of the carts I was able to see ink on the tissue. This told me that the ball seal was leaking ink.

Note: The Canon OEM carts use plastic seal balls and Caboodle carts use steel balls. Based on my tissue test I would say that the plastic seal balls seal a bit better. There are two reasons why the Caboodle seal balls do not seal as good as the Canon balls:

1. The original ink opening has been used twiceonce by Canon and once by Caboodle. How do I know that the carts were filled only twice? I asked the owner of the Caboodle how many times does Caboodle fill their carts. The owner said only twiceonce by Canon and once by Caboodle. I assume this to be true. You may disagree.

2. Caboodle uses a steel ball. The steel ball does not deform like a plastic ball and thus, does not seal as well. This may or may not be true. You can decide for yourself.

I believe that it is the nature of the beast (i.e. ball seal) to leak. It does not matter if the ball is plastic or steel or how many times the carts has been filled (fewer times is better, of course)the ball seal will leak. Canon never intended for their carts to be filled more than once. And thus, there was no need to engineer a ball seal that did not leak. Canon did a C.Y.A. when they covered the fill hole with their label. The label kept the fill hole from leaking (milking says that the label gives a perfect seal. I do not think it is perfect, but it is good enough). In any case, if the ball seal leaked you did not see the leak because of the labelC.Y.A.

If you have wondered why a Canon OEM cart or a third party cart (not refilled by an individual) cart lost its ink in a very short timea leaking ball seal may be the answer.

So, what is the upshot of all of this? Here are my conclusions:

1. Do not remove the label. Keep the original fill opening covered up by the label.

2. If you use the Top-fill method do not remove the ball seal. Drill a fill hole next to the original opening. I think it is best to keep the original opening intactbad ball seal or not.

3. If you have removed the label over the ball seal, cover the ball with hot glue. This is what I intend to do with each cart as it comes time to refill the cart.

4. If your cart uses a lot of leak, remove the label and cover the ball with hot glue. I am assuming that you have examined all the other possibilities (bad seal on your fill hole?) and have concluded that it must be a bad ball seal.

5. If you take your cart to a place like COSTCO to be refilled over and over again, cover the ball seal with hot glue. You can assume that the ball seal is leaking. Before taking your cart back to COSTCO you can remove the hot glue by placing isopropyl alcohol on the hot glue, wait for a few minutes, and using a soft tool (toothpick, finger nail, etc.) pry up the hot glue. A hard metal tool will scratch the openinga big nono!!!



Thank you.