Refilling Epson T0484xx

[Trigger 37]

Marine,... Plus all others that responded to this thread,... thanks a million for the information. All of it is and will be very helpful. In my first post I had mentioned that I had a problem with the some compatible ink carts but I had found the problem. I thought I would get automatic notification on all posts to this thread but that didn't happen. I just stumbled onto the answers today. The problem with the compatible ink carts was that I placed an order for two different types of Epson ink carts. After checking much closer, I found the shipping had mixed them up in the package so I was trying to put two different part numbers in the same print. Talk about LOL....

The refill instruction look very good. It seems this process would work on other Epson ink carts such as the T069xxx series. If it does that would be great. One set of toos to work for all those ink carts.

If mikling would comment on this??? Looking at your pictures it seems that if you use the fill hole that is right next to the exit hole, the fill ink would just flow right out of the exit port and not fill up the rest of the ink cart. There is no way to tell from the picture how the ink gets into all the other compartments????

 

[Marine]

If you are refering to our instructions, the chamber that the ink is injected into actually forces the ink to flow all of the way around the cartridge before it makes it to the exit port.

 

[mikling]

The method used is to try and squeeze all the air out of the cartridge by pushing ink in. It will work but one has to be careful not to make a mess as one has to create pressure on the inlet that translates into a pressurised cartridge causing the other receiving syringe to move up and receiving the ink. Pressure and ink can be a nuisance..squirt.

Whether or not this works for the T069XXX might be moot as this still requires a proper method of resetting the chip that as far as I know has not yet been devised. The only solution I am aware of for the T069XXX etc with the 9 contact chips is to utilize auto resetting chips.

 

[Marine]

The T069xx chips can be reset with a SK168 desktop chip resetter, but only if the cartridge is not reporting below 25%. The method to refill the 9 pin chips is to use the top four pins as if they were the bottom 4 pins of a 7 pin chip. This puts the chip resetter upside down compared to normal. Please note that this only works on the chip resetters produced in the last 6 months (they have new firmware that works with the new chips).

Pins used are O not used is X

OOOO
XOOOX

 

[mikling]

I have commented on the 25% issue before. Finding used cartridges that have more than 25% of ink remaining will be difficult as users won't give up 1/3 of their cartridge to get a recycling rebate of a couple of dollars. You'd have to offer that person at least $4-5 for a cartridge that is 1/3rd full. Even if you did, this could be a tricky thing. Why? well as many have noticed, the ink level indicators fall in distinct steps. I would imagine it is possible to get a cartridge that is just less than 1/3rd full but only show 1/3rd full, but when you install it into a printer and the printer detects a different cartridge, it would go into a priming cycle and possibly pull that 1/3 full to below 1/4 full and neutralize the cartridge. The same thing can happen even if you are refilling the cartridges. Turn the printer off for a period of time, turn the printer back on and it is possible to pull the levels below 1/4 full and have the chips neutered and rendered unresettable when the printer reprimes the head for operation. I haven't tried this but the braver souls can do so and verify.

The only way around this is to refill at half full to offer that protection margin against reaching that 25% neutering level. But the problem with all the newer 9pin cartridges is that their capacity is so small that you'd be refilling fairly often and you would tire of it soon. Many already complain that the new 9 pin cartridges are too small even with using their full capacity, and having only 50-60% of the capacity in order to refill and be able to reset the chip will be that much worse. As I see it, by hook or by cr--k you're better off getting some well designed refillables to make life bearable

Now many comments have been made about the newer Epson photo printers being thirsty printers. Well, indeed they are and is something an Epson user has to come to terms with. Here's why. In order to gain print speed in the newer models, the number of print nozzles MUST be increased and indeed they have done so. BUT, in increasing the number of nozzles, the downside is that each one of these nozzles MUST be periodically flushed to keep them from clogging...this consumes quite a bit of ink. This happens on startup, during printing and shutdown. So increasing the number of nozzles increases the level of wasted ink and there is no way around that. This aspect I would think is a major factor as to why users of the newer printers notice high ink consumption. Naturally, the more small print runs or batches that are carried out, the higher the percentage of wasted ink. On larger print runs, the consumption is a lot more reasonable. It's similar to an automobile in a way. Frequent short trips produce horrible fuel consumption numbers but with highway driving, it improves dramatically. So the increased number of nozzles to gain print speed, directly causes higher ink consumption and there is no way around it.

Everything is a compromise.

 

[pixelpusher]

Hi all. I'm new to this forum and my question is about using real Epson K3 pigment ink to refill dye based T048x carts for a Stylus Photo R320. Is this possible to do without munging up everything? The 2 syringe method looks to be perfect and all I lack is the refill adapters and sealing balls. If I attempt to use the K3 pigment ink are there any other issues I need to worry about? Mainly, will I need to flush the heads prior to installing the pigment filled carts?

 

[Trigger 37]

pixelpusher ,.....I don't believe you want to do what you suggest. Just go buy a re-manufactured set of ink carts for the T048x, and use that as your dye ink carts. Then use the other ink carts until all the ink starts to fade. Then fill them up with the Pigmented ink and print purge prints until half the ink is gone, then refill them with pigment ink and you should be good to go. Now you have a set of ink carts for both applications.

I don't know where you are planning on getting your Epson Ink, but you should checkout precisioncolors.com.

 

[pixelpusher]

Thanks for the reply Trigger 37. You bring up an interesting question. I do a combination of things with my printer, both photos on luster photo paper and regular printing on everyday laser paper. Do I need to swap inks every time I switch from photo printing to printing the receipt for my wife's latest online purchase? If that's true then I need to consider buying a separate printer for the scut work. But I kind of think that most people use one printer and one ink type for everything.

As far as my source for the Epson Ultrachrome K3 ink, the company I work for uses it in some Epson 9800 wide format printers. We always replace the carts at the first warning of low ink to prevent the ink running out in the middle of a print run. Therefore we always have a small amount of perfectly good ink left in the big carts and it seems like a damn shame to let it go to waste.

 

[mikling]

You'll be mixing the K3 with normal dye ink......not a good idea at all.

Secondly the two syringe method does not get rid of the existing ink in the cartridge. When the indicator says empty, there can be up to 25% of the capacity remaining. Ink has to remain in the cartridge to create the slight negative pressure to the printhead and protect the heads from ingesting air. That refill method simply forcefully tries to fill back the voids left by ink already consumed but the refill process is by no means a first in first out orderly flow.

Persons intent on refilling their original Durabrite cartridges with less expensive dye ink with the two syringe method should take note of what they are trying to do. At the best, the baffles and compartments will not allow the inks to mix well, if they mix at all properly, and you may start getting inconsistent shades and that may be only the beginning but depending on your luck, YMMV.

Your best solution is to acquire a set of empty refillable spongeless cartridges and get a custom printer profile with the K3 inks you propose to use.

 

[mikling]

I have a method of refilling the TO48XX series that actually could allow one to empty the cartridge of the remaining ink if one turns the cartridge the right way and allow the ink to drain out. This method does not require any special adapters or balls and anyone can do it with simply a drill, syringe and needle and the cartridge is never under pressure. A resetter naturally is required though as well a a hot melt glue gun to reseal the holes. It is foolproof if followed properly.

http://home.eol.ca/~mikling/files/Epson Instructions 2.pdf.pdf