Refilling HP Designjet CP series printers

[AlienSteve]

Hey, that's great! You went back further than I did. 2006 showed no images and seemed to go into less detail.

Careful about Windex! There are different kinds. I use steam distilled water, nonsudsing household ammonia, and isopropyl alcohol.

Scroll down to 6a for details on making it. This way you know exactly what is in it. Who knows what Windex puts in it this weak? And there are several varieties of Windex.
http://www.polyphoto.com/tutorials/PrintHeadCleaning/EpsonCleaning.html

I bought a device that clips onto the cartridge and provides a port for a syringe to inject and empty an HP 45 through the print nozzles. Make sure the outer surface is very clean, first. I do this upside down so any air gets sucked out. That seems to be the major cause of a "clogged" print head is that a little bit of air gets in every time it refills the print heads.

I did this to make sure there was no air left trapped in the cartridge. I did not try to completely fill it, letting the printer do that.

This person goes into a lot of detail on the anatomy of an HP45 cartridge. The only difference for us is the upper fill hole with spring loaded ball bearing. If you push this in, the cartridge will fill completely with air.
http://wandel.ca/hp45_anatomy/

 

[AlienSteve]

Another more current website still has the information up. I've not watched the videos yet.
http://inkjet411.com/?page_id=1419

 

[alx359]

Great Info, thank you! I bought that same kind of tool yesterday:


You're right about Windex. Mentioned it more as a household name kind of thing. Surely one has to be careful what puts inside cartridges.

This person goes into a lot of detail on the anatomy of an HP45 cartridge. The only difference for us is the upper fill hole with spring loaded ball bearing. If you push this in, the cartridge will fill completely with air.

Thanks for this, was exactly thinking yesterday it should be a difference with HP45 after all, as ours get filled regularly by the ink system.

Keeping with the forum rules for providing photos, here's one took today during cleaning of the body. Hope by the end of the day to finish the pieces, assemble and start thinking of cartridges and such.


EDIT: took off a direct ebay link to the tool, as it seems inappropriate.

 

[AlienSteve]

To get dried ink off of the print head, never scrub. I set tough ones up on end (nozzles down but tilted a bit so solution gets under) in a shallow container with my cleaning solution in it to let them soak. The key is patience. Then wipe gently with dampened blue shop towels.

When using the syringe, never press or pull hard. A larger syringe is actually better because the same force creates a much higher PSI with a small syringe.

I very strongly recommend NOT opening the cartridge. As you can see from the wandel teardown, you can't get access to the inside of the cartridge without destroying it.

 

[alx359]

Thanks. I understand tearing down as a last resort. Is a solution able to dissolve dye and pigment sediments alike of all ages, and getting all that junk through the nozzles only?

The guy that opens HP85/84 (used in my Designjet 130) does it in a way that doesn't destroy the printhead. Tried it once with a very stubborn piece, but couldn't get it working unfortunately, and finally cracked it. It seemed working on the paper towel many times, so still have the suspicion it was the bloody "smart chip" acting out.

EDIT: The printer is cleaned and assembled now (afraid to turn it on yet lol). Have to skim the manual to see if there's a battery of tests that could check how's the hardware doing with no inks at all, until figure out how to get at least one ink pack functional again.

 

[AlienSteve]

Opening an HP 45 style print head isn't a last resort - it will destroy it. Taking the sides off don't get access to anything inside. And you'll never get it sealed again if you damage the ink bag in any way.

Yes, that solvent mix dissolves pigment and dye ink. It will dissolve ink inside the print head. Once dissolved, it will come out through the nozzles.

If I had access to more parts, I might make a cleaning station to inject and remove cleaning solution via the refill port on top. But in the end, you still need to get cleaning solution in the nozzles and in the metal filter to clean them out.

The printhead on your 130 looks very different.

 

[alx359]

Yes, that solvent mix dissolves pigment and dye ink. It will dissolve ink inside the print head. Once dissolved, it will come out through the nozzles.

That's really eye-opening to me, Steve. Had the hard conviction that this wasn't possible for the stubborn ancient dry cases. Thanks for that! I'm ordering the isopropyl and ammonia as we speak.

Just washed clean under running water the waste cartridges one by one (hope that doesn't damage something important. Small sponges came out though, so perhaps have to insert new ones to fast dry and minimize spills), and have put the dye printheads in a padded alcohol solution overnight with the hope (after the tentative tape hack) they may print at least something. Have to figure out yet how to get the air out of the ink cartridges tubes though, the reservoirs are now about half-full of ink. Hope to get all done and start running tests in the coming days. Do you think it's necessary to wait the arrival of the priming tool to get first any air out of the printheads?

 

[AlienSteve]

I'd wait for the priming tool to get the air out of the cartridges.

I added a Y connector with luer lock to refill, it also helps de-air the hoses.

 

[PeterBJ]

For those who refill HP45 family and HP78 family and other old HP cartridges, see this old but still accessible site. It is in both English and German. For those who read German here is more info about various HP cartridges and print heads.

 

[alx359]

@PeterBJ: Thanks, useful site!
@AlienSteve: The fellow of the link above provided by Peter has modified his tool because it may damage the nozzles. His tool seems a lot like yours, Steve. Perhaps is worth having a look at this.