Problems & Symptoms After Refilling

Symptoms

Sponge-filled cartridge won't print after refilling No printing with refilled cartridge but new cartridge prints normally It doesn't print correctly It's leaking!

Sponge-filled cartridge won't print after refilling Solution: Many of the cartridges made today use a sponge to help hold back the ink so that it doesnt flow freely through the printhead. When refilling these cartridges you need to follow the procedure carefully in order to avoid certain problems For example, one problem that occurs is a vapor lock situation. Air bubbles, trapped inside the layers of ink within the sponge, prevent air getting down to the cartridge reservoir. This keeps the cartridge from printing. To avoid this problem, we recommend that the filler syringe be positioned with the needles as far down in the cartridge as it can go. If you've inserted the needle but are unable to depress the plunger then pull the needle up slightly and try again. Push the plunger very slowly filling the cartridge until you can see the ink puddle on top of the sponge. If you are unable to see the sponge, then fill it until you see the ink at the fill hole. Then, pull the plunger back at least 1/4 inch to remove the excess. It is better to underfill than to overfill. If you think that you do have a vapor lock situation, you can try to use centrifugal force to break this barrier. Hold the cartridge with the printhead pointing down, then swing it down over a wastepaper basket and stop suddenly. When ink appears at the exit hole or printhead, then you have probably been successful. You can also try to blow into the fill hole to use air pressure to break vapor lock. Suction may also work, but you run the risk of inking your mouth. No printing with refilled cartridge but new cartridge prints normally Solution In the case of a print cartridge (i.e. ink reservoir and printhead in one assembly), there might be an air bubble or a series of air bubbles immediately above the printhead. This condition can usually be corrected by using centrifugal force to break the bubbles. You can accomplish this by holding the cartridge between your thumb and fingers, being careful not to touch the printhead or exposed electrical contacts. Then with your arm raised up high and with the printhead pointing down, rapidly swing your arm down and stop suddenly. You must do this above a receptacle that can accept any ink that might come out of the printhead. Do this same process several times. If ink comes out of the printhead

each time, it probably means you have corrected the problem. If no ink comes out after the first or second try., it might indicated that the venting path or the printhead is blacked. If something is covering the vent hole, remove it. In doing so you must not create a larger vent hole than the original design. If the vent hole is not causing the problem, then all of the printhead orifices might be blacked. Often this condition will be difficult or even impossible to correct with the means at your disposal. You can try cleaning the printhead by vigorously scrubbing it with a cotton swab that has been wetted with distilled water. If that doesn't work, try scrubbing the printhead with a toothbrush that has been wetted with distilled water. Again, if that doesn't work try exposing the printhead to live steam for about 1 minute. If the above problem involves an ink cartridge instead of a print cartridge the fault could be caused by a blacked vent as explained above or by an inadequate seal at the point where the ink cartridge docks with the receptor that carries the ink down to the printhead. Such an inadequate seal could be caused by an improperly installed ink cartridge or foreign material on any of the parts that dock together. Blockage in the printhead is likely to involve only some of the orifices. In this case use the printer's printhead cleaning function (refer to the manual of the printer). If that doesn't work the printer must be serviced. DETAILS It doesn't print correctly 1. Prints odd colors 2. Prints with streaks of some parts of letters printing, some parts not printing 3. Stops printing on long horizontal lines, but prints again on next pass 4. It won't print 5. It's leaking 6. Clean up problems Prints odd colors Prints green as blue or orange as red You are out of yellow ink or the yellow in isn't flowing. Check yellow chamber and refill if necessary. Prints orange as yellow or violet as blue You are out of magenta ink or the magenta ink isn't flowing. Check magenta chamber and refill if necessary.

Prints green as yellow or violet as red You are out of cyan ink or the cyan in isn't flowing. Check cyan chamber

and refill if necessary. a. Everything is a shade of brown b. Colors are dirty c. Strange colors are printing You have accidentally injected one ink into the wrong chamber or the inks have over-flowed and mixed. You can either trash the cartridge or simply begin printing out a heavy page of graphics repeatedly to flush out the ink. Then refill properly. It is also possible that your printing software is set up incorrectly. Certain sophisticated graphics packages allow you to select between R/G/B and C/M/Y/K (or another arrangement of those letters) printing. Change your setting and see how the printing behaves. If there is no improvement, remember to change the setting back to the original setting.

Prints with streaks of some parts of letters printing, some parts not printing This means that your printhead is partially clogged. Use the printer's cleaning routine. If this doesn't work, try soaking just the printhead in simmering water to which up to 50 percent ammonia has been added. However, only do this on cartridges with disposable printheads. Don't do this if your printhead is a permanent part of your printer. Stops printing on long horizontal lines, but prints again on next pass This indicates that the printhead is not getting enough ink. This is common the first refill in HP 51645A cartridges because of foam generated by the original HP ink. This foam forms at the exit filter just before the printhead and is caused because the original HP ink foams if mixed under suction with air - such as what happens when you refill the cartridge. With this cartridge, this problem almost always goes away with the second refill because our ink has washed out the original HP ink residue by this time. With other cartridges, this symptom simply means that not enough ink is getting to the printhead . Look for partial blockages of the ink path, including blockages caused by small air bubbles.

It won't print This condition is very common with certain cartridges, particularly with reservoir-only cartriges such as provided by Canon and Epson. The symptom is one of the following:

Plug in cartridge and it won't print anything. Cartridge prints for a while and then won't print anything Plug in cartridge and it won't print anything

1.

This often happens with the reservoir-only cartridges. Here are the two most common problems. The ink has not made it to the bottom ( near exit) of the cartridge, and thus, there is no ink for the printhead to use. The solution is to take the cartridge, turn it upside down and inject some ink into the sponge through the ink exit hole. There is an air bubble between the bottom of the sponge and the printhead which is blocking ink flow. Be sure that there is a bit of ink in the top of the printhead, and be sure that there is ink slowly dripping from the exit hole of the cartridge. 2. Cartridge prints for a while and then won't print anything

This often means that there is an air blockage which has formed in the middle of the sponge. Check the suggestions Sponge-filled cartridge won't print after refilling It's leaking It's normal for all cartridges to leak a couple of drops when first filled, and may continue for 5 minutes or so. Remember, if there isn't ink at the exit hole of the cartridge, the printer can't print. So expect a bit of a drip or so. If your cartridge is one of the HP vacuum-retained cartridge, then continued leaking tells us that the cartridge has an air leak. Air leaks are caused by the following reasons:

1. Poor sealing - check the sealing that you did 2. Tiny cracks - visually inspect the cartridge for tiny cracks or leaking points. Try sealing the holes or discard the cartridge. 3. Punctured top center hole or bag - Not much you can do expect toss the cartridge. Now, if your cartridge is a simple sponge-filled cartridge, then is should stop leaking after a few minutes unless it is overfull. Let the cartridge sit overnight where is can make a mess and check it in the morning.

The Canon BJI-201 is a special case. This cartridge is half spongefilled and half vacuum retained. If you get a continuous leak, it is because of poor-sealing or tiny cracks. Remember that the hole through which you filled the top of the cartridge must be sealed air-tight or you will get a leak.

Clean up Problems

Your hands have ink stains on them.

To clean your hands, first wash thoroughly in soap and warm water. If the stains persist, try bathroom cleaner. We have also found that certain hand lotions will remove the ink. In any event, the stains are almost always gone within 24 hours. Your sink has ink stains on it. Use bathroom cleaner if plain water does not work.

Your clothes have ink stains on them. First of all, don't wear good clothes when you refill cartridges! Rub the stain under the cold water faucet immediately to remove as much of the ink as possible. This may take 15 minutes or longer. If the fabric is normally washed in the washing machine, wash it in cold water immediately. Add bleach if the fabric and color is normally washed with bleach. Do not add bleach unless you understand the effects of bleach on your fabric. If the fabric is normally dry-cleaned, you can tell the dry cleaner that the ink is based upon a water-soluble dye with ethylene glycol added.