There are two key issues with this cartridge:
- The cartridge is constructed with a tall sponge. It is necessary to get the ink to the bottom of this sponge, since ink placed in the top of the sponge will simply trap air under the ink. This will keep the ink from flowing out of the printhead smoothly.
It is important that any syringe used have a metal needle at least 1.5 inches (35mm) in length. Longer is better. If you have access to a 4 inch (100mm) needle (can be found at most veternarians), this is ideal. The syringe should have a ideal capacity of 10 cc (10 ml), or about 2 teaspoons. However, a larger capacity syringe is fine.
- The second issue is the nozzle plate. If a particular color runs dry, an air bubble will fill the empty space between the nozzle plate and the printhead. Therefore, always refill this cartridge as soon as the ink indicates low, either through the software display, or when any color begins to fade or streak. Do not run a color completely dry.
Instructions
- Put the cartridge on some paper towels in an area where you can tolerate a spill.
- Look at the top of the cartridge. You will notice three entry points with plugs in them. (if you look carefully at the plugs, you will see that they have molded air channels in the side of them. This is why we do not reseal the top after refilling.)
A few of these cartridges don't have these holes. If your cartridge doesn't, you will need to drill three 1/16 inch (1.5mm) holes, one over each color chamber if you have one of these odd cartridges.
(An alternative plan is to drill holes in the front (label side) of the cartridge, near the bottom of the cartridge. This allows the ink to be delivered directly to the printhead, which avoids trapping air under the ink. If you decide to use this method, you will need to reseal these holes to prevent leaking.)
- Push the plugs into the cartridge with a ball point pen or similar device. Warning: Ignore the color bars on the label of the cartridge. These do not indicate the sequence of colors in the cartridge.
Typically, when looking from the side with the copper contacts, the colors from left to right are cyan (blue), magenta (red), and yellow. However, to determine for sure which color ink is in which chamber, insert a toothpick or unbent paperclip and check the color of the ink on the toothpick when it is withdrawn.
- On this cartridge, it is important to only fill the color which is low, since over-filling can lead to several problems.
If a large drop of ink comes out of the bottom of the cartridge, immediately blot this with a paper towel to prevent the ink from migrating upward into a less full chamber and causing cross-color contamination.
Insert the syringe needle fully into the hole, angling toward the front (the side with the copper strips). We suggest that you tape over the other two holes while filling to avoid accidental color contamination.
The syringe must be inserted as deeply as possible so that the ink will fill the sponge from the bottom up, driving the air up and out.
- Inject 8-10 ml (1/4th of a syringe bottle) of the ink into the fill hole slowly. Go slowly or you will develop air dams in the lower sponge which will block ink flow. Do not add additional ink!
- If the ink starts to come out of the print head, the cartridge is over full. Immediately blot the ink from the bottom of the cartridge to prevent it from seeping up into the other chambers.
- Remove your needle from your syringe. Set aside the needle.
- Do this step over a sink! Mate the syringe (without needle) to the hole on the top of the cartridge. Force air down into the hole to pressurize the chamber slightly. (This will force ink downward and into the space between the printhead and the nozzle plate, priming the printhead.) When a small drop of ink comes out of the printhead, stop forcing in air and wipe away the drop immediately.
- Remove any tape on any holes. (The holes on top must be open during printing.) You may tape them over for longer storage or during transport. (If you look carefully at the original plugs, you will see a small air passage molded into them which allows air to vent into the cartridge.)
- Set above a paper towel for a few minutes as a drip precaution. Do not allow the cartridge to touch the paper, since the paper will draw out the ink.
- For best results, let sit overnight before using.
To Clean the Printhead
- Only clean the printhead if you get poor print quality or no print.
- Be sure that you don't have an air bubble or nozzle plate problem.
- If cleaning the printhead causes the situation to get worse rather than improve, you probably have an air bubble problem.
- Another symptom of air bubble problem is when you are able to print a short time and then the cartridge appears to run out of ink or begin printing odd colors -- which means that one of the three primary colors is not flowing properly.
- If you have an air bubble problem, you need to re-inject some ink very deep into the cartridge.
- Another solution to the air bubble problem is:
- Remove the needle from the syringe.
- Put the cartridge over a sink.
- Mate the syringe to the hole at the top of the chamber.
- Squeeze air into the ink chamber. This should push the ink down into the sponge and out the bottom.
- Follow the directions in the printer manual to run the cleaning routine.
- If this doesn't work, take the cartridge to the nearest hot water faucet.
- Turn on the hot water. Let it get hot.
- Put only the printhead portion (where the ink comes out) under the hot water for only 2 to 3 seconds
- Dry off the cartridge using a soft tissue.
- Re-insert the cartridge into the printer.
- Run the normal cleaning routine a few times.
|
Support
