The "INs & OUTs" of Inkjet Cartridge Refilling

The "INs & OUTs" of Inkjet Cartridge Refilling

1. How does an inkjet printer work ?

The printing is done by a small jet of ink pushed through tiny nozzles of the printhead whose typical resolution is 1200 dpi (dots per inch). The diameter of the nozzles or tiny holes is about .001 inch. On the Canon, HP and Lexmark printers, the "pushing" is done by heat. Each nozzle has small resistors which heat up the ink thus forming an ink bubble, therefore the name of "bubble jet". In the Epson printer, the "pushing" is done by the "flexing" or physical deformation of the metal in the nozzle, the flexing is triggered by electrical pulses. This deformation process is called piezoelectric effect.

2. What is the cartridge ? Printhead ?

The cartridge is simply a container of ink attached to the printhead. The printhead is a piece of metal, usually made of copper or aluminum, in which there are few dozens nozzles. These nozzles are connected to a few rows of gold plated electrical contacts which are also part of the printhead. These contacts allow the electrical signals from the printer to reach the prinhead and "tell" which nozzle to fire so that the printing can be made. On all the HP, Lexmark printers, the printhead is an integral part of the cartridge. On the Canon printers, most of the cartridges have a separate printhead except on certain old models such as the BJ 200,400 series, the printhead is part of the cartridge. All Epson printers have a separate printhead.

3. How is the ink contained in the cartridge ?

In some cartridges, the ink is retained in a highly absorbent foam; this type of cartridge has smaller capacity (because of the volume of the foam); they are less prone to leakage and less expensive to make. Some of the HP cartridges and all Canon, Epson and Lexmark use this approach. Most of HP cartridges do not have the foam, they have mechanical devices such as pressure blades to equalize the pressure. These are more expensive to make, more prone to leakage but contain more ink.
All ink cartridges have a vent hole or a maze to let air inside the cartridge during printing, it is important that these openings are not blocked or damaged during the refilling . The cartridges also have a micropore filter at the outlet to prevent the blocking of the nozzles by dust or loose foam particles.

4. Does refilling really work ?

Yes, it should as a matter of simple logic: if there is no more ink in the cartridge and you resupply the ink, it should work and it does. If IT WOULD NOT WORK, I would be wasting my time writing this article. But sometimes it does not work, unfortunately !!
As we discussed earlier in the sections 1 and 2 about the make up of the cartridge, there are some possible causes of failure:

#1. The cartridges were empty for some time, therefore the ink dried out, and the nozzles become clogged.

#2. The resistors may be burned out because of excess heat (this happens when printing with no ink, since ink is a good cooling medium). Also some resistors may age with use and their characteristics may change, therefore some nozzle may not "fire" or "fire" badly. In this case, the printer goes to a diagnostic check and may reject the cartridge.

#3. Some of the electrical contacts are dirty or damaged, the results are the same as decribed in #2.

#4. The foam was too dry, and the ink may take some time after refilling to reach the nozzles.


5. What should I do ?

If your cartridge is "burned out" or has bad electrical contacts, there is NOT much you can do, except to discard the cartridge. The "telltale" sign is: the printer refuses to print or to recognize the cartridge.
If after re-installing the cartridge, the printer does go to the printing mode but there is no printing or bad printing, you should run a few cleaning cycles. For the foam type, you may have to wait a few minutes or refill with more ink.
If everything fails, then you must remove the cartridge and clean the printhead with a Q-tip soaked with alcohol or warm water. In severe cases of clogging, you may have to soak the printhead (only the printhead, not the whole cartridge) in warm water or alcohol for a few minutes or hours. For example, pour alcohol or water in a small styrofoam cup so that the liquid level just covers the printhead, and keep the cartridge in the standing position. You should soak for an hour and try again. Cleaning the cartridge in an ultrasonic bath is most efficient, in this case contact us, we could do the cleaning for you.
If these problems seem troubling, be assured that only 5-10% of the cartridges cannot be refilled. For your information, the success rate is over 90 %, the ink refilling business amounts to half a billion dollars in 1998. There must be a bunch of Happy Refillers out there laughing their way to the bank !!!
6. How difficult is the refilling, how many refills can I do ?
Detailed instructions are enclosed with our refill kit, please read them carefully. Below are a few comments about refilling for your interest and mostly to encourage you.
It is not difficult, but you have to do some work. You must understand that the manufacturers do not want you to refill, since the sale of ink cartridges is their major source of revenue. You should note that the price of a few new cartridges is almost the same as a new printer.
For most foam filled cartridges, you need only to drill one hole for each color or a total of four holes ( black, yellow, cyan and magenta). The best way to do this, is to use (or buy if you do not own one) a small portable / rechargeable drill and a 1/16" drill bit. The whole set up should cost about $25 at any home renovation store. This is equivalent to the price of most new cartridges. Drill the holes as per our instructions, fill up with ink and cover the holes with scotch tape or electrical tape.That’s all !!! The whole operation should not take more than a few minutes. Note that you have to do it only once for the first refill, and you can use the same holes later. If you’re wondering about the economics, just note that if you refill four to five times, you recover the cost of the drill, the ink and have some money left to buy a few Big Mac. Think about us while you’re enjoying your Big Mac or counting your calories.

Note: The drilling does not damage the cartridges, any plastic debris caused by the drilling are retained by the foam and the micropore filter inside. BELIEVE US, WE HAVE REFILLED MANY times !!! We have done so up to twenty times for a Canon BJ-21 cartridge and it’s still working!

In principle you can refill as many times as you wish. Eventually, over a period of time, the cartridge may still be working, but the foam may be too old to absorb the ink; or the head may be worn out, and you will have to buy a new print cartridge. However, by this time you’ve saved enough money to afford one.

IMPORTANT Advice: Refill as SOON as the cartridge is empty. It always works !! draft by Ariel Dumaran blogger 5:58:00 PM Delete

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