How much refill ink does HP #57 accept when refilling?

[Te]

I've been refilling my Hp #57 tri-color cartridges. Have done so several
times with mixed results. My question is, when using google.groups and
searching this group, reading instructions from other web sites and the
instructions that came with my own refill kit, they all explain when
refilling this cartridge (HP #57) to fill the syringe with approx 4ml to 5ml
of ink for each color chamber. I've noticed now, that almost everytime I
refill, the cartridge is only accepting about 2ml of ink at the most.

Now, the next logical question would be are the chambers empty? I don't
know. I would say yes, because on one occasion- I refilled while the ink
level indicator still showed about 30% (maybe more) ink volume in the
cartridge, however the cartridge was completely out of Yellow- I could tell
by the print out. And even then, the cart only accepted slightly more than
2ml of yellow ink.

I'm trying to refill when the ink level gets to about 20-25%, though I'm not
sure how accurate the ink level indicators are? But my main question is,
for those of you who are refilling these HP #57 carts, how much ink are you
injecting into each chamber? As stated above, I'm only able to inject about
2ml of each color... 3ml at the most.

(on a side note: How slowly do you inject? I inject about 1/3 of a ml and
wait for a few seconds (about 10 seconds) to allow the ink to absorb into
sponge and repeat until the cartridge spews ink from the top hole at which
time I remove a bit of the ink (about 1/3 - 1/2 or so of a ml))

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[SteveB]

Sounds about the same as my efforts, probably 2.0-3.0ml when I let the ink
drop to about 35% on a 41-TAP test printout. I suppose I take about 30sec
or more per ml injecting but I don't stop until it emerges from the top then
I take out 0.25ml.

 

[Te]

Seems like the chamber should accept more ink? I've been printing alot of
dvd/cd labels, and covers lately, and I find I'm refilling just about
everyday or two.

BTW: On my photosmart 7660, I don't think I can do the 41-tap proceedure...
I don't have the right buttons on the top? What I've been doing is in the
driver- I print a self test, which gives me a printout from each jet nozzle
in a pattern, and some simple text. Also I have found that you can reset
the cartridge WITHOUT printing the calibration sheets... well, you have to
print the last one when you remove the 2 pieces of tape. But the first 2 are
not needed to print, just insert the cartridge accordingly and let it
reconize the cart- then remove and proceed to the next step, when finished-
remove both pieces of tape and let it complete the calibration page and
you're ink levels will be refilled.

 

[Smith]

I agree with both of you 2-3ml seems all you can inject after several fills.
The Pro refillers suck out the foam dry THEN do a refill they do it under
vaccum
A home user can't do this.