i850 Refill Not Working??

[kgf]

I've just refilled (or attempted) my i850 with ink from inkjetgoodies.
Using their fill kit, I installed both a Cyan and Magenta (using new ink
tanks). Now my printer sucks! Near as I can tell, the refilled tanks don't
appear to be giving up the ink!
Yes, i removed the stickers over the air holes over the sponge area and
plugged the fill holes with the stoppers. And trust me, the ink appears to
be freely flowing out of the bottom hole (touching the ink opening as I type
this gets my finger all blue (or cyan i guess).

What gives? When i print out a print head allignment sheet, the "pink"
columns are a streaking blue/purple - definately not pink. The nozzle check
sheet with the new cyan misses lines - put the old (original) tank in and
the lines all print fine.....

I've run through tons of cleaning cycles to no avail.....what am i missing?
I'm ready to go buy a set of Canon color cartridges...but that seems like a
waste since all the forums I've been reading rate the inkjetgoodies refill
as very high quality.

 

[Quaoar]

I've just refilled (or attempted) my i850 with ink from inkjetgoodies.
Using their fill kit, I installed both a Cyan and Magenta (using new
ink tanks). Now my printer sucks! Near as I can tell, the refilled
tanks don't appear to be giving up the ink!
Yes, i removed the stickers over the air holes over the sponge area
and plugged the fill holes with the stoppers. And trust me, the ink
appears to be freely flowing out of the bottom hole (touching the ink
opening as I type this gets my finger all blue (or cyan i guess).

What gives? When i print out a print head allignment sheet, the "pink"
columns are a streaking blue/purple - definately not pink. The nozzle
check sheet with the new cyan misses lines - put the old (original)
tank in and the lines all print fine.....

I've run through tons of cleaning cycles to no avail.....what am i
missing? I'm ready to go buy a set of Canon color cartridges...but
that seems like a waste since all the forums I've been reading rate
the inkjetgoodies refill as very high quality.

Electrical contacts clean? Wipe with alcohol. No tape on the
contacts?(sorry, had to write that!). Carts not switched? Carts are
firmly in place, no movement? Pull power, wait a few, repower? I really
want yours to work since I intend to do the same!

Q

 

[ray]

I've just refilled (or attempted) my i850 with ink from inkjetgoodies.
Using their fill kit, I installed both a Cyan and Magenta (using new ink
tanks). Now my printer sucks! Near as I can tell, the refilled tanks don't
appear to be giving up the ink!
Yes, i removed the stickers over the air holes over the sponge area and
plugged the fill holes with the stoppers. And trust me, the ink appears to
be freely flowing out of the bottom hole (touching the ink opening as I type
this gets my finger all blue (or cyan i guess).

What gives? When i print out a print head allignment sheet, the "pink"
columns are a streaking blue/purple - definately not pink. The nozzle check
sheet with the new cyan misses lines - put the old (original) tank in and
the lines all print fine.....

I've run through tons of cleaning cycles to no avail.....what am i missing?
I'm ready to go buy a set of Canon color cartridges...but that seems like a
waste since all the forums I've been reading rate the inkjetgoodies refill
as very high quality.

I highly suggest inkjetgoodies BLANKS and BULK ink from
alotofthings.com or atlanticinkjet.com both use formula labs ink. I am
using that setup for a week now and It runs perfectly. I threw out my
orininal canon cartridges as these are much neater to refill.

Is it possible you overfilled the tank? That would keep the ink from
flowing in the heads. You need to have some air in the top of the
liquid compartment. About 1/2 inch or it will act like holding a
finger over a straw and the liquid will not drain.

Make sure on the sponge side that the vent hole isnt clogged with
liquid as well. You can actually squeeze it a bit if there is an air
bubble trap that would clear it.

 

[Satoshi]

Ray,

I am new to Canon printers. I just got i950 Canon printer.
Upon reading your posting, I visited alotofthings.com "alotofthings.com".
What confused me is about "a pigmented waterproof black ink". I do not see
any listing of regular black ink.
I assume that i950 uses regular black ink. Satoshi

 

[Quaoar]

Considering he stated that he can swap to his canon cartridges and it
works fine, then I would say none of what you described would be the
trouble. It sounds like ink/air void.. I posted some suggestions.

Good. I will check with you prior to posting any other advice. I am
thinking of offering an amendment to the charter so that everyone is
requested to consult with you prior to offering any advice.

As a service to others, please add each responder to your usenet cc:
list so that we no longer need concern ourselves with the problems that
come up in this newsgroup. I appreciate your willingness to provide all
of the necessary potential solutions to the myriad problems that are
posted here.

Q

 

[Quaoar]

That may be a good idea as you obviously did not read a word of the
original posters trouble. Maybe he should clean his contacts huh?

Sorry for my ill-tempered response. I did not know at the time that you
truly are an idiot.

Q

 

[ray]

Sorry for my ill-tempered response. I did not know at the time that you
truly are an idiot.

Q

Sorry you truely are. As your troubleshooting skills show.

Lets look at the problem here and what you propose as a cause...

The tanks were used and obviously working fine as it was being
"REFILLED" The tanks dont appear to be giving up the ink.

Now your ill fated logic below

idiots comment>> Carts not switched? Carts are
firmly in place, no movement? Pull power, wait a few, repower?

Hmmm. Cartridges switched? Well, he states the canons work fine when
put back so no contamination there.

Firmly in place? Yah I guess they would be since they were used good
working cartridges prior to filling and no INK leaking all over from
not being seated properly.

Pull power? Uhhhh. that would solve absolutely nothing. Pretty stupid
comment there.


Logic (which you lack) would seem that unseated cartridges with the
airvent unplugged would cause massive leaking and draining of the tank
inside the printer. This doesnt appear to be the case. The user
clearly knows how to install and remove cartridges.

Switched cartridges would give some contamination and discoloration of
the original canon cartridges which were replaced for the test.

No ink flowing is the key. Over filling would cause this on ANY
cartridge of any brand. Too bad you posted only useless information.

Perhaps you need to play with your crazy-straw more and hold your
finger over the end for this demonstration. Let mom wipe off the milk
mustache afterward.

 

[blodwyn_pig]

Did you let the refilled tanks rest overnight? When I refilled my Epson
785EPX taks, I ignored the advice and tried to print straight away - what a
mess! Steaks, smears galore. I left the cartridges sitting in the printer
for 24 hours and they've behaved perfectly ever since.

 

[Ray R]

Did you let the refilled tanks rest overnight? When I refilled my Epson
785EPX taks, I ignored the advice and tried to print straight away - what a
mess! Steaks, smears galore. I left the cartridges sitting in the printer
for 24 hours and they've behaved perfectly ever since.

The i850 tanks are extremely easy to fill. If you hold them at a 45
degree angle you don't have to tape the output hole. Mine have
always worked flawlessly right after filling. I re-use the original
tanks.

 

[BF]

Same here. As soon as I am finished refilling I print right away without any
problems on my i950.

 

[kgf]

I bit the bullet and bought some new Canon color tanks yesterday.
They worked perfectly as soon as installed....
I don't know what was going on with my refilled tanks. I was using
new, empty tanks purchased from inkjetgoodies (as was the ink). I
wasn't getting blotches or streaks with the refilled tanks, but more
like screwed up colors (no, I put them in the correct position). I
refill the original canon tanks to see if that worked, but after ink
"dropped" out of the bottom prior to installing and said forget it!
I have received input that suggests I need to ensure the fill holes
are tightly sealed (although not doing so would seam to release too
much ink). I'll probably just use my canon cartridges until there
gone, and then perhaps buy a couple new empty tanks for goodies and
see what happens the second time. I still have my refilled tanks with
ink in them....maybe I'll slap 'em in tonight and see if anything has
changed....

 

[ray]

OH and do stand them upright with the fill plug out and the exit cap
on when letting them sit for an hour.

 

[Ron Cohen]

Don't throw away the Canon tanks when they are empty. I know that you have been given plenty of advise to use Inkjetgoodies empty tanks and I see no problem with that. However, I don't see that added expense as necessary to obtain a successful refill. I'm adding my own refill instructions which work perfectly every time. In reading the instructions I think you will also discover the source of the original problem you were having. Note that using my method isn't as "neat and pretty" as blank tanks, but who really cares what the refilled tanks look like? I want ones that work and don't cost extra. If you want a ..pdf file of what the cartridges look like (where to make the holes) send me a private email. I don't want to tie up bandwidth posting files on a newsgroup.

BCI-3 and BCI-6 are about the easiest of tanks to refill. Instruction are available on just about any refill suppliers web site, however they make refilling sound more difficult than necessary. I refill BCI-3 (as used on the i850) and BCI-6 tanks as used on the s820 and i950. Physically the color tanks are the same, but with different ink formulations. The black tank on the BCI-3 is a different size cartridge, but the same refill technique applies. Below is the quick and easy way to refill.

1. If you still have the original caps that covered the ink outlet, put them back on and hold them tightly in place with a strong rubber band. If you don't have the caps, a spot of thick cloth duct tape will work just fine to seal over the outlet. Make sure it is thick cloth duct tape. Other tapes just don't have the sealing capacity of the duct tape. This is a critical part of the refilling process. If a seal isn't made, ink will run out when an opening is made for the ink syringe. Think of it like a soda straw with water. It doesn't leak while you have your finger on top to make a seal. This seal should stay in place until the tanks are ready to be put back in the printer. The only other reason to remove the seal would be to insure that the tank doesn't drip any ink after the refill is complete.

2. Once the outlet is sealed you need to make an opening to insert a syringe. I use disposable syringes available at any pharmacy. Tell them you want the biggest, meanest needle they have since it is for ink refilling and you shouldn't have a problem purchasing them. Get one for each color and label it. The last ones I bought were 23¢ each. The web site instructions will tell you to peel back the label on top and punch out the sealing plug on top. DON'T DO IT. There are three ways much easier than that.
a.- Near the rear of the top on the reservoir side, drill a small hole just big enough for a fine thread screw which will be used as a seal. If you can find small nylon thumbscrews at a hardware store, they would be easier to use than either a set screw or machine screw.
or
b.- Heat a paper clip hot enough to melt a hole in the top. Use hot melt glue to reseal.
or my favorite method -
c.- On the side of the reservoir about 3/16" below the top make two small holes with a push pin (or hot paper clip). One hole is for filling, but it will probably be too small for air to escape. That's what the second hole is for. If an air escape isn't provided either with a second hole or one large enough like the ones using a screw or hot melt glue, ink will be forced out the vent on the area above the sponge (I found out the hard way). To reseal these two small holes, use a small piece of duct tape. I've used all three methods and this is the easiest one.

That's all there is to it. It isn't rocket science.