What seems to be the most frustrating thing to refillers is probably the most easiest thing to remedy. The problem is many people don't have the patients to do it this way. I'm talking about gravity refilling.
One of the biggest problems facing refillers is injecting the ink too fast into the cartridge. This causes tiny air bubbles to get into the sponges, I call them micro bubbles. When one of these "micro bubbles" hits the print head it will cause missing print and/or streaking. Also you may notice that it will print fine one day and the next day it won't print until you do a series of head cleanings. Sound familiar?
Gravity refilling is a simple procedure and I will explain how to do is in a minute. Cartridges best suited to the gravity method are those with a primarily sponge filled interior. Examples are HP C6578, HP C1823, HP C6657, HP C8728, HP 51649A, Lexmark 18L0042, 12A1970, 12A1980 and most Epson Cartridges. Epson cartridges have another advantage that I will cover and that is the ability to use the BFILL adapter.
Prior to refilling any Epson cartridge you should use a BFILL to suck out all the foamy ink. A BFILL adapter is a small plastic attachment that fits on the end of your injector. It fits snugly into the ink ports on the bottom of the Epson cartridges. After sealing any filling holes use this to suction out the foam.
Using the gravity method is no different than normal refilling with a few exceptions. The ink is still going into the same place but how it gets there is a different matter. To do this you need two ink injectors. Remove the plunger from one of the injectors. The plunger is the part that you push on with your thumb when injecting the ink. Use a three inch needle or longer with the large HP cartridges.
Take the injector without the plunger and insert it into the chamber of the cartridge that you are refilling. Get the needle as far down into the chamber as you possible can. Set the cartridge, with the injector sticking out of it, and stand it up, or prop it up, somewhere with the opening of the injector facing up. You want this thing to free stand on its own because your hand will go numb if you had to hold it because it could take up to 10 minutes or more per chamber for the ink to drain into the cartridge.
Now take the other injector, the unaltered one, and load it with the proper ink in the proper amount for the chamber you are refilling. Carefully fill the cavity of the injector that is sticking out of the cartridge. Now you wait. Let gravity pull the ink from the injector into the cartridge. At first it will seem like nothing is happening. Go grab your favorite vice, cigarette, beer or coffee, whatever hits you. :-) When you come back the ink should be drained into the cartridge. Rinse and repeat. And I mean that literally.
About the Author
Barry Shultz is the author of Atlascopy News, and President of Atlascopy, Inc. Atlascopy specialized in affordable alternatives to the high cost of printer supplies. Sign up for the Atlascopy Newsletter and get 10% coupons every week in your email. http://atlascopy.com/signupnew.htm
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