There are many tips available throughout the
internet and some may work, some may not. We have collected a number of them and assembled
them here. We do NOT guarantee these tips will work for everybody. They will, no doubt,
help you to some degree if you use common sense and proper judgement.
Never try to refill a cartridge while it is still
in the printer.
Try to refill your cartridges as soon as they are
empty and even better yet before they are completely empty.
Make sure your cartridge is NOT leaking when you
re-install it in your printer. If the cartridge is leaking leave it sitting on a paper
towel or newspaper for a time until it stops leaking. Usually cartridges will leak if they
have been overfilled.
Clean out syringes with water between colors to
decrease contamination.
Never touch the heads on cartridges that have
them.
Always run the printers head cleaning routine a
few times after installing your newly refilled cartridge.
Keep the tops on the ink bottles at all times.
Don't put them in a precarious position where they can be tipped or knocked over. Very
Messy Situation.
Hewlett Packard cartridges generally need to have
the internal pressure equalized before they will print properly. An inflation bottle is
used to inject air into the bladder or in the case of the 51645A type you should squeeze
the cartridge before installing the ball seal.
Refill cartridges right away before they have a
chance to dry out or tape the heads or openings with scotch tape and seal them in an
airtight environment like a baggie.
Follow the instructions supplied with the refill
kits to the letter. There are many ways, usually, to refill the same cartridge, but until
you become familiar with the different procedures you should always follow the
instructions that came with your kit.
When refilling a three color cartridge there is a
chance that you can have the cartridge turned the wrong way and get the colors mixed up.
If this happens there is not much hope of repairing it. Try using toothpicks to push into
the refill holes and sample the colors that belong in the chamber. That way there is less
of a chance that you will put the wrong ink into a chamber.
HP cartridges dry out almost immediately if left
exposed to the air. To unclog a dried out HP cartridge you can try soaking the printhead
in warm water for a few minutes. In extreme conditions a 50% x 50% solution of 98%
isopropyl alcohol and water brought JUST to the boiling point for about 5 minutes may do
the trick.
Some Epson cartridges will develop a "vapor
lock" after refilling. You can try to defeat the vapor lock by grasping the cartridge
with the opening facing away from you and quickly snapping your arm towards the floor like
you were trying to throw it through the floor. Don't let go of the cartridge though and
make VERY sure you have something down. It WILL discharge ink when this is done. Do it
outside if you can.
