Article 4554 of comp.periphs.printers: Path: utkcs2!darwin.sura.net!mips!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ucla-cs!ucla-se!boole.seas.ucla.edu From: dchien@boole.seas.ucla.edu (David H. Chien) Newsgroups: comp.periphs.printers Subject: FAQ Refilling Inkjet Cartridges (rev 2, 17.7kb)) Message-ID: <7853@lee.SEAS.UCLA.EDU> Date: 18 Aug 92 17:55:45 GMT Sender: news@SEAS.UCLA.EDU Organization: SEASnet, University of California, Los Angeles Lines: 418 FAQ REFILLING INKJET CARTRIDGES 17 AUG 92 - REVISION 2 417 lines, 2663 words, 17.7kb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 00 What is this FAQ about? 01 Who do I write to send in corrections or information? 02 Where is this FAQ and how often is it updated? 05 Why refill? 06 Which refill options are available? 10 What do I need? 20 How do I refill? 21 How do I learn more about refilling my cartridge? 22 How do I clean the clogged nozzles? 23 What about HP Deskjet/Deskwriter cartridges? 24 What about HP Paintjet/Paintjet XL cartridges? 25 What about Apple Stylewriter\Canon BJ10/BJ10e/BJ10ex/BJ20 cartridges? 30 Which inks do I use? 31 What about different colors? 32 What do I do with different colors? 40 Where do I get syringes? 41 What else can I use besides syringes? 50 What is the print quality? 51 How can I improve the print quality? 60 How much do inks cost? 61 How much do syringes cost? 62 How much do syringe substitutes cost? 63 How much do commercial refill packages cost? 64 How much does good inkjet paper cost? 70 Where do I buy commercial refill packages? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 00 What is this FAQ about? This FAQ provides information only about the various methods available for refilling used inkjet ink cartridges, especially those used in HP DeskJets and HP Deskwriters. Data is given on the costs, necessaries, and the purchasing locations of materials. Instructions are included for those refilling HP Deskjet/Deskwriter cartridges, and can be modified for other types. Using a refilled cartridge may void your printer warranty, or cause severe losses and damages. Use the information given and refill cartridges at your own cost, loss, sanity, .... 01 Who do I write to send in corrections or information? Any "supposed" methods are guesses as to what should be done. If you have done, send in your experiences. Send comments, corrections, and additional information to: [Internet ] dchien@boole.seas.ucla.edu (valid until June 93) [Snail mail] 9341 Larkspur Drive, Westminster, CA 92683-7412 02 Where is this FAQ and how often is it updated? This FAQ will be periodically posted (about each month) to comp.sys.printers and perhaps news.answers. I will try to find a FTP place for it, perhaps wuarchive.wustl.edu. You may redistribute this FAQ, copy it verbatim for an essay:), and spread the useful information in it. This FAQ will be updated when new information is sent in and edited into this FAQ. 05 Why refill? Inkjet cartridges often cost ten to thirty dollars new. If you wish to reduce waste, refilling cartridges will cost half a to five dollars for each refill. Eventually as well, the manufacturer will stop making new cartridges for old printers. My HP Deskjet cartridge refill is fifty cents. Also, you can introduce different colors not made by the original manufacturer, eg. blue or pink. 06 Which refill options are available? There are two. One, buy ink and a syringe - the cheapest. Two, buy a third party refill package which includes a syringe filled with ink. The first is fine for many cartridges and colors. However, color printers, like the HP PaintJet, demand that refilled primary colors match the original. In that case, it is simpler to buy the commercial refill package, unless you are a budding artist and wish for unique colors. 10 What do I need? There are only three items that you need to refill most inkjet cartridges: ink, syringe, and used cartridge. Certain cartridges, eg. high-capacity HP Deskjet/Deskwriter ones, require glue and tape. 20 How do I refill? The concept behind refilling is how do we put more ink into the container. Of course, the cartridge should be close to empty. Many cartridges allow air to flow into them as the ink is used up. Many also have a foam sponge inside to hold the ink. This same hole or passageway allows us to pour ink in. But in most cases, we need a syringe to do this for us because the hole is too small for us to pour ink into. For the cartridges which do not have a hole, we must drill one in a place where ink will not flow back out, when the cartridge is in the printer. If we attempt to pour ink into a small hole, we quickly realize that the ink simply runs down the cartridge into our hands, and refuses to seep into the hole due to the surface tension of the ink and internal cartridge air pressure. To avoid inky mess, we also refill over a sink, or outside - somewhere where the ink does not permanently stain, and can be cleaned up. Start with 1 cc, a small amount of ink and inject it into the cartridge. At some point of injecting more and more ink, you will notice that the cartridge begins to drip profusely from the nozzles, or the ink flows freely out of the hole. At this time, it is full. Simply clean the cartridge and nozzles with paper and you can use the cartridge. Remember how many cc's you have injected, and use that as the starting amount for next time. 21 How do I learn more about refilling my cartridge? The easiest way besides reading this FAQ is to buy a commercial refilling package. Not only will it include the syringe for future use, it also will have detailed refilling instructions regarding where the ink is to go in your particular brand of cartridge. 22 How do I clean the clogged nozzles? Be gentle. Use damp paper to wipe the nozzle area clean. Try the printer instructions regarding this. Blow hard into the top hole, and watch out for ink coming from the nozzles. Wipe with alcohol-damp paper. 23 What about HP Deskjet/Deskwriter cartridges? There are three cartridges available: the standard one, HP# 51608A; a high-capacity one, HP# 51626A, and the color one, HP# 51625A, for Deskjet C/Deskwriter C color models. Follow <<20>> the general method for the standard cartridge. With the high-capacity model, the supposed method is to plug the hole at the bottom of the cartridge with glue - try epoxy, superglue, plastic model glue, etc. - tape, or anything which will stay there to prevent any ink from leaking. Then, inject ink into the corner, top hole until full per <<20>>. Finally, plug that hole with putty, gum, or anything removable later so ink does not run out when the cartridge is in use. Since refilling this is not as easy, quick, or drip proof, stay with the standard cartridge for fewer problems. I have no information on refilling the color cartridge. 24 What about HP Paintjet/Paintjet XL cartridges? There are five cartridges available: the black one, HP# 51606A; the 3-color one for the Paintjet, HP# 51606C; and the three primary color ones for the Paintjet XL, HP# 51606B, 51606R, 51606Y. For the black cartridge, supposedly follow <<20>>. For the color cartridges, buy a commercial kit unless you want different colors, in which case supposedly follow <<20>> for each hole for each color. 25 What about Apple Stylewriter\Canon BJ10/BJ10e/BJ10ex/BJ20 cartridges? There is only one cartridge model: the black one, BC-01. It is made by Canon and used in many, many printers and typewriters, including the StarWriter series by Canon. One method is supposedly drill a small hole where the BC-01 top label is, and refill per <<20>>. 30 Which inks do I use? The vital requirement of refill ink is that it does not clog the print nozzles. A good rule of thumb is to choose inks which are water- based, non-pigmented, and non-permanent. Scrips ink by Shaffer, packed in bright yellow boxes; Parker Solv-X permanent; and Mont Blanc are commonly used. I have always used Scrips with good results. Avoid technical or India inks which are permanent and pigmented, eg. Pelikan Drawing Ink or Koh-i-noor Universal. For color inkjet printers, I have not found inks besides those in third-party packages match the manufacturers colors. 31 What about different colors? If you wish, you can use different colors like blue, red, or pink. To use the darker colors, you can inject an empty cartridge with the color desired, and after ten to fifty pages, anything printed will be in that color. The best method for lighter and all colors requires a rinse step. Inject a small amount of water and print pages to clear out most of the old ink first. Then, inject your new color. 32 What do I do with different colors? Look around at various advertisements for ideas. Like using a Crayola set, your text doesn't have to be solely black-and-white. A good idea, which I have not tried, is to empty three cartridges. Buy a color package that has cyan, magenta, and yellow, rinse the cartridges, and refill each with one of the above. Using a program, such as Pagemaker, with these cartridges and a fourth black one, if deep, dark blacks are desired, you can now print full color pictures! Simply set up your color document, do a three- or four-color separation, and print each using the appropriate color cartridge on the SAME sheet of paper. Naturally, it takes longer and the registration might be off; but imagine: if you own a Deskjet/Deskwriter, why upgrade to a DeskJet C/Deskwriter C? 40 Where do I get syringes? In some states, the sale of syringes without a prescription is illegal. You may buy them from a hospital, university store with a medical program, pet hospital, local drug store, park corner (Berkeley's People Park(:), through mail order from a medical supplier, etc. Any regular syringe like those used by diabetics are a good choice. 41 What else can I use besides syringes? Hobby oilers, chemistry pipets, thin straws, or anything thin enough to fit into the hole on your cartridge. Personally, I started with a WD-40 red straw whittled to a point at one end; carefully sucked ink from a Scrips bottle up the straw, NOT into the mouth; pushed the pointed end into the Deskjet cartridge hole; and blew. Took a while, messy, but works. After that, I borrowed a glass chemistry pipet with squeeze bulb and fine tip. Squeeze bulb, draw ink, insert tip, squeeze bulb. Nifty, but expensive, so now syringes. 50 How is the print quality? The first thing you will notice with most inks is simply your text takes longer to dry. Using Scrips ink, I have had no problem with one page staining the other on top. However, you may need to separate each page if you use an ink that takes longer to dry. Some commercial inks have been formulated to dry as quickly as the original. The print quality will vary from ink to ink and from refill to refill. In the case where the ink is too watery, you may notice fine bleed lines spidering from the characters. If the nozzles has been carelessly damaged during the refill process, fuzzier text or missing dots may be the effect. With care, the quality can match the original. With some inks, such as Scrips, you may also notice that the text printed is not as dark as the original. Whether this is of concern is a personal preference. In my case, I can sit for an hour comparing laser text or film grain under a 30x microscope, and I notice. 51 How can I improve the print quality? A clean printer and a clean cartridge are both necessary for high quality prints. The nozzles of the cartridge should be near spotless, using alcohol as necessary to remove debris and dry ink. Then, we must choose paper that does the most in preventing bleeding, smearing, or fuzziness. A good choice to start with is Xerox 4024 DP 20 lb. copier paper. It has a nice smooth surface, free of most visible irregularities, and the non-glossy surface absorbs inks quickly without bleeding. I believe that a quality paper will have a flat, non-glossy surface that absorbs liquids quickly. Thus, glossy magazine paper will not work well - simply dab a bit of saliva on it and notice the very long time taken to absorb the saliva; the Xerox will absorb quickly any. On the far end, we also would like a quality paper to feel like normal paper, as people do notice and view negatively resumes and such printed on 'weird' paper. However, I believe that HP PaintJet paper is wonderful for its ultimate color saturation, intensity, and sharpness of print, despite its unique feel. I use it as a photocopy master for my resumes and other need-to-impress prints. Because a copier can ignore the fuzzy stray dots surrounding the characters and fused carbon is much darker than ink, making a copy of the original output will improve the sharpness and contrast of the text on some copiers. Since there is also the desire to improve laser printer prints, paper companies have produced special bright white laser papers which may also be excellent inkjet choices. 60 How much do inks cost? Inks cost anywhere from a dollar to ten for a bottle. I use Scrips. It costs under two dollars and I use about a fourth of the bottle each refill ($0.50 each time). 61 How much do syringes cost? Supposedly they are sold for under three dollars apiece. 62 How much do syringe substitutes cost? A can of WD-40 for the red straw, nothing if you sneak coffee stirrers, and easily $20-$100 for glass pipets. 63 How much do commercial refill packages cost? They usually cost $10-20 for a pack of two, $5-10 per refill. 64 How much does good inkjet paper cost? Xerox 4024 DP is probably under seven dollars a ream (500 sheets). HP Paintjet paper easily goes for over twenty dollars for 200 sheets. 70 Where do I buy commercial refill packages? Many office/computer suppliers now carry refill packages for popular printers. Here is a sample of these packages and companies. Global Computer Supplies 2318 E.Del Amo Blvd., Dept 32, Compton, CA 90220 1-800-845-6225 (1-800-8-GLOBAL) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ink Refill by Graphics Utilities, Inc. Transparent, accordion-styled, plastic squeeze bottle with angled tip. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Price per twin pack Description Color 1 2-4 5+ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- HP DeskJet/Plus/500 Black $13.99 $13.29 $12.65 "" Blue 14.99 14.25 13.55 "" Indelible Black 14.99 14.25 13.55 HP PaintJet, PaintJet XL Black 18.95 18.05 17.19 HP PaintJet Cyan,Magenta,Yellow 23.65 22.55 21.49 Cannon BJ-10e,ex,Apple StyleWriter Black 17.65 16.79 15.99 Cannon BJ300/330,130/130e Black 19.65 18.69 17.79 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Misco One Misco Plaza, Holmdel, NJ 07733 1-800-876-4726 (order), 908-264-1000 (NJ order), 908-264-5955 (fax) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CompuJet\InkRefill by American InkJet\Graphic Utilities Transparent, accordion-styled, plastic squeeze bottle with angled tip. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Price Each Description Color Pack Size 1-2 3-5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DeskJet/Plus/500 Black 2 Pack $19.95 $18.95 " Indelible Black 2 Pack 19.95 18.95 " Red 2 Pack 19.99 18.99 " Blue 2 Pack 19.99 18.99 ThinkJet/Dionix (inkjet paper) Black 6 Refills 49.99 46.99 " (plain paper) Black 6 Refills 49.99 46.99 PaintJet/PaintWriter Black 2 Pack 24.95 23.99 " Magenta 2 Pack 24.99 23.99 " Yellow " " " " Cyan " " " Cannon BJ10e,ex, AppleStyleWriter Indelible Black 2 Pack 23.95 22.99 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Uarco Business Products 121 N.9th St., Dekalb, Ill. 60115 1-800-435-0713 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AspenJet by ??? Syringe with plunger, straight tip. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Price Each Description Color 1-9 10+ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- HP DeskJet/Plus/500 Indelible Black $9.95 $8.95 Cannon BJ-10/10e/10ex " 9.95 8.95 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- =====<>=====================================================<>