Digital BW, The Print

So I've just flushed out some junk ink and I want to reuse the carts. These are third party vacuum fill carts with lots of nooks and crannies to hold the leftover water. Short of building a vacuum chamber to boil off the water, what do you suggest? It looks like there is a metal spring for the check valve so I can't stick them in the microwave oven.

I have two more inks and a CIS to install, so I need one set of empty carts to fill (I can use the CIS for the second ink).

And yes I did remove the chips before washing the carts.

Hi Greg.
I don't know about microwaves but you can get a small hand vacuum pump from Sears or likely an auto supply store. It's used for bleeding brake lines but works nicely on carts. I usually run alcohol through the carts just before the pump. It comes with a variety of different size and shaped nozzles so can be made to match carts fairly easily. It's not automated but does the job.

Regards,
Duane


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Greg" <dfaprinting@...> wrote:

>
> So I've just flushed out some junk ink and I want to reuse the carts. These are third party vacuum fill carts with lots of nooks and crannies to hold the leftover water. Short of building a vacuum chamber to boil off the water, what do you suggest? It looks like there is a metal spring for the check valve so I can't stick them in the microwave oven.
> 
> I have two more inks and a CIS to install, so I need one set of empty carts to fill (I can use the CIS for the second ink).
> 
> And yes I did remove the chips before washing the carts.
>

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Greg" <dfaprinting@...> wrote:
>
> So I've just flushed out some junk ink and I want to reuse the carts. These are third party vacuum fill carts with lots of nooks and crannies to hold the leftover water. Short of building a vacuum chamber to boil off the water, what do you suggest? >

Do not apply heat or excess vacuum to these cartridges. Most have a small delicate silicon valve that if damaged will allow the cartridge contents to drain gracefully out through the printer heads. They also rely on an internal plastic membrane to remain leak-free which will also risk damage.

Assuming you have the common see-through type of re-usable cartridge, in my experience the best thing is to use a syringe to gently draw all water you can out through the outlet valve. Use a syringe with a long thin snout that will seal against the o-ring in the outlet and is long enough to open the outlet valve. Move the cartridge around so that any water trapped behind baffles will pour out towards the outlet chamber intake.

Once you have all the water out you can, put in 1-2 ml of the ink that you will be using in the cartridge and move it all through the cartridge to ensure it mixes and washes with the residual water drops and vapour already in the cartridge. Repeat the step above. For very light colors or dilutions you might want to repeat this a couple of times. This will leave inconsequential levels of residue behind and will not damage the cartridge. There are no doubt other ways but this way has worked for me many times over.

Good luck

Alistair

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "hp9180profile" <owens@...> wrote:
>
> 
> Assuming you have the common see-through type of re-usable cartridge, in my experience the best thing is to use a syringe to gently draw all water you can out through the outlet valve. Use a syringe with a long thin snout that will seal against the o-ring in the outlet and is long enough to open the outlet valve. Move the cartridge around so that any water trapped behind baffles will pour out towards the outlet chamber intake.
> 


I should add that if the cartridge has an air inlet plug, this must be removed when withdrawing liquid from the cartridge through the outlet.

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "hp9180profile" <owens@...> wrote:
>
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Greg" <dfaprinting@> wrote:
> >
> > So I've just flushed out some junk ink and I want to reuse the carts. These are third party vacuum fill carts with lots of nooks and crannies to hold the leftover water. Short of building a vacuum chamber to boil off the water, what do you suggest? >
> 
> Do not apply heat or excess vacuum to these cartridges. Most have a small delicate silicon valve that if damaged will allow the cartridge contents to drain gracefully out through the printer heads. They also rely on an internal plastic membrane to remain leak-free which will also risk damage.


These are vacuum fill, so they are designed to pull a pretty strong vacuum just to allow the initial filling. I think there is a video of the proper way on the company's website (http://www.inkjetcarts.us) so applying a vacuum of some sort should be fine. Best would be putting the whole cart in a bell jar and pulling that down to vacuum but I don't have that type of rig.

And as a whole these carts are only OK, out of 18 carts I have a couple of dead chips, and a couple carts that either leak or are too restricted and cause missing jets., But the are cheap at about $22 for a set of 6. Buy enough and you'll have what you need to get going while you wait for exchanges.