Best method for refilling HP #57 tri-color carts?

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Te

What is the best method for refilling HP57 tri color carts? I'm new to
refilling honestly, and have had success, but I seems to get ink to come out
the top, and the bottom- and it will take a few pages before the colors
balance out. They're bleeding together somewhere?

I read NOT to remove the label from the top of the cartridge- so I didn't..
I've been adding ink, usually 3-4 ml of each color, then resealing the hole
with desktop tape (simple scotch tape). I still see ink ooze under the
clear tape though- this freaks me out.

Is there any better way or is this the norm? (add ink, see spillage from
jets and top holes, then a few test pages necessary to balance out ink
levels)

THANKS IN ADVANCE!
 
Take the label off, then use sellotape to cover the holes not being used during
each of the 3 fills. This will stop cross-contamination when it spills out of
the hole and into a neighbour hole, but as soon as the ink overflows withdraw
about 0.25ml with the syringe, then clean up the top of the cartridge. When
finished you can reuse the original label but make sure it's on straight and
true, the narrow grooves have to be exposed all round. Some people say you can
leave the label off but I prefer to put it back on to stop ink drying at the top
of the sponge.

Other things......Fill as slowly as possible. Frequently dab the head on tissue
to wick ink out to stop ink drying. After perhaps 10 minutes when the ink
build-up on the head has slowed down, return the cartridge to the printer. Only
do one quick print to check that most jets are working, then wait several hours
before doing any serious amount of printing, I find #57 and #58 cartridges like
this 'rest' period to stabilise. If you do a load of head cleaning just after a
refill I find it can make things worse, just let it rest before doing any
cleaning routines, they probably won't be needed if you do it this way in any
case.
 
I've got 2 tri color carts right now, I've refilled each of them twice
successfully. Now, one of them is giving me a headache. It seems to start
printing and then one of the colors suddenly stops and bands badly.

I searched a little for this problem- found a possible solution, which was
to leave the cartridge in standing hot water until the water cooled. tried
that- put a tiny bit of hot water in the top of a dvd spindle, just enough
to submerge the jets of the cartridge- left it in there for 30 mins to an
hour. removed and re-tried. same results... I also tried this concept of
putting the cartridge in a plastic bag and spinning it get gravity
(g-forces) to move the ink down to the jets... still didn't work.

I refilled the cartridge AGAIN (since I had done at least 10-12 8x10 photo
prints), I added enough ink to the cartridge until I saw the spillage again
from the top- each color took about 2 ml (give or take). This time I
removed the label completely.. it tore in the process of removing- so I
discarded it. I re-taped the top of the cartridge with scotch desktop tape,
and again tried to use the cartridge. again, one of my colors is not
processing correctly. I'm getting this strange banding effect- but none of
the jets are clogged as far as I can tell...

So based on your message: I refilled the cart, I know its full. The top is
taped up nice and tight (no label), and I'll leave it rest overnight in the
printer. I know I've got ink flow- but something somewhere is screwy. I
read somewhere they claim each cartridge can only be refilled two or three
times maximum before the cartridge is damaged and will need to be replaced-
is that true?

Thanks for the help.
 
Take the label off, then use sellotape to cover the holes not being used during
each of the 3 fills. This will stop cross-contamination when it spills out of
the hole and into a neighbour hole, but as soon as the ink overflows withdraw
about 0.25ml with the syringe, then clean up the top of the cartridge. When
finished you can reuse the original label but make sure it's on straight and
true, the narrow grooves have to be exposed all round. Some people say you can
leave the label off but I prefer to put it back on to stop ink drying at the top
of the sponge.

Other things......Fill as slowly as possible. Frequently dab the head on tissue
to wick ink out to stop ink drying. After perhaps 10 minutes when the ink
build-up on the head has slowed down, return the cartridge to the printer. Only
do one quick print to check that most jets are working, then wait several hours
before doing any serious amount of printing, I find #57 and #58 cartridges like
this 'rest' period to stabilise. If you do a load of head cleaning just after a
refill I find it can make things worse, just let it rest before doing any
cleaning routines, they probably won't be needed if you do it this way in any
case.
Click to expand...

Make sure when filling that you insert the 'needle' as far into the
cart as possible and as stated above, fill very slowly.
After refilling, placing the cart on paper towel in such a manner that
the heads don't don't touch the surface and leaving for 30 minutes
will insure that there is no 'dripping' when the cart is reinserted.
 
I use a vacuum machine I bought from Speedbrite to refill these little
suckers. It works great and not expensive. Pete
 
I'm not sure if you're saying that you've taped over the top of the cartridge
completely. If so, air won't be able to enter the top holes to let ink out
through the jets at the right rate and the cartridge will stop flowing. The
tape has to be the same dimensions as the original so the little grooves work
correctly. Ignore me if I've got the wrong end of the stick.

Your blockage might actually be the opposite of not enough ink, there may in
fact be too much ink hanging under the head. Think about it, if there's a
bigger than normal 'drip' hanging there then the tiny jets won't be able to fire
through it, they'll just make the drip bigger with no ink reaching the paper.
I've had colours completely stop due to this I'm sure, as there always seems to
be plenty of ink flow when dabbed with tissue. As I say, the best answer is to
let the pressure equalise by letting it 'rest', then give it one last dab with
dry tissue and return it to the printer.

I have used the hot water trick myself for total non-flow problems and it
worked, this was before I found that resting the cartridge after a refill worked
better. I had these problems at the 3-5 refills stage because I was printing
and cleaning too much immediately after filling, but never any problems now.

I'm still using the original cartridges that came with my 5550 17 months ago,
I've lost count of the times I've refilled now, it must be 12+ with no visible
deterioration.

Another tip, reset the ink status monitor before refilling, not after, as it
uses a fair bit of ink during all the printer whirring it goes through, so it
defeats the idea of letting the cartridge rest if you reset it immediately after
refilling.
 
I use a vacuum machine I bought from Speedbrite to refill these little
suckers. It works great and not expensive. Pete
Click to expand...

A little explanation? I've not heard of such a 'widget'.
 
What is the best method for refilling HP57 tri color carts? I'm new to
refilling honestly, and have had success, but I seems to get ink to come out
the top, and the bottom- and it will take a few pages before the colors
balance out. They're bleeding together somewhere?

I read NOT to remove the label from the top of the cartridge- so I didn't..
I've been adding ink, usually 3-4 ml of each color, then resealing the hole
with desktop tape (simple scotch tape). I still see ink ooze under the
clear tape though- this freaks me out.

Is there any better way or is this the norm? (add ink, see spillage from
jets and top holes, then a few test pages necessary to balance out ink
levels)

THANKS IN ADVANCE!
Click to expand...

If you can get hold of a medium bore hypodermic syringe (ideally one
for each colour, or you'd need to wash them out between colours), you
might have better control over where the ink goes. That's what the
older kits use. Fill syringe, with about 3-5cc (3-5ml), insert needle
about 2/3 into sponge, inject, withdrawing the needle as you go. With
this, you don't have to wait for the ink to filter down into the lower
parts of the cartridge. You do, however, need to worry about pushing
the needle in too far and puncturing important components of the
cartridge, or sticking yourself with the needle. Such kits also
require a lot more maintenance. You have to rinse out the syringes
after each fill, and pump them a few times to get the moisture out
(possibility of rust, or ink clogs in the needle).

Otherwise, you are doing it the right way. If you're seeing ink ooze,
put in less ink or add it slower. When the instructions say 3-4ml, it
doesn't mean to add it all at once, go slowly, a little bit at a time,
and give the sponge time to absorb the previous squirt before adding
more.

If you're seeing oozing up top, you're filling too quickly. If you're
seeing leakage from the jets, you're putting in too much altogether.
At any rate, there's not much you can do to avoid the test pages. No
matter what, you need a few test pages just to get the ink flowing.

You said you're seeing the ink dribble out from the bottom. First,
you shouldn't really be seeing this if you're refilling properly.
Second, this is probably the source of your colour bleeding together.
Some of that dribbled ink is probably still still sticking to the
head, contaminating any ink that you fire out past it. You can clean
the head manually with a moist paper towel. First, start by touching
the head surface with a moist paper towel, let some of the ink soak
into the towel. Then draw the paper towel across the head,
perpendicular to the line formed by the jets, this will remove the
residue.
 
Hmm... I completely covered the top of the cart with tape- so you are
correct. I guess I screwed up. This cartridge simply will not dispense
magenta. I'm trying now leaving the tips of the air channels opened- lets
see if that works.

Another great tip is reseting BEFORE refilling- I will definitely try
that... great idea.

Now all I need to do is find a cheap source for ink- as I understand it, HP
uses pigmented ink's... so anyone recommend a source?
 
Hmm... I completely covered the top of the cart with tape- so you are
correct. I guess I screwed up. This cartridge simply will not dispense
magenta. I'm trying now leaving the tips of the air channels opened- lets
see if that works.
Click to expand...

Try running the heads under cold water for about 3-4 minutes. I've
cleared two carts that way in the last six months.

Another great tip is reseting BEFORE refilling- I will definitely try
that... great idea.

Now all I need to do is find a cheap source for ink- as I understand it, HP
uses pigmented ink's... so anyone recommend a source?
Click to expand...

I've had excellent success with Atlantic Ink Jet.
http://www.atlanticinkjet.com/default.asp?Currency=Can
 
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