COMMON MISTAKES INDIVIUALS MAKE WHEN REFILLING & STORING CARTRIDGES.
Here is a list of common mistakes that are made when storing and refilling cartridges. This list and the explanation of why we consider these to be mistakes is "in our opinion". Keep in mind though that our opinions are based on over 12 years (Since May of 1994) experience in refilling industry and having refilled over 4700 cartridges for our own office use. In addition to this we also have a former employee of HP who worked the San Diego location for 4 years and a holder of four doctorates degrees in the field of technology. So, maybe our opinions might matter.

These are not listed in any particular order

1. REFILLING: SEALING LEXMARK & HEWLETT PACKARD SPONGE BASED CARTRIDGES.

Many Lexmark and HP cartridges that use an internal sponge require air to get into the cartridge for ink to get out. It is a simple process where by the volume of ink that goes out of the cartridge has to be replaced by an equal amount of air.If air can not get into the cartridge ink can not get out. If a cartridge of this type is sealed at the top what occurs is a minute pressure build up in the cartridge when the cartridge attempts to fire the jets. This results in a starvation of ink at the print head level and the internal heating elements. The final result is a potential burn up of the print head.

This can easily be proven by looking at Lexmark sponge based black cartridges. All of the cartridge have a small vent hole at the top. This vent hole is to allow air into the cartridge. In some cases it is not so easily seen. Take for example HP black 21, 27, 56, 92, 94, 96 & 98 or color 22, 28, 57, 93, 95 &, 97, photo 58 & 99 or even photo gray 59 & 100. If you own one of the ink cartridges take a look at the top of the cartridge. There are small indentations that extend beyond the top label. These indentations lead to air paths that go directly into the cartridge ink chambers. Sealing these up completely is a great way to damage your chances of a successful refill.

Check it out yourself: If you are using an HP black 21, 27, 56, 92, 94, 96 & 98 or color 22, 28, 57, 93, 95 &, 97, photo 58 & 99 or even photo gray 59 & 100 peel back the top label and you will see the air paths that lead into the original fill holes. Once again, those paths end with little indentations in the cartridge that extend just beyond the top label.

2. STORING: REPLACING THE ORIGINAL CARTRIDGE SEALING TAPE:

This is also applicable to Lexmark & HP cartridges with built-in print head. More specifically tri-color cartridges. Reusing the original tape is a very common thing to do when storing cartridges. Pretty much the general idea is: if it worked for them (Lexmark & HP) it will work for me. This is not the case though. Applying the tape back on the print head can cause ink to wick out of the jets and back into another color jet. In some case it simply wicks ink out of the jets and causes a mess.

If you have noticed color shift or incorrect colors after storing a cartridge in this fashion you now know why. We should state that this is one of those rare cases where we actually agree with Hewlett Packard. Hewlett Packard also recommends not using the original sealing tape when storing cartridges.

3. REFILLING: PUTTING CARTRIDGES INTO WATER (OR TOO MUCH WATER)

And again another HP & Lexmark issue for sponge based cartridges. There are some companies that recommend sitting cartridges in water to allow the jets to clear. This may seem like a good idea until you consider the manufacturing of the cartridge and the overall design.
First, you have to realize that the contact points (foil overlay) is not embedded into the ink cartridge, but glued on.
Second is that ink jet cartridges can wick water up into the jets. The jets, which are always open can draw ink in at an excess depending on how deep the water is or how much volume of water the container to which it is put in contains. A very wide pan with water contains as much pressure as a pan 1/2 the size with twice the water. The amount of pressure will probably exceed the cartridge ability to keep the water out thereby allowing it in. Afterwards you will need to get the water back out of the cartridge before ink will come out.

The alternative to this is using a saturated coffee filter or paper towel (when using paper towel you have to be careful not to scrape cartridge). Example of this can be seen on our refill instruction sheets. The use of a wicking agent (coffee filter or paper towel) will allow the water to come into contact with the dry ink and assist in breaking it up, but will also pull it back out.

4. REFILLING: ORDERING A REFILL KIT WHEN INK GET LOW OR IS ALREADY OUT.

Sounds like a sales pitch! It isn't though.
There are many individuals who will purchase a refill kit last minute with a note "ship ASAP I am low on ink" or "I just ran out of ink". They may even discontinue using that particular cartridge in hopes that the ink will last long enough until the kit arrives. One of the major factors that makes this a no no is that most inkjet printers when starting up or performing a cleaning routine will clean both black and color print heads (or black and color cartridges depending on the type of printer you have). You can, even though you are not using a particular color or black cartridge, eventually burn up the cartridge. How long this takes and how many times you have to clean or start up your printer depends on the cartridge, how much ink is in the cartridge and the nature of the cartridge also has a major bearing. (i.e. Sponge based made by Lexmark or sponge based made by Epson, etc). In many printers you can force black print instead of black and color print modes. This may seem like a good way to protect your cartridge but it is not. As stated above printers will prime cartridges even when not in use. This occurs when printers are turned on and off as well as during cleaning cycles.

5. REFILLING INK CARTRIDGES WHILE THEY ARE IN THE PRINTER:

Believe it or not there are actually some refill kit instructions out there that recommend this for just about all cartridges. Of course there are some lazy individuals who simply do this on their own by some sort of brain storm. There are very few cartridges on the market at this time that we would recommend to be refilled while in the printer.  These cartridges were actually designed to be refilled while in the printer.  THis is an exception to the general rule though.

If the cartridge was not specifically designed as an aftermarket cartridge for refilling purposes keep the following in mind;  When you inject ink into a cartridge you are pushing it in through and injector of some type. This can create pressure on the inside of the cartridge which will force ink out of the exit port. Even a small amount of excess ink on the exit port can create air issues. Part of this factor will also depend on the type of cartridge you are using. Another dangerous factor is the possibility of overflow. Overflow can occur quickly and clean up very slow. There are just too many risks associated with refilling an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) cartridge while it is in the printer.

One of my favorite emails came from a gentleman who thought it would be more convenient to refill his Canon cartridges while in the printer (BCI-6 cartridge - OEM). He asked me why his cartridge took almost 1oz of ink when it was only supposed to contain 1/2 of that amount. . I told him to take a look at the bottom of his printer. There he found the extra ink. He did and he never tried that again!

6. PUSHING A NEEDLE ALL THE WAY TO THE HUB & FORCING INK TOO QUICKLY:

This is applicable to sponge based cartridges (in other words cartridges that have a sponge or sponge/reservoir design). It does not include most HP pressure cartridges*

This is a very common mistake, and is probably not from our doing as our instructions all recommend not to do this. If you insert an injector all the way to the hub you create a small air block. As you inject ink into a cartridge air is not capable of getting out of the cartridge. The amount of air that exits a cartridge will be equal to the amount of ink that gets in. So, if you block the air exit path along the fill hole you block the ability for a proper refill.

What is the most common result when air can not escape? Ink comes out of the ink exit hole or the path of least resistance. Make sure that when you inject ink that there is enough space for air to escape the cartridge at the fill hole. (the only exception to this would be a true pressurized cartridge). Along the same line here make sure that you do not inject ink too quickly. This also will force ink out the path of least resistance. The results here are the same. Ink will come out the path of least resistance if the pressure is too great.

*An exception to this would be HP 15, 40, 45 where the use of a snap-n-fill is not done. The difference here though is that the pressure can break the seal on the internal mylar bag. Pressure based cartridges are completely different in design to sponge and sponge reservoir cartridges.

7. FAILING TO ADMIT SOMETHING MIGHT HAVE BEEN DONE IN ERROR:

One of the things that drives us here crazy is when someone calls in on a tech support call, or sends in an email and immediately states: "followed your instructions to a T and it doesn't work"

We get about two or three of these a week. After a couple of back and forth emails we end up finding in 99% of the cases that something wasn't done to a T. Some of the more common are listed above (with the number one being the sealing of cartridges so that air can not get in.). Others do occur ranging from letting cartridges sit around for a month after they ran empty, using unfiltered, "dirty" water to clean cartridges, and oh so many other things individuals do not think about, such as storing a cartridge in a zip lock bag without anything to protect the print heads.

Another good example is also #8 directly below.
I want to really stress one very important thing here. Many of these individuals have performed a proper refill and after a little info do get the cartridges going. When someone gives up too quickly without considering they many have missed something that is where the problems occur.

8. USING HP & LEXMARK CLIPS TO REFILL OR AFTERMARKET CLIPS OF SAME DESIGN.

Our instructions recommend the use of cartridge clips. We do not recommend the use of HP & Lexmark clips or many aftermarket clips depending on their design.
It is a funny thing when companies attempt to mimic the OEM market. A good case in point for this argument is that there are an incredible number of aftermarket cartridge clips designed exactly like HP & Lexmark cartridge clips. Many of these can be found in refill kits as well as purchased individually.
Why the big hype about the clips?
HP & Lexmark cartridge clips are manufactured with a small hole at the bottom. When you attempt to refill using one of these clips ink is allowed to seep through the bottom of the cartridge. That means that ink is allowed to wick into another chamber. The results on color cartridges are cross contamination of color inks. This of course results in color shift as well totally improper color output.

Though these tips may not help you after a problem occurs they are pretty darn good things to know in advance.
We hope you find them beneficial.