About Rundletech Expertise Refilling of printer cartridges, printer problems, printer reviews, printer cartridge problems, computer equipment cleaning, cd repair and enhancement.
Experience Inkjet industry since 1997. Invloved in the distribution of the Worlds first Universal Refill system at trade shows through out the USA and Canada. Research and development on refilling procedures, cleaning, repair and office equipment. Extensive research in cartridge technology, problem shooting and review of new printers on the market.
Question it's weird but all three colours show up on the printer head, but on the test page the blue is missing in the picture and the thick blue line only has a little bit at the beginning and at the end.... i'm guessing at the airbubble or the dry sponge? anyway, your info was like an instruction manual on using top up inks, thanks very much for the info :)
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-----Question-----
i've just refilled my colour ink cartridge by injecting the ink into the cartridge, and when i look at the diag for the printer it shows all ink wells as full. however the blue, which incidentally is the only colour of the 3 that completely dissappeared, has not returned (although the other 2 were very faded and now appeared refreshed). i have tried the printer toolbox and cleaned and primed , but still no blue.... any ideas?
-----Answer-----
There could be a number of reasons the blue is not appearing on the paper. If you injected an air bubble into the cartridge this could block the flow of ink. If you refilled the cartridge a day or to after it ran out this could cause hte spong inside of the cartridge to solidify thus not allow the ink to pass through. Because the other colors are faded I believe the problem may be that you waited to long to refill or did not allow the cartridge to sit over night for the ink to fully saturate the sponges.
The other problem could be the product you are using. Some inks on the market today are horrendous. I found one where they used ball point ink. The ink must be a dye based ink for refilling to be successful. You must refill a cartridge ASAP when it shows signs of running out of ink. Delay deminishes success. Running a cartridge dry can burn out the cartridge.
To fix your problem:
1) Because the inksare faded in the other colors I would take a qtip with alcohol and wipe the bottom fo the cartridge and then blot with tissue. If the the three colors do not show up on the tissue. The cartridge is no good. The resaon is if there is no ink coming through the print ports with this it never will. Cartridges can be refilled two to three time depending on the vecosity of the ink. In other words if using dye based ink you can get three to four refills, pigmented inks gets you maybe one refill. Stay away from inks made in the orient. I have found in testing these inks are of very poor quality and usually fail.
Answer It is important when refilling:
1) Use a good brand of ink
2) Refill as soon as there are signs of running out. HP and Lexmarks can be refilled before they run out and will prolong the life of the cartridge.
3)When refilling always leave over night so the ink can fully saturate the sponges other wise you get leakage or ink starvation to the print head.
4)Always leave the cartridges that have been refilled in a saucer in case there is slight leakage.
5) If you have Isopropyl alcohol moisten it on tissue and blot the the print head (port hole) to remove dried ink and then use dry tissue and blot if the all the colors show up on the dry tissue the cartridge should work.
PS
The problem you are experiencing is very strange usually if you print and all the colors show up on the print it should as well in the test print. The blue might have some starvation in the cell or blockage.
When refilling before putting the ink in add 1/2 ml of Isopropyl alcohol let sit for a few minutes and then add your ink. If you use a good quality dye based ink that 1/2 ml will easily mix with the ink with out watering it down.If you are not going to use the cartridges for some time. Use the blue strip that comes with the cartridge seal the bottom once again add 1/2 ml of alcohol into each cell and store in a cool dark place,
Always remember if you run a cartridge dry it will do a number of things weaken the print head or burn out the print head! Never refill and empty cartridge dried up cartridge. This would be a waste of time.
