Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!sei!fs7.ece.cmu.edu!o.gp.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!bh11+ From: bh11+@andrew.cmu.edu (Braddock John Hathaway) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware Subject: refilling deskwriter ink cartridges Message-ID: Date: 17 Feb 91 22:35:31 GMT Organization: Class of '90, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Lines: 57 Here's something that I received in the mail almost a year ago ... I hope that it will help those interested in refilling their ink cartridges. In the May 1989 issue of _Personal Systems_, the Journal of the San Diego Computer Society, there is an article by Larry Rymal (Z4648252@SFAUSTIN.BITNET) titled "Recharging Your DeskJet Cartridges", which was downloaded from Usenet (where, I don't know -- I didn't see it posted): "Buy Sheaffer's Skrip jet black ink -- about $1.50 for a bottle, lasts about five recharges. "'Recharging the DeskJet cartridge is a simple matter. Take an ink cartridge that is light but is still feeding ink. When the cartridge feels 'light' in weight (less than 1.5 oz), it is a candidate for refilling. If it is totally dry, it seems to have some problem on clearing the nozzles or something -- por candidate. "Ream out the air hole to about the width of a pencil eraser. Make sure that the air hole is much larger than the needle or injector. You do not want pressurization to occur. The nozzle area is very fragile and pressure will destroy the integrity. "Now, using a machinist's hypodermic syringe (typically used for oiling), squirt in no more than two cc's of ink. A sponge inside the cartridge will absorb the ink. Make sure you inject no more than two cc's into the cartridge. "More than two cc's will cause gravity to induce a siphon effect and you will lose all your ink overnight. Inside the cartridge, you'll notice a sponge -- it prevents the siphon. As long as there is no ink pooling on top of the sponge, you are in good shape. Actually, I inject no more than 1cc, just to be sure. "Currently, I've only been successful using Sheaffer's Skrip jet black ink. The bottle is really cheap -- about $1.50 (local) US. You can typically recharge the cartridge five times with one bottle. "This cartridge is several months, and several reams of paper, old -- it has probably gone through 1500 sheets of heavy printing (dark pages, DTP work) and is still printing with no fuzzies. There is no way that a regular cartridge would last through that much paper with the amount of dark desktop publishing that I do on the HP DeskJet. "Ok, the obvious question: Can we get rid of water soluble ink and use different colors? "I've had some success on Sheaffer's red ink but it is just not correct. You get streaks. Apparently, the balance of ink concentrate is not as 'correct' for the cartridge as the jet black is. I haven't had the ability yet to find permanent ink for testing. The problem comes from not having any spent cartridges to play with. "Note that India Ink will not work. That is an ink which uses suspended solid particles. No go... There you have it. Experiment, save bucks, and ENJOY!"