Re: Refilling Epson 1200 ink Cartridges

[Ben Haskell <npthaskell@harborside.com>]

This message was sent on Sunday, it may have bounced.
2nd attempt on Tuesday. Apologies if repetitive.

Bob Thompson wrote:
> 
> I am using the Ultra-Fill Vacuum method.  I first filled two black carts
> with no problem.  BTW, these are brand new empty carts.
> 
> In filling the color cart however, I ran into problems. The first color went
> fine.  On the second color the needle wouldn't go all the way in but the ink
> flowed OK so I went to the third color.  When I put the needle in, very
> little ink went in even though the large "vacuum" syringe indicated about
> 12cc's would be needed.  I did another pump or two,and there was definitely
> a vacuum with no leaks.  I inserted the needle again and a little more ink
> flowed but not much.  Anyway I went to the fourth color.  Did the Vacuum
> check, as I did with all colors, then did two pulls on the syringe and
> clipped off the hose.  When I put the ink syringe in, it took absolutely no
> ink.  The needle was all the way in.
> 
> Does anyone know what  I did wrong?  The black carts went fine.  I did the
> same procedure on the color cart with the above result.  Do I possibly have
> a bad cart?  The only way I could get more vacuum is to use a power driven
> pump.

Oh boy!, you got me here.

Tomcat made three suggestions:

1. Punctured filter screen: I doubt it, since the adaptor is tall enough
to prevent the needle from contacting the screen (at least I hope so!).

2. Clogged needle: I concur, you may have some septum material plugging
the needle.

3. Dried ink gunk: I doubt it, you reported that you are using virgin
blank cartridges.

Here are some of my wild ideas:

After using the blue clamps, did they permamently pinch off the plastic
tubing even after you released the clamp? Squeeze the pinched tubing at
the indent to pop the indent out. Then vacuum the cartridge again. My
tubing has lots of indents, but they usually don't (perhaps never) block
the vacuum pull.

Go to the pharmacy or pet/farm supply store and get 20 or 22 guage 1.5
inch long needles; thinner guage may be easier for you to use. Don't
tell them that you are a drug addict! ;-)

By your vacuum test, do you mean that you pulled the syringe plunger
with the blue clamp off, released it, and it kept relaxing back to the
same volume? If there was an air leak in the cartridge or adaptor/port
connection, with subsequent pulls, the relaxation volume would keep
growing. If the blue clamp seals the tubing, and the relaxation volume
increases with subsequent pulls, the connection between the tubing and
syringe is not tight.

-- Ben Haskell

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