1. Never print when your cartridge is empty, even when it is just one of the colors. Inkjet printers work by heating a resistor inside the printhead which heats the ink before it is sprayed onto the paper. If there is no ink to keep the resistors cool, you stand the chance of frying them.
2. Keep an extra cartridge on hand so that you are not waiting for the refilled one to either stabilize or to quit dripping.
3. It is best to refill your empty cartridge immediately, or "top it off" before it is empty.
4. Since we know that not all of us have time to refill immediately, put your cartridge in a ziplock-type bag with a damp paper towel, making sure to remove all the air possible. This will help keep the nozzles from clogging until you have time to refill (but you should do it as soon as possible).
5. Always try to store your refilled cartridges properly. The best way is to put a cartridge clip on the printhead and cover any holes (filling, vent, or the Epson exit ports) with tape. If you don't have a cartridge clip, then put your cartridge in a ziplock-type bag with a damp paper towel, removing as much air as possible. Don't let the printhead touch the paper towel or it will wick the ink out.
6. When drilling more than one hole (for a color cartridge) make sure and clean your drill bit/drill tool between drillings. Otherwise you could easily cross-contaminate the colors.
7. Every once in a while you want to clean the electronic circuitry (both on the cartridge and inside your printer) to keep it free of dirt, fingerprints, ink, etc. You can do this using a cotton ball dipped in vodka, a lint-free cloth and water, or a q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol.
8. Before printing, remember to remove the tape you placed over the filling or vent holes.
9. Always work over paper towels or newspapers. No matter how careful you are, you might get some ink someplace besides inside the cartridge. Also, wear some old clothes, not your Sunday best :)
10. Before removing your needle, pull back on the syringe plunger just a tad. This keeps the ink from spraying once you remove the needle from your cartridge.
11. On your tri-color cartridge, it is a good idea to tape over the two holes you are not filling to avoid accidentally cross-contaminating the colors. If your cartridge has the sponges where you can see them, inject the ink very slowly and watch carefully for the ink to come to the top of the sponge (this will usually happen on the sides). STOP right there.
12. After filling your cartridge, prop it up where the printhead is not touching anything, and let the excess ink drip off. Some people have suggested using a styrofoam cup, but I just use a block of wood, sitting on a paper towel, letting the printhead hang off the edge. Make sure and blot up any hanging drops of the color ink to prevent it from migrating up into the other colors.
13. It is best to flush your syringes and needles out with water after refilling and let air dry to prolong their use-ability.
My cartridge won't print.
I get the wrong colors.
My printhead is clogged.
The printer rejects my refilled cartridge.
My cartridge is leaking.
Streaks or faded areas in the printing.
Problems specific to Epson cartridges.
Problems specific to HP cartridges.
My cartridge won't print.
This could be due to any number of factors, ranging from being air-locked (air bubbles are at
the printhead preventing the ink from flowing out), vent holes being sealed, clogged printhead,
dirty circuitry, or dead circuitry.
For an airlocked cartridge, there are several methods to use. You can put the cartridge in a old sock (printhead to toe), go outdoors (away from anything you don't want ink on) and twirl it over your head as fast as you can about 20 times (centrifugal force will expel the air and allow the ink to pool at the exit port). You can blow into the vent hole until a small amount of ink comes out. You can also hold the cartridge with the printhead down (over some newspapers) and raise it to eye level. Then sharply thrust it downward and stop abruptly before reaching the newspaper.
If you have taped over the vent holes for storage, remove the tape.
For clogged printheads, see the paragraph below.
For dirty circuitry, try cleaning the copper area with a cotton ball dipped in vodka, a lint-free cloth and water, or a q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol.
If the circuitry is dead, you will need to buy a new cartridge.
I get the wrong colors.
This, too, can be due to several factors. You may have put the colors in the wrong chambers, the colors
may have wicked up into the other chambers, the cartridge may have run out of one ink.
The simplest way to check to see what is going on is to print out a few pages with colored blocks. I do this with every color cartridge I refill.
If you have accidentally put the colors in the wrong chambers, you can flush your cartridge out and start over. Using your syringe and needle, suck out as much ink as you can. Then inject water until the water runs almost clear (make sure and hold the cartridge so that the colors don't mix as the water flushes the ink out). Now, extract as much water as you can and then inject fresh ink. I have successfully flushed out Canon, HP, and Lexmark cartridges this way.
My printhead is clogged.
The easiest way to take care of this is to soak just the printhead (but not the resisters) in hot water
until the ink flows out. Or soak the printhead in a 1/2 water and 1/2 alcohol mixture for a few hours.
Or soak the printhead in our Printhead Cleaning Fluid, which is available on the Accessories page. The water,
water & alcohol mixture, or the cleaning fluid can be heated to 180 degrees to expedite the unclogging process.
Cartridge may have to soak overnight for extra stubborn clogs.
The printer rejects my cartridge.
Except with a cartridge that has a micro chip attached (ie; some Epsons and HPs), the printer will not reject the
cartridge just because you refilled it. Try removing and reinserting the cartridge (sometimes I don't always
get my cartridge put in quite right). Turn the printer off and on again to reset it. The cartridge circuitry
may be dirty, or, in the case of some Xerox cartridges, the bar code may have ink on it. If none of this corrects
the problem, your cartridge circuitry may be dead.
My cartridge is leaking.
It is probably leaking because you overfilled it. Set it in a small styrofoam cup (do not allow the printhead to
touch the bottom of the cup) or on a piece of wood (over layers of paper towels) with the printhead hanging off
the edge until it quits leaking. If it is a cartridge that must be sealed with a plug, hot glue or tape, you might
not have a good seal and thus the vacuum didn't get properly established. Resealing the cartridge should solve the
leaking problem.
Another reason that a cartridge is leaking may be because the sponge has lost some of its absorbency and will not hold as much ink as it did originally, or the sponge has partially dried up, in which case, it will take some time to absorb all the ink.
Streaks or faded areas in the printing.
This could be due to low ink, air bubbles, dirty circuitry, clogged printhead or dying cartridge. Read the paragraphs
above to see what to do.
Problems specific to Epson cartridges.
Epson inks tend to dry on the printhead when the printer has not been used for 3-5 days OR when you leave the printer
without an installed cartridge for as little as 5 minutes. Always keep a cartridge in your printer. Run your printhead
cleaning routine 3-5 times before trying to print. For best results, try to let a newly refilled cartridge sit for at
least 1 day before installing it into your printer. Twenty four hours will give the cartridge time to expel any air and
insure a good pool of ink at the exit port. When you install your refilled cartridge, run your printhead cleaning routine
3-5 times before attempting to print.
