What does a filled cartridge look like? Refilling ink cartridges for HP and Canon printers

The cost of printers and MFPs is falling so rapidly that no one can be surprised by a home computer equipped with a printing device. Stores computer technology offer three varieties similar devices: matrix, inkjet and laser. Since matrix models do not have full color printing capabilities, and prices for color lasers start at $140, there is nothing surprising in the popularity of inkjet printers. However, their lucky owners are soon faced with the need to replace cartridges - special containers with ink, the cost of which is often 80-90% of the price of a new printer. As a more affordable alternative, many computer companies offer to refill existing ones with ink instead of buying new cartridges. However, there is nothing complicated in this operation, so you can refill the cartridge yourself at home.

Warning
It is important to remember that refilling cartridges voids the owner’s warranty on the device! Moreover, it does not matter who, how and how many times performed this operation. At the same time, with due care and following the recommendations, the risk of damaging anything is minimal.

Inkjet printer cartridges must be refilled with ink when any color begins to disappear during printing or gaps appear. Of course, provided that the printer was used correctly and there was no downtime for more than two weeks.
For refueling you will need:

Syringes, one per color. It is desirable that the piston be rubber - this allows for a smoother flow of ink and also prevents sudden injection. Also, the thinner the needle, the better. The volume of the syringe is no more than 5 ml;

Cotton wool and paper napkins. They are necessary to remove possible leaks;
- gloves;
- some old newspapers to cover workplace;
- correct ink. They can be purchased at any computer store. Knowing the printer model, the consultant will help you choose the right ones.

Depending on the printer model, the cartridge carriage system may vary. The instructions always indicate exactly how to remove the ink tank.

For example, in Canon models, when the lid of the printer is turned on, the entire unit extends.

When working with a cartridge, do not touch the contact pads and nozzles. After removing the sticker, use an awl or small scissors to increase the diameter of the holes.

The syringe needle should fit loosely into each of them.

This important point: There must be a distance between the needle and the walls of the hole through which air will be squeezed out of the cartridge when refilling. There is one hole on the black ink tank, and several on the color ink tank, so first you need to search in global network determine what color ink to put where. In the absence of such information, you can insert a needle into each hole and find out the match by the traces of paint on it. So, in in this example on the PG-446 cartridge the color is red on top, blue on the left, and yellow on the right.

Having filled the syringe with 1-2 ml of ink, carefully insert the needle into the hole. The material inside is porous, so minor resistance must be overcome. The needle should not go too deep, as this may damage the filter membrane.

1/3 is quite enough.

After this, slowly squeeze out the ink. There is no need for haste here, since the inner material should be evenly saturated with paint. The volume of the container is determined experimentally. Typically, 4 ml is enough for a black cartridge, and 1-2 ml of each color for a color cartridge. The exact values ​​depend on the degree of emptying of the container. When refilling, air will be squeezed out, causing paint bubbles - this is normal.

Refilling is complete when the ink is no longer absorbed. The spilled residue must be “pulled” into the syringe.

After this, all possible drips are removed from the cartridge with cotton wool. If necessary, you can gently wipe the nozzles, but cotton wool should not be used.

/ / . You can extend the life of the cartridges: black hp 122 can withstand up to eight refills, and color – about five.

Don't miss the moment. The nozzle plate of the print head heats up during operation, and the ink cools it. When the refill runs out, there is not enough coolant and the nozzles quickly become clogged with overheated ink. Sometimes such a cartridge cannot be restored in any way and can only be thrown away. If white stripes appear or the printing is simply fuzzy - stop working and don’t put off refilling.

The situation is quite likely: the ink has run out, and you urgently need to print more than one page. And the workshop where they can help is located on the other side of the city. You can solve this problem yourself if you know exactly how to refill an hp 122 cartridge.

HP OCP Ink - (Click to Enlarge)

Take care in advance about purchasing suitable ink (the label must have hp 122 written on it); it is better not to buy universal ones. If the paint is packaged in bottles, you will have to run to the pharmacy for regular medical syringes.

Important: it may even dry out full cartridge if he long time not used. To prevent this problem, print one or two pages every week.

It is necessary to prepare the workplace: remove all important papers and cover the table with newspaper. To refill, take ink, four syringes, toilet or other soft paper, and put on rubber gloves. A black cartridge can hold up to 10 ml of ink, a color cartridge can hold a maximum of 3 ml. You need to fill the syringes very carefully so that there is no air or foam. It’s more convenient to prepare all four at once. You can use one, but rinse it with distilled water and be sure to dry it before using it again.

To clear the refill holes, peel off the labels. The pictures below indicate where to add ink.

Arrangement of colors in the old HP 122 cartridge (Click to enlarge)

Color arrangement in the new HP 122 cartridge (Click to enlarge)

note that There are two types of color cartridge. This means that before refueling you need to determine which option is in your hands. There are several ways to find out. Press the print head against the toilet paper: the middle print is from the ink poured into the top chamber. You can just look into the filling hole. Or dip the tip of a needle there and see what color it turns.

Now you need to wipe the nozzles with flushing liquid or distilled water and you can start refueling.

Refueling

For a color cartridge, the order is strict:

1. yellow;
2. red;
3. blue.

Lower the needle into the desired hole 2–3 cm and inject ink. You need to act slowly, ideally 15 seconds per 1 ml. And watch carefully when ink begins to appear in the filling hole. After all, ink in a color cartridge is not consumed equally and it is impossible to know how much will be needed for a full refill. If you accidentally overfilled it, you can pull the syringe plunger back and take some of the paint back. We do the same with red and blue.

Click to enlarge

Refilling the black HP 122 cartridge has some features. The picture in red shows the place where the additional chamber is located, which also needs to be filled with ink. To do this, you will need to pierce the cleaning filter with a needle. It doesn’t sound very good, but it’s the lesser of two evils, otherwise, when refilling, the filter does not allow ink to pass through. additional camera air accumulates. Which, in turn, leads to printing problems.

If you press too hard while piercing the filter and allow the needle to go deeper than shown, you may damage the print head. This will not happen if you point the syringe at a 45 degree angle.

Returning cartridges to the printer

Refilling is complete, all that remains is to wipe the cartridge with soft paper and return the stickers to their place. Some experts recommend not removing the stickers when refueling, but simply piercing them and not sealing them. This is motivated by the fact that a vacuum is created inside, which reduces the service life.

Before installing cartridges into the printer, wipe the contacts with alcohol or a regular eraser. Even if the paint didn’t get there, it won’t hurt.

The video below will show how you can make a reinforced one from a standard black HP 122 cartridge and refill it. The video is in Portuguese, but I hope everything will be clear.

Have fun typing.

If desired, you can purchase a new one original cartridge if the printer refuses to print. But the difference in cost between a cartridge and a bottle of ink is very large. So it’s worth trying to refill the cartridge yourself and save money cash. Before refilling the cartridge, you need to pay attention to its integrity and the absence of damage to the body. Also, when refilling any cartridges, ink should be introduced slowly to prevent air bubbles from forming.

How to refill an inkjet printer cartridge

Replacement cartridges are standard ink containers that enable printing. But for different models printers exist different methods ink refills. To refill an inkjet printer, the cartridge must be removed and the exit hole sealed with a small piece of tape. If the reservoir has holes in the lid, you should insert the syringe needle all the way to the bottom of the cartridge and carefully insert the ink there. If there are no holes, you will have to make them yourself. After filling is completed, the filling hole must be sealed and the outlet hole must be cleared.

If there are several ventilation holes, all of them must be sealed with tape. Drill a refill hole in the corner of the cartridge and slowly pump in ink. After this, seal it tightly with tape or a special cork. Remove the tape from the ventilation holes and pump air into the service hole.

Some inkjet printer cartridges are refilled through the side ventilation holes. By the way, refilling color and black printer cartridges are completely different processes. To refill the color cartridge, you will need to remove top cover and seal the two ink holes. Paint is pumped into the third hole. Then the other holes are filled with ink one by one.

How to refill a laser printer cartridge

To refill the cartridge laser printer Make a hole in the toner hopper and add fresh toner. For this you will need a funnel. At the end of the operation, the hole must be sealed with tape. But you can do it with a soldering iron, a scalpel or a special drill. If you use a drill or scalpel, you need to shake out all the chips from the hopper along with any remaining old toner. Do not penetrate too deeply into the housing to avoid damaging the printer structure.

It is advisable to refill the cartridge as soon as it runs out .
Refilling the cartridge,
that has been stored empty for some time is more difficult (and the longer it has been stored empty, the more difficult it is) and does not always end successfully.
The longer the cartridge is stored, the more difficult it is to wash the print head; it may dry out so that the cartridge can be safely thrown away and bought a new one.
Also, you should not print until the ink in the cartridge is completely used up (the cartridge begins to streak heavily, print faintly, or stops printing altogether).
The principle of thermal inkjet printing is such that ink is released due to the heating of the nozzles... and they are cooled accordingly by the ink itself.
That is, the ink runs out - the nozzles heat up - there is nothing to cool them with and they burn out, partially or completely. Then the cartridge just goes to waste.
Started to print faintly, streak slightly - refill immediately.

Instructions on how to refill an HP 122 cartridge

5. Slowly add ink into the cartridge until excess ink appears in the fill hole. Rinse the refill needle with distilled water and dry it before refilling with a different color.

The arrangement of colors, as well as the cartridges themselves, in principle, are identical to HP 121. Perhaps the only difference is that HP took a step “to meet” the consumer and significantly reduced the resource of cartridges No. 122; they contain less ink.

Pay attention! The arrangement of colors in a color cartridge was as it was at the time of publication of the article!

In 2011, cartridges with a different color scheme went on sale! If your cartridge has not been lying around for a long time in the store or at your home, then color scheme like the picture below:

The arrangement of colors even for cartridges of the same brand can be different. Therefore, in order not to confuse the ink colors, before how to refill an HP 122 cartridge, you should definitely do a test first: insert the needle of an empty syringe into the hole and determine what color ink it was stained with.

Pay attention! HP No. 122 black cartridges are distinguished by a larger pre-chamber (indicated by a red rectangle in the photo). The new pre-filter, which separates this chamber and the reservoir with filler, easily becomes airy in an empty cartridge and does not allow refilled ink to pass to the print head. Tests have shown that the standard method of refilling black pigment or water-soluble ink (regardless of the manufacturer) often leads to malfunctions of the refilled cartridge.

As a solution for successfully using compatible ink in HP No. 122 black cartridges, we recommend that immediately after refilling, pierce the pre-filter with a thin syringe needle (see photo) and “fill” the camera with ink. To avoid damaging the nozzle plate, do not lower the needle deeper than shown in the photo.
Once the pre-filter is punctured, ink can flow freely to the print head.

6. Blot any remaining ink around the refill hole (with a clean part of a paper napkin) to prevent different inks from mixing.
7. Stick on top part cartridgeput the sticker back exactly as it was, so that the filling holes are evenly closed and air flows through the grooves.
8. Clean the print head and cartridge contact plate with a dry cloth.
9. Install the cartridge into the printer and carry out the initial test cycle according to the printer maintenance instructions.

Video instructions on how to refill an HP122 cartridge

HP Cartridge Error 122

So this is that they need to be changed immediately after the ink runs out. If you do not refill the cartridge immediately, it will dry out quickly. IN best case scenario, it will print much worse, in the worst case, it will not print at all. Therefore, carefully monitor the ink supply readings using special programs on the computer.

To refill a Canon cartridge you need to do the following:

Remove the cartridge from the printer. To do this, first read the instructions to find out the features of your device, and then follow it:

1. Find out the model name of your printer so you know how it works. To do this, inspect the device, and there you can find the name of the printer model next to the brand name. If it's not listed there, look in the button bar. The model name can also be found on the barcode located on the back of the device. If this information is not visible, find it using your computer (in Device Manager).
2. Familiarize yourself with the location of the buttons on the printer.
3. Open the printer cover.
4. When the containers automatically move out (all models have this function, but if necessary, it can also be pulled out using special buttons), remove the required cartridge from them. To do this, pull on the place specially designated for this (arched protrusion). To avoid drying out of the print head, you must wait until the containers with cartridges themselves reach the desired location.

Place the cartridge on a flat surface with the label facing up

Peel off the sticker. There you will see three small indentations (there is one in a black ink cartridge, three in a color cartridge). You need to make holes in them for paint to enter (expand these recesses). We will inject paint through the holes you make using a syringe. These holes can be made using a drill or a hot needle. But be very careful not to push the drill or needle too deep, as this may damage the cartridge.

Fill the syringe with the ink you want to refill

1. Paint should be injected into specially designated areas. Remember that the top hole on a color printer is for red ink. The bottom left is blue, and the bottom right is yellow. The black cartridge has one hole.
2. The syringe needle should be lowered into the hole by about two-thirds (in no case deeper, so as not to damage the cartridge).
3. When you see a little ink begin to flow through the holes, this means that the cartridge reservoir is already full.
4. To prevent the cartridge from being overfilled, you need to pump out 0.5 ml of paint without removing the syringe.
5. Once you have filled all the desired paint reservoirs, carefully remove the syringe and place the sticker back. This should be done immediately after filling with paint to avoid drying out.

Place the filled cartridge back into the printer

Be sure to check that the ink matches your printer brand. If they are incompatible, the cartridge may not print and you will have to completely flush the print head.

Make sure the cartridges are well seated in their containers. This is one of the reasons why the printer may not print. Therefore, wait for the characteristic click before you start printing.

Don't forget to check the expiration date of your ink.