Refilling Cartridge Blog

Why using syringe is the best way to refill a cartridge?

Peoples always ask me, why using syringe is a better approach when you refill a cartridge.

Simple reason, you take control. Let me explain.

When your printer “declare” the cartridge is empty, actually it is not totally empty. The printer “estimate” the ink level by calculating the ink consumed during printing. So, when you want to refill the cartridge, how do you know how much ink that you need to put into the cartridge?

The best practise of refilling cartridge is not to refill too much. This is one of the rules that I mentioned in Best practise of refilling cartridge page. If you refill too much, the ink inside the cartridge give the pressure to the print-head and you may get ink “blob” in your printout.

By using syringe, you control how much ink that you need to inject into the cartridge. Most HP cartridges inform you how much the ink contents inside the cartridge at their label, so you can inject up to the amount of ink mentioned in the label. Once again, don’t refill too much. You have to stop injecting the ink when you see the ink come out from the refill hole (suck a bit if necessary).

Some refill kit manufacturers don’t like to use syringe in their product for packaging reason. The syringe make the refill kit bulky, taken too much space in their packaging and less attractive appearance, etc.

Refilling cartridge HP C6656A (HP 56)

Frankly speaking, this is the easiest cartridge to refill compare to the old generation of HP cartridges such as HP 51626A (HP 26) or HP 51645A (HP 45). The cartridge use sponge to hold the ink and then covered by HP OEM (original) sticker to cover the refill hole.

The refilling process is straight forward, it will take not more than 20 minutes if you refill for the first time and less than 10 minutes if you have more experience. Feel free to learn refilling the cartridge in this guide and get more information about troubleshooting when the problems arise.

Printers that use this cartridge

Deskjet Series: Deskjet 450, 3325, 3420, 3535, 3550, 3650, 5160, 5550, 5652
PhotoSmart Series: PhotoSmart 130, 7150, 7260, 7550, 7660, 7960
PSC Series: PSC 1110, 1210, 1350, 2110, 2210, 2310, 2410
OfficeJet: OfficeJet 4110, 5510, 6110Â

Refill Instruction for HP C6656A (HP 56), Black Ink Cartridge

	Step 1 - Putting cartridge into refill clip Insert the printhead part (nozzle) of the cartridge into the refill clip, and push the top of the cartridge all the way in until you hear it clicking into place.
	Step 2 - Putting sticker on top of the original sticker Attach the supplied sticker on the label of the original cartridge as shown in the figure.Warning: Be careful to attach the sticker in the right shape and direction.
	Step 3 - Putting needle into the syringe Open the cap of the ink container and connect the needle.
	Step 4 - Insert the needle Insert the needle deep into the ink injection inlet marked on the sticker. Note: Make sure the refill hole is bigger than refill hole to allow air inside the cartridge to escape. You can turn arround the needle to enlarge the refill hole.
	Step 5 - Inject the ink Pull up the injection needle about 5mm backward, and then inject SLOWLY (max 10ml) of ink by pressing the piston of the syringe for about 15 seconds, and then pull out the ink container. Warning: If you inject ink too much or too quickly, it may flow over or leak out.
	Step 6 - Suck the ink about 1 ml Put a suction syringe (WITHOUT needle) to the rubber hole at the bottom of refill clip, then suck SLOWLY about 1 ml of ink. Warning: For this step, remember to use the suction syringe without the needle and take special care that widthdrawn ink does not flow back into the cartridge. Note: The objective of this procedure is to clean the cartridge nozzle to improve printing quality.
	Step 7 - Cartridge is ready for use Remove the cartridge from the refill clip and clean the excessive ink around the nozzle by touching down to the soft tissue. Install the cartridge into printer and run the “cartridge cleaning” process before use. Note: Don’t cover the refill hole, leave it open. Â

That’s all, hope this instruction help you to save your printing cost.