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Alert!!
If the cartridge you are about to fill has been out of ink for more than a few minutes,
your chance of success is greatly reduced. HP ink dries very fast and when a chamber becomes
empty, the ink starts to dry and clog the ink jets in the head. For best results, always start
with a working cartridge. See our FAQ's page
for "How can I unclog cartridges that contain the head?" if you think your cartridge is clogged.
Step 1:
Remove the top from the cartridge. Place the cartridge in a vise on a workbench. Do not over
tighten the vise. Grab the top of the cartridge with a pair of pliers or vise grips. Gently
rock the top, side to side until it breaks loose.
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Step 2:
With the top removed, you will see the three chambers for cyan, magenta and yellow. If you
have squeeze bottles, attach the needle cap and needle to each one. Make sure the o'ring is
installed inside the needle cap and that the cap is tight. If you have a syringe, attach the
needle and fill the syringe with ink.
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Step 3:
Set the cartridge, head down, on some paper toweling or newspaper so the head is in contact with
the paper. This is to prevent a drop of ink from forming on the head and being sucked up into the
adjacent chambers. Insert the needle into the center of a chamber and push it to the bottom of
the sponge aiming at the print head. Then withdraw the needle about 1/8".
SLOWLY inject the ink into the sponge. After a few seconds of injecting,
withdraw the needle and re-insert into the same chamber, only in a different spot.
Pull back a little bit, then continue to inject ink, SLOWLY. Do this three
or four times until you start to see wet ink appear at the top of the sponge.
As soon as you see ink begin to appear, STOP. That is enough. Do not over fill.
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Step 4:
Repeat this process for each color. Be careful to get the correct color in the proper
chamber. If you put the wrong color in, the cartridge will be worthless. You will
see evidence of the correct color on top of the sponge. If you are using a syringe,
be sure to wash it and the needle out in warm water before switching colors. A few
drops of the wrong color will make a big difference.
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Step 5:
If you over fill, use your syringe or squeeze bottle to extract some of the excess ink.
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Step 6:
When you are finished filling each chamber, put the top back on and secure it with a piece of tape.
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Step 7:
Set the cartridge inside a paper or Styrofoam cup so that it is suspended and not touching
the bottom. Let is stay in the cup until all dripping has stopped. If you overfilled it
may take up to 30 minutes. Touch the print head with paper towel, you should see that
all three colors are flowing. If they don't, you most likely have a clogged print head.
See our refilling tips page on how to unclog a print head. Don't rub the print head with paper
towel or cloth, just blot it.
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Step 8:
When you reinstall the cartridge, run a couple of cleaning cycles. If the colors are off
set up a cyan, magenta and yellow bar chart on you computer and print about 10 pages.
This will purge any cross contamination that occurred during refilling.
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