Dry Sponge Refill Instructions

All Epson cartridges, Updated May 10, 2002

This procedure is an alternate to waiting for the virgin empty cartridges to be available for the newer Epson Printers. For the older printers, virgin empties are available and their is no need to go through this procedure. Just purchase a virgin empty.

Plus this is an excellent way to stop the frustration caused by Residual Foam build up in the cartridge. Once you cut the top off of a cartridge, it can be used hundreds of times. If you do it to 2 of them, then you can alternate them and never be without a fresh cartridge.

It is difficult to cut the top off clean, but worth the effort. If you are not mechanically inclined, then this procedure may not be for you.

This is an alternate refill method. This is not for children or anyone that is accident prone. Using a utility knife or single sided razor blade, trace around the edge of the cartridge top about five times. With the help of a screwdriver or knife blade, the top will come loose and separate from the cartridge. The internal partitions between the chambers must be separated from the top. Use a long knife blade or thin saw blade to cut them away. Try to keep the damage to a minimum. If large pieces of the partition are removed, allowing the sponges to touch, color contamination can occur.

Now the sponges can be removed. Take the sponges out and rinse them clean with warm water until all of the ink is gone. The cartridge and top can also be rinsed clean. Next, squeeze out all the water from the sponge that you can. Then either dry the sponges in the sun or put the clean sponges in your microwave and dry them for 5 to 8 minutes or however long it takes for them become completely dry. Be careful not to over heat them. If they start to smell, that's enough. You can also let them stand overnight to dry if you don't want to use the microwave or use conventional oven at about 150F. They must be completely dry for this procedure to work.

Use a pair of scissors and cut about 1/4 inch from the top of the sponge. Next, put the dry sponges back in the cartridge. Make sure they go back into the correct chamber. They will still retain their color, so match them up with the correct chamber. When you put the sponges back in, make sure they are firmly seated on the bottom of the chamber and not too tightly packed. They should look even and be slightly below the top of the cartridge.

Using a MIS bottom fill adapter, inject ink into each sponge through the exit port on the bottom of the cartridge, one color at a time. For cartridges without Epson poppet valves in them, insert a MIS Rivet in the exit port after injecting the ink to prevent cross port contamination. Be careful not to overfill or you will contaminate the other colors. If you see the sponge start to get wet, stop immediately. Do not inject too much ink. If you can see ink appear at the top of the sponge, it is full. For our virgin empty cartridges we list the filling volumes on the Virgin Empty Refill Procedure page. Fill all chambers, with the correct color ink, of course. Magenta is always in the center, yellow is on one end, cyan on the other and the light cyan and light magenta are adjacent to the regular cyan and magenta.

Next, re-attach the top with tape. Make sure there is a vent hole in the top for each chamber. Be careful when doing this. If you compress the sponges and ink wells up and crosses over into the next chamber, they you will have to start the whole procedure over again. This time use less ink so the over fill will not cross port contaminate the adjacent chambers.

Almost done now. After you have injected the ink let the cartridge set overnight. This will give the bubbles in the ink a chance to dissipate. You do not want air to enter the print head. After an overnight rest with the vent holes open the foam will be reduced. If you are in a hurry, then you can try installing the freshly filled cart in the printer. Don't be surprised if you have problems clearing the nozzles. If you do, let is set overnight and try again in the morning.

After an over night aging, remove the rivets. Take out one at a time. If ink is dripping out the bottom, let it drip until it stops. Then, remove the next rivet and wait for dripping to stop. Repeat this until they are all removed. Never put a dripping cartridge into the printer. Don't press paper towel or cloth up against the exit port because it will wick out all of the ink from the sponge. Now, install the cartridge in the printer and run a couple of cleaning cycles. Remember, that when you hand fill a cartridge you can not get as much ink in it as the factory does. They use vacuum assisted refill equipment. With the Dry Sponge Procedure, you will get 80 to 90 percent of a factory fill. So when you are watching your ink level indicator on the screen, don't go lower than about 90% or you will suck air into the print head causing all sorts of problems.

Return to Instructions Page

Quick Links