How to remove ink from Roland ink cartridges that still contain ink?

[Jim Hill]

Just wondering out loud if anyone has had any success removing the remaining ink once the printer says it's time to change cartridges.

I have many cartridges that feel like they have between 25% or more of the ink is still in them.

Each time I place another order for new ink cartridges, it drives me a little crazy, thinking I am only using about 75% to 85% of the ink I pay for.

I have tried a few things with limited success, like placing a shim under one side of the cartridges, so the ink runs towards the sensor.

Any ideas on how to correct this problem that many of us seem to deal with every day.

Jim

 

[balstestrat]

What was so wrong with my syringe method that you needed a new thread?

 

[Jim Hill]

What was so wrong with my syringe method that you needed a new thread?

At age 75 my memory is not what it used to be.
Please explain to me how you used the syringe method to extract and put the ink into another cartridge.

Sorry, I forgot about your previous message.

Jim

 

[stxrmxn]

If they are the plastic ones with the tab just cut the tab off. Of course then you run the risk of the ink running out completely but in my experience got about an extra 20 - 30 metres

 

[Jim Hill]

If they are the plastic ones with the tab just cut the tab off. Of course then you run the risk of the ink running out completely but in my experience got about an extra 20 - 30 metres

Thanks for the tip. Did you open the cartridge or just pull it out the side to cut it off?

I understand once you cut the tab, the sensor will not warn you about running out of ink. My cartridges are certainly not empty by a long shot, and I always wanted to weight an empty cartridge to see what it weights empty and then compare that to my cartridges to see the difference.

I always thought it was a scam when you purchased a brand-new ink jet printer, and it came with ink cartridges that were only about half full.

Thanks for your advice. Jim

 

[Solventinkjet]

The cartridges can be flagged as empty in two ways. With the plastic flag as mentioned above, or the machine has estimated that it's empty and flagged the chip on it's own. The machine guesses how much ink has been run through the head based on how many dots have been fired etc. It also keeps track of how many cleanings have been done and assumes a certain amount of ink goes through during the process. So if the plastic flag is flagging too soon, you're sensor might be out of place. But if the machine is flagging it based on it's estimates, it's more likely that your maintenance station is not working at 100% efficiency. So the machine thinks it ran 14mL through but it only ran 10mL so that difference gets left in the cartridge.

 

[Jim Hill]

The cartridges can be flagged as empty in two ways. With the plastic flag as mentioned above, or the machine has estimated that it's empty and flagged the chip on it's own. The machine guesses how much ink has been run through the head based on how many dots have been fired etc. It also keeps track of how many cleanings have been done and assumes a certain amount of ink goes through during the process. So if the plastic flag is flagging too soon, you're sensor might be out of place. But if the machine is flagging it based on it's estimates, it's more likely that your maintenance station is not working at 100% efficiency. So the machine thinks it ran 14mL through but it only ran 10mL so that difference gets left in the cartridge.

Thanks for the explanation.

When I weight the new 220 ml cartridge, and it was 13.2 ml When I did the same thing with the 220 cartridge the printer said should be changed it had 11.0 ml

It seems to me that there is plenty of ink left in the cartridge, just my picking it up.

Is this common problem in other Roland printers, or are they all different?

Thanks, Jim

 

[Solventinkjet]

Thanks for the explanation.

When I weight the new 220 ml cartridge, and it was 13.2 ml When I did the same thing with the 220 cartridge the printer said should be changed it had 11.0 ml

It seems to me that there is plenty of ink left in the cartridge, just my picking it up.

Is this common problem in other Roland printers, or are they all different?

Thanks, Jim

It's very common with this type of ink system. Any Epson based Mimaki, Roland, and Mutoh use the same system and I get people asking this question fairly often. It seems to get worse as time goes by. I definitely have seen machines that suck every last drop out of the cartridge so it's totally possible for the system to work well. I think as time goes by, the amount of ink it assumes is being used doesn't actually match reality so it's hard to avoid.

 

[highrolling24]

my roland VG2 is amazing on how little to none ink is left in the bag it sucks it flat. I did have a mimaki jv3 before this one and that thing left alot in a cartridge (I Think it was like SolventInk said that it thinks its using more than it is because of the cleaning cycles not pulling as good) but I did use the syringe method to empty the mimaki cartridges but I was able to get chips to fool it

 

[Johnny Best]

At age 75 my memory is not what it used to be.

Prevagen, it will help with that memory thing.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Prevagen, it will help with that memory thing.

I get those ads all the time and I'm only 36

 

[Johnny Best]

I take it with Viagra so I remember where to put it.

 

[Jim Hill]

Special thanks to Gary for calling and explaining to me how he solved the problem with ink cartridges that show as empty but still have ink left in them.
Signs 101 is a great place to exchange ideas on how to solve many of the problems we all share in common.

Jim

 

[highrolling24]

Special thanks to Gary for calling and explaining to me how he solved the problem with ink cartridges that show as empty but still have ink left in them.
Signs 101 is a great place to exchange ideas on how to solve many of the problems we all share in common.

Jim

Please share how he solved this problem then!

 

[garyroy]

This is going to sound very elementary, almost too simple. You may even say "I knew that".
When my Roland printer shows an empty cartridge on the led panel, I remove the cartridge, face the nozzle on the cartridge toward the floor
and very gently tap the side of the cartridge on all 4 sides to let the ink flow down toward the nozzle, (none comes out).
Do that for about 10 or 12 seconds. Depending on my print coverage I've had cartridges run anywhere from 4 hours to 4 days longer. When the cartridge shows empty again, they are
bone dry. When you shake it there is not a drop left over. All I'm saying is that it has worked for me for years and the guy who showed it to me runs Roland printers
and also sells a boat load of ink to other printer shops.
If I had just pulled and discarded the cartridge on its initial empty notification, I would have wasted a lot of ink over the years.

 

[CSOCSO]

i have been there and done that. 8-10 "empty" cartridges can give you a full 440cc cartridge. I usually just stand up the cartridge, cut the paper on top and bottom ( alongside the edge) and hit it with the hammer along the edge starting from the back. It will pop open.
I have done this for a while and still have like 200
empty cartridges left from years ago but I have stopped doing this especially since with 3rd party chip the printer cleans WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAy too much and just makes parts fail which happened because a part name choke failed eventually and the machine was only 3 years old.


Another thing you can do is open up the cartridge and carefully roll the bag up and all the ink will go forward towards that tab that tells the printer is its empty. The only issue with this is that the bag is glued down and ( sometimes) very hard to remove. You could just roll up the bag. take a towel. Fold it up a few times and put it inside the cartridge so the ink has no space towards the back of the bag. But I do not know if this will cause issue. There is no air in the bag. thats for sure so it cant suck air...

edit: I just ran out of magenta. i tried to stand the cartridge on the front and tap. Ink did rush to the front of it. And printer was able to print for another whopping 20 seconds. Then I opened it to do my towel trick and surprisingly the bag was very very empty. I did not even try to do the trick on this one but sometimes there is a lot more ink left in the bag.

 

[stxrmxn]

Thanks for the tip. Did you open the cartridge or just pull it out the side to cut it off?

I understand once you cut the tab, the sensor will not warn you about running out of ink. My cartridges are certainly not empty by a long shot, and I always wanted to weight an empty cartridge to see what it weights empty and then compare that to my cartridges to see the difference.

I always thought it was a scam when you purchased a brand-new ink jet printer, and it came with ink cartridges that were only about half full.

Thanks for your advice. Jim

Just get a knife and cut the tab off ( if they are the solid white plastic cartridges) no need to open.

 

[VizualVoice]

Thanks for the tip. Did you open the cartridge or just pull it out the side to cut it off?

I understand once you cut the tab, the sensor will not warn you about running out of ink. My cartridges are certainly not empty by a long shot, and I always wanted to weight an empty cartridge to see what it weights empty and then compare that to my cartridges to see the difference.

I always thought it was a scam when you purchased a brand-new ink jet printer, and it came with ink cartridges that were only about half full.

Thanks for your advice. Jim

I've made a point to weigh full and empty carts, unfortunately I don't have the numbers in front of me right now.

I will agree with others in that you can slice the plastic tab off and keep going for a while

 

[VizualVoice]

The cartridges can be flagged as empty in two ways. With the plastic flag as mentioned above, or the machine has estimated that it's empty and flagged the chip on it's own. The machine guesses how much ink has been run through the head based on how many dots have been fired etc. It also keeps track of how many cleanings have been done and assumes a certain amount of ink goes through during the process. So if the plastic flag is flagging too soon, you're sensor might be out of place. But if the machine is flagging it based on it's estimates, it's more likely that your maintenance station is not working at 100% efficiency. So the machine thinks it ran 14mL through but it only ran 10mL so that difference gets left in the cartridge.

That's interesting, thanks for sharing your knowledge!

 

[VizualVoice]

i have been there and done that. 8-10 "empty" cartridges can give you a full 440cc cartridge. I usually just stand up the cartridge, cut the paper on top and bottom ( alongside the edge) and hit it with the hammer along the edge starting from the back. It will pop open.
I have done this for a while and still have like 200
empty cartridges left from years ago but I have stopped doing this especially since with 3rd party chip the printer cleans WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAy too much and just makes parts fail which happened because a part name choke failed eventually and the machine was only 3 years old.


Another thing you can do is open up the cartridge and carefully roll the bag up and all the ink will go forward towards that tab that tells the printer is its empty. The only issue with this is that the bag is glued down and ( sometimes) very hard to remove. You could just roll up the bag. take a towel. Fold it up a few times and put it inside the cartridge so the ink has no space towards the back of the bag. But I do not know if this will cause issue. There is no air in the bag. thats for sure so it cant suck air...

edit: I just ran out of magenta. i tried to stand the cartridge on the front and tap. Ink did rush to the front of it. And printer was able to print for another whopping 20 seconds. Then I opened it to do my towel trick and surprisingly the bag was very very empty. I did not even try to do the trick on this one but sometimes there is a lot more ink left in the bag.

I wonder if you can turn in all those empties at Staples for credit