A Simple Way to Make Refillable Spongeless Cartridges

Getting new cartridges for your printer all the time can be an expensive hassle. I’m here to save you from that trouble, so today’s lesson will be about how to use a simple method to make refillable, spongeless cartridges out of the original Canon cartridges intended for only one use. You can buy the DIY kit for this process from my website, BCHTechnologies.com, under the “Printer Refill Solutions” category in the accessories tab.

Ideally, this process will let you make a Canon PG 240 or PG 245 ink cartridge intended for single use into one that you can use 20-40 times before replacing it. It’s best to read this article and be sure you’re confident in your abilities before attempting this.

If you order the kit on my website, you will find that it comes with a new cartridge cover with an air pressure assembly and a black plug for refilling ink, as well as a flathead priming syringe with a silicone tip. You will also need a working cartridge, 150 grit sandpaper, Scotch or Gorilla brand super glue, Saran wrap, a blade, and ink. I recommend using BCH brand black ID30K ink (also available on my website).

Once you get your kit, start by using a piece of saran wrap to cover up the printhead. If you look at the top of the cartridge, you should see a seam separating it from the cover. Wedge the blade into that seam from one of the corners. Using the middle of the blade as a pivot, you should easily be able to pry the cover off.

Remove the sponge from the inside of the cartridge. Next, use the 150 grit sandpaper to even out the tops of the cartridge’s walls. Wipe off the dust with a slightly damp paper towel. Try to get most of the dust out of the interior of the cartridge as well.

Next, we’ll need to seal the new BCH brand cartridge cover with super glue. Since the new cartridge cover’s shape will be different from the original’s, make sure you move it around and find the correct placement before gluing it down. The narrow side of the cover should be facing the side of the cartridge with the electronic ribbon on it.

Apply an even layer of super glue across the entire top of each of the cartridge’s walls. The seal must be air-tight, so make sure there aren’t any blank or empty spots. Install the new cover and set the cartridge upside-down on a hard, level surface. Apply some pressure or a clamp to keep the lid in place.

Now it’s time to fill up the cartridge with ink. Fill the syringe with black BCH brand ink. Remove the black plug from the new cartridge and set it aside. While the original canon ink cartridge could take a total of 7 mL with the sponge in it, it will now easily be able to take at least 20 mL since we’ve removed the sponge. Fill the cartridge almost all the way with ink, leaving room for the plug. Wipe off the electronic ribbon.

For the first refill of the cartridge, we must remove all the air bubbles from the interior and bottom of the printhead. We will do this using the flathead priming syringe in the DIY kit. Blow up to 1 mL of air into the air hole on top of the ink refilling plug. Ink should run down from the cartridge, so use a paper towel to dab up any excess. Do not use a rubbing motion. One gentle dab will be enough.

After you print with this newly refilled cartridge a few times, you will notice that your Canon printer’s ink counter is no longer accurate. Eventually, the LED light starts flashing, and the printer will stop printing.

Go to the device your printer is hooked up to. You’ll see that your printer is giving you an error message claiming to be out of ink and asking you to cancel the print job. Do not cancel the print job. All you have to do is hold down the printer’s stop button for 5-10 seconds until the LED stops flashing.

Your printer should get back to work. Since it can no longer count the ink accurately, you will have to monitor it yourself. Keep an eye on the print quality. If any lines start to look faded or splotchy, they might be getting low. We’ve found that the refilled cartridges can last for around 500 pages.

I hope this blog helped! For more DIY printer tips and tricks, follow me on YouTube at Kevin at BCH. You can watch a video walkthrough of this blog post here. Happy printing!