HP 63 Refillable Cartridge: Sponge vs. Spongeless-Which Design Is Better?

Question

I watched your video, "How to Make a SPONGE Refillable HP Integrated Cartridge: 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65." For an HP 63 cartridge, which refillable design do you think is better: a sponge cartridge or a spongeless cartridge?

Watch the BCH Technologies video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjVIqurJEJo&lc=UgyPjRjYWwybUm7ieXZ4AaABAg]

Answer

For an HP 63 integrated printhead cartridge, I generally prefer the sponge design for most users, especially if reliability and ease of use are more important than maximizing ink capacity. A spongeless cartridge can work very well, but it tends to require more careful control of the cartridge's internal pressure, venting, filling level, and sealing. Therefore, I would not say that one design is universally better. The better choice depends on how frequently you refill cartridges, how comfortable you are troubleshooting ink-flow problems, and what you want to accomplish.

Why I Usually Recommend the Sponge Design for an HP 63

The sponge inside the cartridge performs an important function. It is not simply taking up space. It acts as an ink reservoir while helping regulate the ink delivered to the printhead. The sponge holds ink by capillary action and helps maintain the slight negative pressure needed to prevent ink from simply running out through the printhead nozzles.

This makes a sponge cartridge relatively forgiving. If the cartridge is filled correctly, the sponge can help maintain more consistent ink delivery as the cartridge moves back and forth in the printer. It can also reduce the likelihood of ink dripping from the nozzles after filling.

For someone experimenting with refillable HP 63 cartridges for the first time, this is a significant advantage. You have fewer variables to manage.

The disadvantages are that the sponge occupies space that could otherwise contain ink, and an older sponge can become less effective after repeated use. It may develop dried areas, become compressed, trap air, or stop absorbing ink evenly. If the cartridge has been allowed to run completely dry, restoring proper saturation can sometimes be difficult.

However, when the sponge is in good condition and is filled properly, the design is generally stable and predictable.

Advantages of a Spongeless HP 63 Cartridge

The major attraction of a spongeless design is ink capacity. Removing the sponge leaves considerably more internal space for liquid ink. For people who print frequently, this can mean fewer refill cycles.

A spongeless conversion also eliminates certain sponge-related problems. There is no sponge to dry out, become compressed, develop channels, or hold bubbles internally.

That does not mean a spongeless cartridge is automatically easier to operate. Once the sponge is removed, the cartridge loses the material that originally regulated ink flow. You now have to accomplish that pressure control through the design of the cartridge itself.

This is where most of the difficulty comes from.

Pressure Balance Is Critical in a Spongeless Cartridge

An HP 63 is an integrated thermal inkjet cartridge, meaning that the printhead and ink reservoir are part of the same cartridge. Ink cannot simply be supplied to the printhead like water flowing from a bottle. The pressure inside the reservoir must remain within a suitable range.

If a spongeless cartridge develops too much positive pressure, several symptoms can occur:

• Ink may drip or seep from the printhead.

• Colors may contaminate one another on a tri-color cartridge.

• Ink may accumulate around the nozzle plate.

• Printing may become excessively dark or smeared.

• The cartridge may leak while sitting in the printer.

If there is too much negative pressure, the opposite problem occurs. The printhead cannot draw ink efficiently, and you may see missing nozzles, faded printing, intermittent lines, or a cartridge that appears clogged even though plenty of ink remains inside.

For this reason, vent size, vent location, fill level, seals, internal air volume, and cartridge orientation become much more important with a spongeless conversion.

Air Is Not Necessarily the Enemy

One common misconception is that a refillable cartridge should contain absolutely no air. With many cartridge designs, some controlled air space is necessary because the internal pressure has to change as ink is consumed.

The important issue is not simply whether air exists inside the cartridge. The issue is whether the cartridge can maintain the correct pressure while allowing ink to reach the printhead.

A completely full spongeless cartridge with an improperly designed vent can actually perform worse than one that has an appropriate air space.

Which Would I Choose for an HP 63?

If I were making an HP 63 refillable cartridge for general home or office use, I would choose the sponge version. It is usually easier to fill, easier to transport, more tolerant of small filling errors, and less likely to suddenly dump ink through the printhead.

If I were building cartridges for frequent or high-volume printing and I was comfortable experimenting with venting and pressure control, I might choose the spongeless version because of its increased capacity.

So, my preference would be:

Sponge for simplicity and reliability. Spongeless for capacity and experimentation.

For most people watching the video and making their first refillable HP 63 cartridge, I would start with the sponge system.

The Cartridge Condition Matters More Than the Conversion

There is another important factor with HP 63 cartridges: you are reusing an integrated printhead.

A successful refill does not necessarily mean that the cartridge itself will continue working indefinitely. The printhead contains microscopic heating elements that rapidly heat the ink to eject droplets. If the nozzles operate without sufficient ink, those thermal elements can overheat and become permanently damaged.

Therefore, it is usually better to refill an HP integrated cartridge before it becomes completely empty rather than continuing to print until nothing appears on the page.

Repeatedly printing with faded or missing colors can shorten the life of the printhead.

The cartridge also contains electronics and electrical contacts. Eventually, a cartridge can stop functioning because of electrical failure rather than because it needs more ink. At that point, adding ink, cleaning the nozzles, changing the sponge, or converting it to a spongeless design will not repair the electronic failure.

Don't Depend Entirely on the Ink-Level Display

After refilling an HP 63 cartridge, the printer may continue showing the cartridge as low or empty. Refilling the physical reservoir generally does not make the printer treat the cartridge as a brand-new OEM cartridge.

Therefore, judge the cartridge primarily by actual printing performance rather than expecting the estimated ink-level indicator to return to full.

If the printer accepts the cartridge and printing remains normal, a low-ink warning after refilling does not necessarily mean that the cartridge has no ink.

Ink Selection Is Also Important

Whichever reservoir design you choose, use ink intended for HP thermal inkjet cartridges and preferably formulated specifically for the HP 63 family or equivalent integrated cartridges.

Ink viscosity, surface tension, drying characteristics, and other properties affect how easily ink travels through the cartridge and fires through the printhead.

The original HP 63 black cartridge uses a different ink formulation from the inks used in the tri-color cartridge, so I would not treat every refill ink as interchangeable simply because it is physically possible to inject it into the cartridge.

An inappropriate ink can create symptoms that look like a cartridge-design problem when the actual problem is ink flow or compatibility.

Avoid Overfilling the Sponge Version

With a sponge cartridge, more ink is not always better. The goal is to saturate the sponge appropriately without creating excessive free ink inside the reservoir.

If the cartridge begins dripping from the nozzle plate after filling, that can indicate that it has been overfilled or that its internal pressure is no longer balanced.

You may also see a good initial print followed by poor printing after several pages if the ink has not distributed evenly through the sponge.

Allowing the cartridge some time after filling can sometimes help the ink migrate throughout the sponge before printing.

What About the HP 63 Tri-Color Cartridge?

A spongeless conversion becomes even more sensitive with a tri-color cartridge because cyan, magenta, and yellow must remain separated.

If the internal modifications allow one chamber to communicate with another, or if excessive ink pressure causes ink to collect at the nozzle plate, you can experience cross-contamination.

For example, yellow may become orange, cyan may acquire a purple tint, or magenta may become contaminated by another color.

For that reason, I would be even more inclined to recommend keeping the sponge system when modifying a tri-color HP 63 unless you have a specific reason for going spongeless and understand how the separate chambers will be vented and sealed.

Bottom Line

For an HP 63, I would recommend a sponge refillable design to most users. It sacrifices some ink capacity, but the sponge is doing useful work by regulating ink flow and pressure. It tends to make the cartridge more forgiving and predictable.

A spongeless HP 63 can hold more ink and can perform extremely well when properly engineered, so it can be attractive for someone who refills frequently and is comfortable adjusting venting and pressure. However, it is more sensitive to filling technique, air pressure, seals, and vent configuration.

If your objective is simply to make a reliable refillable HP 63 cartridge, I would start with the sponge version shown in the video. Once you understand how the cartridge behaves, you can experiment with a spongeless version and compare the results yourself.

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Thank you again for watching our videos, supporting BCH Technologies, and taking the time to ask this question. We greatly appreciate your interest, and I hope this explanation helps you decide which HP 63 refillable-cartridge design makes the most sense for your particular use.