Refilling Printer cartridges with Fountain Pen Ink

[Wizergig]

I had this crazy idea about refilling a printer cartridge with some Noodlers Blue Ghost. Does anyone know if it will work, or how it would be done?

[ericthered2004]

I guess you could fill a cartridge pretty easily with a standard syringe, but I seem to remember a past thread indicating that, in fact, the ink won't print satisfactorily at all.

 

Cheers,

Eric

[liverman]

Inkjet print heads vaporize the droplets of ink at high temperatures - the ink is formulated to survive that somewhat violent expulsion from the cartridge and maintain useful properties like color, dry time, paper adherence, low bleed factor, etc.

 

Putting a variety of fountain pen inks into inkjet carts would be an interesting experiment. Be prepared to sacrifice a few carts, print heads and maybe a few printers to the cause

 

Greg

 

[JimStrutton]

I had this crazy idea about refilling a printer cartridge with some Noodlers Blue Ghost. Does anyone know if it will work, or how it would be done?

 

Somebody around here works with these inks I recall and when the discussion was around the other way, it was a big no no! I assume that the same is going to apply. I think that inkjet inks are oil based, something to do with the fact that on some printers the ink is heated to make it expand and squirt onto the paper and some use micropumps. The water content of FP ink is going to cause havoc with those mechanisms. Be prepared to wreck a couple of printers I reckon

 

Jim

 

[Tricia]

Not too long ago, somewhere on the web (Ha! So that's how new fairy tales begin these days...), someone showed how to take invisible ink from regular ball/gel pen refills and put them in an inkjet cartridge.

 

Found it. (It was on Lifehack.org.)

 

Making an inkjet print with invisible ink.

 

I have NOT tried this, so I'm only passing along information.

[WillAdams]

I used to use Sheaffer Skrip (and occasionally a tiny bit of numbering machine ink to lubricate things) to refill cartridges for DeskJet 500/500C/550C printers and this worked quite well --- nice to be able to print a solid brown using Sheaffer Skrip brown for example.

 

A datapoint, but not sure how useful it'll be since printers have changed a lot since then and the inks asked after are quite a bit different.

 

William

[inkdesigner]

Inkjet print heads vaporize the droplets of ink at high temperatures - the ink is formulated to survive that somewhat violent expulsion from the cartridge and maintain useful properties like color, dry time, paper adherence, low bleed factor, etc.

 

Putting a variety of fountain pen inks into inkjet carts would be an interesting experiment. Be prepared to sacrifice a few carts, print heads and maybe a few printers to the cause

 

Greg

 

I have to agree with Greg on this one. I have made my living out of developing inkjet inks and I can tell you that I believe there is a good possibility they could work in an inkjet printer. There are 2 basic types of printheads. The first is the common thermal head everyone talks about the most. This is where the ink is heated to a high temp in order to eject ink. This is the technology used in HP, Canon, and Lexmark printers. These inks are typically low viscosity(on the order of 2 to 3 centipoise at 25C) high static surface tension(on the order of 40 to 50 mN/m). For instance, a common Canon black has a viscosity of 2.24 cP and a ST of 42.0 mN/m. The Platinum Carbon Black for FP has a ST of 43.4 mN/m and a viscosity of 2.34 cP. Based just on these measurements, I think there is a good chance the Platinum ink would jet thru that Canon printhead.

 

The second technology is a piezoelectric technology, where a charge is passed thru a piezo material, causing vibration which ejects droplets. This is used in Epson printers. These inks are usually higher viscosity(on order of 3.50 to 4.50 cP at 25C) and low surface tension(on order of 27.0 to 35.0 mN/m).

 

The biggest question for me is not if it will jet or not, but how reliable is it. I am pretty sure you can get some good short term jetting with a FP ink, but its long term stabilty might not be so good. Not knowing what kind of humectants are in FP ink, I couln't say if they would have good latency in a cartridge. Since FP inks have biocide, biogrowth won't be a problem. Another thing I would worry about is the possbile presence of heavy metal ions in the ink. These could cause issues in the thermal pritheads where the material builds up on the resistor that generates the heat, thereby causing reduced heat transfer and improper drop formation.

 

Inkdesigner

 

[Tricia]

It looks like the guy in the video I linked to above uses a Lexmark printer.

 

Also - NOISE ALERT on the video above. I suggest turning your computer's volume down or off before watching it. It's just an annoying music soundtrack; no voice-over.

 

 

[Pendragon]

The biggest question for me is not if it will jet or not, but how reliable is it. I am pretty sure you can get some good short term jetting with a FP ink, but its long term stabilty might not be so good. Not knowing what kind of humectants are in FP ink, I couln't say if they would have good latency in a cartridge. Since FP inks have biocide, biogrowth won't be a problem. Another thing I would worry about is the possbile presence of heavy metal ions in the ink. These could cause issues in the thermal pritheads where the material builds up on the resistor that generates the heat, thereby causing reduced heat transfer and improper drop formation.

Don't some inkjet cartridges have the printhead built-in? If I remember correctly, HP cartridges do. If one of these printheads became clogged, wouldn't simply chucking the cartridge fix the problem?

[gregamckinney]

For the last year or so, I have refilled the black cartridge for my Epson 860 with Pelikan 4001 Black ink. No issues whatsoever. I think getting a color match on any of the C/M/Y colors would be difficult.

 

greg

[Anne-Sophie]

For the last year or so, I have refilled the black cartridge for my Epson 860 with Pelikan 4001 Black ink. No issues whatsoever. I think getting a color match on any of the C/M/Y colors would be difficult.

 

greg

 

 

 

C= Waterman Florida Blue

M= Saguaro Wine N oodler

Y= Herbin Jaune Bouton d'or

 

[inkdesigner]

The biggest question for me is not if it will jet or not, but how reliable is it. I am pretty sure you can get some good short term jetting with a FP ink, but its long term stabilty might not be so good. Not knowing what kind of humectants are in FP ink, I couln't say if they would have good latency in a cartridge. Since FP inks have biocide, biogrowth won't be a problem. Another thing I would worry about is the possbile presence of heavy metal ions in the ink. These could cause issues in the thermal pritheads where the material builds up on the resistor that generates the heat, thereby causing reduced heat transfer and improper drop formation.

Don't some inkjet cartridges have the printhead built-in? If I remember correctly, HP cartridges do. If one of these printheads became clogged, wouldn't simply chucking the cartridge fix the problem?

 

In some cases, you can do that. Keep in mind, however, that a new genuine HP cartridge can retail for well over $30.00 a pop. Over time, that could add up. Also, some printers have the printhead built into the printer and are not supposed to be serviced or replaced by the end user. Clog one of those puppies, and you are out the whole printer.

 

Inkdesigner

[Wizergig]

Well one thing in my favor here is we aren't talking top of the line printers. It is almost more cost effective today to buy a printer vs. the cartridges. So I figure I'll pick the cheapest on sale one I can find, and when the cartridge runs out I'll refil it with Blue Ghost, and see what happens.

[Pendragon]

Don't some inkjet cartridges have the printhead built-in? If I remember correctly, HP cartridges do. If one of these printheads became clogged, wouldn't simply chucking the cartridge fix the problem?

 

In some cases, you can do that. Keep in mind, however, that a new genuine HP cartridge can retail for well over $30.00 a pop. Over time, that could add up. Also, some printers have the printhead built into the printer and are not supposed to be serviced or replaced by the end user. Clog one of those puppies, and you are out the whole printer.

 

Inkdesigner

True, but the HP inkjet cartridge will still need to be replaced when it is empty. I agree that using fountain pen ink in a printer with a built-in printhead is asking for trouble, though. There are printhead cleaning cartridges available, maybe they would offer a solution?

 

So what is the point in using fountain pen ink in an inkjet printer anyway?

[qwertydude]

Ressurecting this thread, my printer ran out of ink, HP 4100. I didn't want to buy another one for $17.99 so I stuck in some of my American Eel and printed a couple all black test pages to get the ink flowing, worked just fine. So I printed out some text pages and it again worked flawlessly. I guess I'll see over time if it still keeps working. If not I'll just buy a new cartridge. If it works, I've got a ton of ink left to keep on refilling. Cool thing is is that when it dried it's bulletproof printed pages.

[coldman]

So what is the point in using fountain pen ink in an inkjet printer anyway?

 

If it works, it's cheaper than buying a whole new ink cartridge. Then there's curiosity, the joy of discovery, and the fun of beating the system and saving a penny in the process.

 

Although, seeing what some people are willing to pay for a pen (and how much I've spent on pens and ink) I somehow doubt that the financial argument is the primary one

[TwilightFury]

Not too long ago, somewhere on the web (Ha! So that's how new fairy tales begin these days...), someone showed how to take invisible ink from regular ball/gel pen refills and put them in an inkjet cartridge.

 

Found it. (It was on Lifehack.org.)

 

Making an inkjet print with invisible ink.

 

I have NOT tried this, so I'm only passing along information.

 

Ahh thanks for that link! Cool to watch

[Permanent]

For the last year or so, I have refilled the black cartridge for my Epson 860 with Pelikan 4001 Black ink. No issues whatsoever. I think getting a color match on any of the C/M/Y colors would be difficult.

 

greg

Hello Greg,

 

I think about using Pelikan 4001 Black with my Epson Stylus DX4450. Can you give an update about using FP ink with your Epson printer: are you still printing without issues? Did you also use FP ink for the C/M/Y colors?

Thank you in advance for your answer.

 

Bastiën

Edited November 13, 2011 by Permanent

[dylim1]

It's been some time since someone posted here. Any updates? Did it work long term?

[Sasha Royale]

If it makes you happy to try, do it. However, if the ink dries unusually fast, under printer heat, you print heads might clog. If the ink dries slower, you will be treated to a lovely "SCHMEER" of color.

 

With all respect, what might you wish to accomplish by using "alien" ink, in your printer ?