The first time you refill a cartridge, don't get discouraged if you get some ink on your hands. After your first time you will quickly learn to avoid this problem. If you do get some ink on yourself, simply use a mild bleach and water to remove it. This will clean the ink off your hands. Wash with soap and water when you are finished with the bleach.

• The ink is not considered as a toxic substance.

  It is mainly water, with a bit of ethylene glycol and sometimes up to 3 percent alcohol added. It tastes bad and may cause some gastric distress (vomiting and/or diarrhea) if you drink enough.
  Don't induce vomiting. Give several glasses of water to dilute the ink.
  Keep in mind -- the inks are about as toxic as dishwashing soap -- if you drink enough, you can get sick. But the inks intentionally don't have the harsh chemicals that are in some inks because the chemists knew these inks would be used in offices and homes.

• If someone is allergic to the ink

  As with anything  more extreme symptoms (hives and other allergic symptoms) can occur. Be prepared and keep an eye out for those symptoms -- especially if there is any past history of ink allergies.

• The ink can definitely cause eye irritation.

  If someone gets ink in their eyes, you should flush the eyes with clean water.

• Why we must keep the ink out of the reach of kids and pets?

  Perhaps the most common problem you will avoid by keeping the ink out of the reach of kids  and pets is simply the avoidance of a Big Mess. Right now, we'd like you to imagine the artistic effect that your 3-year-old and/or Fido the dog could create with an entire pint bottle of magenta ink. Definitely put up the ink! 

• Don't let your cartridge dry out

  The number one refilling problem is a dried out cartridge. If your cartridge is left empty for more than 1 hour, the ink will dry and clog the micro holes at the outlet of the print head. When refilled, your cartridge may produce a sub-standard print quality such as streaks or dull output. If your cartridge has been empty for a few days and not properly stored, we suggest that you throw the cartridge away, buy a new one along with a refill kit so you can refill it as soon as it get empty or before that. Another way is to place your empty cartridge into a ziplock bag with a damp cloth to keep the cartridge moist until you can refill it.
  
  The best way to keep your printer running is to have a backup cartridge. Keep the backups filled. When the one in the printer goes empty, put in the backup. Then refill the empty as soon as possible. Store in a zip lock bag with a damp cloth until you can get to it.
  
  If you do a lot of printing, you can "top off" your cartridge. By knowing how many pages your full cartridge can print gives you a mental signal to "top off" when you reach the 3/4 empty point. Some of the cartridges are "see thru" so you can fill them when they are not quite empty.
  

• Print odd colors

  One of the color is out of ink or does not come out
  Desired Color/ Missing Color/ Result
  Green/ Yellow/ Blue
  Orange/ Yellow/ Red
  Orange/ Magenta/ Yellow
  Violet/ Magenta/ Blue
  Green/ Cyan/ Yellow
  Violet/ Cyan/ Red
  For example, if you want the color of green, you get the color of blue that means you have to refill the color of yellow.
  Everything is with a shade of brown, or colors are dirty, or strange colors are printed.
  You have accidentally injected one ink into the wrong chamber or the inks have over-flowed and mixed.
  You can either trash the cartridge or simply begin printing out a heavy page of graphics repeatedly to flush out the ink. Then refill properly.

• Prints with streaks of some parts of letters printing, some parts are printing

  This means that your print head is partially clogged.
  Use the printer cleaning routine.
  Prepare a shallow dish of warm water, about 1/4" deep. Immerse the print head (not the air vent) in the water for 10 to 15 minutes. Wipe the water off with a soft tissue or cotton swab before installing it in the printer. Ensure the print head is dry before reinstalling the cartridge. Run the printer head cleaning utility 2 or 3 times to initiate the flow of ink. If this does not solve the problem, repeat the procedure 2 or 3 more times. This procedure will not recover a burned-out print head. If the procedure does not work, you will have to buy a new cartridge and use up its ink before refilling it.

• Stop printing or long horizontal line but print again on next pass

  This indicates that the print head is not getting enough ink. This is common the first refill in HP 51645A cartridges because of foam generated by the original HP ink. This foam forms at the exit filter just before the printhead and is caused because the original HP ink foams if mixed under suction with air -- such as what happens when you refill the cartridge.
  With other cartridges, this symptom simply means that not enough ink is getting to the printhead. Look for partial blockages of the ink path, including blockages caused by small air bubbles.
  To solve this problem you can fill more ink until the printed or the ink outlet dripping, then set for few minutes to make sure the dripping stop and reinstall again.

• Start to print fine, but then stop after a few pages. 

  This problem is almost always caused by air dams in sponge-filled cartridge.
  The most common problems with sponge filled cartridges are caused by too rapid filling. If the sponge is filled too quickly, ink will not chase out all of the air in the sponge. This will result in 'air dams' being formed inside the sponge. The common symptom of this problem is that the cartridge prints for a while and then stops, since the air dam has blocked the ink from flowing toward the printhead.
  
  A related problem is when air bubbles form between the sponge and the printhead. The symptom here is that the cartridge has difficulty printing as soon as it is installed.
  
  For both problems, the key is to get rid of the air. There are several suggested ways:
  
  * Inject ink from the bottom of the sponge and slowly fill the cartridge in this manner. The idea is that the air will rise to the top.
  * Tap the side of the cartridge repeatedly for several minutes. This is known as 'burping the baby', and is an attempt to move the air bubbles to the top.
  * Let the cartridge sit for a night or a weekend. In many cases, the air will remove itself.
  
  Remember, the best cure for this problem is prevention. This is why our instructions always caution that you must fill very S-L-O-W-L-Y.

This condition is very common with certain cartridges, particularly with reservoir-only cartridges such as provided by Canon and Epson. The symptom is one of the following :

• Plug in cartridge and it won't print anything.

  This often happens with the reservoir-only cartridges. Here is the most common problem:
  
  * The ink has not made it to the bottom (ink outlet) of the cartridge, and thus, there is no ink for the printhead to use. The solution is to take the cartridge, turn it upside down and inject some ink into the sponge through the ink outlet hole (if it is large enough to do without modification).
  
  There is an air bubble between the bottom of the sponge and the printhead which is blocking ink flow. Be sure that there is a bit of ink in the top of the printhead, and be sure that there is ink slowly dripping from the ink outlet hole of the cartridge.

• Cartridge prints for a while and then won't print anything.

  See "Start to print fine, but then stop aftera few pages".
  

It's normal for all cartridges to leak a couple of drops when first filled, and may continue for 5 minutes or so. Remember, if there isn't ink at the exit hole of the cartridge, the printer can't print. So expect a bit of a drip or so.

• Cartridge without sponge

  * Poor sealing -- check the sealing that you did.
  * Tiny cracks -- visually inspect the cartridge for tiny cracks or leaking points. Try sealing the holes or discard the cartridge.
  * Punctured top center hole or bag -- Not much you can do except toss the cartridge.

• Cartridge with sponge

  Now, if your cartridge is a simple sponge-filled cartridge, then it should stop leaking after a few minutes unless it is overfull. Let the cartridge sit overnight where it can make a mess and check it in the morning.

• Cartridge with half sponge
  The cartridge with half sponge-filled and half vacuum retained. If you get a continuous leak, it is because of poor-sealing or tiny cracks. Remember that the hole through which you filled the top of the cartridge must be sealed air-tight or you will get a leak.

　

• My Hands have ink stains on them.

  To clean your hands, first wash thoroughly in soap and warm water. If the stains persist, try using soap or a similar bathroom cleaner.
  
  We have also found that certain hand lotions will remove the ink. In any event, the stains are almost always gone within 24 hours.

• My Sink has ink stains on it.

  Use Comet or a similar bathroom cleaner if plain water does not work.

• My Clothes have ink stains on them.

  First of all, don't wear good clothes when you refill cartridges!
  
  Rub the stain under the cold water faucet immediately to remove as much of the ink as possible. This may take 15 minutes or longer.
  
  If the fabric is normally washed in the washing machine, wash it in cold water immediately. Add bleach if the fabric and color is normally washed with bleach. Do not add bleach unless you understand the effects of bleach on your fabric.
  
  If the fabric is normally dry-cleaned, you can tell the dry cleaner that the ink is based upon a water-soluble dye with ethylene glycol added.