HowTo Refill Your Ink Cartridge

HowTo Refill Your Ink Cartridge

by: Marisa Pellegrino

Forget about emptying your wallets every time you see the blinking light. Quit worrying and start doing it yourself! It’s an easy process that won’t take you more than five minutes.
The following is included in a typical ink refill kit: ink bottles, syringes and detailed instructions. Some kits include an air balance clip for balancing the air inside the cartridge to ensure proper ink flow. Some kits also include handdrill tool to make a hole in the top of your empty cartridge.
Refilling Process
1. To start the refilling process, fill the syringe with one of the ink colors over the sink or several sheets of scrap paper to prevent any mess. Different printers hold different amounts of ink. In most Epson printers, the black cartridge holds approximately 17 ml and the color cartridges hold approximately 8 ml. See the instructions with your refill kit to see how much ink your cartridges can hold.
2. Before inserting the needle, make a small hole in the top of the cartridge (one for each color chamber). The hole is at the top of the cartridge near the label. Simply push the needle through the hole and press to the bottom of the cartridge towards the outlet hole. It’s important to fill the cartridge slowly so as to avoid the ink from foaming and introducing air in the chamber.
3. You do not need to seal the refill holes since there are already breather holes on the top of the cartridge.
4. Any unused ink can be put back in the bottle. You should clean the syringe with water and dry it properly to do the same process for the other cartridges or for future use. You can also label each syringe for the different colors so that each syringe is only used with one color.
5. Once you place the cartridge back in the printer, run the cleaning cycle 1 to 3 times. If there are any gaps in the printing, run the cleaning cycle again.
Don’t Forget
There are a few things to remember when refilling your cartridge. It should be refilled before the cartridge is completely empty to avoid the chamber from drying out and clogging. Also, it is a good idea to let the printer cartridge sit for a few hours (or overnight) so that the pressure in the cartridge will stabilize.
Some printers, like newer Epson models, have a green chip on their ink cartridges which is visible by looking at your cartridge. They are often referred to as ขIntellidgeข cartridges. The chip keeps track of how often the cartridge is used and lets the computer know when the cartridge may be low or empty. As long as you reset the chip, refilling the cartridge with ink from a refill kit will not be a problem. A resetting tool can be used to reset the memory on the chip. This allows the printer to recognize the cartridge as being full which makes printing with a refilled cartridge possible.
Refilling your own ink cartridge is easy, good for the environment, and very good for your pocket.
Marisa Pellegrino

About The Author

A recent grad from Concordia University’s English Department, Marisa uses her computer technology skills along side her writing skills to be the webmaster for www.printpot.com. Sharing her interest and expertise about ink jet refill kits has helped convince many of the advantages of refilling rather than discarding empty cartridges. Marissa can be reached at [email protected].

This article was posted on June 22, 2004

by Marisa Pellegrino

Planting Bare Root Roses

Planting Bare Root Roses

by: David G. Hallstrom

The following article was written by David G. Hallstrom for and originally published by National Realtors Directory.com.
Planting Bare Root Roses
Before planting, the plants must be prepared. The following suggestions will help insure that your roses grow into healthy bushes, trees, etc.:
1. Your new roses have probably dried out during shipping or storage, therefore before planting, either bury the roots in wet saw dust or peat moss for several days or soak them overnight in water. Keep the roots wet when planting, do not let them dry out.
2. Prune damaged and broken roots.
3. Prune main roots just enough to reveal white healthy tissue. This will help more roots grow.
4. Prune the plant back to three or four healthy canes. Try to keep the center of the plant empty. Prune the healthy canes back to about six (6) inches using sharp pruning shears. Keep the cutting blade on the lower side. Cut at a 45 to 60 degree angle. Cut about one fourth inch above an outside bud union.
5. In order to prevent infection, treat the cuts with some type of sealent or sealing paint.
6. Make sure that you have removed any suckers that may have started growing during shipping or storage.
The following should be taken into consideration when selecting where to plant your roses.:
1. Roses are susceptible to mildew and funguses, therefore plant where there is good air movement in order to help the foliage stay dry.
2. Plant where the bushes will get at least six hours of sun a day with as much morning sun as possible.
3. Try to plant away from large trees and shrubs as they will compete for food, moisture and sunlight.
4. Find an area with soil that drains well or add gravel or cinder below the prepared soil. Poor drainage may cause root rot.
5. Try not to plant on a steep slope. Soil erosion can cause the root structure to become exposed.
6. Plant the bushes at least two feet apart, two and one half feet is better.
Digging and preparing the hole.:
1. Dig your hole twelve to sixteen inches deep and fifteen to seventeen inches wide.
2. Work compost or planters soil (not potting soil) into the loose dirt.
3. Make a cone of the prepared soil in the center of the hole in order to support the spread out roots and to hold the bush at the proper height. In cold winter areas the bud or graft union should be between one and two inches below the soil level. In mild climates the union should be an inch or so above the soil level. Planting the union below soil level helps protect from the cold and planting the union above soil level makes it easier to detect and remove suckers.
4. Place the plant over the cone, spreading the roots and then fill the hole with soil mix untill it is about two thirds full. Now fill the hole with water, let it soak in and then fill with water again.
5. After the second fill with water has soaked in fill the hole to the proper level with the remaining prepared soil. Now gently firm the soil around the plant.
After planting the roses it helps to add an organic mulch.:
1. Organic mulches can help rebuild the humus content of the soil, retain soil moisture, encorage root growth, controll weeds, prevent soil crusting and erosion, help even out soil temperature, add helpful bacteria, etc..
2. There are numerous types of organic mulch, such as bark, pecan hulls, peat moss and buckwheat hulls.
3. Contrary to old beliefs, mulch can and should be left on all year long.
For more information on what to look for when buying roses see http://www.nationalrealtorsdirectory.com/planbeforebuyingrosesarticle.html
For more information about bare root roses see http://www.nationalrealtorsdirectory.com/barerootrosesarticle.html

About The Author

Permission is given to reprint this article providing credit is given to the author, David G. Hallstrom, and a link is listed to http://www.nationalrealtorsdirectory.com the owner of this article. Anyone or any company reprinting this article without giving proper credit and the correct link, is doing so without permission and will be subject to legal action.

This article was posted on July 12, 2004

by David G. Hallstrom