Comments on: Refilling a Pen with InkJet Ink

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:38:48 +0000

Hey Jack! Good news, I decided to give your process a try. It took a bit of pressure and the whole top (bottom?) pulled out. Well, it popped loose, then took a bit more pulling to remove the whole ribbed innards.

I refilled a green pen with a mix of yellow an cyan and put the top back on. Less messy than I expected.

Unfortunately I’ve got no ink out of the roller. I don’t know if the ink simply needs to settle back into the ribbing by gravity, or if I need to roll and roll and roll until ink comes out. Any thoughts?

By: Jack

Jack — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 22:01:50 +0000

Rob, it will be clear once you unsnap that head out of the body. I’m just cleaning up. There is a section with all the slotted plastic where the ink is allowed to expand and contract and it gets pretty dirty. You can see it in the picture above.

I also don’t want the pen to leak. You can help prevent this by cleaning that area and not overfilling.

On the roller ball not working, I think its the formulation of ink we use vs. what they use. Theirs tends to stay wet in the roller. I use ink from an art store. I don’t know what their formulation is. It would be interesting to see their MSDS.

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:31:14 +0000

Jack, I’ve got to try this the way you describe! My previous attempts have been… um… less than stellar. I’m very interested in what comes out when you pry off the head of the pen and exactly where / how to get ink into the chamber?

You mentioned cleaning the parts and the tops? Why is this? Just to remove ink from being messy, or to keep the pen working?

I’ve noticed that after a few refills the roller ball starts to get scratchy. I’m not sure if this is caused by buildup, the refilling, or the type of ink I’m using.

I’ll give it a go next time I have an empty pen and post more details!

By: JackRazz

JackRazz — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:44:29 +0000

I’ve refilled these types of pens for years. The really easy way is to grab a pair of pliers and pull/twist the lighter blue tip off of the body of the pen. You want to do all of this over the sink.

I generally wash the parts down as I go (usually doing a batch of 10 or so). Put the the tips in a glass of water as you go. wash out the tops, etc.
Then just start putting them back together. Don’t overfill as they will leak. Dry the tips and snap them back in.

When you first change colors you have to use the pen quite a bit to get the ink out of the tip.

It’s much easier this way…