How to refill Canon black and colour ink cartridges

Cover the working area and keep paper towels nearby. The video shows how easily the ink spreads, and Professor Printer recommends gloves. Keep the syringe’s protective cover available and avoid the exposed needle.

Begin with the empty PG-540 black cartridge. Peel its label back while keeping it available for reattachment. Find the small circular refill opening under the label.

Use a narrow screwdriver or similar pointed tool to make the refill opening large enough for the syringe needle. Work at the existing opening under the label. Professor Printer shows a cartridge whose opening has already been enlarged, then demonstrates the tool motion.

Use the tool to open the hole rather than using the syringe as the tool; the source explains that this avoids damaging the syringe.

Professor Printer recommends starting with 4–5 ml of black ink and gives 6 ml as his maximum for this refill. For the filmed example he draws approximately 2 ml to demonstrate the injection.

Put the needle into the opening, then keep it back from the bottom of the cartridge. Slowly press the plunger. If ink starts spilling out, stop and clean it up with a paper towel; the presenter treats overflow as a sign to stop filling.

After filling, wipe away spilled ink and replace the label. Do not treat the demonstrated amount as the capacity of a different cartridge.

Move to a clean part of the work surface so black ink does not contaminate the colour cartridge. Peel back its label and enlarge the colour openings in the same way.

Keep the cartridge in the orientation shown in the source. Its colour layout is:

• Top: magenta.
• Bottom left: cyan.
• Bottom right: yellow.

Arrange the ink bottles in the same triangle and keep a separate clean syringe for each colour. The source colour cartridge has lost its identifying label; its number is not established by this video.

Use up to 2 ml per colour for the sequence demonstrated. Professor Printer initially mentions 2–2.5 ml, then settles on a 2 ml maximum and uses 2 ml for the individual colours.

Begin with magenta in the top opening. Insert the needle slightly into the cartridge and inject slowly. In the first attempt ink escapes around the opening; the presenter removes the needle, cleans up and tries again.

Fill yellow through the bottom-right opening and cyan through the bottom-left opening with their own syringes. Dab ink from the outside of the needle before bringing it over the cartridge. Insert it partway, without pushing it against the bottom, and add the ink slowly.

Clean the top, put the label back on and return the cartridges to the printer. Close it and allow the printer to respond.

At the end of the narration, Professor Printer notes that the ink indicator lights are not flashing and announces a test print. Check your printed output as well as the lights: an indicator alone does not show the quality of the text or colours.