Refill Canon PGI-580 CLI-581 inkjet cartridges by syringe and deactivate ink level control

For refilling the Canon PGI-580 and CLI-581 are removed from the printer. On the upper side on each cartridge there is an air port which will be relevant later on during refilling these cartridges. On the bottom side of the cartridges there are the oval ink port (arrow 1) and the cartridge chip (arrow 2). The chip is an important and sensitive component - please avoid touching it or exposing it to static discharges. An intact chip is a requirement to be able to print with a refilled, original Canon inkjet cartridge.

First step of refilling we take the suitable refill ink for Caon PGI-580 or CLI-581 ito our refill syringe. The method of refilling demonstrated in this tutorial - dripping ink onto the cartridge´s sponge - saturates the sponge material inside the cartridge only. The XL versions of PGI-580 and CLI-581 have an additional, spongeless ink tank in their rear section - by dripping ink on the sponge no ink is going into this tank.  For CLI-581 inkjet cartridges we recommend to take 4 ml to 5 ml into the refill syringe. For the big, black text cartridge PGI-580 8 ml to 10 ml black pigmented refill ink are sufficient. How much refill ink actually fits into the cartridge depends on how much residual ink is left inside the ink sponge.
Place the cartridge on an absorbend underlay from the beginning. This is a safety measure to protects Your working area. Drip the ink carefully out of the refill syringe on the sponge material visible in the ink port. At the beginning the refill ink is absorbed by the sponge instantly. This slows down the more the sponge is saturated with refill ink. The sponge will be full soon / is full when refill ink remains sitting on the surface of the sponge.

It is not inevitably that it will happen, but in the case that plentiful refill ink has been dripped on the sponge or that much residual ink remained - it might occur that ink is coming out of the air port on the PGI-580 or CLI-581 upper side. That is why we have emphasized to put the cartridge on an absorbend pad during the refill process. The refilled cartridge should not be leaking any ink when holding it the ink port pointing straight downwards. Press on the cartridge´s side lightly and let the paper towel absorb the excess ink. The refilled Canon PGI-580 or CLI-581 can be placed back into the printer right away.

Our refilled Canon CLI-581 yellow inkjet cartridges had the ink level status "ink almost depleted / soon depleted" before refilling. As we do not use a chip resetter to set back the cartridge chip to the status "FULL" the CLI-581 yellow still has the same ink status when putting the cartridge back ito the printer. Saturating the sponge by dripping ink on it does not have any effect on the cartridge´s displayed ink level. But thanks to Canon You are still able to keep printing with this ink level status.
When printing with a refilled inkjet cartridge without resetting the chips using the suitable chip resetter You need to keep an eye on Your print outs. Please refill the cartridge if a color starts to fade out or is missing.

Regarding the messages for a cartridge´s ink level status there comes up the question: Which different messages / ink level status do exists for Canon PGI-580, CLI-581 cartridges? The first warning message is the status "low ink level" (number 1). It is shown on the display for the affected cartridge with a yellow circle that has an exclamation mark in it. The second warning message "ink almost depleted / soon depleted" (number 2) shows a red circle with a white cross in it. Despite having this status the Canon CLI-581 cartridges keeps printing until the message "ink depleted / change cartridge" appears. With this status the printer does not allow You to start a new print job. If not done already now it is the latest point to refill the Canon inkjet cartridge for that You have received this message.

Using our refilled original Canon CLI-581 as example we demonstrate how to deactivate the ink level control functionality for that cartridge. This makes it possible to continue printing with it. The option to deactivate the ink level control usually is only given with original Canon inkjet cartridges. Most cheap alternative cartridge are good for one printing cycle only and then intended to be sent to the garbage dump. For that reason we recommend to refill original Canon  PGI-580 CLI-581 single tank cartridges.
We removed our refilled CLI-581 from the print and have set it back into right away. On the printer´s display we get the message that the ink is depleted or that it might be a counterfeit cartridge. This is followed by the question if we have bought this cartridge as a new genuine orignal Canon cartridge? The first step towards to deactivate the ink level control is confirm this with NO. Second step is to confirm with OK that we really want to deactivate the ink level control.

The final step is to press the STOPP button on the display for at least 5 seconds. Canon points out that they will not be liable for any damage that is caused by printing with used or refilled cartridges. Please make sure that there is always sufficient ink inside the cartridge which You are going to use for printing while having ink level control deactivated. Printing without ink is really dangerous for the Canon print head.
After releasing the STOPP button the ink level control is switched off for the Canon CLI-581 yellow printer cartridge - the cartridge is shown with an empty, white container. Deactivating the ink level control is not permanent forever. As soon as You set a new cartridge with a new chip into the printer the ink level control will be active again and You are going to see the ink level and receive the warning messages for this cartridge again.