These "tips" or "what not to do" nuggets of intel are intended to help you avoid some of the common pitfalls that end-users fall into.

Rest assured that in almost all cases I have learned these truths the hard way but doing the exact opposite, so please learn from my mistakes.

Gravity = Pressure

This is a very important aspect of waste ink and relates to the positioning of the waste tank in relation to your printer.

The tank must always be at the same level as the printer itself

If you ignore this rule you will either:

• Create a syphon effect that drains the cartridges (or worse an entire CIS) by placing the waste ink tank below the printer.
  
  OR
• Create a backflow problem, where ink flows back into the printhead parking pad and soils the underside.

Container/Tube height

This is a follow on from Gravity above... Whilst the pressures involved are quite small, if your printers waste pump is weak or worn down it can allow ink to seep back towards to the parking pads. Avoid tall bottles with tubes that enter at the top.

Boxes: Ink In, Air Out

It seems obvious but if you have a box as the tank it must have a vent hole to allow air to escape as ink is pumped into the box. Without this hole the pressure builds up in the box and ink foam builds up in the parking pad instead.

Bags: Not Balloons

Another obvious one but you will need to empty a sealed bag tank on a regular basis to ensure that the ink (and any air) doesn't balloon the bag and create the same effect as a ventless box (see above)

Ink + Carpet = Bad News

Many people use a plastic tupperware container with a hole punched in it or some other hastily modified container as their tank which is great to a point. Unfortunately few people consider that at some point in the future they will have to carry that container over nice clean carpets and/or furniture to dispose of the ink.

So far the number of replaced carpets and desks caused by DIY kits is close to the magic double digits.

Hint: There is a reason the OctoInkjet bags and boxes have those seals and valves on them

The list above is just a few examples of what to watch out for so hopefully they will help you avoid the need to redecorate like I had to.