Inkjet Cartridges - Replace or Refill? - Comments Page 1

Bob,
I have to take issue with one statement in your report. You state that "it doesn't hurt to try". Unfortunately that isn't the case sometimes. In my case I bought knock-off ink carts for my HP1100. They were half the price and worked just great until one of them leaked. The result was a printer that no longer functioned and a $150 call to HP to get a replacement printer.

I just wanted to point out that this isn't necessarily a risk free activity.

Tony

Last year, I spent $200 in ink with the majority in black. Are low cost laser printers a smart investment? Have you completed a cost analysis comparing costs for a year of printing?

EDITOR'S NOTE: No I haven't, but it sounds like a laser would be a much better option for you. Look at the manufacturer websites for the average cost per printed page and you can make the call.

I have and used for several years a Epson 777. I got stung with the high price refills at retail stores once and then found two or three good places that sold refills much cheaper with good results on print, pics and also S&H. One sent some refills that didn't put out and after a call they said try all of them. I did and none worked so I sent them back and received a like quantity of refills plus they paid the S&H.
I now have a Canon MP 130 which uses cheaper refills and so far all goes well.

I have been refilling my HP45 and HP41 ink cartridges for a couple of years with no major messes and no printer or print quality problems. Using a supplier who provides high quality inks, easy-to-use tools and provides cartridge-specific instructions that a 10-year-old could follow is a key component of success in this endeavor.

Another important consideration is to refill only printer manufacturer's brand cartridges that were originally purchased new. Buying refurbished cartridges from a refiller presents a risk in that the purchaser has no idea how many times, or, how carefully that cartridge has been refilled. Also,
refilling cartridges before they run completely dry is important. Allowing the cartridge to run completely out of ink before refilling it, reduces the likelyhood that the cartridge will work properly even after it is carefully refilled. This is another unknown variable that you encounter by purchasing from a refiller.

Refilling is a safe bet only when refilling high quality cartridges with high quality inks under known and controlled conditions. If you are not willing to follow these guidelines, you are better off in the long run to allow the printer manufacturers to gouge you for the price of their brand name refills.

Chip resetters are available for those carteidges which have embedded chips. Try a Google search or perhaps visit VersionTracker.com.

How about listing all those printers having any limitation device, electronic or otherwise, which would prevent or limit one's ability to refill an ink cartridge. In order to make an intelligent selection, I would need to know this, BEFORE I buy my next printer! Thank you for an interesting article.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I would love to have such a list. If you can find a link, please post it here.

Refilling is the way to go. I have Lexmark 1150 & Epson R300 printers & have had no probs refilling with Island InkJet inks. HUGE savings as well. Rock on!

One thing to consider when purchasing a printer is the total cost of ownership. I bought Canon printers (an S750 for me and an iP1500 for my daughter) because the new cartridge is just an ink tank - the print head stays on the printer and lasts much longer. (The print head is expensive when it finally fails - it's often cheaper to replace the printer!)

Both genuine Canon and 3rd-party ink cartridges are therefore much cheaper than those for other makes, where the entire print head is changed. For instance, I get black cartridges for the S750 for the UK equivalent of $4.50.

Another consideration is the type of colour cartridge used in the printer. If it's a combined cartridge with 3 colours in it, you end up throwing away unused ink when one colour runs out, whereas printers which use separate cartridges for each colour avoid that issue.

As a small home-based business operator, my needs are mostly for black ink. After fiddling around refilling cartridges for my HP - not always successfuly - I purchased a small mono laser printer by Oki (the B4200 model) well over a year ago and have no regrets whatsoever. It cost less than $200. and cartridges are about $35.00. I am still on my original toner cartridge, which started flashing low-toner only a few weeks ago after a light to moderate load of printing since purchase. Speed-wise, it rivals the industrial Canon printer I use at my day job. I love my Oki.

An Epson Stylus C64 printer came with a package deal I purchased last year. Although I use almost exclusively black, the colored ink is used up each time I start up the machine. Replacement cartriges cost $45. I saw the printer advertised on the web for $43.50. Guess that shows where the profits are.

I opened up a used cartrige to try to figure out if I could use refill ink. It seems not. Also the chip seems to prohibit this.

Is there a manufacturer of affordable printers that does not use these safeguards? That allows the user to refill the color and black ink with a product of the customers choice,not the manufacturers?

I have been reloading Canon BCI cartridges for some time with good results. One should recognize that there are two types of ink: pigment based (used in the BCI-3's)and dye based (used in the BCI-6's). If your ink supplier does not list them as separate products, then you are in the wrong place.

Never mix these ink types in your printer. Generally use the one that came with the printer.

You need to drill a hole in the cartridges to refill. Closing that hole hole can be a problem. Try using a gob of bathroom caulking. It makes an instantaneous seal and can be easily removed for the next loading.

With a little experience, you can reload a cartridge in less time that it takes to open a new cartridge package,

I use a Canon i865 now superseded by the Pixma range which mostly use the same inks. There are 5 cartridges; 3 colours and 2 blacks. (An extra black for photos)

Cost of replacing all 5 cartridges is £11.90 (about $20) I replace one at a time, no mess and cheap as chips! Brilliant printer as well!

I find that I can purchase a Lexmark printer (with black and color cartidges included) for less than purchasing both ink cartridges from Walmart or Kmart. I will usually give the old printer to someone who needs one and then purchase a new printer when the ink runs out. The only thing missing is the USB cable, but this is not important since you just reuse the old one.

EDITOR'S NOTE: With some printers costing under $50, that's really not a bad idea!

This is the second mention I've seen in as many days saying how difficult it is to refill cartridges. Get a grip. I am a grandmother and if I can do it for my HP PSC, anyone can. Clean the old cartridge with a bit of kitchen towel and a dash of solvent(in the refill kit). Check the instructions as to where to refill your cartridge, peel back the tape, half fill the syringe, inject the ink slowly into the appropriate hole, wipe up spills if any, reseal the tape, and put back in the machine. When the print quality deteriorates -usually after two or three refills - buy a new cartridge. See - it's not rocket science, it's not even car mechanics and if they turned it into a video game you would fall asleep. Try it.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Not difficult... just messy if you're not very careful! I do in fact refill (some of) my cartridges and I wasn't kidding about the ink-stained fingers and ruined shirt. :-(

It would be nice if those cartridges were see-thru to help with the refilling . . . But then I don't suppose they want to make it easy for us to really know when the cartridge is empty and / or getting full from self refilling!

I have been refilling my printer ink cartridges for about 4-5 years. I originally started out with a JR Inkjet refil kit but after that decided to move to industrial scale. I have since bought 1/2 litre and 1 litre directly from ink suppliers and have refilled my current HP 1100 about 20 times on the same cartridge with no ill effects (apart from inky fingers occasionally). I have even discovered a method of unblocking blocked print heads (solution of 50/50 boiling water and strong bleach, dip the tip of the print head in it for about 10 mins and it cleans it out a treat!). 1 litre of black printer ink (approx £25). 1 ink cartridge 250ml (approx. £25). That is a ratio of about 40 to 1. Long live Tourbus. I have been reading it for about 14 years now.

Ben

Anyone have a Dell printer? Mine came with my Dell computer and it's starting to run low. I don't want to have to order from Dell for new cartridges each time I need new ink. Any ideas?

Please post a link, if you can find one, to a reliable consumer guide which would provide a life-cycle cost/page for different printers and ink options?

EDITOR'S NOTE: ConsumerReports.org has such a report, which compares about 20 printer models. But you'll have to pay a fee to "join" and view the report. I'll poke around for a free online equivalent...

try this link for instructions on how to fill printers. It is from the jrinket website. (note: I do not work for them. I was just a satisfied customer).

http://www.jrsecure.net/English/instructions.htm

AnnaR, Here are instructions on how to refil a Dell. I hope I am not monopolising this board :-)

http://www.bs-print.co.uk/dell_a720_a920_refilling_instructions.htm

http://www.bs-print.co.uk/dell_j740_refilling_instructions.htm