Posted: 2/18/2004 7:28:39 PM EDT
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Got a HP scanner printer for my PC last fall. Just ran out of color and BW ink. OUCH! Been skeptical of doing the whole refill thing. Is it any big deal? Or are factory parts better? And if so, by how much? Also, Colorfast is the big company, but Sams has a refill kit there for $20 as well. Any luck on it? |
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Dude, RUN. I have refilled ink cartridges three times and all three times, the ink went where it wasn't supposed to go, the cartridge didn't work right after and I eventually bought a new cartridge. I just tried again with sams club kit last week, the blue stain is still fading from my hands as I type this. Now I'm buying a laser printer instead. Screw those inkjet cartridges..... Course, I could just be a retard and YMMV. But I'd avoid them. matt |
| From what I know, HP deskjets use cartridges with the print head as part of that cartridge, the head is designed for one use. For example; Epson printers, use a printer mounted head with replacable ink reservoirs, these "theoretically" could be refilled, these heads get replaced after a few cartridge uses. The other problem is that the original ink uses a different base product, I was told that "may not apply to all refilling inks" the refills use a water based ink, and will not deliver the same print quality. |
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I've done this for an HP OfficeJet Fax/Printer, black ink only. I always wore the latex gloves (cheap at Sam's Club or Costco) and lay down some newspapers on the kitchen table to load the cartridges without creating a mess when doing this sort of dirty work. Worked fine for me but it was a PITA. Always needed to refill just when I was going somewhere (vacation, meeting, etc.). Never tried the color jobs, as I print very little color with the inkjets I still have. There is different quality inks and the trick is to find one that matches the color of the factory cartridges. I still have a number of surplus black ink refill kits downstairs in my stockpile of computer stuff (I am a computer consultant and reseller). I converted to a laser Fax machine, so no more emergency ink cartridge loading fests for me! |
| It's a PITA to do, especially on color cartridges. I have never had consistent coverage after refilling cartridges; there are always missing stripes in the printhead, no matter how well I clean it. New ink is cheaper if you buy in bulk packs from Sams Club or the web. |
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the newer style hp carts <50 series> are much easier to refill than the old ones. i have 2 hp printers that see a LOT of use. I refill them 3-4 times before the cart fails. Some tips. Wear latex gloves Empty carts must be filled as soon as possible. If the media inside dries out it's dead. Fill slowly and try not to over fill If cart requires a SEAL after filling make sure it is done properly MOST after market inks work fine for average print jobs. I have not found one that works as well for high definition photographs. You can expect to toss at least one of the refills per pack when the old cart finally fails. The last pack i bought was 15.00 for 4 blck refills and 22.00 for 4 color refills. If you figure in a little bit of wasted ink you still come out WELL below the cost of 1 new black and color cart. If you can read and follow directions it will save you some money. mike |
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I've been doing my Canon cartridges for a year now. I'm on my second refill kit so that's about 5 cartridge refills times 6 ink tanks times $17 worth of savings. You can't tell the difference in pictures looking at them side-by-side between the original ink and the refill - except the refill ink is water proof. |
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I just did it for the first time with my Canon printer. Seems to be working just fine - quality difference is not noticable to me, but I don't use it for any sort of photo printing, either. The printer uses separate cartridges for each color, so no worries about filling the wrong compartment with the wrong color. I wore gloves when doing it, but it wasn't really that messy - drill a hole, suck up the ink with the syringe, fill the tank, plug the hole with a rubber stopper. Rocko |
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I tend to print a lot . . . > 1000 pgs per week for my business. I have refilled the original cartridges in my HP PSC 2110 so many times that I have lost count. The print quality (darkness) of the ink is not as good as the OEM stuff, but it beats the hell out of getting ass-raped by HP for a new one. YMMV, Disconnector |