Ink Refills 2004

drewpropsdrewprops
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Who's refilling their own ink cartridges themselves?



I had great success with my HP Photosmart P1000's black ink cartridge, but the color has been a bugger. I thought that RhinoTek was supposed to have "specially tweaked" cartridges that were easily filled, but I couldn't find them.



What's the current conventional wisdom about this for non-archival printing?



Any tips from you self-fillers? Is it possible to insert the needle too far into the ink cartridge and mess it up or is it just a great big sponge?



If I can get this down to a science then it'll be plenty cheap(er).

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    kung fu guykung fu guy Posts: 158member
    My experience with refills has been mixed. I went to a ink refill place to do it. I have a canon i450 with a black and tri colour cartridge. The black was easy to refill. But the colour had only 1 hole. The guy broke off the cartridge and refilled it. He resealed it with epoxy glue. It initially worked fine. But now I'm getting inconsistant results. Cyan, magenta, and blacks would drop out on a newly refilled cart. Perhaps the ink is drying out or i'm being ripped off. I can't confirm either. The lesson learned: Don't use re-fills.
  • Reply 2 of 12
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    I refill Toner. I used to refill ink but than I had a horrible accident. Cost a lot of money. (More than I saved by using cheap ink) \
  • Reply 3 of 12
    drewpropsdrewprops Posts: 2,321member
    It turns out that the HP Photosmart 1000 that I use is one of those that "remembers" the last two cartridge serial numbers that were run through it, so you have to do some special do-si-do with the ink cartridge while masking off certain contacts on the data strip...good thing I bought a jumbo ink cartridge today....I'll eventually get it figured out, but I -will- enjoy refilling the black ink for awhile.



    If I were printing archival material I'd be using pristine cartridges.
  • Reply 4 of 12
    ichiban_jayichiban_jay Posts: 660member
    I've had a great deal of success refilling my Epson C60's cartridges. Since the printer heads are permanent, there is no danger of hurting the printer heads while refilling. The tops also conveniently have dimples that point out where the cartridge holes are. I use a chip resetter to fool the printer into thinking its a new cartridge. I buy the ink in bulk so it costs some 70 cents per refill.
  • Reply 5 of 12
    chinneychinney Posts: 1,019member
    Related Question: Does it really cost the printer manufacturers so much to manafacture new ink cartriges, or are we all just being ripped-off? And I don't mean just a little ripped off...but really, really, really ripped-off - a degree of gouging and cheating that perhaps has no equivelent in any other computer product.



    When I see the price of cartriges - and experience how short a time they last - I can only guess that Lexmark, HP and the others are laughing at their customers.



    I have not tried any refills yet, but perhaps I will soon, if only to avoid hearing the (phantom) laughter of the printer company executives.
  • Reply 6 of 12
    wrong robotwrong robot Posts: 3,907member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Chinney

    Related Question: Does it really cost the printer manufacturers so much to manafacture new ink cartriges, or are we all just being ripped-off? And I don't mean just a little ripped off...but really, really, really ripped-off - a degree of gouging and cheating that perhaps has no equivelent in any other computer product.



    From what I understand, most, if not all printer companies practically give their printers away, or sell them at a loss. they make their money from selling ink.
  • Reply 7 of 12
    filmmaker2002filmmaker2002 Posts: 686member
    No way in hell am I buying refill ink or cheap generic crap for my new Canon i960 printer. I don't need over 3000 nozzels clogged with sh*tty ink. Stay away from refill kits if you have Canon printers.
  • Reply 8 of 12
    blueflameblueflame Posts: 89member
    This is why I stick with laser printers. The toner lasts FOREVER (~3000 pages). A crotchety old HP Laserjet 4MP replaced my Epson Stylus 740 about a year ago. I never looked back.



    Blueflame



    *kicks Epson next to desk*
  • Reply 9 of 12
    chinneychinney Posts: 1,019member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Wrong Robot

    From what I understand, most, if not all printer companies practically give their printers away, or sell them at a loss. they make their money from selling ink.



    Probably so, but I still think that the manner and price at which these companies sell the cartriges verges on illegal trade. Why don't some printer companies sell using a different business model? Collusion? Why is there no competition in cartrige sales from third party manufacturers? Why do companies program their cartriges to be used only once, thus discouraging refills? Is this planned obsolescence and waste permitted under law?



    I don't mind paying a fair price. I don't mind even paying a bit more than a fair price sometimes. But I don't appreciate being gouged and cheated - and its not so much the money, its the unpleasant sensation.
  • Reply 10 of 12
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    I may try one of these continous ink systems here on my 2200 when they come out. I will also get a print calibrator too so I can make custom profiles for the inks. I've spent over $200 in ink is the last 2 months.
  • Reply 11 of 12
    drewpropsdrewprops Posts: 2,321member
    Europe is leading the charge against the printer manufacturers, allowing other companies to reverse-engineer the printers so they can make their own cartridges, with their own inks. Pantone is to enter the fray shortly, offering "higher quality" Pantone-branded ink carts.



    The printer wars have begun.



    Mmmmph.
  • Reply 12 of 12
    chinneychinney Posts: 1,019member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by drewprops

    Europe is leading the charge against the printer manufacturers, allowing other companies to reverse-engineer the printers so they can make their own cartridges, with their own inks. Pantone is to enter the fray shortly, offering "higher quality" Pantone-branded ink carts.



    The printer wars have begun.



    Mmmmph.



    About bloody time.



    Capitalism without competition is like...is like...[help me out here].



    Grrr.
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