To Fill Or Not To Fill - That Is The Question

You bought an inkjet printer because it was a whole lot cheaper than a laser. Come to find out, though, that new ink cartridges can tally up and up until you and your budget are both seeing red. You've seen inkjet ink refill kits before, but you have to wonder - are they really worth the price savings? Should you try one, just to see what happens? So, what does happen when you run out of printer ink next time? Is it really better to just buy a new cartridge every time? What about refilling the cartridges yourself? Should you try a refill or not? Here are some things you should know before you make that decision.

It ain't as easy as it used to be - It used to be that all you needed to do to refill your own cartridge was to buy a $20 ink refill kit. You could get them everywhere - the office supply place, the corner drug store, the big box store, from tv infomercials, even from the shopping channels. Now, it's not so easy to find the refill kits. You can still catch them at office supply dealers, and the Internet is another good source. It would seem, though, that inkjet refill kits have become harder to find. That's probably because the inkjet cartridge manufacturers have made it harder to reuse cartridges. Some printers will only accept certain approved inkjet cartridges. Others have been rigged to only allow single use cartridges. Still others can actually become damaged by refilled or "unapproved" ink cartridges.

The manufacturers have gone and changed the design of many of their cartridges, making it darn near impossible to physically refill the cartridge once it runs dry. They've put chips into the cartridges. That's right - the nasty buggers may have bugged your inkjet ink cartridge so that it will only print out a certain number of pages. A circuit within the cartridge communicates with the printer and shuts down after the maximum number of pages has been reached. Or if you try and use a cartridge without a chip, the printer will not recognize the "foreign" object and refuses to print. The manufacturers have also added stuff to the ink itself, making a refill actually harmful to your printer's health. (Epson CX series is a good example of this. They use "Durabrite" inks, which contain a cleaning agent that keeps the print heads functioning properly. Try to use any other ink other than Canon and guess what? Clogged printer heads develop and the thing stops working.)

It was never that easy to begin with - Ever refill an inkjet ink cartridge before? Ever do it without getting ink on the counter, in the sink, all over the desk, on your hands, face and good pants, just to name a few places? Some cartridges require the removal of the entire top of the cartridge. These are actually the most dangerous to refill, to both you and the cartridge. Exposing the entire inkwell inside is a surefire way to find out exactly just how empty that thing really is. Also, the physical action of opening the cartridge may damage it, rendering it useless once it has been restored. There is nothing more frustrating than realizing you've ruined your good white dress shirt and have nothing to show for it! If you are capable of refilling your cartridges, do it over the sink. Read all the directions in the refill kit, all the way through, before you start. Before. You. Start. Don't think you can get halfway through and "refresh your memory" because by then you'll most likely have ink dripping from somewhere, onto something you can't replace, repair or bleach to restore.

You should be very careful with the amount of ink you put into the cartridge, as well. If your refill kit gives you a range of minimum to maximum amounts of ink to add to your old cartridge, stay at the lower end of the range. Adding too much ink can cause it to leak out into the interior of your printer. In some brands, this is merely a messy nuisance. In others, leaking ink can affect the performance of the printer itself. Some printer manufacturers will void your warranty if the damage to the printer is from leaking cartridges. Avoid overfilling at all costs, for your sake, and for the sake of your machine.

It ain't all it's cracked up to be - Print quality and quantity can vary widely, depending on the brand of refill ink you use. Some brands are better than others. Some brands work better in some printers better than others. There are several Internet merchants who sell inkjet cartridge refill kits based solely on what brand and model of printer you own, claiming that their inks are custom mixed to match your manufacturer's ink as closely as possible. (This may or not be true. You'll have to take them at their word.) You may find that a refilled cartridge only gets about half the mileage of a new one. This may not bother you if you've mastered the fine art of ink refilling, but it may come as a real bother when you have to stop in the middle of big print job because your cartridge is out of ink, again. You may find that changing paper weight causes a reduction in print mileage, too, as the thinner refill kit ink soaks into heavier papers more.

The final word - Whether or not you choose to refill your inkjet ink cartridges next time you run dry may depend on the type of printer you own. It may depend on your patience with a rather messy job, and persistence in cleaning up after. It may depend on how important the appearance of your final printed product is to you. In the long run, it may be a better decision for you to buy an alternative brand of inkjet ink cartridge- a "generic" if you will - rather than refilling your old ones. Refilling may be better for the environment, but it ain't for everybody.

Article Source: http://casinoarticles.us

About The Author John Pickering is the owner of EezyTrade.co.uk, an online retailer of new and refilled printer ink cartridges for Brother, HP, Canon, Epson, Lexmark and Xerox printers. Visit us online today for canon ink cartridges and more and begin saving.

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated