# Refilling Ink Cartridges



## Jeffery (Oct 25, 2011)

Does any one here refill their own ink cartridges? 
Do refilled cartridges print just as well? Where do you buy the ink?


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## Capt Quirk (Sep 24, 2011)

I tried it once, and wasn't thrilled. It was a bit messy, and the cartridges didn't print quite right. Back when I was still using my printer a lot, I would go online to buy ink cartridges that were refilled more professionally. I think I was paying $5 a cartridge, as opposed to the $20-$30 in the store. When you have a printer that uses 6 cartridges, you need to skimp.


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## Guest (Oct 26, 2011)

I refilled my cartridges until I got a laser printer. Didn't have any problems with it, but it is a bit messy.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

Capt Quirk said:


> I tried it once, and wasn't thrilled. It was a bit messy, and the cartridges didn't print quite right. Back when I was still using my printer a lot, I would go online to buy ink cartridges that were refilled more professionally. I think I was paying $5 a cartridge, as opposed to the $20-$30 in the store. When you have a printer that uses 6 cartridges, you need to skimp.


For sure.
And IF something goes wrong and you don;t plug that hole Perfect. The ink could come out and Leak All Over, Making the Printer nothing but a huge Paper Weight. And unusable.
And what some forget is that the Ink Cartridge is the Printing Head itself. And after many times at refills that "Printing Head gets worn out". 
Nop it is better to buy professional refilled ones if wanting to save a few bucks.


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

I have refilled my ink for 6 years , started out refilling the strore bought ones ,, could refill them 4 to 8 times ,, did that for over a year ,, then got some from ebay ,, have to refill them once every week or 2 ,, do a lot of printing .. one fill prints a lot more pages the the store bought ones ( the one from ebay ) my kids all refill theres to ,,, you do get some ink on your hands sometimes , if you worry about the ink on your hands get some gloves .. I get my ink in quarts ..


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## ejagno (Jan 2, 2008)

tom j said:


> I have refilled my ink for 6 years , started out refilling the strore bought ones ,, could refill them 4 to 8 times ,, did that for over a year ,, then got some from ebay ,, have to refill them once every week or 2 ,, do a lot of printing .. one fill prints a lot more pages the the store bought ones ( the one from ebay ) my kids all refill theres to ,,, you do get some ink on your hands sometimes , if you worry about the ink on your hands get some gloves .. I get my ink in quarts ..


Please share your sources for ink by the quart. I go through a tremendous amount of black in.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

arabian knight said:


> For sure.
> And IF something goes wrong and you don;t plug that hole Perfect. The ink could come out and Leak All Over, Making the Printer nothing but a huge Paper Weight. And unusable.
> And what some forget is that the Ink Cartridge is the Printing Head itself. And after many times at refills that "Printing Head gets worn out".
> Nop it is better to buy professional refilled ones if wanting to save a few bucks.


Seeing as the ink cartridges for inkjets costs more than the printer (that includes all the cartridges), I see the potential downside low. They almost give away the printers, so you'll buy their ink. Sorta like Rockefeller did with free lamps, so folks would buy his lamp oil.

I haven't refilled cartridges... will be trying to refill my toner on my laser when the time comes.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

texican said:


> Seeing as the ink cartridges for inkjets costs more than the printer (that includes all the cartridges), I see the potential downside low. They almost give away the printers, so you'll buy their ink. Sorta like Rockefeller did with free lamps, so folks would buy his lamp oil.
> 
> I haven't refilled cartridges... will be trying to refill my toner on my laser when the time comes.


 For sure. I knew a person at work that when her ink went dry. SHe would throw it away and go buy a new one. Saved her a bunch of money over the years.


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## Guest (Oct 27, 2011)

arabian knight said:


> For sure. I knew a person at work that when her ink went dry. SHe would throw it away and go buy a new one. Saved her a bunch of money over the years.


She sure wasted a lot of money that way. You only get a starter cartridge with a new printer.


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## tom j (Apr 3, 2009)

ejagno 
I sent you a pm ,,, do not know if I can post here were I get my ink ,cause on a other site I got taken off for posting some thing like this ,,, If you want you can post it ,,


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## Jeffery (Oct 25, 2011)

Thank you for your comments.


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

I've had limited success refilling ink jet cartridges. Sometimes it works, and sometime is doesn't. I still have my old ink jet, but use it mostly for scanning.

Went to a laser printer. On eBay bought a bottle of refill power, plus a new chip so it would keep on printing past what the manufacturer programmed it for. A bit messy the first time, but I think I can refill it again with less mess.

I do a lot of printing and the Dell laser jet paid for itself the first time I ran out a batch of booklets.


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

arabian knight said:


> And what some forget is that the Ink Cartridge is the Printing Head itself.


I will agree that is correct for most printers. However my color inkjet printer does have separate printer heads. It is an HP Officejet. With the Officejet I have the option of buying standard size or over size ink cartridges for each of the four color cartridges it uses. That allows for a lot of money savings if you do much printing. It is also faster than most home printers, holds more paper, and can print several sizes of paper.


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## mozarkian (Dec 11, 2009)

Have refilled my ink jet cartridges for years. Buy the ink online. Google inkjet ink and you will see a variety of suppliers. I had HP's until I bought a Canon MX 350-- which I bought specifically for how easy it is to refill. HP was trickier, the refill hole was on the front of the cartridge and would leak if not plugged correctly. This Canon has the hole on the top of the cartridge and I cover it with tape. Takes about 30 seconds to refill and I refilled the original black cartridge about every week for over a year before the print head failed and I had to buy a new cartridge. 
Trick is to make sure you set your printer to print grayscale, fast print as the default and only use the heavier or color settings when you actually need to. And keep dust away - dust particles have sharp edges that eat up the print heads.


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## mikellmikell (Nov 9, 2005)

If your just using black get on EBay and pick up a laser for next to nothing.


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## Limon (Aug 25, 2010)

Not to sound like a broken record, but I have to echo what others have said. I was going through a cartridge a month before I switched to a laser printer. The replacement cartridges cost the same, but the laser printer goes 6-7 months between replacements. I'll have to replace the toner drum at some point, but after a few years of printing, it's still at 80%. I think the printer will die of old age before the drum wears out. 

If you're doing color printing, you might want to look into other options. If you're not doing a lot of color, it might be more cost effective to get it done at a Staples type store if there's something like that in your area. If you're doing mainly photos, you could check the prices for places to print them for you. You can get a lot of photos done for the cost of a single cartridge.


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