Do Lexmark printers reject refilled ink cartridges?

[yoda313]

I have a wireless Lexmark X4530 printer. I had the original black ink cartridge that came with it refilled at office max. The printer is not recognizing the cartridge.

Is this some sort of newish drm type process to reject refilled cartridges? Are they trying to force people to buy new cartridges each time instead of refilling?

Or could this just be a bad refilling job by the tech at the store?

[MJA]

when it comes to ink .Lexmark is the worst.You should went with Brother


this is from 2003.I'm not sure if there is any new ones

http://www.pcworld.com/article/109282/printer_cartridge_case_heads_to_court.html

http://www.crn.com/it-channel/18829860;jsessionid=LG4ZTXCUASHYMQSNDLPCKH0CJUNN2JVN

[Number Six]

Try cleaning the electrical contacts on the cartridge with alcohol to make sure that there is no residue that could act as an insulator. You may want to clean the contacts on the cartridge slot in the carriage too.

[yoda313]

@mja - but this model is an inkjet printer. Is that the same situation then?

Also this was a rebate bundle deal with a camera purchase so it wasn't a deal breaker and no upfront out-of-pocket hassle. So it wasn't a big commitment.

@numbersix - ok. I don't know that I have that kind of cleaning solution handy. Maybe next time I'm at a store I could pick up some.

[Number Six]

yoda - It's regular isopropyl alcohol like the kind you use for cuts and scrapes.

[redwudz]

Some inkjet cartridges have a chip installed to prevent refilling. But there are reset devices available for most of them if you look around.

I don't know if they still do it, but Walgreen's Drug stores (US) were selling refilled cartridges for a reasonable price if you need other options.

I still have a older HP 952C printer that has easy to refill cartridges. I only do the black ones. I bought a inexpensive pint bottle of black ink that has lasted me a couple of years so far.

99% isopropyl has less water than typical isopropyl 'rubbing alcohol' and dries a bit faster. Denatured alcohol may be a bit better, but harder to find.

[saggitarius]

I want to offer you my condolences for purchasing a Lexmark printer.

I bought one of their first photo printers back before digital cameras really hit the market (they were there, but hadn't quite caught on yet) to print pictures from my digital camera for about $500. This printer served me well for about two years, then one day died. I had just gotten two brand new cartridges for it and had printed about 8 5x7 prints with it, then after sitting idle for about 2 weeks, it wouldn't print all the colors anymore. I knew there was no way it could be empty, I had done this many times before and all was well. So I started all the standard things, head cleaning and such, but the colours kept fading, so I called Tech Support. After running a series of tests (over the phone) they agreed to send me a new cartridge. New cartridge didnt fix the problem, but I was able to get an error message out of the printer that suggested the data ribbon that runs to the print heads had failed. I asked the tech to connect me with a parts person or service facility so that I could get a new cable and was informed that that type of thing doesn't exist, these are "throw away printers' Throw away printers? I don't know about you, but I don't call spending $500 on something 'throw away' in ANY situation. So to this day, I have a big hate-on for Lexmark.

Get a Canon, the one I got may be slow but has printed about 4 times as many pics as the Lexmark did and is still kicking.

[Seeker47]

Some inkjet cartridges have a chip installed to prevent refilling. But there are reset devices available for most of them if you look around.

99% isopropyl has less water than typical isopropyl 'rubbing alcohol' and dries a bit faster. Denatured alcohol may be a bit better, but harder to find.

According to a longtime dealer I know who sells original mfr., plus off-brand equivalent, as well as
refilled cartridges at computer shows and via mail-order, this "war" has gone back and forth with
increasing escalations. He told me that some of the original cartridges put in a second chip
as a double-check against the first one, that many of these cartridges report themselves as being
empty well before they truly are (a really low blow at these prices), and that some mfr.s
went to an "internal maze" type of chamber, specifically to thwart anyone trying to refill them !
They really want to insure that you have no option but to buy their expensive original cartridges.

I've had three older model Lexmarks at various times, the last of which has been sitting in storage
for quite awhile and I think I'm gonna finally get rid of it. (It was a fancier one, with networking,
print server add-on, and other options, which is partly why I kept it.) With all of these older models,
the print head was actually in each new cartridge. That made it a poor choice for photos, but
also reduced the problems you could have, since you got a new print head each time you changed
the cartridge. Lexmark might have been the only mfr. who did that. But it sounds like they must
have stopped doing that in their models some time ago . . . ?

The ink does tend to clog on you if the printer sits unused for many weeks. This can often be
remedied though, as you pointed out. I had a local repair facility that would apply a pressurized
solvent that could clean out just about any problem like that, when it was bad enough that the
DIY isopropyl deal was not sufficient, and they only charged me $25. for this service. Since I was
not using inexpensive, low-end printers, the couple times I had to resort to that were worth the
cost, in my estimation.

[Nelson37]

Yes, lots of them have chips, not sure about that model. If it does, the reset should have been part of the refill process.

Probably just needs cleaning, plain water will work, make sure and use that "lint-free" cloth, and/or just take it back to the store for another one.

Not fond of Lexmark printers, Brothers neither. Inkjets are truly thro-away items now, if your gonna spend over $100.00 on one get a color laser.

[jman98]

yoda313 - Sorry about your problem. While this is not about Lexmark printers, I do want to point out that last year I bought a new ink jet printer and I bought an Epson that many people raved about. Epson is so paranoid about remanufactured ink cartridges that some Epson printers won't recognize brand new Epson made cartridges, so the printer won't work. My printer was like that. Know what the solution is? Replace the printer with a new one. I said "Screw you" to Epson, returned the printer and bought a Canon. So my point is that paranoia about re-manufactured, refilled, etc. ink cartridges is sadly common. This is because basically the printer is sold at little to no profit and the profit comes on the ink cartridges, so the manufacturers are trying everything they can to force you to buy ink at their price and only from them.

[SteveArnold]

There should be a way to get any printer to work with refilled cartridges... as long as the cartridges are correctly refilled.

Try these guys for an ink refill. They've worked for me in the past, and it can't hurt to try someone once.

[MJA]

no need to bring a dead thread back to life

[jman98]

no need to bring a dead thread back to life

Agreed.

Welcome, SteveArnold, but around here we'd really prefer that old threads be left alone. Unless what you have to say is critical to the thread (ie. you have a region unlock code for a DVD player and nobody ever posted one in the thread), it's best to just leave them alone. Plus, since this is your first post, it does look suspiciously like you may be trying to cleverly disguise the fact that you have a business interest in the link you provided. We don't like that either.

[SteveArnold]

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize the thread was quite that old. I'll avoid reviving old threads in the future, and this will be the last time I post in this particular thread.

I admit the link I put in my last post does look kinda fishy... I apologize for that too. I didn't really think about that when I posted it. I'll be more careful in the future about that as well. Still, I can vouch for the company that it links to. They are pretty good. Though, as a new member, I admit me vouching for it carries absolutely no weight.

Hopefully I'll be able to earn some trust and respect in the future, and I suppose I'm always learning about proper forum etiquette ^_^

[johns0]

Thread closed.No need for any new ink refill links here.