Refilling Inkjet cartridges

[q1aqza]

Since I have been DVD Ripping I am printing lots of DVD covers and inserts and I am getting through my ink very quickly and I was looking at these cost effective kits that allow you to refill your cartridges with a big cost saving. For example, for my HP deskjet the black and colour cartridges cost approx £45-50 for both, whereas I have seen the self-refill kits that cost around £10 - a huge saving!

I would be interested to hear if anyone has good or bad experience of this ?

[ChrisX]

I used own a printer like you got. It is now gone. Get rid of your HP DeskJet printer and this one uses up too much ink. With printing problems of having paper jammed in the machine and broken parts. You name it, a nuisance. It makes a lot of noise as well.

In the past, I did experienced ink self-refills kits and this can save you money. It is a bit messy and troublesome though. This takes too much of my time and the trouble and so I now use a Canon laser printer.

The laser printer is much better, more economical and longer lasting. The current toner cartridge is still here, even though a long time since the cartridge was replaced. I recently bought a couple of printer toner cartridges and they may last for 5 years.

It is an excellent printing device and who knows how long I will keep it. It does looks as though I won’t replace or upgrade the printer for a long time now.

[q1aqza]

I'd like a laser printer but they are a little out of my budget. Out of interest though how do you find them for printing photos - I'd read somewhere that they are not so good?

I have also been considering an Epson Inkjet as I have noticed you can buy third-party cartridges very cheap, whereas I haven't noticed third-party ones for HPs.

[ChrisX]

I'd like a laser printer but they are a little out of my budget. Out of interest though how do you find them for printing photos - I'd read somewhere that they are not so good?

No, my laser printer is not suitable for printing of photos and of any fancy color printing such as using MS Publisher.

I have thought about getting a color printer a few times before and haven't got into getting one yet. I don't usually print images anyway and the printing is usually from web pages and MS Word documents. I also use my printer for CD jewel case labels.

[sterno]

Third-party ink cartridges are available for pretty much every common ink jet printer around. There is plenty of demand because printer manufacturers charge so much for their branded cartridges. However, a lot of stores don't carry them (at least that's what I've seen here in the US), nor do some online vendors. You may end up looking through quite a few mail-order and web catalogs before you find them.

I used to refill ink jet cartridges, for the same reason you mention - $20 for a package of two refill kits instead of $40-70 for a new cartridge that only lasted a couple hundred pages of text. The refills worked as well as the original, but after I'd refilled one cartridge 5 or 6 times it wasn't printing all that well anymore. The print head was on the cartridge, and it was gradually clogging and wearing out.

If the refill went well, then it was all done without even a mess. Most of the time it all went well. If the refill didn't go well I walked around with black splotches on my hands for two weeks and had to clean the inside of my printer.

[pacmania_2001]

I've heard that alot of printers dont handle the lower quality ink that most refilll cartridges use and it ends up clogging the head.

Anyone had this problem?

[ChrisX]

I've heard that alot of printers dont handle the lower quality ink that most refilll cartridges use and it ends up clogging the head.

Anyone had this problem?

Yes, it was terrible and very messy inside the used cartridge. Ink on my fingers as well.

[MOVIEGEEK]

Ink cart.are designed for one-time use,as was mentioned before the heads
will eventually malfunction(clog).I tried those do-it-yourself kits but it made a big mess on me and my printer.Now I send them in and have a pro.do it:
www.printpal.com

[vitualis]

Some cartridges may be easier to refill than others. I have had very good results with some older Canon cartridges (for BJC-210 and BJC-5000), for both black and colour cartridges.

However, I tried refilling an Epson cartridge once and it was a nightmare.

Regards.

[q1aqza]

Thanks for all the views everyone. I guess I will try a refill once to see how it goes. I don't have much to lose as the cartridges are nearly empty and if I ruin them I've lost nothing and if I screw up my printer then that is not a big deal either as I am seriously considering getting an Epson Inkjet as I can find cheap 3rd party cartridges for Epsons much easier than I can for my HP (so far here in UK I haven't found any 3rd party ones for my HP).

It's the cost of replacing ink that has stopped me from getting a colour printer for my seven year old daughter as I know the ink would be used up in no time!!.

Surely there must come a point for these manufacturers to make more money by selling cheaper but at volume - not only in ink but also for printers? If I could replace the ink at a quarter of the current price (i.e. the cost of what I have seen refill kits for) then I for one would certainly buy my daughter her own printer and therefore would buy more ink.

Anyway, I feel better for getting that off my chest !!