Inkjet printer question

[Ed62]

My wife has a Dell all-in-one printer. Dell sells new cartridges in packs of three for close to $80.00. You can't buy individual cartridges from them. We found out that Office Max will refill them at a reasonable price. We had one refilled, but now every time she prints something, she gets the pop up telling her the cartridge is nearly out of ink. Is there a way to disable this message? Is there a way to get reliable readings on a refilled cartridge? Thanks for any and all replies.

Ed

[KenBurris]

It may be a function of how long the cartridge had ben dry before refilling. I had similar problem when I installed a refill in my HP all-in-one. I've been using generic HP's from Staples.....Dell re-manufactureds are $26.48 for black and $29.48 for color

[Ed62]

The cartridge was not quite empty when it was refilled. I wonder if the person who refilled it might have contaminated the contacts on the back of the cartridge when refilling it. Maybe I should take it out again, and try cleaning the contacts??

Ed

[steve-norrell]

We found out that Office Max will refill them at a reasonable price. We had one refilled, but now every time she prints something, she gets the pop up telling her the cartridge is nearly out of ink. Is there a way to disable this message? Is there a way to get reliable readings on a refilled cartridge? Thanks for any and all replies.

Ed

Some 'name brand' cartridges have a chip that is read by the printer. The vendor of the refilled chip should have a way to reset or inactivate the chip.

I have a HP printer that, when I replace a cartridge, displays a cute message that I am using a genuine HP cartridge. This shows that the printer communicates with the cartridge. I haven't tried a generic refill yet since I have been using up some HP cartridges that I got on sale.

Also, some of the outfits that sell kits to refill the cartridges yourself include a device to rest the chip. I tried refilling them myself and quickly found out that it was not worth the mess.

Good luck, Steve

[L. D. Jeffries]

Have to agree w/ "Steve-Norrell". I have an HP "all-in-one" that if I try to put in a non-HP cartridge a pop-up message says "UnauthoriZed cartridge" and the d**n thing won't work at all. Smart buggers these guys, a chip in the cartridge must agaree with the printer or "no go" Guess they figure they will make enough on the cartridge's that they can almost give away the stupid printer!! Ahh, progress.

[jackellis]

Guess they figure they will make enough on the cartridge's that they can almost give away the stupid printer!!

That's EXACTLY what they do. I think the printers sell at cost. Markups on ink are enormous and that's where HP and others make their money.

[ragswl4]

Ever Wonder?

Ever wonder why these cartridges are so expensive? One reason is that chip that is in it. I recently purchased an HP all in one and the software knows when the cartridge goes empty and if you put a non-HP cartridge in it, the thing won't read the ink level.

As far as re-filling or off brand cartridges go, I did this with two Epson printers and both lasted about a year after that. Both developed the same problem, some colors would not print, no matter how many times I cleaned the machine. One has to balance the cost of a new printer vs the savings on cartridges.

[tedkitch]

Just so all of you know there is class action litigation in the works to sue the printer makers for doing this with the cartridges. The European Union is also looking into passing a law to ban this type of behavior in their respective countries. HP is the worst of them all as they have sued refill companies for disabling the chips or resetting them.

Always do the research on printers and their cartridge costs. This isn't true in all cases, but the cheaper the printer the higher (and more proprietary) the ink.

Epson and Canon are the least likely to have printers with proprietary technology. HP and Lexmark (Dell) are the most likely.

[cgallery]

Just so all of you know there is class action litigation in the works to sue the printer makers for doing this with the cartridges. The European Union is also looking into passing a law to ban this type of behavior in their respective countries. HP is the worst of them all as they have sued refill companies for disabling the chips or resetting them.

Always do the research on printers and their cartridge costs. This isn't true in all cases, but the cheaper the printer the higher (and more proprietary) the ink.

Epson and Canon are the least likely to have printers with proprietary technology. HP and Lexmark (Dell) are the most likely.

And Kodak is introducing new printers that are more expensive but use cheap inks.

[gerti]

As far as re-filling or off brand cartridges go, I did this with two Epson printers and both lasted about a year after that. Both developed the same problem, some colors would not print, no matter how many times I cleaned the machine. One has to balance the cost of a new printer vs the savings on cartridges.

My last two Epson printers did that despite only using Epson Inks. I switched to Canon, and like that one a lot better.

[lago]

Fry's Electronics has recently advertised a HP printer for $37. Don't know if that includes ink cartridges but if it does, that is almost a 'throwaway' printer. Cartridges for my current HP printer run abut $30 each.

[TheRic]

Refilling ink cartridges are NOT recommended. Yes some of it is because they want to make money off the ink. Mostly because they way the ink cartridges are designed. Please bear with me and read the whole post, sorry about the length.

If you look on the bottom of the ink cartridge you will see bunch of little holes. Inside those holes are little heating elements, and channels that will channel the ink to the hole. When the printer is suppose to print, the heating element rapidly heats up, the ink over the hole liquefies (even more), and is shot out of the hole from pressure (least resistance is the hole opening). This happens very fast like maybe 50 times a second (varies per model / brand / speed / etc.).

The heating elements are designed to last about the length of the cartridge. When you refill the cartridge you are risking the heating element burning out, therefor printing bad.

Once any air gets to the ink it will dry, fairly quickly. You don't want ink smears on your paper. Since you refill the cartridge once it's empty, that means air has traveled back thru those little holes and channels. They are drying any ink that may still be in the channels, and therefor plugging the holes.

Inserting the syringe into the cartridge allows air inside. Have you ever watched a doctor / medic show. The doctor pushes fluid thru the syringe before injecting it / tapes on the needle, this gets the air out. Are you doing this with the ink syringe? Didn't think so.

Another thing is the ink varies from brand to brand, model to model. Ink is ink, WRONG. The ink is made of of various chemicals that will give it certain properties, as in how much heat it need to blow out the hole, how fast it drys, how much it will spread out when leaving the hole and going on the paper, how long of shelf life it will have, etc. Have seen some ink printers that can print something on paper you get it damp immediately and it barely smears. Seen one that with a little moisture will smear the ink on paper that was printed YEARS before, in seconds (as in a little moisture from a can of pop will ruin the whole page DAMHIK ).

OK, you say you still want to refill the cartridges then I would suggest this. Only refill them once, the heating elements won't last much more than twice what they are rated for. Have the cartridge refilled BEFORE it runs empty. Try to use ink that is recommended for that brand / model (some will list it, other say it works on all types, nope). Once you get it refilled, shake it a little (helps break up any dry ink between the layers). Use it immediately, air is getting into the holes as it sits (remember that little plastic tape you took off the new one, it was there for a reason).

If you have holes that are plugged, not working etc. You can try taking high % alcohol on a q-tip to the holes to clean them. I normally use laboratory grade alcohol (about 99.9%). Then put into the machine and run the clean cycle. It works about 50% of the time.

Overall my suggestion is if you do any decent amount of printing, get a laser printer!! You pay more up front, but it will last many times longer. My current laser printer is about 10 years old. It has gone thru several new toner cartridges (about $100 each), it has over 30,000 pages printed off on it. Those pages normally over half filled on an average. Toner does not dry out, does not smear, it is MUCH cheaper per page to print!!!

If you only print a couple hundred pages a year, then get the ink printer. Pay that $30 a year, or throw away the whole printer and get a new one for about the same $$ with a rebate. Also shop around ink printers are very much "Do you want to pay me now, or pay me later". Higher printers up front normally have cartridges that hold more ink, therefor cheaper per page to print.

[Slik Geek]

...if you do any decent amount of printing, get a laser printer!! You pay more up front, but it will last many times longer.

If you purchase a laser printer, check into the drum and toner replacement costs too. The "rip-off" fever so rampant in the ink jet printer industry has infected the laser printers too.

I used to swear by HP laser printers. We used several of them for many years at work. Highly reliable. A few years ago, I replaced an ancient HP workhorse printer with another HP. I regret that purchase.

The printer was troublesome (requiring frequent attention) and expensive to refill the toner. The biggest insult, however, came when the printer determined that it was time to replace the toner drum. After a brief warning, it refused to print. They programmed it to require a drum replacement. Even though print quality was perfectly fine, and we could have extended the drum life for another several thousand pages, the printer was programmed to insure a steady revenue stream for HP by stopping operation.

I no longer purchase HP printers, inkjet or laser. (I have an HP inkjet at home - that's another story). HP had the premier name in inkjet printers and laser printers, but their stupid management decisions that focused on the near-term bottom-line totally destroyed my brand loyalty.

[L. D. Jeffries]

Just to add to TheRic post. You can use pages printed on a laser printer to heat transfer to another surface. Print the "whatever" in a reverse mode (like you were going to print on a t-shirt) then using a heat transfer tool or a dry, hot iron just "iron" over the paaper and the printing will transfer. I made up a "made by" stamp and now imprint all my work using this method. But it has to be the ink from a laser, not an inkjet. Good for transfering complicated patterns for inlay work, etc.

[Ed62]

I understand the potential problems with refilled cartridges. I have an Epson Photo 870, which has not been manufactured in some time. It does not get refilled, but I do not have to buy 3 cartridges at a time, either.

The Dell my wife has, is an inexpensive printer, which I don't expect to last too long. So if we buy 3 cartridges, we'll probably have 1 or 2 unused ones when the printer finally goes. At that time, we'll be forced to make a decision to buy another that takes the same cartridges, or throw the unused cartridges away, and buy something else. Just another way to screw the public, IMHO.

Ed