How to Save Money by Refilling Ink Printer Cartridges!
By InkPrinterCartridges. Filed in Cartridges |
You don’t have to empty your wallet each time the low ink light on your printer appears. Stop worrying and start refilling your ink printer cartridges yourself! It is a simple process that will not take longer than five minutes.
Ink printer cartridges refill kits usually come with the following items: ink in bottles, syringes for ink, and a detailed instruction page. Some kits can also contain an air balance clip which is used to balance the air within the cartridge to guarantee proper flow of ink. Also, some kits can include a handheld drill to drill a small hole in the top of the empty ink printer cartridges.
Process for Refilling:
1. To begin refilling ink printer cartridges, fill the supplied syringe with your choice of color over several sheets of scrap paper, or the sink, to prevent messes. Each printer holds a different amount of ink. Generally in Epson manufactured printers, the black ink cartridge holds about 17 ml. each and each color ink cartridges hold about 8 ml. Look at the instructions supplied in your refill kit to verify how much ink your cartridges hold.
2. Prior to inserting the syringe, drill a small hole at the top of the ink cartridge (one hole for each color cartridge chamber). The hole should be at the top of the cartridge near the label. Gently push the syringe through the drilled hole and push to the bottom of the cartridge and toward the outlet hole. It is important to fill each ink cartridge slowly to avoid ink foaming and allow air to be introduced into the chamber.
3. There is no need to re-seal the newly drilled refill holes because there are already manufactured breather holes on each ink printer cartridges.
4. Any ink that is unused in the syringe can be put returned to the bottle. Be sure to clean each syringe with water and dry them thoroughly to reuse them for future use. Also, you can label your syringes to be used for specific colors so that each of your syringes is used only with one particular color.
5. After you have placed the ink printer cartridge back into the printer, be sure to run the printers cleaning cycle at least 1 to 3 times. If you see any gaps in the printing, be sure to run the cleaning cycle again.
Be sure not to forget…
There are several things one should remember when refilling an ink printer cartridge. Each cartridge should be refilled prior to the cartridge becoming empty to prevent the cartridges ink chamber from drying out which causes clogging. Moreover, it’s generally a good idea to allow the cartridge sit for a few hours, or even overnight, so the pressure in the cartridge can stabilize.
Some newer printers, such as those manufactured by Epson, have a computer chip in their ink cartridges which should be visible by simply looking at your cartridge. These chips are often referred to as “Intellidge” cartridges. These chips keep track of how cartridge us and notifies the computer when the ink cartridge becomes low or empty. Be sure to reset the chip when refilling the cartridge with ink from a refill kit. A reset tool can be used to reset the chips memory. This will allow the printer to recognize the ink cartridge as “full” which allows printing with a refilled ink cartridge.
Refilling ink printer cartridges is simple, beneficial to the environment, and keeps money in your pocket.
