Brand compatable ink cartridges

So you're saying that you're not really sure if off-brand cartridges are any good?

It's a definition of "good". I covered most points and you have to decide if the color being ever so slightly off is bad or not. Also you have to decide on the warranty issue.

Bob

I use 2nd market cartridges in my Canon more than 2 years. I purchase from Carrot & Southwest.

I find no discernable diference between either or against Canon's. Black is black. I challenge anyone to remember color diference in the time span between changing cartriges without sophisticated testing equipment. Subjectivly I continue to be pleased with the results and the financial savings.

From Southwest I also purchase ink in 4 and 8 oz. bottles for loading in duplicate cartridges. Now we are talking fantastic savings.

Manufacture's warranty? Equipment almost never breaks during warranty. After, with dropping prices & improvements, who sends a printer for repairs? It is a non issue when the cost of ink shortly exceeds the price of the printer.

Hey! If the 2:15AM post time is your time zone, kudos for an excellent answer! I've wanted to buy those ink refillers, the ones you fill with the hypodermic-type tool, but I'm afraiid I won't handle it properly and loose all the ink. I have use of just my left hand because of a stroke. Can you give an opinion as to whether I should try one? Thanks.

I have used the refill kits for ink with no problem and GREAT savings. It is not as hard as the instructions look at first. Simple actually but one-handed would be more tricky of course. Do you have any sort of clamp or mini-vise to hold the cartridge while u fill it?

HAVING THE USE OF ONE HAND COULD POSE A PROBLEM OF SORTS BUT IF YOU COULD RIG US A SMALL VISE WITH PADDING YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TOO ADD INK TO YOUR CARTRIDGES. HERE'S ANOTHER THOUGHT FOR YOU TO TRY, USE THE REPROCESSED OR RECYCLED CARTRIDGES THEY MAY NOT SAVE YOU AS MUCH MONEY BUT IN YOUR CASE IT PROBABLY WOULD BE THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE COURSE OF ACTION FOR YOU.

If you have problems with your dexterity in trying to refill ink cartridges, maybe you can have a friend who will help you do it and this will save you a lot of money.Take care.

screw inkjet.. go with a nicely priced laser like the Samsung ML-1740

A laser printer is no good for photos as it burns the photographic paper. I agree on ordinary paper the printing is sharper than a inkjet.

Ken

This is the best site I have found with great instuctions on how to refill any ink cartrige.
Scroll down and look for Cartridge Refill Instructions
On the left side there is an Index of the brands of printers then you choose your exact model.

http://www.oddparts.com/ink/help.htm

Good Luck,
sdy

Your link doesn't work www.oddparts/ink/help.htm

Great site--I'm going to look into this.Do a lot os photos, and it's getting expensive.Have an HP photosmart 1315--fine printer, but likes it's gas!

I've been using Carrot Ink for some time now and find no difference in quality. In fact, before buying a new printer, I check their "bundles" to see if they are available for the printer I'm considering, usually Canon.

I'm with you , Carrot seems to work just fine, and if you have a problem, they send you a replacement ASAP at no charge..Not sure I have the time nor patience to refill my cartriges.

I have a canon i960. I tried a generic ink tank for half the price of a Canon brand, $11 versus $5. The printer shortly failed to print the replaced color. There are there are 6 colors (tanks) including black. Forunately I was still under warranty by 10 days and was able to replace the printing head at no cost to me. Otherwise it would have cost me $95 for a new head. The i960 which i bought for $200 is now selling for $160. Thus if I had to buy a new head I would opt for a new printer. In summary it is my opinion that the savings in the cost of ink is not worth the risk of jamming the printing head. Perhaps the Epson and HP have larger printing head orifices. I think my printer is 2 picoliters (?).

I bought a Canon printer once and NEVER will again - it drank the ink compared to previous HP printers - now stick to HP only!

All I can say it the times I've tried filling them myself, it was a mess. I also bought some remanufactured ones off Ebay and it prints blurry. I do have an older printer though - HP 812 - so maybe there is a difference in that as well. I decided to get a newer printer - Canon - with several ink tanks and bought new tanks off Ebay for half the price. That way I can stay away from refilled.

I will not address Photo printing as that is not my bag.
I bought a HP 722c six years ago and have never used a HP new print cartridge since then. All of my print cartridges have been either remanufacured or I have refilled on my own. Printer is still working well and have had no problems that were caused by any print cartridge.

I have never percieved any difference from the original print cartridges. Cost has been roughly one half of HP print cartridges.

You will not notice to much difference in the print quality, however, you will notice the difference later on as the picture starts to age. If you don't want to go the expense of high quality cartridges, just take you memory cards to a place like Wal-Mart.

Some time ago ,I tried to refill my epsom cartridges with a kit that included bottles of ink and a hypodermic needle and a small screw-type drill. The instructions said I was to use the enclosed drill to bore a hole in my empty epsom cartridge ; then use the hypodermic needle to refill the cartridge. I don't know if I could have improved with practise ,but I got ink all over my living room and left a trail of black ink leading to my kitchen sink as I desperately searched for a safe place to dump the messy cartridges which had gotten covered with fresh black indelible ink.The instructions sure didn't include that last step. I haven't tried to do that again! Have the kits been improved lately?

Usually 3-5 ccs is all a cartridge will hold. Next time you may want to use the empty syringe first to withdraw what leftover ink is in the cartridge to see how much is left. Then finish filling the syringe up to 3ccs. Point the syringe up and push the plunger until all the air is out, then put the cartridge on clean paper toweling, push the needle all the way down into the cartridge and SLOWLY SLOWLY !! inject 1 or 2 ccs at a time until you see the ink spreading on the paper towel. Then withdraw about 1/2 cc of ink. Hope this works for you. You probably did what I did the first time...filled the syringe and shot it all in at one time. I didn't leave a trail of ink but I sure did make a mess! I have an AIO printer from those ads you see on TV (Dude, you gotta get a ___")and have been refilling my cartridges using HP refills from Wally World for over a year. Color and Blk work fine and I get about 6 refills from a package for 18.00 versus 35.00 for a new one.

Here's the thing with Epson cartridges. You can't refill (effectively anyway!) original manufacturer cartridges. They have a hydroPHOBIC (hates water) sponge inside that is filled under pressure at the factory and you can't do that at home. You CAN get compatible cartridges and refill those, because their sponges are hydroPHILLIC (loves water). Original cartridges will allow ink to be put in, but since it isn't in the sponge - just sitting in the bottom of the case - it doesn't feed right, drips out and runs out almost immediately.

I have refilled literally hundreds of cartridges for the printers at my work. You shouldn't need a drill for the Epson cartridges because you really only need to go through the paper covering the top hole. You will then cover this hole with a piece of masking tape to keep the vacuum balanced. There is already a hole to allow ink out.

Every refill kit instructions I have seen say to work over a sink or such to prevent problems in case of spillage. I have cheated and filled by the printer a couple of times, but I knew the risk I was taking.

And of course this whole discussion doesn't apply to the newer machines with a chip on the cartridge. You can't use those once the printer has burned the chip after so many drops. (Which is why I switched to Canon for my work printers! Cartridges are so cheap I don't even bother to refill.)

I have a HP all in one and have refilled my cartridges a couple of times using various kits. I had no problems until now. The printer will not print any ink at all. I have heard about those chips but can't determine if my cartridges have them or not. In the software package for HP there is an utility that estimates the amount of ink left in the cartridge. Even after refilling it says they are still empty. Why?????

You said
Which is why I switched to Canon for my work printers! Cartridges are so cheap I don't even bother to refill.)

I don't know if the situation has changed but a few years ago when My Cannon printer was getting tired, I went the office supply store to replace it. I was looking at one cannon and one HP printer. I thought that a quick peek at cartridge prices would help with the decision. The associate in the Ink Cartridge area showed me that the Cannon cartridges were a little cheaper than the HP. He paused while I pretty much decided on the Cannon printer. Then he showed me that the Cannon cartridge held 11 ml of ink while the HP for two dollars more held 40 ml.
Just something more to complicate decisions.
Now for more confusion. I had always found that I could refill the Cannon cartridges twice with no problem, the third time often caused problems. I have never been happy with refilled HP cartridges

I have used refills for several brands of printers, mostly HP. I now use a Photosmart 1000 and a 4 in 1 Photosmart printer. Some cartridges will allow refills 4-5 times, others will not work after 1-2 refills. Use pigmented black ink and the best color brands which experiment shows best for your printer. Try several refill companies and brandsl.
The savings are worth the effort for me and my wife who print a hundreds of photos and manuscripts with photos.
P.S. We keep a spare new cartridge of color and Black for each printer on hand.... just in case.

I've refilled cartridges for my lex 1100 for about 4 years. I use it mostly for word processing, and the refillable ink has not affected its performance. I usually can refill 5 to six times before I have to buy a remanufactured cartridge, then I'm good to go for 5 or 6 more.