Anybody successfully re-fill printer ink cartridges?

[rfakhrai]

I'm a student and shelling out $20 every semester is not something I think is financially sustainable. I have one bad experience with re-filling my ink cartridge. It involved some Costco-brand kit that just didn't work. I could've filled that cartridge all day and still nothing would print.

So I figured the KFN community would have some knowledge that they could pass on. Anyone?

[arochester]

Re: Anybody successfully re-fill printer ink cartridges?

Different cartridges have different filling methods.

Some cartridges are not supposed to refill.

Google the particular cartridge and you should be able to find refill instructions.

I tend to buy larger bottles of ink rather than the usual smaller ones.

Sometimes you have to get particular ink for particular cartridges. For example the yellow might be more intense for x. This is particularly true for photographs. But generic ink does fine for general printing.

My printers are all HP and bought cheaply from Charity Shops.

[rfakhrai]

Re: Anybody successfully re-fill printer ink cartridges?

Thanks. I've done the Googling. I guess I'll have to take a shot in the dark to see if any of these kits work.

[toad]

Re: Anybody successfully re-fill printer ink cartridges?

Go for ink as arochester suggested and make sure you get syringes as well (unless you get hold of them elsewhere).

[rfakhrai]

Re: Anybody successfully re-fill printer ink cartridges?

I've found this refill kit and, according to reviews elsewhere on the 'net, inksell.com is reputable.

Out of curiosity, would I be able to use any ink? For example, I use Noodler's Ink for my fountain pen. It would be even more convenient and cost-effective if I could use the same stuff for the printer as well!

[Ole Juul]

Re: Anybody successfully re-fill printer ink cartridges?

Fountain pen ink doesn't have the right electrostatic properties. I wouldn't try it.

[rfakhrai]

Re: Anybody successfully re-fill printer ink cartridges?

Good call. It was a shot in the dark. Thanks for the help KFN

[Ole Juul]

Re: Anybody successfully re-fill printer ink cartridges?

If one is thrifty there are deals, freebies, throways, etc, to be gotten with inkjet printers. However, is it possible to beat the price of laser printing? I'm just bringing this up because as a student you will have need for a lot of printing over several years and if you amortize it over time, laser printers tend to win.

For example a Samsung ML series B&W model costs about $50. The included toner cartridge is inadequate so you need to add the price of a new one of those which is around $80. However, then you can print for several years, with the added benefit that you won't run out suddenly because at the end it just starts getting less black. Anyway, we got one of those because of the longer term saving, so I thought I'd share.

[toad]

Re: Anybody successfully re-fill printer ink cartridges?

Good call. I once bought an HP 4Plus for a tenner on ebay. Six thousand pages later it is still going strong. Great old workhorse!

[rfakhrai]

Re: Anybody successfully re-fill printer ink cartridges?

Food for thought thanks! I'll wait until this all-in-one dies, though. I've become fond of the scanning feature.

[Ole Juul]

Re: Anybody successfully re-fill printer ink cartridges?

Hmmm, scanning eh? That brings up a whole other area of economics in this discussion. Scanners tend to be expensive, or not work with open source, or both. It could be that since these all-in-ones are quite cheap, that there is a good point in going that route. Of course, already having one is the best argument of all.

[rfakhrai]

Re: Anybody successfully re-fill printer ink cartridges?

I have to say, my HP Photosmart C4680 was $80 and the set of HP drivers for linux work perfectly for scanning and printing.

My only problem with this printer is the $20 of ink every ~200 pages. But I'm gonna fix that!