Has Anyone Refilled Ink Cartridges?

[NJGOAT]

Look for stores around you that offer the service. Microcenter does it as does CompUSA if you can find one of their actual stores. They put them in a machine and it does it for you.

I personally can't stand the ink and ended up getting a cheap laser printer instead.

[irman]

Depending on *if you have a Costco in your town*, they do a decent job for a decent price.
I was skeptic at first, but am satisfied.

Just a warning, with all those *fancy* electronics, the cartridges send data to your printer and then your computer, so do not let the ink go below 1/3.

Then after quite a few refills, the ink level monitor is just so low, it becomes a hassle to print.
So then I buy a new set of cartridges and start over again.

Each refill is about 10 dollars, so I do buy the extra large versions of the cartridges.

[stevebri]

Aftermarket cartridges are very cheap so refilling may not be worth it. You also have to reporgram the chip so that it thinks the cartridge is full since the chip on the ink cartridge counts by drops and will inform the printer after a certain number of drops has been counted that the cartridge is empty. I looked into this once and I believe there are devices that can do this, but I found (when I used an ink jet, I don't anymore), that getting the aftermarket cartridges costs about the same.

I don't actually like inkjet printers at all. I prefer a laser printer, especially for important documents. I have an inkjet that I still have ink for but it is so finicky that it will not print even with brand new ink. Too much of a pain.

[Nomander]

As some have already stated, it really isn't worth it.

I used to work on printers in my past and the biggest offender was the refilled cartridges when they became popular. They normally do not seal as well, have issues with their distribution of the ink, and often cause printer head clogging. Even laser printer toner refills are just as bad and usually shorten the life of your drum unit and fuser due to the excess toner they spill out.

Even if you know how to clean (take it apart and individually clean specific parts) your printer regularly, it really doesn't help that much as the excess spill is often consistent and gums up the system quickly. Not worth it at all.

[DinsdalePirahna]

You see a lot of ink systems at heavy use shops. (Continuous Flow Systems - Inksupply.com)
May or may not be a good alternative, but is very effective for larger format printers (13 inch x 19 inch).
All printers have a built in lifespan and will eventually croak

The best real alternative is to get a costco or sams club membership and by in bulk.

[Xanathos]

I've become a big fan of wax/solid ink printers. Lower cost per page and more durability. I don't even mess with cartridges anymore - they're simply too outdated.

That being said, I send my cartridge using friends to inksupply.com. They sell remanufactured cartridges at a very reasonable price and take the steps necessary to ensure the chips report an accurate level of ink in them to your computer.