Ink Cartridge Refill Kits

try TEA-CEN re inking cartridge recyling dealer
fax or phone (814) 765-5887

paul A

Unless you consider your printer a throw-away device that you don't mind trashing, I'd stay far away from ink refilling kits.

Why?

Because I used to work for Computer Bay in Crystal Lake, IL, which was an authorized HP repair center.

Here's what could happen to your printer:

Ink cartridge starts leaking... ink gets over everything. Contacts on the print head are the first to short out. While this is happening, ink is being dumped and spread around. Logic board shorts out.
That ink is real nasty! It's worse than permanent markers!

What happens next? Well first of all, your printer is ruined. Spilled ink in an inkjet printer is about as bad for the printer as spilling nitric acid on your own skin. No joke!

Here's usually what has to be done to get it to work again: Replace logic board, replace print head, replace feed equipment, replace most of the interior plastics and clean the parts that don't need to be replaced.

Usually costs more to repair than to just go out and buy a new printer.

Truth be told, however, is that's how things were a few years ago. HP changed the rules. Now NOBODY is authorized to repair HP deskjets that are under warranty anymore, not even Computer Bay. Now the authorized HP repair centers have to send your printer directly to HP. Obviously if this happened to you, you would be screwed because you voided the warranty anyway. Since it's not in warranty, you could have somebody repair it, but it's going to cost some major bucks. It's a lot of work and effort to replace and clean those things.

Ok, that all said and done, how often does this leakage thing actually happen? A heck of a lot more often than you probably realize. I'd have to say that 1 in 6 people who use ink refills run into trouble with their printer. That's a guess, of course, but I've seen a lot of them come in in just a couple of months. If it weren't a problem, everybody I know would be doing it.

To sum up, I'd say you'd be taking a pretty high risk. And you only save something like $10 on the ink anyway. You have to ask yourself if it's really worth it.

Just my take on the whole ink-refill business.

I have a Hp 380 all in one. I recently bought a black refill kit for. I havn't had any problems. I bought the refill kit at acomputer show last fall for 19.95. I should be able to refill one cartridge 8 or 9 times. I'll get the address and send you the info. If you do't here from me you can drop me a reminder at mmouse101@hotmail.com

Mmouse101

My $0.02:

I tried them for some years at home with my HP550C. The black seemed to work OK, but the color was a joke. Since I did not print color that often, it would dry out. This never happened with HPs.

In spite of care, got ink on my hands and some on the kitchen counter.

End result, for me, it isn't worth the effort....

I've been refilling the ink cartridges on my printers for years. Sam's Club has the best all-around refill kit for the money. I would suggest buying a printer who's cartridges aren't boobey-trapped to fail upon refilling. And YES, I DO consider a printer disposable if I CAN'T refill the ink. Any printer manufacturer that makes their printer so that the ink CAN'T be refilled or puts chips in them to void them won't get my business. If ink cartridges were reasonably priced, no big deal, buy another one. But when the costs of a black and color cartridge is 1/4 the cost of the printer, that's just greed. Imagine if the oil filter on your car were to cost $5,000, (i.e.,1/4th the cost of the vehicle). Would you still think it a bargain, or worthy investment? I doubt it. I prefer the HP printers, personally. I have a couple of Dell Printers that came with systems I bought. If they can't be refilled more than once, I will promptly bounce them down a staircase when they are (disposably) out of ink, and will NEVER buy another printer from Dell. Same goes for Epson, and any other greedy printer mfr that thinks two refills for a printer should equal the costs of the printer. *Footnote: If you follow the refilling instructions properly, you won't have a mess. Drama queens and alarmists corporate hacks aside, it's not that bad. Happy New Year.

In most cases you are better off biting the bullet and buying new cartridges.  The leaking issues, dropping dots in the print, big mess, etc. Aftermarket Refilled cartridges are no better.  The quality of ink, in many refills is not the same quality as the OEM's.  Some newer printer cartridges even have logic inside and once it's status is "out of ink" you can put ink in them but the printer will still detect the out of ink and won't print. 

You may have better luck,mine leaked.  I also bought some over the internet ,they didn't leak they just wouldn't print, so they were a waste of money as well.

sandavis

 

Hey, everyone:

I'd advise anyone to steer clear of these ink cartridge refill kits, and off-brand replacement cartridges. They are a waste of time and money and might, in the long run, damage your printer. Here's my experience:

Bought two (2) replacement cartridges from Staples for my HP 932 printer. The first one worked for a few weeks but then suddenly stopped. Nothing would print. I Checked the cartridge with the HP toolbox application; it showed the cartridge to be 3/4 full. Tried several times more, still no print. Then, I applied all the HP trouble shooting recommendations, but these attempts were also futile. Apparently, the ink had caked up in the cartridge. Then, I put the second cartridge (never used) in the printer. Guess what? Yep, no print--although toolbox showed a full ink cartridge. Apparently, over time, this cartridge too had caked and dried. I had to go out and buy legitimate HP cartridges. They're expensive, naturally, but work like a charm. Remember, as the old saw goes, "You get what you pay for!"

Hope the above will lead someone in the right direction.

Sincerely,

Bill D.

I have an HP Photosmart 1215 .

I tried the refills, they don't work if you want professional looking pictures.  The refill works for awhile and the colors starting changing.  Black will work OK.

Purchase new cartridges for your printer only and you will not go wrong and I believe your printer will last much longer if you clean the printer head and follow regular maintance procedures.

For those having "leaking" problems, if you follow the instructions precisely, you shouldn't have this issue. Some cartridges will leak some ink until the cartridge re-pressurizes, or begins to draw a vacuum beyond atmospheric air pressure. They require it to function. Others operate without even resealing the cartridge upon refilling. Again, pay close attention to the refill instructions that comes with the kit. The absolute BEST one out there is sold only at Sam's Club for under $20.00 and refills my $300.00 HP printer just fine. Using the gentleman's disposable-printer concept, if I bought new cartridges every time I needed to refill them, I'd buy nearly two $300.00 printers before I exhaust the ink that comes from my $20.00 refill kit. At that rate, to me, a normal printer of say around $100.00 IS disposable if I have to buy new ink cartridges everytime it runs low. Refilling saves LOTS of money unless you were unfortunate enough to buy a proprietary printer from Dell, (made by Lexmark), or one of the Epson printers with a computer chip that prevents it from working when refilled. Whatever happened to providing quality, long product life, and value for your dollar. Any company that refuses to acknowledge that $35.00 is robbery for 25cents worth of ink wrapped in $1.00 worth of plastic has NO integrity, or are simply not too bright. This frugal shopper votes with his dollar. Viva le resistance !!