Mouse Clix
Beating the high cost of Printer Ink
I think the loudest complaint about anything that
has to do with computers is the high cost of ink cartridges. Many people think that it is a “rip off” and
that the manufacturers are taking advantage of the buyers who choose their
printers. To some it appears that the
low prices on some printers are a “come on,” so that you will be stuck paying
the high cost of the ink long after the initial purchase. Frankly, I have no information to correct that
thinking, nor can I to offer many solutions.
One idea for people who do not care about color is
to buy a dot matrix printer. These are
available used from a number of sources including Ebay. These use a ribbon instead of liquid ink,
last a long time and are very inexpensive compared to inkjet ink. They are for
black and white only. Another choice is to buy your color ink cartridges from
the discount sites on the Internet.
I am frequently asked about the systems that allow
you to refill your cartridges, but up to this point I had not tried them. In an effort to be of help to my readers, I
bought a kit at Sam’s Club recently to evaluate and to report my results. The kit cost under $20 before tax. The brand
is called Stratitec and contains 6 bottles of various colored inks including
Black. There are 10 Printer manufacturers listed as compatible (guaranteed),
including all the popular brands. Also
offered is toll-free tech support.
The kit includes directions, some special needles
and a hypodermic syringe, as well as what they refer to as a priming
bottle. There are several spare caps or
plugs. The instructions indicate that
this may be a little difficult to do the first time you try it but you will get
the hang of it quickly. The directions
also say that some printer cartridges may be more difficult that others. It
suggests wearing rubber gloves which is no surprise and to do the work in an
area where an accidental spill or a few drops of ink falling will not damage
anything. They also suggest working
with newspapers under your work to absorb spills. Another direction is that you fill your cartridge before it is
used up, as the ink dries out when the cartridge sits empty and this will make
the refilling job more difficult. It
indicates that cartridges that have been on empty more than 8 hours should have
the head of the cartridge placed in warm water and rubbing alcohol for an
hour. The ink is water-soluble, so it
cleans up relatively easy but will probably permanently stain fabrics. Avoid leaving your printer without a
cartridge for more than 2 hours, as the original inkjet ink will start to dry
in the jets. A further suggestion is to
clean the syringe and needle thoroughly between each color and after use. The inks, yellow, cyan, magenta and black
should be injected, in that order to reduce problems. It is important to put the correct color in the proper
chamber. The color of the ink in the
chamber can be determined by poking a toothpick in the hole and withdrawing it
to see the color. In addition, the
directions indicate the location of each color. Pictures of the various cartridges for the printers are shown
with specific directions on how to fill them.
My test of this kit was to refill a Lexmark
cartridge number 13619HC. The cartridge
had actually run out of at least one of the colors in the cartridge. Following the directions and the picture, I
carefully remove the top of the cartridge using a sharp knife and
screwdriver. I saw that the sketch in
the directions looked exactly like the insides of the cartridge and I refilled
the three colors that are required in this cartridge. I was careful to not remove the seals on the bottles but rather
just push the needle through so as to reduce the possibility of leakage. I was also careful to rinse the syringe
between each color by drawing fresh warm water in it and squirting it down the
drain several times.
The main thing I discovered in this process was that
the cartridge is a rather complex little piece of high tech engineering and may
well be worth the prices that they ask for them. I agree that the first time you do this it may seem tricky but
assuming you are always doing the same cartridge, you will get the hang of it
by the second try. The directions
indicate that you can refill a cartridge between 3 & 5 times before being
replaced by a new one.
The work, using this kit, was a little painstaking
but it went well. Yes, you may need
some rubber gloves and you should work in a place where the ink spills won’t
present a problem. Several sheets of
newspaper are also in order. In addition,
I did all the work in a stainless steel sink.
After reassembling and reinstallation in the
computer, I ran the ink jet nozzle cleaning process as well as alignment
utility. The printing seems OK but I believe
that I may have waited too long after the ink ran out to do this refill. Fine horizontal lines showed up in the print
of one of the colors. This was
corrected by soaking the ink jets (lower end) in warm water for a while.
In summary, the process works fine and saves you
money as well as the inconvenience of going out to get a new cartridge. You must, however, add ink before you run
out. There really is no reason to do
otherwise, with the volume of ink that you will have on hand.
Hobie Lunin is a Computer Instructor and
Consultant. He can be reached at
mouseclix2@yahoo.com
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