Ink Cartridges - Should You Buy Refills?
October 29th, 2008
Printer ink refills can save you a lot of money compared to buying new cartridges every time you run out of ink. They can cost as little as 10% of the price of an original ink cartridge.
Before deciding to go with a refill rather than a new cartridge, there are some factors that you may want to consider.
The first thing to keep in mind is that each brand and model of printer uses slightly different types of ink. If you use a “generic” refill kit that claims to work for any printer, chances are it’s not going to work very well on any of them.
You need to be sure to get a refill that is specifically compatible with your brand and model of printer, to get the best results.
Also you want to factor in what you are getting for your money. You want to be aware of how many refills you are actually getting in a kit.
While this can keep the price down, remember that a cartridge should only be refilled a couple of times before it is replaced. After that, it will start to malfunction and it won’t matter how good the refill ink is, your print quality will still be poor.
If you buy a refill that has enough ink for multiple uses, you can always buy a new (or remanufactured) cartridge after refilling yours a couple of times and then use the rest of the refill ink on that one when it’s empty.
Ink also does not last forever. When purchasing your refill kit you need to keep in mind how quickly you will be able to use it. If you will not be able to use all the ink before it goes bad you may want to rethink the purchase.
The other common problem with refill kits is that they can be quite messy if you aren’t careful when refilling them. Companies that refill empty cartridges have specialized equipment that makes it quite simple.
Ink stains everything so you want it only in the cartridge and not all over everything else. Read the directions carefully and follow them exactly to avoid making a mess that will be impossible to clean up.
You may be able to find additional instructions online at the manufactures website. If they have step by step directions with illustrations or demonstrations this could be very helpful.
Give yourself plenty of time on your first attempt to refill a cartridge. It is a learning process and you don’t want to be in a hurry. If you have to get something out right away you don’t want to be worrying about refilling your cartridge. Set aside some time to learn to do it correctly.
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