1. If this is the first time you have refilled always start with a refill kit. The kits include all the tools, ink and instructions necessary to successfully refill your cartridge. If you find that you can't do the procedure and just don't like refilling you are not out a lot of money. You would be surprised how many people order 4 pounds of bulk ink and don't have a clue what to do with it.
2. Do not let your inkjet cartridges dry out. You should be refilling them when there is at least a small amount of ink to keep the print heads moist. If you have a dried up cartridge you can try soaking the print head (if it has one) in our FLUSH solution over night. If the sponges are dry you can inject a couple cc's of FLUSH and let it sit over night.
3. Refill in batches if possible, testing each cartridge as you go along. See #12 for storage solutions..
4. Always have a spare cartridge that works. Don't think that just because you had a successful refill the last time that you will again. Inkjet cartridges are unpredictable. They don't need a reason to fail.
5. Do not buy a large amount of ink unless you are confident of the refilling process. This was already mentioned but I think it deserves a line of its own. Get a refill kit first until you're comfortable with the refilling process.
6. Black cartridges are usually easier to refill than color cartridges. This is because they are of a much simpler construction. Color cartridges usually have multiple chambers and it's easy to cross-contaminate colors if you are not careful.
7. Never over fill the cartridges. I know what you are thinking, "How can I see inside the cartridge, it's black?". If you can't see inside you can use a tooth-pick. It's like a dip-stick to check your oil, like in a car. You can get a pretty good idea how much ink is left.
8. Don't be in a hurry when you refill and don't rely on refilling to meet
important deadlines.
9. Always remove the cartridge from your printer before attempting to refill it. Drilling the top of some cartridges can create a tidal wave of ink inside your printer.
10. Take the necessary steps to protect your work area from spills. One
small accident can void the warranty on those new $330 Gucci loafers.
11. Never insert the cartridge in the printer if it's leaking. This should go
without saying but I know from my emails that people do it all too often.
12. To store empty cartridges or refilled cartridges you should put them
in a plastic zip lock bag or wrap them in cling plastic wrap.
Having Fun With The Printer Support Techs
Many years ago when I was a copier technician my boss would always tell us to push our companies supplies, paper, toner etc.. Of course they wanted to sell more supplies and make more money but their techniques were very questionable. Just like printers you could go out and purchase generic supplies and some worked better than others naturally. Well the supplies that we sold were also mostly generic, however, they were branded with our companies name and logos. Here's where the sneakiness comes in. When a customer complained about a repair cost estimate we were told to blame it on their inferior generic supplies and to further that the repair would have been much cheaper if they were using our over-priced supplies.
My Printer Died - An Epitaph
My printer just died. My Epson C60 that I've had for almost 2 years was my buddy. I loved that printer. It was there for me through thick and thin. Sure it had it's quirks and idiosyncrasies like not printing when my office temperature dropped to 17 degrees because I forgot to turn the thermostat up one bitterly cold morning. I had to open the lid and point a ceramic space heater inside to thaw it out.
When Is Black Not Black?
Did you notice how many different black inks there are available? At last count we have forty different black inks listed on our web site. You may be wondering how many shades of black can there be? Well there are actually different shades of black which I will explain in a bit.
