A painless procedure (Inkjet Refill Kits)

Member Name: Flindy

Product:	Inkjet Refill Kits
Date:	18/09/01 (2161 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Save money and DIY!

Disadvantages: None

Inkjet cartridges are very expensive, particularly so for Hewlett Packard printers. You can get the printers at very good prices now, and I have a Deskjet 710c, which has been replaced by newer models, nevertheless I think it is a good quality printer, quiet, and the print quality is crisp and clear.

The only downside to this is the cost of new inkjet cartridges, and I do tend to run out fairly often, as I am always printing information which I find on the web, apart from the fact my grandchildren also like to print stuff too!

The cost of a new HP cartridge is around £27 for a tri colour cartridge and £21 for a black cartridge.

In an attempt to save money I purchased a recycled colour cartridge from PC World, cost £21.99, “great” I thought, a saving of £5 - £6 pounds!

When I got home I replaced my empty cartridge with the recycled one from PC World, I then did a test print, what a disappointment! The yellow did not come through at all, and the magenta came out a dirty looking pink instead of the vivid pink I was expecting, so it was back to PC World for a refund! They did not quibble at all when I showed them the test print, but I declined the offer of a replacement.

The sad part of this is that PC World have pre paid envelopes for you to send your empty cartridges to be recycled, the charity NSPCC get paid for every cartridge sent, this idea appealed to me, and had the cartridge worked ok in the first place I would have participated in the scheme.

I had by this time already decided that I would try my hand at refilling my empty cartridges myself.

I ordered my refill kit from JR Inkjet, via the telephone, a starter kit consisting of 40ml black ink, and 20ml each of Cyan, Yellow and Magenta. Included with the kit were a blunt syringe, some sealer caps, and a small drill bit. Total cost £24.99 including P&P, the web site address for JR Inkjet is listed at the end of this op, there is no
online ordering facility at present, my order took a week to arrive. There are however many other web sites where you can order the same product online, I shall list two decent sites at the end of this op.

I carefully read the instructions for refilling, armed with rubber gloves, and the syringe I went into the kitchen, placed old newspaper on the worktop, and set up operations next to the sink! I had to push in the sealant plugs with the end of a ballpoint pen, and then fill the syringe with each colour of ink. There were no guidelines for how much to use, so I put in about 5ml of each colour in the corresponding compartments. If you read the instructions carefully you will soon see which colour goes into which compartment!

The Yellow did not come through, so I syringed it all out, and put some flush into the yellow compartment, after a few minutes the blockage cleared and the flush started to seep out. I then removed the flush with the syringe, and re-filled with yellow.

I gently blotted the print head with kitchen towel, reloaded the cartridge into my printer and I am very pleased with the result, the colours are excellent.

It can be a bit fiddly using the syringe to draw out any ink or flush solution; you basically only have one hand as you are holding the cartridge with the other! But with patience it is pretty easy.

You must also avoid touching the metal components of the cartridge with your fingers.

Obviously the life of a cartridge print head is limited, but I hope to get several more refills at least before actually having to purchase a manufacturers cartridge again, this will save a considerable amount of money.

If you visit any of the inkjet web sites, you will find the answers to many technical questions you may have.

Sites you may want to visit

http://www.inkjet.co.uk/kitsinfo.htm JR Inkjet - no online facility, but can order via phone.

http://www.inkjetu
k.com/inkjets InkjetUk – you can order online, other printing related products available.

http://www.inkjetcartridgesuk.com/ Inkjet cartridgesuk – online ordering facility available, plus replacement cartridges and other supplies.

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