9/5/2014 How to Refill and Reuse a Printer Cartridge: 21 Steps

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How to Refill and Reuse a Printer
Cartridge
Printer ink is one of the most expensive things that you'll run into when you set
up your home office. You start out taking dozens of pictures with your new digital
camera, download them onto your computer, print a few and then suddenly: the
print cartridge runs out of ink.
If you follow this how-to guide and refill your print cartridge instead of buying a
new one, you can save literally hundreds of dollars in printer ink.
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Purchase an ink refill kit at an office supply store. Many office supply and
discount stores carry this inexpensive kit. (It usually costs about half the price of an
average printer cartridge.) You can also find these kits at online retailers.
Gather your kit, a roll of paper towels, and some clear scotch tape together on
a large flat working surface, a table or desk.
Remove the empty cartridge from your printer. (Remember to close your printer
lid or door while you are working.)
Cover your hands with a pair of disposable plastic gloves while you work
with the messy ink.
Take a paper towel and fold it in half twice. Work over the paper towel to catch
any leaking ink.
Place the empty cartridge on it.
Read the instruction manual included with the refill kit to learn how to refill
your particular type of cartridge. (The following instructions are just a general
guide).
Steps
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Locate the fill holes on the top of the cartridge. The depressions can be felt by
rubbing your finger across the label. Some cartridges have more than one hole, but
only one leads to the ink reservoir that you will refill. This hole will have a sponge in it.
Use a sharp pencil to pierce the refill holes in the top of the ink cartridge Or
you can take the top label off with a knife or screwdriver (Correct places can
also be found in the kit instructions).
In addition to black, there are three colors of ink: magenta, cyan, and yellow.
Follow the kit instructions on which hole to insert each color OR push a toothpick
into the holes to identify the colors as markings on the printer cartridge are sometimes
there to fool you into putting the wrong colors into the cartridge ink chambers.
Insert the long needle of the refill ink bottle deeply into the correct hole
penetrating the foam down into the bottom of the cartridge. It is important
not to push air into the cartridge foam while refilling. (An air pocket will keep the ink from
reaching the print head causing the cartridge not to print.)
Slowly, add the ink. Carefully watch to be sure that you do not over-fill.
Stop quickly as soon as you see a bit of ink oozing out of the hole. Without
letting go of the bottle, slowly release the air, sucking a little ink back out of the ink
cartridge, before you remove the needle completely.
Carefully daub the cartridge contacts on the paper towel, you should see a
splotch of the ink leaking out onto the paper towel.
Cover the hole with a small piece of clear scotch tape. (This works better
than the seal dots included in the kit.) Make sure that no ink is leaking out of the
top holes. (That's where the clear tape comes in handy.) Be careful not to cross
contaminate the colors.
Repeat steps 11-15 for each ink color.
After you have refilled all three colors, carefully blot (don't wipe or rub) the
cartridge printhead on a folded piece of paper towel. You may need to do this
several times. Do this until it stops bleeding and you see an even stripe of three colors
showing up on the towel.
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If the blot shows the colors either faded or not at all, blot on wet paper
towel and again on dry, to get the ink flowing.
Replace the ink cartridge into the printer. Never, ever install a leaking print
cartridge.
Immediately print something, anything, just to get the ink flowing. Print
several test pages, preferable photos with a lot of different colors.
Follow the cleaning or priming cycles for your specific printer.
Tell us everything you know here. Remember, more detail is better.
If so, share what you know about how to be good looking.
Please be as detailed as possible in your explanation. We will take your
detailed information, edit it for clarity and accuracy, and incorporate it into
an article that will help thousands of people.
Don't worry about testing and retesting. It's worth the effort. If you do ruin
the cartridge... You can always go buy a new one. You would have had to
do that anyway.
After you refill an ink cartridge, it should weigh the same as a new
cartridges. Overfilling a cartridge will cause the cartridge to prematurely
quit on you. Cartridges use a sponge to hold ink, by overfilling you wet
the upper portion of the sponge causing the ink to want to flow upwards,
away from the print nozzles.
Finally, you can use this method if all else fails: Find a printer on sale for
less than the cost of a new cartridge. It will include one new cartridge
(and sometimes two - black and color), so you now have a new printer
with 1 or 2 cartridges for less than the cost of one new cartridge (printer
companies sell these printers inexpensively, planning to make their
money on future cartridge purchases - unless you know their game).
Are you an expert on looking good?
Tips
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Refill those cartridges until they won't work anymore, and then do it all
over again.
Donate the used printer to a local charity, church, or school. Just be sure
to let them know it needs a new cartridge, so they can decide if they
want it.
New ink cartridges come with a postage-paid envelope requesting you
to send your old ink cartridge in for recycling.
Avoid letting your ink cartridge run dry. Check and refill it periodically to
keep it maintained. Try not to leave it unused for a long period of time.
Try to print something at least once a week. This will help it last longer.
As a last resort before buying a new cartridge, take the (clean) syringe,
remove the plunger, and insert the syringe deeply into the cartridge. Put
your mouth over the now-open top of the syringe and blow reasonably
forcefully. This can help force the semi-loosened clogs from the
previous step out of the way of the liquid ink. Be careful not to let the ink
bubble out of the top of the ink jet cartridge as you blow into the syringe.
Then dab the nozzle end of the cartridge on a paper towel. Repeat 3-4
times, if necessary. This method can extend the usability of a refilled
cartridge from perhaps 5 or 6 refills to 8 or 10. For the cost of a new
cartridge, it's worth the extra effort if you're on a tight budget.
If the color still refuses to come out of the cartridge when you print, use
the syringe to inject just one or two small drops of (50%Ammonia and
50% distilled water)solution as far down into the cartridge as you can, so
it will be near the print head (but not too close, because there's usually a
screen above the print head that could be accidentally punctured). This
can help dissolve any clots in the almost-microscopic nozzles.
If one color is having difficulty printing after you insert the print cartridge,
remove from printer and recheck the tape covering the fill holes. Lift it
and reposition, letting off any suction that may be preventing it from
flowing properly.
After refilling a print cartridge 5 or 6 times, the print head will eventually
wear out. It can't last forever. Then you'll just have to buy a new cartridge
and replace it.
Show 1 more tip
Be careful not to touch the metal parts (tiny electrical leads and contacts)
on the bottom and front edge of the cartridge. Oil from your fingers can
disrupt contact with the printer. You can use a cotton swab moistened
with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol to gently clean these contacts, if
necessary
Never add a leaking ink cartridge into your printer.
The ink is permanent, in that it can only be removed by the special ink
solvent. Be careful not to get it on your clothing. It will leave stains on
Warnings
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your hands, too, if you don't wear gloves.
You may need to print quite a few test pages to get the ink flowing
properly.
Empty Print Cartridge
Ink Refill Kit
Paper Towels
Scotch Tape
Gloves
Rubbing Alcohol
Cotton Swabs
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Categories: Hardware Maintenance and Repair
Recent edits by: Rock20000, Chris Hadley, June
In other languages:
Espaol: Cmo rellenar y reusar un cartucho de tinta, Portugus: Como Recarregar e
Reutilizar um Cartucho de Impressora, Italiano: Come Riempire e Riutilizzare una
Cartuccia per Stampante, Deutsch: Eine Druckerpatrone nachfllen und
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