[Konig]

i was shopping for printer inks recently and found that recycled ink cartridge is selling at a big discount relative to new ones. But ive never used them before and i wonder if there is anything i should watch out for?

 

[Sand]

As much as I'd love to tell people to save money with refilled/remanufactured/recycled cartridges, I've seen too much trouble spring up from them to suggest it. Stick with the original ones.

 

[Old Pa]

I had trouble with off brand ink cartridges in my Epson Stylus Photo R800; goobered up and quit. Plus, non OEM carts can void your warranty. No troubles with OEM Epson carts.

 

[nfusion770]

They seem to work well with the canon tanks, but I have had nothing but trouble with other models. It's much less of a hassle to purchase new.

 

[GAD]

I've been in the business so long it hurts. I have never seen recycled inks pay off. From ink-jet to toner, I've never seen a 3rd party solution that was worth a damn.

GAD

 

[GreatDane]

At my office we have tried those off brand ink cartridges with some printers and I can report the same problems as described above.

 

[erythrophyte]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nfusion770 /img/forum/go_quote.gif They seem to work well with the canon tanks, but I have had nothing but trouble with other models. It's much less of a hassle to purchase new.

Hey. Nothing about your post, but your avatar reminded me of Leaf House. First song I've heard from them.

As for the inks. It would really depend on the purpose of the printouts. If these are just for you or for nothing of the professional or academic sort, then the quality should be sufficient. However there are some things to consider:

1. Depending on your brand of ink cartridge the refilling process can be difficult and messy. Some are easier to fill than others.

2. The quality of the ink, of course, does not usually match that of genuine manufacturer ink. Factors like being fade-resistant, not smearing, quick drying and overall just more vivid seem to be tied to genuine ink.

3. You might have to modify your ink detection system since some ink tanks, once "finished" may not be recognized by the printer or computer even though they are refilled. Some sort of counter I think. However, I am basing this on an older Epson printer.

I personally don't use refillable ink myself since its not worth all that hassle and decline of quality when the genuine inks are not that expensive. When buying a printer you should always factor in ink cost and output.

My setup is an inexpensive hp monochrome laser printer and a Canon Pixma for color. The toner on the laser lasts me about 1 year and a half with regular usage. The separate color and black inks in the Canon lasts >6 months for me. Mind you, I don't print photos on it.

Cheers.

 

[LFF]

I have gone through this with many printers and here is what I think.

Refilling ink jets sucks badly! Messy, problematic...a nightmare.

Buying OEM carts for ink jets - awesome. Never had a problem. They won't have the official brand name, but work the exact same way and provide great quality while saving about 80% of the cash you would normally use to pay for the official ink replacements.

Refilling laser printers - GREAT! I proposed doing this at the office just to give it a shot and it was easy as pie and not messy at all. Good savings overall and with the right tools, an easy task to accomplish.

 

[Konig]

did those printer companies make their cartridge hard to refill on purpose?!

 

[Bizzel]

Working in IT, I've seen refilled toner cartridges leak toner all over the printer insides.

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

Agree w/everyone here. I've had similar negative experiences with remanufactured ink cartridges at work. Some problems I've experienced are faulty heads that clog or leak, print yield isn't as high as regular cartridges, the printer thinks it's out of ink and repeatedly communicates it to the computer, etc. It's just not worth the hassle in my opinion, you're better off looking around the internet for a cheap price on the genuine cartridges.