How To Refill Your Ink Cartridge
If you're serious about digital home photography you should get the right
camera for the job. A regular viewfinder digital camera is fine for getting
pictures of your children opening their birthday presents. These cameras
aren't very good for anything else because you have to push the button
half way and wait for the camera to set all it's internal do-dads before
you can actually take a picture. It's easy to miss the moment with this
type of camera.
The new generation of DSLR digital cameras is much better but more
expensive. They allow interchangeable lenses and they will take the
picture instantly. In the sports mode they will stop motion and allow
repeating multiple frames. The resolution is outstanding and you will
instantly notice the difference in your prints. Any aspiring photographer
should try to save up for a DSLR cameras. DSLR stands for Digital Single
Lens Reflex. This means that what you see through the viewfinder is
actually what will be photographed because you are actually looking
through the lens when lining up your shot.
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Why can't they make a laptop with a built in printer? How hard can that
be? Have you seen how small some of those portable photo printers are?
While they are at it why not throw in a digital camera? If you can put one
in a phone why can't I get one in my laptop? Speaking of phones, I want
one of those in my laptop too. Just some of the weird things I think about.
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Any cartridge with a print head, like HP and Lexmark, will give you varying
degrees of success when you refill them. Some can not be refilled at all
for a variety of reasons and others can be refilled many times. I don't
know if it has something to do with quality control, or where the cartridge
was made or what the temperature was outside the day it was made. There doesn't seem to be any discernable pattern to it. Even the pros
using the best most expensive refilling equipment experience this problem. If somebody out there can explain this I would love to hear from
you!
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How-To Refill Your Ink Cartridge
by Marisa Pellegrino
Forget about emptying your wallets every time you see the blinking light.
Quit worrying and start doing it yourself! It's an easy process that won't
take you more than five minutes.
The following is included in a typical ink refill kit: ink bottles, syringes and
detailed instructions. Some kits include an air balance clip for balancing the
air inside the cartridge to ensure proper ink flow. Some kits also include
hand-drill tool to make a hole in the top of your empty cartridge.
Refilling Process
1. To start the refilling process, fill the syringe with one of the ink colors
over the sink or several sheets of scrap paper to prevent any mess.
Different printers hold different amounts of ink. In most Epson printers, the
black cartridge holds approximately 17 ml and the color cartridges hold
approximately 8 ml. See the instructions with your refill kit to see how
much ink your cartridges can hold.
2. Before inserting the needle, make a small hole in the top of the cartridge
(one for each color chamber). The hole is at the top of the cartridge near
the label. Simply push the needle through the hole and press to the bottom
of the cartridge towards the outlet hole. It's important to fill the cartridge
slowly so as to avoid the ink from foaming and introducing air in the
chamber.
3. You do not need to seal the refill holes since there are already breather
holes on the top of the cartridge.
4. Any unused ink can be put back in the bottle. You should clean the
syringe with water and dry it properly to do the same process for the
other cartridges or for future use. You can also label each syringe for the
different colors so that each syringe is only used with one color.
5. Once you place the cartridge back in the printer, run the cleaning cycle
1 to 3 times. If there are any gaps in the printing, run the cleaning cycle
again.
Don't Forget
There are a few things to remember when refilling your cartridge. It should
be refilled before the cartridge is completely empty to avoid the chamber
from drying out and clogging. Also, it is a good idea to let the printer
cartridge sit for a few hours (or overnight) so that the pressure in the
cartridge will stabilize.
Some printers, like newer Epson models, have a green chip on their ink
cartridges which is visible by looking at your cartridge. They are often
referred to as "Intellidge" cartridges. The chip keeps track of how often
the cartridge is used and lets the computer know when the cartridge may
be low or empty. As long as you reset the chip, refilling the cartridge with
ink from a refill kit will not be a problem. A resetting tool can be used to
reset the memory on the chip. This allows the printer to recognize the
cartridge as being full which makes printing with a refilled cartridge
possible.
Refilling your own ink cartridge is easy, good for the environment, and
very good for your pocket.
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About the Author
A recent grad from Concordia University's English Department, Marisa
uses her computer technology skills along side her writing skills to be the
webmaster for The Print Pot. Sharing her interest and expertise about ink
jet refill kits has helped convince many of the advantages of refilling rather
than discarding empty cartridges.
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