What is a "Refill Kit" and how can it save me money?
A refill kit, in the most generic sense of the term, is a
collection of tools and supplies that will enable you to put ink
back into an empty inkjet cartridge.
When your cartridge runs out of ink you usually go to the
store and buy another one. Replace the old one and toss it in the garbage.
You probably spent around $20 - $30 or more for that replacement
cartridge.
A refill kit allows you to put ink in your OLD cartridge
much cheaper than it would be if you just purchased a new one. In one
example a refill kit that costs around $15 can refill a black ink
cartridge 3 times. If you bought three new cartridges for $30 each you
will spend $90. Your refill kit just saved you $75. So you can see how
much money you can save by purchasing a refill kit and "do it
yourself"!
Inkjet cartridges comes in as many varieties as there are
printers but there are only two basic design types. They are 1. tanks
and 2. cartridges.
Tanks are simply a plastic container with 1 or more
chambers that hold ink.
Cartridges are more complex and contain not only a
tank but also a print element or printhead.
Typical cartridge designs
Tank
Cartridge
What about refilling?
Refilling either of these designs is simple and straight forward.
Although each cartridge is refilled slightly different, each also is very
similar. Also, even though they are simple to refill, the success rate of
each cartridge varies widely. Just injecting the ink may not be enough. At
the factory special machines are used to ensure that no air gets into the
cartridge while it is being filled. This is sometimes a daunting task to
do without that equipment. However, with the proper care and a dash of
patience it is possible to successfully refill any cartridge design.
How is it done?
In most cases you must make a hole in the cartridge in order to inject
the ink. Some cartridges already have the holes, you just make them bigger
or remove a rubber plug. The thing to remember is that the main objective
here is to get ink back into the cartridge.
Most tank type cartridges are simply "drill-n-fill"
designs. You drill a hole in the cartridge, inject new ink and seal the
drill hole.
Drill
Fill
Color cartridges with printheads can be refilled by removing the top of
the cartridge and injecting ink into each sponge.
Remove Top
Inject Ink
For some reason that has never been explained to me, some cartridges
simply will not give a successful refill. Two identical cartridges
refilled under the exact same conditions will offer different results. One
may work perfectly and give you 6 - 10 problem free refills, while the
other may not work at all, or very poorly. This even happens to the
professional refillers using equipment costing many thousands of
dollars.
The lesson to be learned by this is...don't expect to be able to
successfully refill every cartridge. If you do, you will be disappointed
and most likely will send me a nasty email telling me that my refill
kits suck.
The truth of the matter is, no matter what your percentage of good vs
bad refills you get you will still save money by refilling your own
cartridges. Any way you stack the cards you will come out on top by
refilling. Sure you might get some ink on your hands but Lava™ soap is
MUCH cheaper than any inkjet cartridges I have seen!
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are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
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Atlascopy, Inc.
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