Need info on Ink Refills for Printers

[my2cents]

I have always refilled my printer cartridges with black ink several times before having to replace them. I think I got 6 refills on my last one, and at $25 each, thats $150 in savings. I have just learned that all the major suppliers are no longer carrying the black ink refill kits. I checked at Wal-Mart, Staples, Bihl's office supply. I guess there isn't enough profit in the ink compared to the cartridges.

My question is, can you use regular ink and where can you buy it? I would think Indigo ink would have to be thinned.

BTW, if you have never refilled your cartridge, all you do is drill a small hole in the top and use a syringe to insert the ink slowly into the sponge material in the cartridge. It is best if you do this before it runs out or as soon as you see it fading. Sometimes you have to run a few cleanings on it but 4 or 5 refills is not uncommon, and that's about $2.00 worth of ink. I have refilled a color cartridge but you have to pop the top off. I just avoid color printing, but we do a lot of shipping lables and go thru black ink. The whole market of printers is a scam. My printer cost $49.00 on sale, the two replacement cartridges are $55.00.

[biggdowgg]

the price of the cartridges are crazy when you can buy the printer "with it" cheaper.

[ManitouDan]

yes the whole market is a scam. --I thought ink a blink was out of biz. ?

to hopefully help you out ---I've had great luck with ebay. 50-80 % savings . MD

[Mouth's Better Half]

No, we order from Ink in a Blink. The cheapest place I have found for catridges. I don't know if they sell ink. There is one in Russell too 1566 Diederich Blvd., Russell, KY. Phone 606-494-9166.

[orange-n-brown 365]

never refilled them and its true anymore it is cheaper to get a new printer... but I can write mine as a business expense since we have a small business so we only replace the printer when it goes bad.. i do shop for the cheapest ink its usually at Wally World...

[my2cents]

Ink in a Blink is now only in Russell and they also quit carrying the refill kits. It is a scam that everyone quit carrying them at the same time. You can find them on ebay or thru a google search.

[my2cents]

I'll check them out. I have the kit, which really all you need is a small drill to punch a hole in the top and a piece of scotch tape to cover it after you refill it. I am just going to buy a large bottle of black ink. It may have to be thinned unless I can find ink specifically made for printer cartridges. My last black cartridge lasted just over 2 weeks, that's about 20 cartridges a year, or $500. I figure I can cut this down to $50.00 with $5.00 worth of ink and 2 actual cartridge changes.

[vids4ckcrash]

never refilled them and its true anymore it is cheaper to get a new printer... but I can write mine as a business expense since we have a small business so we only replace the printer when it goes bad.. i do shop for the cheapest ink its usually at Wally World...

I am not cheap, I am frugal.

If you think that it is cheaper to purchase a new printer than to buy a cartridge, you may be correct. But you are in all probability not correct. Depends on what you have and what you get.

Just talking black cartridges, HP started this merry-go-round when they introduced the HP deskjet 800 series of printers with a reduced initial cost. Prior to that the inkjet printers were rather expensive and most biggger/better HP printers used a HP 45 black cartridge. The HP 45 black cartridge contained 42 ml of ink. But with the Deskjet 800 series, the printer demanded the HP 15 cartridge. The HP 15 black cartridge contained 25 ml. The cartridges were virtually identical except for the ID bytes in the cartridge which would NOT allow the 45 to be used in these less expensive printers.

Now ANYONE who is using a HP 15 cartridge in other than the HP deskjet 800 series is probably wasting money as the HP 45 would be more cost effective with almost twice as much ink. Looking at todays HP cartridges, most do NOT indicate the contents. But some have as little as 3.5 ml of black ink. And most of the newer carts have expiration dates in the ID byte of the cartridge. So a cart can still have ink and the printer can not use it if it has reached the expiration date. And lots of new ones have a chip that will not allow refilling without a chip resetter and other methods of getting around the chip.

Divide the 42 ml in the HP 45 by 3.5 ml in the HP 02 (used in some of the very newer printers) and you get 12. HP 45 for < $ 40.00 versus the HP 02 at $ 120.00.
Did you save money by getting rid of your old printer? $ 40.00 versus $ 120.00 for the same amount of ink and almost the same amount of pages printed.

And carts are like the peanut butter jar, There is always some left so a little in one cart or a little in 12 carts.

Refilling is the way to go if you print very much. And if you are not printing pictures, the older printers are more than adequate.

Laser is the way to go if you print lots and then there is another chip Merry-Go-Round. I have refilled over 50 laser carts in the last year. (this is all volunteer work) But newer printers are not as easy as most require a chip replacement in addition to the toner. Some newer Brother printers do not have a chip YET.

[Malcontent]

I have a HP scanner printer I got at Wally World during Black Friday last year. I paid 25 dollars for the printer and the cartridges for the printer cost 13.49 for black and 18.49 for color at Target. I believe the numbers on the cartridges are HP21 and HP22. The printer is now a year old and still working fine.

[my2cents]

My next printer will probably be an HP. I see their commercials stating you get 65% more prints per cartridge, so at least they are aware that people are upset about the rip off of ink pricing.

[Malcontent]

Just saw in this week's Target ad, buy one HP cartridge at regular price get the second one at half price. I can get two black cartridges for $20.24 plus tax. Not too shabby, $10.12 a piece for new cartridges.

[butcherman108]

I just paid 35 bucks for a Lexmark 50 black at Walmart.

[OZZIEOHIO]

alot of people just buy the cheap printer @ wally world and throw it away when the need ink and go buy another one.