Tips to Refilling Ink Cartridges
Over the weekend our printer once again ran out of black ink… A common occurance since my wife and I are still in school. About a six months ago we decided to give the ink refills a try and bought a kit ($14). We previously had bought new cartridges and had two black ink cartridges at empty at home. One cartridge we have already refilled two or three times without incident while the second cartridge just sat around being empty.
A couple weeks ago we ran out of ink yet again and my wife decided to be brave and refill the cartridge herself. She did a great job, but the cartridge didnt work. When I got home I checked the fill level, tried cleaning the head, but after several tries I could not get it working. So I decided to try my luck with the second cartridge… which had been sitting around (without ink) for about 6 months. After filling the cartridge (following the instructions) and cleaning the print head, to my amazement… it didnt work. I tried a couple tricks, setting the head on a papertown that has been dabbed with rubbing alcohol, which helps to loosen any hardened ink in the print head. After both cartridges sat for over an hour I gave them a try, and still didnt work.
To get the ink flowing you will need to clean the top of the cartridge with alcohol and made sure there is no ink on the top of the cartrige. Very carefully and while holding the cartridge level with a paper towl on the print head you will need to create a seal over the opening where you fill the cartridge with your mouth and create a fairly strong air pressure to help push the ink through the print head. Be very careful not to inhale any ink or get any on your skin as it will stain and could be toxic. This trick worked like a charm for both cartridges, and now I have two topped off cartridges which have many more uses in them.
I used to do this too, but it seemed to be hit or miss. If you factor in the time and mess, it ended up not being any savings compared to just buying need cartridges that were compatible from a reputable store or online site.