HOW TO SAVE A LOT OF ŁŁŁ ON INKJET REFILS

Online Selling Resources

eBook Business Materials

Good Product Sources

Search & Forums

Marketing Strategies

HOW TO SAVE A LOT OF ŁŁŁ ON INKJET REFILS

These tips are for those who are interested in using a color other than black in the original low-capacity inkjet cartridge (HP 51608A).

Unlike its PaintJet cousin, the DeskJet, DeskJet Plus, and DeskJet 500 use only a black ink cartridge. Up until the introduction of the DeskJet 500C, color was not available on a DeskJet series printer. The 500C was the first DeskJet that allowed you to print with colors. If you do not own a 500C, however, printing with colors is still a possibility.

Obviously, the first thing that must be done is to remove as much black ink residue from your empty 51608A ink cartridge as possible. The removal process involves flushing a cartridge that has been filled with distilled water.

Buy yourself a jug of distilled water, and then fill your EMPTY inkjet cartridge with the water (tap water is not recommended due to the chemical contents of drinking water). Insert the cartridge into your printer, choose a Heavy flush which will produce a solid color printout. Insert 40 pages of scrap 8.5" x 11" paper (you do recycle your paper, don't you?). I use the back side of used copier paper I bring home from the office. Run the flush program for approximately 6 pages of output. Stop the process, remove the cartridge, refill it again with distilled water, reinsert the cartridge, and use the heavy flush option again. Repeat this cycle until you have printed 36 sheets of output. You should notice that the output color becomes lighter and lighter. It may take three refills of distilled water until you get clear output. When you are satisfied that all the black has been removed, refill the cartridge with a colored ink. Once refilled with your new color, you still should flush the cartridge for 6-10 pages until a deep color appears.

Yellow is the hardest color to prepare an empty cartridge for, but it can be done. Personally, I prefer using an empty HP51626A high capacity cartridge for color ink refills, but for those who find refilling the high capacity cartridge too tricky, these tips have been provided.

This chapter was put together for owners of Hewlett- Packard Deskjet/Deskwriter series printers.

If you have owned your inkjet printer for more than a few months then you have discovered that the ink cartridge eventually runs out of ink. Unlike dot matrix printer ribbons, which are produced by an array of companies, the replacement ink cartridge for the Deskjet/Deskwriter printer is manufactured solely by Hewlett-Packard. In one respect this is good. Since the circuitry built into each cartridge is quite complex, you want to be sure that the new replacement cartridge will work when installed - and Hewlett-Packard is known for quality products. The disadvantage to a sole manufacturer, however, is that there is no competition, and thus the price of the cartridge is dictated by the manufacturer.

The price of a new replacement cartridge (part number 51608A) for the Deskjet/Deskwriter printer is $40 plus This is the cost if obtained directly from Hewlett-Packard. If you own a Deskjet/ Deskwriter series printer and think nothing about spending this amount every time you run out of ink, this document will probably be of little interest to you. But for those who would like to save $10 - $20 when replacing their empty inkjet cartridge, then read on.

$40 plus may not sound like much to a computer user, but it starts to add up if you use your printer on a daily basis. In fact, if you subtract the cost of the printer itself, the price per printed page produced by a inkjet printer is HIGHER than the cost of a similar page produced on a laser printer. The cost of the replacement ink cartridge is what makes this so.

But think for a minute next time you replace that ink cartridge, "If the only thing wrong with the cartridge is that it has run out of ink, then why can I not refill it with more ink?"

The cartridge itself can last a long time after it has run out of ink. In fact, if refilled, it is not unusual for one cartridge to accept over a half dozen refills before giving up the ghost. By that time you will have saved over $240 plus.

If saving money is not of interest to you, then consider another aspect of this issue - the environment. In the U.K. we are producing garbage at an enormous rate. The 1990's have become the decade of recycling and environmental awareness. To throw away an empty cartridge when it can still be used seems wasteful. Is not refilling an empty but reusable cartridge a good idea? You save money, and decrease the amount of trash created - what could be wrong with that? If laser printer owners are now recycling their used toner cartridges, then why can't inkjet owners reuse their empty ink cartridges?

With these exciting thoughts in mind, it is rather disappointing to discover that our favorite printer manufacturer disapproves of the refilling concept, and hence does not provide customers with the necessary components to refill their empty cartridges.

Not to fret, however. Many companies have come to our rescue. Inkjet refill kits are now available through a variety of channels. The only drawback, however, is that many of these kits are not cheap. Although you still come out ahead by refilling your empty inkjet cartridges by using the commercial kits, you would save much more money if you could obtain the ink and syringe locally.

For the do-it-yourselfer, the ink and syringe can be obtained locally at a very small cost, normally under $10.00 By the way, you are not limited to refilling your empty cartridge with just black ink. You can refill your empty cartridges with colored ink, if you so choose.

The following is a list of tips/notes on re-inking the original HP Deskjet/Deskwriter HP51608A cartridges.

1. Be careful with the ink. If the refill ink becomes contaminated with dust or foreign particles, the jet nozzles may plug up.

2. Never touch the bottom of the cartridge with your fingers - the nose is quite delicate.

3. A full Deskjet/Deskwriter cartridge holds about 0.6 ounces of ink. If the cartridge is empty, inject approximately 15 cc (0.5 oz.) of ink. This may vary depending upon the method you choose to refill your cartridge. If the cartridge is upright (vertical), you will be able to inject more ink into the cartridge before the ink begins to back out of the vent hole. If you choose to lay the cartridge down in a horizontal position when refilling, then less ink should be used.

4. Do not drill a hole into the top of the cartridge - you run the risk of introducing plastic shavings into the cartridge chamber. The original vent hole at the top of the cartridge is more than large enough through which to inject ink.

5. The ink that you use must have specific characteristics: namely, it must be filtered to the point that there are no particulates, it must contain no contaminants, no chemicals that may react with the jet nozzles, and it must have anti-coagulant characteristics. A water-based ink best fits these requirements.

6. Prime the refilled cartridge in the printer as you would a new cartridge before using. Some people experience an airlock in the cartridge after refilling, which can be worked out by repeated priming.

7. If you plan not to use the refilled cartridge in your printer for several weeks or months, the cartridge should be protected and totally covered to reduce the ink from drying in the nozzles and through the vent hole. Do not use DVD with adhesive, nor floppy disk write-protect tabs to cover the jet nozzle area - for the adhesive can clog the nozzles. Clear plastic wrap can be wrapped tightly around the entire cartridge. Using an 8"x8" sheet of plastic, place the cartridge in the middle of it, nozzle head down, and pull the corners of the wrap upward around the cartridge. Twist the wrap at the top of the cartridge until all slack is removed. Fasten with a wire tie. Another quick method to seal both the jet nozzles and the vent hole is to wrap a small but wide rubber band around the cartridge, covering both the vent hole and jet nozzle area.

8. The life of the ink cartridge depends on how cleanly the cartridge is maintained and on whether or not you let the sponge material dry out inside the cartridge. A completely dried out cartridge may accumulate particles near the jet nozzles and recovery may be difficult.

9. The suggested method of refilling an empty ink cartridge is to use a syringe with a hypodermic needle to inject the ink directly into the foam retainer pad inside the cartridge.

10. Use a 20 cc syringe with a 1.5"-2" long needle (#16, 18 or 20) - the longer the better. Insert the needle through the vent hole on top of the cartridge (the 1/16" hole in the molded arrow). SLOWLY inject the ink. If you inject the ink too quickly, it will bubble out of the vent hole.

11. The preferred method of refilling is to place the cartridge at a 45° position, and insert needle and syringe into the vent hole, and slowly depress the syringe plunger (see graphic illustration).

12. Stop the injection process at any sign of ink leaking from the bottom of the cartridge. If leakage continues, place the cartridge somewhere where the excess ink can drip out without causing too much of a mess. Don't leave it alone too long, else the jet nozzles may dry up with ink.

13. When refilling ink cartridges, some residual ink may build up on the nose area around the jet apertures. You can use rubbing alcohol to clean the area to prevent ink streaks on the printed output. Be very careful and gentle when cleaning this area. Pat dry with a clean and soft tissue.

14. If a jet aperture (hole) becomes clogged, put a drop of rubbing alcohol or denatured alcohol on the nozzle area and let it soak for a few minutes before wiping off. You can also place a small amount of the alcohol in a shallow dish or cup, and place the cartridge nozzle end down into it for a few minutes.

15. Make sure not to touch or get ink on the electrical circuit contacts on the side of the cartridge. Use tissue soaked with rubbing alcohol to clean the contacts before reinstalling the cartridge into the printer.

16. Even in states where hypodermic needles are prescription items, most people can obtain syringes and needles from a doctor or veterinarian. If you live in the country, a farm and tack supply is also an excellent and hassle-free source for syringes and needles.

17. The sharp tip of the syringe needle can be filed down to reduce the risk of accidental injury.

18. After refilling, rinse the syringe under tap water, and shield the needle with the cover tube that came with it.

19. Be safe. Keep all ink, hypodermic needles and syringes out of the reach of small children.

20. It does not hurt to wear a pair of latex gloves during the refill process, especially if you are clumsy. Be careful where you attempt to refill your cartridge. You don't want ink all over your desk, computer, pants and carpet should you knock over your bottle of refill ink.

21. If your attempt to refill a cartridge results in fuzzy output when printing, and priming the cartridge does not solve the problem, try using a different brand of paper. The type of paper you use can make a big difference in the quality of output.

22. If your refilled cartridge becomes partially or totally clogged, try the alcohol soaking tip above. Also, try cleaning the cartridge and cradle electrical contacts with alcohol. If this doesn't help, try gently blowing into the cartridge vent hole. Watch out when blowing into a cartridge! Ink will drip out the jet nozzles in the process, but this usually gets the ink flowing again. If all this fails to produce acceptable print, it may be that your cartridge should be discarded. Cartridges do eventually wear out or become defective.

These tips are for those who are interested in using a color other than black in the original low-capacity inkjet cartridge (HP 51608A).