« If You Wonder About Whether Or Not You Should Buy A Home | Home | The Best Ways To Earn Money - Work From Home Business »
Ink cartridges and how we use them
By Andrew James | July 14, 2008
An inkjet cartridge is the replaceable component of an inkjet printer that contains the ink used when printing. The ink cartridge can also contain the print head itself. Every ink cartridge is made up from one or more partitioned ink reservoirs and some producers also insert electronic contacts and a chip that transmits information to the printer.
Before printing anything, the ink level must be checked. If it is too low, ink may dry on the print head and lead to low quality prints. The ink must have a smooth flow in order to produce high quality prints. To clean the dried ink from the print head, it is strongly advised to gently rub the head with isopropyl alcohol on a swab or paper towel.
Most of the time ink cartridges tend to be quite expensive, so customers started to use “compatible” ink cartridges. These cartridges are produced by companies other than the printer manufacturers. Compatible ink cartridges can come at the same quality as the original ones, depending on the manufacturing company. However, all compatible ink cartridges are cheaper than original ones. Many people use modified printers that allow the use of continuous ink systems. These printers use ink from external ink tanks. People can also use aftermarket inks to refill their cartridges, or take them to local refillers.
Consumers are often surprised at the price of replacing their printer cartridges, especially when compared with that of purchasing a brand new printer. The major printer manufacturers, Hewlett Packard, Lexmark, Dell, Canon, Epson and Brother often break even or loose money selling printers, and expect to recoup their losses by selling expensive cartridges over the life span of the printer. Since much of the printer manufacturer’s profits are made up of ink and toner cartridge sales, some of these companies have taken various actions against aftermarket cartridges. Sometimes, even legal action was taken.
Many consumers opt to have their cartridges refilled or purchased remanufactured cartridges from third parties to save money over buying new cartridges. This is much cheaper (as you need only buy the ink and some other small raw materials), and a whole industry has grown up around this idea. There are several qualities and types of refilling, some of them being safe and successful, while other types can ruin the printer and/or give bad quality prints. Options include taking empty cartridges to “refillers” or “remanufacturers” who pump in new ink, and buying store-branded ink.
Another option is for the consumer to refill the cartridges. Instructions for most cartridges are available on the web, as well as sources who sell “bulk ink” in pints, quarts, and even gallons. This can be extremely cost effective if the consumer is a heavy user of cartridges. One pint (473 ml) is sufficient ink to fill approximately 15 to 17 large cartridges of a typical 27 ml capacity. At the price of an original cartridge, you can buy at least one pint of ink.
If you consider refilling your cartridge you should know that Brother, Canon, Dell, HP, and Lexmark cartridges are quite easy to refill. Some of the cartridges can even be refilled with a simple syringe. However, Epson cartridges are usually harder to refill as these cartridges need a chip resetter. This resetter resets the counter chip embedded in the cartridge. Because it requires you to handle ink directly, the refill process can be tricky and you will need some experience until you will do it clean.
Laser/toner cartridges labeled as “compatible” are often refilled cartridges. Many third parties offer newly manufactured cartridges. Ink cartridges labeled as “compatible” are all newly produced. “Remanufactured” inkjet cartridges have been used previously and refilled by a third party so caution is advised when buying them. These cartridges may not work like new ones.
Topics: Business |