# Has anyone any experience with reusing ink cartridges?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 29, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640 "2006-09-29T18:51:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/1 "2006-09-29T18:51:06Z")
There are a few businesses in my city that advertise an inkjet-refilling service. From their commercials, I gather they use some reasonably high-tech method (well, higher-tech than the DIY inkjet refills, which I simply don’t trust). The advertised cost is quite cheap, $10-12 per cartridge. Anybody have any experience?
I’m in Memphis, by the way.
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### Author:  [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/2 "2006-09-29T19:16:39Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer]
There are a few businesses in my city that advertise an inkjet-refilling service. From their commercials, I gather they use some reasonably high-tech method (well, higher-tech than the DIY inkjet refills, which I simply don’t trust). The advertised cost is quite cheap, $10-12 per cartridge. Anybody have any experience?I’m in Memphis, by the way.
[/QUOTE]
There is a co. in Knoxville too.
If they guarantee satisfaction take a fling on a set.
Depends a lot on the particular printer model.
Some printers like one of the Epson color printers have a little pic built in that effectively prevents refill/reuse.
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/3 "2006-09-29T20:46:48Z")
I haven’t used them at home, but we’ve used them at work, on the HP Laserjets, and they leaked. Despite the savings on the refilled ones, we went back to new cartridges.
I don’t remember the name of the company we bought them from.
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2006, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/4 "2006-09-29T20:50:34Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam]
I haven’t used them at home, but we’ve used them at work, on the HP Laserjets, and they leaked. Despite the savings on the refilled ones, we went back to new cartridges.
[/quote]
Do you know why your company went back to the new cartridges? Because the answer could be “because they refilled cartridges were markedly inferior,” but it could also be “because the purchasing guy is a moron.”
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### Author:  [@Marienee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marienee)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/5 "2006-09-29T21:03:35Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer]
There are a few businesses in my city that advertise an inkjet-refilling service. From their commercials, I gather they use some reasonably high-tech method (well, higher-tech than the DIY inkjet refills, which I simply don’t trust). The advertised cost is quite cheap, $10-12 per cartridge. Anybody have any experience?
I’m in Memphis, by the way.
[/QUOTE]
I’m in the Netherlands. But I have been using the “refill your cartridge while you wait” business down the street for about a year now, black and color cartridges. They work just the same after refilling.
The guy who refills mine says that after several refills you should get a new cartridge and start over. On our last color refilled cartridge he told me that this was the last time for that particular one, and it ran out yesterday.
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### Author:  [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2006, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/6 "2006-09-29T21:52:38Z")
I don’t use ink refills myself, but I do work in technical support and computer consulting. The only time I see refills in my job is when they don’t work - won’t print, colors are bad, etc. - and I really don’t know how many print jobs I’ve seen which used good refills. I’ve never had to return a name-brand ink cartrige because it wouldn’t print or the color was bad.
I’ve used quite a few laser toner refills, and never had a problem with them.
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### Author:  [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/7 "2006-09-29T22:01:12Z")
Office Max has a service where you bring in old ink cartridges and they either refill them while you wait, or what happened to me: they swap it out with a recently-refilled cartridge and charge you a fraction of the price for a new one. I brought them the black cartridge from my Lexmark printer, that supposedly had some ink left in it but maybe it had dried out. I didn’t say a word, and the girl gave me a new one (it was sealed in a bag inside the typical small box) – it only cost $15 instead of the $28 or so a new one would have cost. So far, it’s been printing just fine. I may take my empty color cartridge in some time for the same thing.
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### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/8 "2006-09-29T22:38:47Z")
Yes. Both ink and laser. Don’t use them. My users have had too many misfeeds, paper jams, bad printing, generally bad experiences with them.
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### Author:  [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2006, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/9 "2006-09-29T23:00:23Z")
Don’t try to refill HP ink cartridges – there’s no way to know for sure which cell has which color, and they leak like crazy. I nearly destroyed my printer with refills once; HP flat out said, “Don’t do it again!” They mean it, apparently.
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2006, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/10 "2006-09-29T23:45:20Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor]
Don’t try to refill HP ink cartridges – there’s no way to know for sure which cell has which color, and they leak like crazy. I nearly destroyed my printer with refills once; HP flat out said, “Don’t do it again!” They mean it, apparently.
[/QUOTE]
Well, I hardly ever print in color off this printer, so I wouldn’t really give a flip about that. And I have a Lexmark.
Yeah, I know. Stop laughing or I’ll kick your ass. Okay, I’ll have your ass kicked by the monkeys, but it’s still the same.
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### Author:  [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2006, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/11 "2006-09-29T23:50:01Z")
Immediately after we started using refilled ink cartridges in our Canon i475 inkjet, it’s been printing everything very blurry and smudgy. The problem has persisted even after putting new cartridges in there, so I think the refills clogged the nozzles/print heads/whatever they’re called.
It _could_ be a coincidence, but I am :dubious: that it is.
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2006, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/12 "2006-09-30T00:23:45Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer]
Do you know why your company went back to the new cartridges? Because the answer could be “because they refilled cartridges were markedly inferior,” but it could also be “because the purchasing guy is a moron.”
[/QUOTE]
The refilled cartridges were our own. That was part of the deal – the people refilling were supposed to use cartridges that we had sent them. That way we’d be starting with “name brand” stock and not some generic stuff.
Someone in Purchasing tracked the cartridges, to make sure we were getting our own stuff back. I don’t know how this was done. Are there serial numbers on cartridges?
Anyway, we never had problems with new ones, but always had problems with refilled ones – leaks, and scratches and gouges on the roller thingie.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2006, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/13 "2006-09-30T01:12:14Z")
I use factory-refilled cartridges for my HP - they cost about one third of the price of the originals, they contain more ink and they’re just fine. They come with a post-paid bag for sending back the empty cartridge for refilling.
I tried using factory-refilled cartridges (from the same supplier, although likely not from the same refilling factory) for the Epsons (Ssssss… Epson) at work and they cost about one third of the price of the originals; I never found out whether they contain more ink because they suck syphilitic donkey ass - the black one I installed just refused to work; the cyan blocked the print heads and the magenta was so watery that it just dribbled through the ink nozzles even when it wasn’t being used.
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### Author:  [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/14 "2006-09-30T01:59:29Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer]
Well, I hardly ever print in color off this printer, so I wouldn’t really give a flip about that. And I have a Lexmark.
Yeah, I know. Stop laughing or I’ll kick your ass. Okay, I’ll have your ass kicked by the monkeys, but it’s still the same.
[/QUOTE]
Dude, I’m not laughin’! I did tech support for several years; Lexmark’s alleged reputation for low quality is undeserved. I have one sitting on my desk – actually, it’s my wife’s. Scanner/copier, pretty darn reliable.
I sic my Yorkie/shi tsu bastard killer dog on your monkeys; soon, no monkeys.
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### Author:  [@Mrs\_Johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_Johnson)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/15 "2006-09-30T02:31:28Z")
We use Cartridge World where I work (I’m not sure if they’re local or national). The refills work great for a while. They start to suck after 5-6 refills. But that still saves a bunch of money.
They refill our toner cartridges too. We’ had no problems with those yet.
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2006, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/16 "2006-09-30T03:33:51Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor]
Dude, I’m not laughin’! I did tech support for several years; Lexmark’s alleged reputation for low quality is undeserved. I have one sitting on my desk – actually, it’s my wife’s. Scanner/copier, pretty darn reliable.
I sic my Yorkie/shi tsu bastard killer dog on your monkeys; soon, no monkeys.
[/QUOTE]
Let’s see…my legions of genetically engineered flame-breating venom-spewing flesh-eating winged howler monkeys versus your one dog?
Bring it!
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### Author:  [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2006, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/17 "2006-09-30T16:34:52Z")
I used the home refill kit on an HP cartridge and had no problems (black ink only–I rarely use color ink) until about the third fill, iirc. After the third (forth?) fill, the printing got spotty so I bought a new one, which I’m using now. The home kits are pretty easy to use.
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### Author:  [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2006, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/18 "2006-10-02T01:44:24Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer]
Let’s see…my legions of genetically engineered flame-breating venom-spewing flesh-eating winged howler monkeys versus your one dog?
Bring it!
[/QUOTE]
Wait! You gotta see this dog! Did I mention it’s a bastard killer dog? Small, but vicious! Verrrrrry vicious! We don’t have a screen door – we have a chain link door! Vicious!
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2006, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/19 "2006-10-02T01:46:48Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor]
Wait! You gotta see this dog! Did I mention it’s a bastard killer dog? Small, but vicious! Verrrrrry vicious! We don’t have a screen door – we have a chain link door! Vicious!
[/QUOTE]
Yes, but I have LEGIONS of the genetically engineered flesh-eating flame-breathing venom spewing winged howler monkeys, and their armaments have recently been upgraded to include anus-mounted feces-powered particle beam emitters, so you’re kind of screwed.
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### Author:  [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-any-experience-with-reusing-ink-cartridges/374640/20 "2006-10-02T15:24:20Z")
Not to get off track here but I use [inksell.com](http://inksell.com) and [all-ink.com](http://all-ink.com) to get remanufactured ink for both my Epson and my Canon printers, and I have to say I never noticed any difference, except in the hit to my wallet.
Also, Lexmarks don’t necessarily have poor reliability, but they eat up ink like nobody’s business…or actually, like it’s their business…which it is. So never mind.
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