# Ink cartridge refill kits - was the Best Buy guy blowin' smoke??
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 18, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052 "2003-08-18T21:16:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@TurdFerguson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TurdFerguson)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/1 "2003-08-18T21:16:40Z")
I’ve never used ink cartridge refill kits because the ink cartridges for my old printer were pretty cheap. Now I have a new printer where the cartridges are about $20 a pop.
So, I go to Best Buy to get a refill kit and the salesman says they don’t sell them. He then proceeds to tell me that using the refill kits are not a good idea. He says that the cartridges can explode and ruin your printer, he sees this about twice a month from people bringing in their printers for repair. He then tells me it’s more likely to happen with my brand of printer (HP).
Now, this is the first I’ve heard of this. I figured that maybe Best Buy has an agreement with the printer manufacturers not to sell the refill kits so that both parties can make more money selling the more expensive cartridges.
Has anyone had bad experiences using these refill kits. Any explosions or ruined printers?
Thanks
---
### Author:  [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/2 "2003-08-18T21:34:08Z")
Sounds like crap.
What you will notice (if you do anything which requires accurate colors) is that the colors a different when using refills as opposed to the original cartridges.
The german computer magazine CT does a lot of tests, and if there anything to “exploding” cartridges, I’d have read about it long ago.
---
### Author:  [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/3 "2003-08-18T21:46:42Z")
Search the boards - this subject has been discussed several times. The consensus seems to be: if you’re lucky, it works out great, and you get refills for pennies on the dollar. If it doesn’t work out so great, it’ll clog the print heads and you’re looking at a new printer.
FTR - I just ordered myself a new cartridge; I went the middle road and got a refurbished one.
---
### Author:  [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2003, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/4 "2003-08-18T21:51:23Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by DarrenS \*
> if you’re lucky, it works out great, and you get refills for pennies on the dollar. If it doesn’t work out so great, it’ll clog the print heads and you’re looking at a new printer.
Which is a peculiarity of Epson and (maybe) Canon - they’ve got permanent print heads.
To the best of my knowledge, HP has a print head on every cartridge. Worst that can happen is that you stop up the head on the cartridge- which you scrap and replace with a new or refurbished one.
---
### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/5 "2003-08-18T22:04:24Z")
All the HP Refill kits I have used soon become unrelaible, messy and expensive pains the ass. There may be some patented method where someone has gotten mutliple refills accomplished with no mess, overflows or dead (filled) carts, but I have yet to see it work on a consistent enough basis to be worthwhile.
---
### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/6 "2003-08-18T22:08:16Z")
Haven’t heard of explosions, but plenty of leaks. There’s also no shortage of damaged printers, something apparently overlooked by German computer magazines. I don’t recall which it was - PC World or PC Magazine recently had an article on the subject.
The general result is that you need to be careful when refilling cartridges so you don’t overfill or mix up the colors. Also, keep in mind that some makers (IBM’s Lexmark, particularly) build their cartridges with timers that kill the cartridge when the original ink is gone and no amount of refilling will reactivate them.
---
### Author:  [@Dr\_Xadium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Xadium)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/7 "2003-08-18T23:01:43Z")
Well Canon printers (at least the BJC models I’ve used) have a print head that is removable from the unit, so if it gets clogged up, it’s replaceable. That being said, it’s not cheap to replace them (they always come with one color and one BW cartridge, so you have to pay for the overly expensive ink as well).
And my experience with refill kits is that they clog up the heads on Canons really well. Something is off about the consistency of the ink. Friends of mine who used to service printers tell me that with only one or two exceptions, most of the refill ink is a waste of time and just ends up damaging the printer.
You may be better off looking for 3rd party ink cartridges (note that some new printers have chips in the heads which prevent the use of 3rd party carts)-- they can be much cheaper.
For example, a new black and color cartridge for my Epson Photo Stylus 1280 was $52 + shipping from Staples, but $30 (with shipping) from San Diego E-Mart (an online ink store).
The ink I got was packaged in battered Chinese / Japanese boxes, but it worked fine and produced the same results as the pricier OEM ink. I’d rather drop the extra 10 on generic cartridges than risk the integrity of my printhead on a refill kid.
As always, your mileage may vary.
---
### Author:  [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/8 "2003-08-18T23:07:43Z")
I refilled the inks on my old Epson twice. Then it started malfunctioning and continued to do so after I bought all-new cartridges. Now I have a new printer, and I’m planning to bite the bullet and buy the stupid cartridges.
An interesting side-note: The least expensive Epson printer, complete with ink, was on sale at Best Buy for $10 less (after rebate) than it costs to buy all four replacement ink cartridges.
---
### Author:  [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/9 "2003-08-19T02:15:42Z")
I used refill kits with my Canon. Goodbye Canons after a short time. I now have an HP 930 and use only HP cartriges.
---
### Author:  [@spogga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spogga)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/10 "2003-08-19T02:25:23Z")
For those of you living in the UK I recommend www [angryants.com/](http://angryants.com/)
I recently bought 10 black cartridges for less than £20.
Unfortunately this company does not ship to the USA
---
### Author:  [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/11 "2003-08-19T02:36:02Z")
I refilled my Lexmark Z22 black cartridge about a month ago. Its been working fine…But ya’ll got me nervous now…What do I do? Pull out the refilled one and replace it; burn through the one in there and then replace it. Screw it and keep refilling it until it breaks (will it break?)
---
### Author:  [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/12 "2003-08-19T02:48:25Z")
**Sigene** - call Lexmark tech support - I’ve found them pretty helpful. The number is on Lexmark’s web page.
---
### Author:  [@El\_Gui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Gui)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2003, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/13 "2003-08-19T04:25:22Z")
I have an HP Deskjet 952c printer and both the Black and Color cartridges are on their second refill. Have had no problems, though I’ll probably refill only one more time, if at all. Don’t want to push my luck.
---
### Author:  [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2003, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/14 "2003-08-19T05:01:42Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by gotpasswords \*
> \*\*Also, keep in mind that some makers (IBM’s Lexmark, particularly) build their cartridges with timers that kill the cartridge when the original ink is gone and no amount of refilling will reactivate them. \*\*
Huh… I had a cartridge that the sensor software that came with the Lexmark printer said was half-full, but it wasn’t printing at all. However, the cartridge was quite old… Might that be the reason?
---
### Author:  [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2003, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/15 "2003-08-19T05:44:04Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Leaper \*
> \*\*Huh… I had a cartridge that the sensor software that came with the Lexmark printer said was half-full, but it wasn’t printing at all. However, the cartridge was quite old… Might that be the reason? \*\*
Yes - at least the Lexmark X125 “guesses” how much ink remains, since there are no ink detectors in the cartridge - [http://support.lexmark.com/cgi-perl/knowledgebase.cgi?ccs=229:1:0:346:0:0&emeaframe=&docid=ENUS4974](http://support.lexmark.com/cgi-perl/knowledgebase.cgi?ccs=229:1:0:346:0:0&emeaframe=&docid=ENUS4974)
---
### Author:  [@TurdFerguson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TurdFerguson)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/16 "2003-08-19T17:04:01Z")
Thanks for the responses, everybody.
More specifically, my printer is an HP 5550 and I only am refilling the black cartridge as I hardly ever use the color. The print head is on the cartridge itself, so I won’t risk damaging the printer as long as I don’t overfill the cartridge. The worst that will I figure will happen is I’ll ruin the cartridge and have to buy a new one. Worth the risk as I look to save a lot of money buying a $17 refill kit from Sam’s Club that should refill it 8 times vs. a $20 cartridge.
---
### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/17 "2003-08-19T17:12:42Z")
If fine detail and print quality are important to you, I don’t think I would necessarily count on getting prime quality output after the third refill or so.
---
### Author:  [@GTPhD1996](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GTPhD1996)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/18 "2003-08-19T20:11:07Z")
I bought the refill kits one time. Then I found out i had to drill holes in my particular cartridge to refill it. I returned the kit and bought the cartridges.
GTPhD1996
---
### Author:  [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/19 "2003-08-19T20:21:42Z")
The drill is a technology beyond you, or you were worried about ruining your cartridge before you threw it in the trash?
---
### Author:  [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052/20 "2003-08-19T20:24:51Z")
Only somewhat relevant, but interesting never the more:
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3035500.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3035500.stm)
> [@](#):
>
> Consumers are getting a raw deal when it comes to the ink used in printers, according to research by Which? magazine.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ink-cartridge-refill-kits-was-the-best-buy-guy-blowin-smoke/196052.md?page=2)