Ink Jet Printer Refilling FAQ
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Introduction
A1 About this document.
A2 Corrections or comments?
Overview
B1 Your three refill options.
B2 Materials needed to refill at home.
Inks
C1 Which inks do I use?
C2 Colored inks.
C3 Four-color output from monochrome inkjets.
Syringes
D1 Where do I buy syringes?
D2 Syringe substitutes.
Refilling
E1 General procedure.
E2 How do I learn more about refilling my cartridge?
E3 How do I clean the clogged nozzles?
E4 Refilling HP Deskjet, Deskwriter cartridges notes.
E5 Refilling HP Paintjet, Paintjet XL cartridges notes.
E6 Refilling Apple Stylewriter, Canon BJ10/BJ10e/BJ10ex/BJ20 cartridges notes.
E7 Refilling Xerox 4020, Diablo C150, Tektronix cartridges notes.
Print Quality
F1 The print quality.
F2 How can I improve the print quality?
Vendors
G1 Paper sources.
G2 Commercial refill packages and OEM cartridges sources.
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Introduction
A1 About this document.
Inkjet cartridges are easy to replace yet cost around twenty dollars.
This can add up when printing many pages. Refilling a cartridge
reduces this cost and waste.
This document contains useful information about refilling inkjet
cartridges.
NOTE: Use this information at your own risk. Damage to your printer
resulting from the use of a refilled cartridge is not covered by
most manufacturer's warranties.
This document is placed in the public domain. Archive, copy, or
distribute it as you wish.
A2 Corrections or comments?
Send comments, corrections, or additional information to adorable@cerf.net
Overview
B1 Your three refill options.
1) Buy ink and a syringe.
+ Cheap, average cost per refill is about a dollar.
+ Allows for customized colors.
- Inks ususally are not waterproof.
- Color inks are hard to match exactly.
- Can be messy.
2) Buy a commercial refill package.
+ Waterproof inks available.
+ Color inks are available and closely match the originals.
+ Easy to use.
- About three to five dollars per refill, ten for color.
3) Use a commercial refill service.
+ No mess for you.
- Slow. Cartridge is mailed.
B2 Materials needed to refill at home.
Only three items are needed to refill most inkjet cartridges: ink, a
syringe, and your used cartridge. Certain types also require glue and
tape if a commercial refill package is not used (eg. the HP Deskjet
high-capacity cartridge, HP 51626A).
Inks
C1 Which inks do I use?
Most importantly, the ink should not clog the print nozzles; so choose
inks which are water-based, non-pigmented, and non-permanent.
Avoid permanent and pigmented technical or India inks, which clog the
cartrdige nozzles (eg. Pelikan Drawing or Koh-i-noor Universal).
Skrips ink (made by Shaeffer and packed in bright yellow boxes), Parker
Solv-X permanent, and Mont Blanc are commonly used. I have always used
Skrips with good results.
A bottle of Skrips costs two dollars and I use a fourth of the bottle for
each refill ($0.50). Most other inks cost under five dollars a bottle.
C2 Colored inks.
You can use different colors (blue, red, pink, ...) when refilling your
black cartridge to achieve colored output.
To use the darker colors, inject the desired color, and after printing ten
to fifty pages, anything printed will be in the new color.
The best approach when using a lighter or any color is to rinse the old ink
out with a small injection of water, print until empty, then inject your
new color.
I have not yet located colored inks which exactly match those used in
color inkjet cartridges.
C3 Four-color output from monochrome inkjets.
A method of producing color output on your B/W inkjet printer, which I have
not tried.
1) Empty three cartridges and rinse them clean with water, as described
in C2.
2) Buy a commercial, color cartridge refill package.
3) Refill each cartridge with each color - cyan, magenta, and yellow.
4) Using a program such as Pagemaker, and these cartridges plus a fourth
black one, simply set up and print your color document as a four-color
separation on the SAME sheet of paper, using the correct cartridge for
each pass. Although slower than a color printer, yours can now print
in full color!
Syringes
D1 Where do I buy syringes?
You may buy them at a hospital, university medical store, pet hospital,
local drug store, park corner (Berkeley's People Park), or medical mail
order supplier. Syringes like those used by diabetics are good choices
and cost under three dollars apiece.
In some states, the sale of syringes without a prescription is illegal.
D2 Syringe substitutes
Hobby oilers, chemistry pipets, thin straws, or anything thin enough to fit
into the hole of your cartridge can be used.
Personally, I started with a WD-40 red straw whittled to a point at one
end. Refill carefully by sucking ink up the straw, but NOT into the mouth,
then, push the pointed end into the Deskjet cartridge hole, and blow.
Repeat several times. Takes awhile, messy, but works.
I've used a chemical glass pipet, with squeeze bulb and very fine tip.
It works well, but also costs $20-$100.
Refilling
E1 General procedure.
The cartridge should be near empty. Many cartridges allow air to flow in
through a hole as the ink is used up. This same hole can be used to put
fresh ink in. For cartridges which lack this hole, we must first drill one
in a location that avoids ink spillage when it is in use. Also, many
contain a foam sponge inside to hold the ink.
We refill over a sink, or somewhere similar, where cleanup of spilled ink
is easy. Start with a small amount of ink, about 1ml, and inject it into
the cartridge. Continue injecting more ink and at some point you will
notice that the ink begins to drip profusely from the nozzles or overflows
the hole. At this time, it is full. Simply clean the cartridge and
nozzles with paper, water or rubbing alcohol if needed, and use the
cartridge.
Remember how many milliliters's you have injected to save time the next
time.
E2 How do I learn more about refilling my cartridge?
The easiest way besides practicing or watching another person is to buy a
commercial refill package. Not only will it include the syringe for future
use, it will have detailed refilling instructions regarding refilling your
particular brand of cartridge with ink.
E3 How do I clean the clogged nozzles?
Be gentle. Use paper dampened with water or rubbing alcohol to wipe the
nozzle area clean. Or blow hard into the hole, but watch out for ink
coming from the nozzles! Try the printer instructions regarding clearing
clogged nozzles.
E4 Refilling HP Deskjet, Deskwriter cartridges notes.
There are three cartridges available: the standard one, HP# 51608A; a
high-capacity one, HP# 51626A, and the color one, HP# 51625A, for Deskjet
C/Deskwriter C color models.
Follow the general method for refilling the HP 51608A cartridge (E1).
The standard cartridge contains a foam core which holds up to 20ml of ink.
The high-capacity cartridge does not contain a foam core and can hold
another 20ml of ink. A bubble generator in the high-capacity cartridge
serves, in place of foam, to regulate the flow of ink from the cartridge.
The internal air pressure is adjusted additionally by air bags which expand
and collapse according to barometric and temperature changes.
With the high-capacity model, the method is to plug the hole at the bottom
of the cartridge with glue (epoxy, superglue, plastic model glue, etc.),
tape, or anything which will stay there to prevent any ink from leaking.
Then, inject ink into the top hole until full. Finally, plug that hole with
putty, gum, or anything removable later so ink does not run out when the
cartridge is in use. Since refilling this is not as easy, quick, or drip
proof, use the standard cartridge (HP 51608A) for fewer problems; or buy
a commercial High-capacity refill package.
One person suggests the following recipe if you use Parker Quink ink:
Parker Quink (95 parts) Isopropanol (5 parts)
Mix Quink and isopropanol, to prevent drying out, in the proportions given
above (a standard cartridge HP 51608A holds approximately 8-10ml of ink)
and refill.
I have no information on refilling the color cartridge.
E5 Refilling HP Paintjet, Paintjet XL cartridges.
There are five cartridges available: the black one, HP# 51606A; the 3-color
one for the Paintjet, HP# 51606C; and the three primary color ones for the
Paintjet XL, HP# 51606B, 51606R, 51606Y.
For the black cartridge, see E1.
For the color cartridges, buy a commercial refill kit for exact colors,
otherwise, see E1.
Ethylene glycol is used to prevent drying out of the ink.
E6 Refilling Apple Stylewriter, Canon BJ10/BJ10e/BJ10ex/BJ20 cartridges.
There are two cartridges: the BC-01 and BC-02, both made by Canon. The
BC-01 is used in many printers and typewriters, including the StarWriter
series by Canon. I do not know what differences exist between the BC-01
and BC-02 cartridges.
One person suggests drilling a small hole where the BC-01 label is, and
refill. I would recommend purchasing a commercial refill package to find
out how they do it.
E7 Refilling Xerox 4020, Diablo C150, Tektronix cartridges.
One person suggests using premixed, liquid watercolors which cost about
$2-$3.50 per bottle. These inks come bottled with eyedroppers in the caps.
Two brands to try are: Windsor-Newton's premixed Brilliant Watercolors.
Try the black, cyan, magenta, and Marigold. Dr. P H Martin's Transparent
Watercolors (not the Concentrated Watercolors). Try black, cyan, magenta,
and yellow.
The 'maintenance fluid' in the maintenance cartridge is distilled water.
Print Quality
F1 The print quality.
Usually, a refilled cartridge will provide clean output like that from a
new cartridge. The differences are slight but a few notes are in order.
With most refill inks, you will notice that your text takes longer to dry.
Using Skrips ink, I not had one page stained by another in the output tray.
However, you may need to catch and separate each page by hand if you use an
ink that takes longer to dry. Most commercial inks have been formulated to
dry as quickly as the original, eliminating this problem.
The print quality will vary from ink to ink and from refill to refill. In
the case where the ink is too watery, you may notice fine bleed lines
spidering from the characters. If the nozzles has been carelessly damaged
during the refill process, fuzzier text or missing dots may be the effect.
With care, the quality can match the original.
With some inks, such as Skrips, you may also notice that the text printed
is not as dark as the original. Whether this is of concern is a personal
preference.
F2 How can I improve the print quality?
A clean printer and a clean cartridge are both necessary to achieve a high
quality output. The nozzles and metal contacts of the cartridge should be
nearly spotless before the cartridge is inserted into the printer for use,
using rubbing alcohol as necessary to remove debris and dry ink. The
printer should be kept clean, following the maintenance instructions of
your printer manual.
Just as important, we must choose a paper that does the most in prevention
of bleeding, smearing, or fuzziness of the ink. A good choice to start
with is Xerox 4024 DP 20 lb. copier paper. It has a nice smooth surface,
free of most visible irregularities, and the non-glossy surface absorbs
inks quickly without bleeding. It can be bought at most office supply
stores below five dollars per ream (500 sheets of paper). Also, try
Weyerhauser's "Recycled Laser Copy", item # 1185, a recycled paper with
very good results.
I believe that a quality paper will have a flat, non-glossy surface that
absorbs liquids quickly. Thus, glossy magazine paper will not work well
since the paper slowly absorbs any ink dabbed on it. On the other hand, a
paper such as the HP PaintJet paper is wonderful for its great color
saturation, intensity, and sharpness of print, and rapid ink absorption,
despite its unique feel. 200-250 sheets can be bought for under thirty
dollars.
However, since some people might negatively view resumes, etc. printed on
it, I occasionally photocopy the sharp text printed on this paper onto
regular paper. Since a copier can ignore the minute, stray ink spray
surrounding the characters on the original page and the fused copier carbon
is much darker than ink, making a copy of the original output will improve
the sharpness and contrast of the text.
Strangely, cheap fifteen pound, continuous sheet, printer paper prints
well in HP Deskjets.
Beyond this, try anything you find and like.
Vendors
G1 Paper sources.
PaperDirect, Inc. carries many paper items including laser and inkjet
papers; exotic papers; blank printer greeting cards; brochure and resume
stocks; etc. and has a 80+ page mini-catalog available.
PaperDirect
PO Box 618
205 Chubb Ave.
Lyndhurst, NJ 07071-0618
(800) A-PAPERS, (800) 272-7377, (201) 507-1996
(201) 507-0817 FAX
G2 Commercial refill packages and OEM cartridges sources.
Many office/computer suppliers now carry refill packages and other inkjet
printer supplies. Here is a sample of these packages and companies.
Global Computer Supplies
2318 E.Del Amo Blvd., Dept 32, Compton, CA 90220
1-800-845-6225 (1-800-8-GLOBAL)
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Global Inkjet refill packages
Transparent, accordian-styled, plastic squeeze bottle with straight tip.
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Price per twin pack
Description Color 1 2-4 5+
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HP Deskjet/Plus/500 Black $11.99 $11.39 $10.85
HP Deskjet/Plus/500 Blue $12.99 $12.35 $11.75
HP Deskjet High Capacity Black $19.99 $18.99 $18.05
HP Paintjet/XL Black $16.99 $16.15 $15.35
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Ink Refill by Graphics Utilities, Inc.
Transparent, accordian-styled, plastic squeeze bottle with angled tip.
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Price per twin pack
Description Color 1 2-4 5+
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HP DeskJet/Plus/500 Black $13.99 $13.29 $12.65
"" Blue 14.99 14.25 13.55
"" Indelible Black 14.99 14.25 13.55
HP PaintJet, PaintJet XL Black 18.95 18.05 17.19
HP PaintJet Cyan,Magenta,Yellow 23.65 22.55 21.49
Canon BJ-10e,ex,Apple StyleWriter Black 17.65 16.79 15.99
Canon BJ300/330,130/130e Black 19.65 18.69 17.79
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NEW HP Deskjet cartridge HP51608A Black $15.75 each
NEW HP Deskjet High Capacity HP51626A Black $23.79
NEW HP DeskjetC color carts HP51625A 3-color $25.99
Inmac
1-800-547-5444 (order), 1-800-972-3210 (fax)
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JetFill
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Description Refils Color Price Each
1 2-5 6+
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HP Deskjet High Capacity 2 Black 19.95 18.95 17.95
HP Deskjet 2 " 13.95 13.25 12.65
Canon BJ10/Apple Stylewriter 2 " 17.65 16.75 15.95
Canon BJ130/330 2 " 19.50 18.95 18.25
HP Deskjet 500C 6 Black 62.95 60.45 57.99
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MEI/Micro Center
1100 Steelwood Road, Columbus, OH 43212-9972
1-800-634-3478 (order), 1-614-486-6417 (fax)
Description
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NEW HP Deskjet cartridge HP51608A Black $16.97 each
NEW HP Deskjet High Capacity HP51626A Black $25.37 each
NEW HP Deskjet 500C color HP51625A Color $27.77 each
HP 51608A Deskjet cartridge refill kit $ 8.99 for two refills
Canon BC-01 BJ-10,10ex,Apple Stylewriter kit $ 9.49 for two refills
Misco
One Misco Plaza, Holmdel, NJ 07733
1-800-876-4726 (order), 908-264-1000 (NJ order), 908-264-5955 (fax)
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CompuJet\InkRefill by American InkJet\Graphic Utilities
Transparent, accordion-styled, plastic squeeze bottle with angled tip.
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Price Each
Description Color Pack Size 1-2 3-5
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DeskJet/Plus/500 Black 2 Pack $11.99 $10.99
" Indelible Black " 12.95 11.95
" Red " 12.99 11.99
" Blue " " "
" Green " " "
DeskJet/Plus/500 High Capacity Black 1 Pack $13.95 $12.95
" Red " 17.95 16.95
" Blue " " "
" Green " " "
DeskJet 500C Cyan,Magenta,Yellow 3 Pack 47.99 45.99
DeskJet 500C Modified Cart. + Rainbow Pack " 74.99 71.99
ThinkJet/Dionix (inkjet paper) Black 6 Refills 39.99 35.99
" (plain paper) " " " "
PaintJet/PaintWriter Black 2 Pack 19.99 18.99
" Magenta " 24.99 23.99
" Yellow " " "
" Cyan " " "
Canon BJ10e,10ex,20,
AppleStyleWriter Indelible Black " 11.99 10.99
" Red " 12.99 11.99
" Blue " " "
" Green " " "
Canon BJ300/330/130/130E Black " 13.99 12.99
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Parana
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Description Color Pack Size Price
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HP Deskjet/Deskwriter Black 2-3 14.95
HP DeskJet/Deskwriter High Cap Black 2-3 17.95
HP DeskJet/Deskwriter Color 3-Color 2-3 28.95
Canon BJ10/Apple Stylewriter Black 2-3 14.95
Canon BJ-200/Apple StylewriterII Black 2-3 14.95
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NEW HP Deskjet High Capacity HP51626A Black $22.99
NEW HP DeskjetC color carts HP51625A 3-color $25.99
TigerSoftware
800 Douglas Entrance
Executive Tower, 7th Floor
Coral Gables, Florida 33134
(800) 888-4437
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JetFill
Fat syringe with plunger, straight tip.
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Price (Cost per
Description Six-pack refill)
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HP Deskjet/Plus/500 Black $49.95 ($ 8.32)
HP Deskjet/Plus/500 High-Cap Black $79.95 ($13.32)
Canon BJ10/20\Apple Stylewriter Black $49.95 ($ 8.32)
Canon BJ-130/300/330 Black $69.95 ($11.65)
HP Deskjet 500C/550C Color cart. Color $69.95 ($11.65)
Uarco Business Products
121 N.9th St., Dekalb, Ill. 60115
1-800-435-0713
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AspenJet
Syringe with plunger, straight tip.
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Price Each
Description Color 1-9 10+
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HP DeskJet/Plus/500 Indelible Black $9.95 $8.95
Canon BJ-10/10e/10ex/20 " 10.95 9.95
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HP 51626A High-capacity refill service, mail in 20.95 19.95
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