Refill Your Printer Ink Cartridges

poehere
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ink cartridge and tools Buying a new ink cartridge is expensive, especially if you have a lot to print or you're printing out photos. Recently I've noticed that I can't even print out 100 black and white pages before I need to change my ink cartridge. I have set the printer to the setting where I print out the pages using the ink saving setting. I don't need high quality pages and therefore it is not necessary to use the high resolution or normal setting on my printer.

I live in a country that imports all of our goods. Therefore, our ink is rather expensive and it is not practical to use to print out large amounts of documents. Fortunately, I can buy the ink I need to refill my own ink cartridges. When I refill my ink cartridge I find that I can now print out close to 250 pages before I need to refill the cartridge again. Refilling your ink cartridge is simple. Here is all you need to do the job.

Total Time: 10 Minutes

Yield: 1 refilled ink cartridge

Supplies:

1 bottle black ink for printers
1 bottle magenta (red) printer ink
1 bottle cyan (blue) printer ink
1 bottle yellow printer ink
paper towels
newspaper
1 syringe
1 small drill bit
1 hand held drill or Dremel

Steps:

Before starting cover your work surface with newspaper.

Place the ink cartridge on the newspaper.

Gently peel back the label on the top of the ink cartridge.

The black and color ink cartridges have 3 indentations or round circles on the top of the cartridge. These circles give you access to the ink reservoirs that you'll need to refill. Note the size of your hole when selecting your drill bit. The drill bit should be the same size as the circle or a little bit smaller. You don't want a large hole in the ink cartridge.

Attach the drill bit to the handheld drill or Dremel. Place the drill bit on the hole at the top. Gently press on the drill bit to hold it in place and start drilling your hole.
Drill the other two holes using the same method.
Fill the syringe with 50 ml of ink.

Insert the syringe into the hole. Gently push the syringe into the sponge inside the ink cartridge. Once in place slowly inject the ink into the sponge.

Fill the two remaining holes in the same way.
Wipe off the top of the ink cartridge using your paper towel. You don't want ink on the top of the cartridge.

Replace the label on the ink cartridge. If your label won't stick use a small piece of tape to cover the holes. Some people say to leave the label off and not cover the holes. This allows the air to flow inside. However, if you live in a humid country this also lets the humidity inside the ink cartridge and can damage your printer.

Afterwards, let the cartridge sit for 8 hours before replacing it back in your printer. This gives the sponge time to absorb the ink.
I have been using this technique for a number of years. I can refill one ink cartridge about 8 times before I buy a new one. I wouldn't recommend refilling your ink cartridge too many times. Afterwards, this can damage your printer head.