A Word of Caution Concerning Printer Ink Cartridges

So which printers are the ones that have the print head built it? I’m guessing epson? I am so sick of clogged printer heads on my epsons that I switched. It would make sense if that were the problem…

Please Teebo, I am sure that was a typo. You meant recycle them when they wear out, not throw them out, right? The folks who refill should be happy to recycle them for you, if not find a re-filler that will.
Thanks tebo, you did educate me.

If you only use OEM ink then there is no problem. It is the cheap ink that is the problem. It is not the printer. I might recommend Canon ink and printers. The only time I ever had a problem was when I used no name ink (the company who sold me the ink under their brand name never came good for the print head replacement). I now only use Canon ink and never, never have a problem. If you are really concerned then I recommend a Kodak printer. They have the least expensive ink and guarantee the quality. Their ink only comes 1 way, a combo colour cartridge and a black cartridge and the 2 together cost $25. You cannot buy any HP cartridge for under $25 let alone both.

Generic ink cartridges for a printer that has the print head included in the cartridge have the print head included. “Generic cartridges don’t come with print heads, of course.” is pure BS.
How Teebo thinks the printer will print without a print head?
But he is right to recommend buying a printer where the cartridge includes the printhead. I had the same experience he had. No more!!!!

I know many people who sink over $500+ a year in stupid ink cartridges I bought a Brother HL-1440 Laser in 2000 and have spent just about a $100 on 2 toner cartridges from an after market supplier on the internet. giving me a correct unit for half the cost of the OEM. unit with low to no shipping and no tax and quick delivery.( I consider myself a heavy printer user compared to most of my peers) This has made it a total waste of time and money to go to any brick and mortar store for this item. My dad had a injectable system for his ink cartridges and the wife managed to do something that screwed that up even for him. I saw a two pack of ink cartridges that was the equivalent of a new printer that those were used for.in cost. Hello. Wake up and smell the coffee.

Over the last 20 years or so I’ve had many printers.
Mostly Epson ink jets. Of all of them only one ever had problems and that was the original inkjet that Epson brought out. That one blocked and as the jets were integral with the machine I had to ditch it. Since then all my machines have used compatible cartridges without problems. My last two machines Epson R300 and HPC7280 AIO both use the continuous inking systems. I have had no blockages whatsoever but I must point out that the printers are used almost every day.

So, if “Generic cartridges don’t come with print heads”, how in the world do they work? And they do work because I use them. You may have meant to say that the generic’s don’t come with NEW print heads which is probably true but is a new head needed for every fill of ink? I don’t think so and I like the concept of recycling things that still work rather than adding them to the trash heaps.

Great article. I happened across the site and love the content. I think its going to take a while to get through the site. Thanks for all the info. Have a great week

I work in the cartridge refilling industry and while I agree with the majority of Teebo’s post, there are a couple of points that should be clarified.

Generic or compatible cartridges are constructed by 3rd party manufacturers. Those that replace print-head cartridges have print heads, those meant to replace ink tanks do not, just like the originals. Occasionally problems arise because generic manufacturers have to alter the design of the cartridge to avoid patent violations. The altered design may not be acceptable to certain printers.

As Teebo suggests, the best alternative is to use refilled OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) cartridge. The printer will naturally accept an original cartridge without problems. Ink tank cartridges can be refilled any number of times since the cartridge has no parts that wear out. Print head cartridges have a fixed number of times they can be reused before the print head or electronic contacts fail. Hopefully they will fail during testing after being refilled and not sold to a customer. But because they might fail on the customer, it’s important to make sure your refiller guarantees their cartridges against failure.

That is good advice. Had no idea that this is how things were done.

Not all cartridges are refillable. I had an HP that used the HP 11 (C48**A) cartriges and nobody was able to refill them. I do like the idea of the cartridge with printhead. What a good idea. Makes maintenance more goof proof.

The article says buy a printer that uses cartridges with print heads. Then it says generic cartridges do not have print heads. How do they print?

I cured my refill problem, I only use a Laser printer now and my HP will print 10,000 pages before running out plus i have an extra refill for the printer that i doubt i will ever use enough ink to use the refill.

Plus in my opinion the print quality is much better.

I purchased a Niagara continuous flow system for my epson, I did but the ink offered with the Niagara, I went with another brand that was highly recommended by photographers. Before doing so I was going through $100 in generic ink cartridges a month. Now I only spend about $100 a year. IMHO the ink I use now beats the pants off Epson’s ink print quality.

Only problem with doing a blanket recommendation on a CF system is that Epson and some of the other printer manufactures intentionally use chips in their ink cartridges to thwart generic refills. YMMV

After recently applying the waste tank mod on my epson, I now know why the OEM and generic ink cartridges run out of ink so fast. Whenever a head clean cycle is performed, a good quarter to half an ounce of ink goes to the waste tank. At least now I can recycle the waste ink 50-50 with new black. LOL

Exo

I have Canon i850 printers with built-in print heads that I have been using for years with generic ink tanks costing less than $3 each. I have used literally hundreds of these ink tanks with very few bad ones. When it became time to replace the print head assembly, I bought two new ones on ebay for $42 each, a price not much more than one integrated cartridge/printhead for other printers. These printheads last for thousands of pages, and are as easy to replace as an ink cartridge. I have saved thousands of dollars over the years and dread the day that I can not keep my Canon working.

Just tell me the name of a printer, company, model whatever!!! that I can buy that i can refill myself, like i have done for years until I bought a Lexmark X4650 with a chip in it that will not let you add ink. It screws up the entire machine and you have to get up and hit reset every time even with new cartridges. What is the point in Wi-Fi. I didnt know you couldnt until I made the mistake of refilling. I for one wont be buying Lexmark again and this is the 3rd of 4th Lexmark i have owned because I loved the quality until now.