How to Print After Installing a Refilled Printer Cartridge
Have you heard of the razor-and-blade model? Its origins lie in the razor industry--razors were cheap, but replacement blades were very expensive. It's how razor companies made their money, and the same applies to printer manufacturers. A printer can be purchased for what seems like a great deal--$30, $40 or $50. Then you run out of ink and go to buy replacement cartridges, and find you're spending almost as much as you paid for the printer. That's why refilled and third-party ink cartridges are very popular--and why printer manufacturers would like consumers to use their cartridges instead, often making it difficult to print with refilled cartridges. But it's not impossible.
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Instructions
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Install your refilled cartridges just as you would the Original Equipment Manufactuers' (OEM).
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Allow the printer to go through its normal calibration and print-head cleaning cycles. Depending on your printer, this may be all that is necessary.
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Check your printer's display or the printer interface on your computer in the event that it does not print correctly. Many printer manufacturers have chips or other methods for detecting the cartridges, and are designed to recognize non-OEM cartridges. You may still see a "low ink" warning, for example, on an HP printer, as many HP printers have ink-level gauges that will not detect a new refilled cartridge as full. Epson cartridges have chips on them that need to be reset before the printer will recognize them.
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Contact your cartridge or refill-kit vendor, if necessary, to help solve the problem. While the "low ink" warning on a HP printer can be corrected on your end by resetting the "Estimated Ink Level" gauge (see "Resources" for more information), a provider of Epson refill kits or replacement cartridges should offer chip resetters, or have reset the chips on the cartridges.
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Try printing again after having determined the cause of your printer's failure to print and taking the necessary steps to correct it. If there are no warnings, the cartridges are seated correctly and the printer has performed all of its self-maintenance actions, it may simply mean your cartridge has ended its useful life. Most ink cartridges can be refilled no more than five to seven times.
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Tips & Warnings
Using third-part or refilled cartridges in your printer will not void your warranty. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act specifies this (see Resources section for details). Depending on your printer model, purchasing aftermarket cartridges may be an easier alternative to refill kits. It is less messy, and chip-reset issues should be taken care of.
Research any provider, whether of finished cartridges or refill kits, carefully. There are many good providers out there, but there are a few bad apples in every bunch.
