Printer Ink refill kits?

I'm looking for specific knowledge about printer ink refill kits. Not the cheap generic stuff that is found on ebay, but the stuff that is made specifically for a particular printer (or supposedly made specifically for a particular printer). What I want to know is if these are worth the savings from buying retail cartridges. For instance, is the ink as good as the retail stuff, will prints be as good, does it last as long or dry out quicker, etc?

I've heard both good and bad, so please don't just say that they suck or something like that, but give specific reasons as to why they are good or bad or personal experience that you've had with them. Thanks!

BTW, if you have specific knowledge about how they work on the Canon S9000 printer that would be extra helpful. From what I hear this printer "should" be easier to refill since there are no microchips or electronics on the cartridges, the cartridges are clear, and the print head is removable and not attached to the cartridges.

I would say that they are a bargain and that you might just like em. I think you should try one out and see.if they work.

used one before, if i can find the syringe i plan on using it again, very well worth the price, about $40 for 2 packs (one color, one black) and you can get like 4-6 refills compared to $50+ for 2 retail cartridges.

I never liked them... I had one that leaked all in my printer... They are messy to use.. Plus the print quality is not as good as REAL ink from retailed cartridges... I dunno why, ink is ink for the most part :D

I hate the prices of a new cartridge... Part of the reason why most people (with high volume) print on a Laser.. Since it has a much lower cost per page to print...

Well, I think that I'm just going to buy a kit and try it out. They are cheap enough that I think it would be worth it to at least see for myself if it will work for my uses. Thanks for the replies. I'll let you know how it works out.

Aside from the fairly common print quality and color matching issues, I generally won't touch refills because of my old roommate's bad experience... He tried a refill kit for his Epson Stylus, and it screwed up (clogged?) the print head so bad he had to send it in for repair. Four months later, the Epson depot finally sent his printer back.

I usually don't use my inkjet (Canon S900) unless I'm printing photos. Otherwise, I'm normally using a laser printer. Because I don't print color all that often, I don't mind spending a few bucks ($11 per cartridge) to get the real thing.

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Originally posted by SkyDog
Aside from the fairly common print quality and color matching issues, I generally won't touch refills because of my old roommate's bad experience... He tried a refill kit for his Epson Stylus, and it screwed up (clogged?) the print head so bad he had to send it in for repair. Four months later, the Epson depot finally sent his printer back.

I usually don't use my inkjet (Canon S900) unless I'm printing photos. Otherwise, I'm normally using a laser printer. Because I don't print color all that often, I don't mind spending a few bucks ($11 per cartridge) to get the real thing.

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Yes, but doesn't your S900 like my S9000 have the removable print head? I would think that would eliminate any problem with them clogging and if it did, you could just get another print head (of course they could be quite expensive). I think that at least the aftermarket refill tanks available on the market should work and they are only $5-7 a tank. Most websites have specific tanks for each printer, so you would think that they would match colorwise. I've heard that Epson's are the worst to refill, so that could be part of the problem. Anyway, even at $11 a tank that's not too bad. I'm just excited to get my new printer in the mail from newegg any day now and test it out.

So how do you like your S900? The Canon's seem to get absolutely rave reviews for a photo printer. Not the greatest text printer, but I've got laser for that :)

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Originally posted by Samjham
So how do you like your S900? The Canon's seem to get absolutely rave reviews for a photo printer. Not the greatest text printer, but I've got laser for that :)

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Photo output from the S900 is downright amazing when using good paper. I can't tell the difference between prints from the S900 and typical prints from a photo lab. I *never* thought I'd be able to say that about an inkjet. A dye sublimation photo printer, maybe, but not an inkjet.

And like you, I can print text on laser printers, so I've got the best of both worlds. :)

I've been using generic ink carterages for 3 years with my old epson stylus 700 photo. They were excelent... never had any problems with them... esp considernig I got each ink carterage for about 4 bucks compared to the 36 for retail epson carts. This let me print without worry or restriction... just give it a shot and I'm sure you'll be happy. If you don't like the quality, well no harm, no foul.

Dr. T

WE also have been using refill kits and cartridges made somewhere in $@#$^%&(* for 3 years with good luck using HP & Epson printers! They are "good enough". BUT we keep 1 printer with factory cartridges in it and when we need something "really good" we send it to that printer to print! I'll bet we have saved $1,000 - $2,000 in 3 years!
Hummm! Wonder where that money went??? LOL!

ive used them i got more ink on my desk then in the catridge lol, also mine decided to leak when I put it in and I had to clean my printer, the lesson you learned today is print colored pictures at work or at school :D

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Originally posted by rusty c
I'll bet we have saved $1,000 - $2,000 in 3 years!
Hummm! Wonder where that money went??? LOL!

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If you've spent that much money on ink cartridges, you should probably be printing to a laser printer!

I didnt try the refill kit but i ordered some refilled cartridges as it was only 27 compared to 90 for retail. I was like i will give them a try. Well they print OK as my picture don't print quite as clear and sometimes have lines. So mainly i am going to use them for printing just documents and webpages etc... as the refilled cartridge just don't have the quality of retail ones. If all you print is documents you should be ok. But if your like me and like printing photos jsut don't do it. BTW my printer is HP photosmart 1215 With the HP cartridges the pictures print beautifully and flawless, with refills i can't even stand how bad they looked i wont EVER buy refilled again. PLus i wasted abotu 15% of the ink cause i had to re calibrate the printer several tiems before it printed correctly!

Well crap! I've already ordered a refill kit. Oh well, it was only $40. I may give it a try and just see what happens, but more and more I'm beginning to think that it's a bad idea with all the bad comments. I guess it can't hurt to just try refilling the cartridges and printing a couple of prints to see how they turn out, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

One thing that I thought I'd mention to those who have been having it leak in their printer...I was searching the net last night and came accross an interesting article that explains in detail how to refill the cartridges so they don't leak. Basically it says to make sure that the cap you screw into the cartridge, after you're done filling it, is air tight. You do this by sitting the cartridge upright on a paper towel for about an hour. This lets the pressure inside the tank push ink out slowly onto the paper towel and eventually a vaccum forms and it shouldn't leak any more. If it still leaks it means that you didn't get an air tight seal with the cap.

I'll definitely be cautious because I don't want to clog my print heads. So I guess we'll see. I'll keep you all updated on how it goes...

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Originally posted by Samjham
One thing that I thought I'd mention to those who have been having it leak in their printer...I was searching the net last night and came accross an interesting article that explains in detail how to refill the cartridges so they don't leak. Basically it says to make sure that the cap you screw into the cartridge, after you're done filling it, is air tight. You do this by sitting the cartridge upright on a paper towel for about an hour. This lets the pressure inside the tank push ink out slowly onto the paper towel and eventually a vaccum forms and it shouldn't leak any more. If it still leaks it means that you didn't get an air tight seal with the cap.

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I've used Ink refillers of many brands but I got the best results for my HP710 from Ink-Tec made by a Korean company. Regarding using tissue to siphon off some of the ink from the cartridge before you return it to the printer, it's good advice but wasteful. The Ink-Tec kit contains a syringe that mates to the jig used for the refill process to suck 2 cc of the ink from your cartridge. I return this 2 cc back to the plastic refiller with a gauge 23 hollow needle I get from the pharmacy and avoid ink waste.

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Originally posted by BernieDD
I've used Ink refillers of many brands but I got the best results for my HP710 from Ink-Tec made by a Korean company. Regarding using tissue to siphon off some of the ink from the cartridge before you return it to the printer, it's good advice but wasteful. The Ink-Tec kit contains a syringe that mates to the jig used for the refill process to suck 2 cc of the ink from your cartridge. I return this 2 cc back to the plastic refiller with a gauge 23 hollow needle I get from the pharmacy and avoid ink waste.

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That gives me an idea...I might try and either find or make some sort of plastic containter that can hold the cartridge upright and let the excess ink drip into it at the same time (I'll need 6 of them). Then after it's done dripping I can install the cartridge and use a syringe to put the ink from the container back into the bottle. Of course this all hinges on weather or not the refill ink prints as high quality as the retail ink. I've seen conflicting views on this. I guess I'll just have to see for myself. I hope it works...LOL so typical of me...work everything down to a science just to save some cash ;)