Is it difficult to refill ink jet ink yourself?

[love_katz]

I've seen refill kits posted on web sites, but I have heard mixed stories on how much success people who've tried this have had.

My printer is a Lex Mark X2690.

Buying ink refills is very expensive (@ $75.00 at Office Depot, the last time I bought some).

Any feedback would be helpful.

Thanks.

[snappyturtle]

1. My experience is that office supply stores cost of refills is high.

You might want to check online.

I have done the refills. It went fine but.....it can be a little messy.

[love_katz]

4. Checked online...

so far, my best bet has been to buy refillable cartridges, and then go to a local (mini) shop and have the refillable cartridges refilled. The only hassle with this is having to go to the local mall, where the mini shop is located.

Thanks for the reply.

[durbin]

2. Did it twice, with one bottle/tube

The ink flowed unevenly both times.

I spent $29.99 for the kit plus $4.95 shipping

About the price of one of my cartrideges

So I researched "cheap ink" and "printers".

Bought a new printer for $139 or so, and the ink refills are $15 or so. This was 3 years ago, and I have two refills left, and Staples doesn't stock that ink anymore. It's a Brother model, not available anymore.

Just wondering if I have to pay out another $100 for a new printer and another $100 for a few cartridges again soon.

So, yes, I'd love to see some more answers and advice to your question.

I don't print much, just save documents as email to myself, only print when I absolutely have to have a hard paper copy.

[love_katz]

5. Thank you for the reply.

I can see that this is an issue for many of us.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

12. What model Brother?

[durbin]

14. I honestly don't know

My Brother printer had a decal on it, and my nephew ripped that off

It's black, about the size of a bread box, and it can do both wireless from the router wireless access point or be connected by USB.


I think it was something like 2000A or 3030A. Are those Brother printer numbers? The printer driver on my computer laptop says, "generic Brother model wireless printer".

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

15. There's probably a tag...

...on the back or bottom.

http://www.usa4ink.com/.sc/ms/cat/Brother
http://www.printpal.com/printer_brands.html

I had good luck with these sellers.

Good luck

[BlueStreak]

3. Refilling is usually messy.

Better bet is to by an "equivalent" replacement from one of the large replacement cartridge houses. I've never had a bad experience with that. The ink may not be exactly the same as original in terms of clarity, non-bleeding, and vividness of colors, but it is often 1/3 the price that the printer companies charge.

If you use a lot of ink, you are probably better off buying a new inkjet printer that comes with high-capacity cartridges. I recently bought a Brother MFC printer that uses the LC79 XXL capacity cartridges. Those are rated at 2400 pages per ~ $30 cartridge. That's reasonable, and if you want cheaper than that, there are after market ink suppliers for the XXL sized cartridges.

Of course, if you do that much printing, a laser will probably be cheaper (and better quality) as long as you don't need colors.

[love_katz]

6. I wish I could afford a laser printer.

Unfortunately, buy any new printer is completely out of my budget for now.

However, I will keep your suggestion in mind. Large replacement cartridges might be a great idea for when I can afford another printer.

Thanks for replying.

[hobbit709]

11. You can get a basic laser for the cost of those ink cartridges

[BlueStreak]

17. Exactly. If you print more than 100 pages a month and don't need color

a laser printer will pay for itself in no time.

[applegrove]

7. Used to be kiosks in malls where you could pay

$15 to get them refilled. But you had to leave one cartridge in the printer at all times because the computer chip on the cartridges only works well the first time it is used. When you change the used cartridges teally quick there is no problem with the chip. This information is 10 years old.

[Fumesucker]

8. Some of the manufacturers have chips in the cartridge that count the number of squirts

Once a certain number of ink drops have been shot then the cartridge won't work any more even if it is full of ink.

[Spirochete]

9. These people are having a sale

http://www.shop4tech.com/user.htm?

I tried filling a HP cartridge myself once. didn't go well. i could have joined the Blue man Group afterwards.

[Warren Stupidity]

10. At this point it is, absurdly, cheaper to buy new printer.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

13. Have you seen...

http://www.meritline.com/lexmark-18c0031-ink-remanufactured---p-37159.aspx?source=fghdac

[ohheckyeah]

16. I found it to be messy and a couple of the cartridges

didn't work properly.

I buy my cartridges from InkFarm. http://www.inkfarm.com/cart/viewcart.epl

[lastlib]

18. you might look into a continuous ink system for your printer.....

I found this:

http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/continuous-ink-system-lexmark.html

[love_katz]

19. A giant thank you and hugs to all who've replied to this thread.

I have other projects in the works today, but will be checking out all the links you've all provided next week.

Thanks so much for your time and replies.

[Vadem]

20. I just got a flyer in my latest Costco book that they will refill your ink cartridges

while you shop! This must be somthing new at Costco and something I will certainly take advantage of! So FYI!

[love_katz]

21. Thanks for the tip...

unfortunately, I don't have a Costco membership.

Thanks for sharing the info, because some folks on here will have memberships, and they can benefit also.

Hopefully, this thread will be helpful to many DUers.

[StanGr]

22. It's easy, but it will void the warranty. Wait until the warranty expires.