One way for a business to save on the costs of printer ink cartridges is to have them professionally refilled. This can save both time and money, but must be done carefully and by trained staff, or else damage to the cartridge itself can result. Although the technology behind a printer ink cartridge seems quite simple, the act of refilling it properly can actually be quite difficult. If the ink is not injected properly, the wrong ink is used, or the printer ink cartridge is not properly re-sealed after refilling, it may no longer work the way it should, or it may no longer work at all.

Many shopping malls support kiosks that purport to be experts at refilling printer ink cartridges, but often cartridges given to them at the end of their natural ink life come back a former shadow of themselves, with substantially reduced print life and quality, and may never fit in the printer housing as snugly as they once did. This is largely because the care and attention required to properly clean, empty, and refill these cartridges properly is missing. In order to make sure that an ink cartridge is correctly refilled, it needs to be taken to a printer specialist, or a refilled version of a brand-name ink cartridge should be ordered online from a reputable supplier.

Part of the issue in correctly refilling printer ink cartridges lies in the fact that they must be properly emptied and cleaned before new ink can be injected. If not done properly, this procedure can damage the print head of the cartridge, resulting in a poor printing experience. Due to the delicate nature of the work, the damage is often not even noticed until the cartridge is re-attached to the printer and a test page is printed. Suddenly, white spaces and gaps appear where there was once a solid black line.

After cleaning, the new ink must also be carefully injected into the cartridge. If it is injected too quickly, or using too large a thickness of syringe, the result could be an overflow of ink, or the clumping of ink in certain parts of the housing. This, again, can result in poor print quality or a reduced life once the cartridge is back in service. As well, the type of ink used is important. Every brand has a proprietary ink which they use in their housings, and refillers must take care to use the type of after-market ink which most closely matches the original to ensure best performance.

Although getting ink cartridges refilled properly can be a challenge, a good refiller can help to save a business both time and money, and keep their printers running at full speed.

Every office needs a printer, be it in inkjet, laser, or thermal form. Having a printer that can produce documents both quickly and accurately is essential to the functioning of any business, large or small. While the initial cost of most printers is quite reasonable, continued replacement of their printer ink and printer ink cartridges as they are used up, can be extremely expensive. Most OEMs such as Xerox, HP and Dell will offer bulk discounts for their ink, and guarantee that it will work with any of their products. Many of these suppliers also assert that their ink will work cross-brand if a company needs it to.



While buying OEM is certainly a viable option for a company, it can also be a money sink. Some companies have chosen to opt for another method – refilling printer ink cartridges. This has become a common practice, and can be done both online and by local vendors. Typically, these companies will also sell remanufactured ink cartridges, which contain a very similar blend of ink to the OEM versions, and are also constructed in a nearly identical way. When an OEM cartridge is taken to be refilled, the ink used will be almost a match with the original, but never quite the same, as all ink producers have their own special formula.



Most ink refillers and after-market retailers will offer guarantees that their product will work with your existing printer setup, and this is by-and-large the case. Issues can arise, however, if the ink cartridge fails or if there is a jam of some kind in the printer. Most printers will carry a warranty that states it is void if anything except OEM parts are used, and this includes printer ink. While it is unlikely that the ink itself could cause a malfunction in the printer, the manufacturing company will be under no obligation to fix the printer if they become aware that a refilled or after-market cartridge was used.



While most businesses will experience no problems with refilled ink, it is a cost/benefit situation. If all of the printers in the office were to suffer a malfunction, having them all with voided warranties could be very costly. By contrast, continuing to pay for OEM ink can add up very quickly, almost to the point where replacing the printers would be of a similar price. While after-market printer cartridge makers offer guarantees of compatibility, there is little a business can do to use these. The supplier would likely furnish a new cartridge but would not fix or replace the printer. Although refilled ink cartridges are a faster and cheaper method, they carry with them their own risks.