Looking for quality refillable HP02 carts / kit (C6280)

[phkhgh]

Tired of dealing w/ returns of reman HP02 carts because of bad chips.

Friend told me about his Epson refill kit w/ translucent carts. His Epson is completely different from HP02s, in that his chips can be reset. Got his at Ink Supply.com.

I'm sure there a good & bad HP refillable kits.

I assume chips on the refillable carts always show full??? HP02 chips can't be reset, AFAIK, & if chip reported empty, printer wouldn't use it.

If no chip at all, printer wouldn't recognize the cart.

Would appreciate suggestions / experiences on brands or sellers for HP02 refill kits & ink. Quality of the carts themselves, & quality of ink.

Thanks.

 

[RMM]

I have two similar sets of HP 02 refillable cartridges. They are both transparent and have auto reset chips. One I got from an unknown seller on eBay, another from Smart Electronics. They both function well. The chips reset themselves on empty or sometimes when the printer is turned off. You have to manually monitor the ink levels, which is easy to do because they hold a lot of ink and are transparent.

As far as quality ink... I would recommend Precision Colors (precisioncolors.com) or MIS Associates (inksupply.com). They both have good HP inks. I would NOT use the cheap inks of unknown quality. This printer is HARD to unclog and clogs easily using those inks (I speak from experience!!! )

Also, the instructions that came with my cartridges were not clear; do NOT fill the cartridges all of the way full. Only about 2/3rds of the way full. There needs to be air space in the cartridge for the "pumping cycle" these printers perform.

 

[phkhgh]

Thanks RMM.

How long have you used the same set of carts w/ auto resetting chips?

By your comment, "The chips reset themselves on empty or sometimes when the printer is turned off," did you mean they reset themselves when you refill them?

Either way, from your comment, sounds like all you can count on from the chips is to allow the printer to recognize / use the carts.

In an email, Ink Supply CS said, "The cartridges use a self resetting chip that will reset when the cartridge is removed for refilling. This allows the cartridge to report proper ink levels."

But, their instruction sheet for the HP02 / C6280 says, "Note: these cartridges will report full in your ink monitor if they are removed and reinstalled without being refilled."

Since the chips seem easy to fool about ink level, I wonder about longevity of how long they'll allow the carts to work at all?

Guessing if they reported empty when not, you either have to remove / replace, or actually put more ink in? I'm asking because although would be cheaper in long run to use refillable carts, it's a substantial $ outlay & wont' be cheaper if chips go bad & printer won't use the carts at all.

 

[RMM]

They reset themselves sometimes when removed, sometimes when the printer is shut off... I haven't quite figured out the pattern yet but they do work and work consistently. You can not depend on them to give you an accurate reading of the ink levels inside of the cartridges. These refillable cartridges hold a LOT of ink so it's really not a worry. You can probably print 500-1000 text pages on one fill of the black cartridge alone. The colors are also very large. It is easy to open the printer and check the ink level, and even easier to refill.

I have had these in my printers for over two years now. No problems with the chips. My printer does give me a warning every time I turn it on now (after the chips hit the two year mark) that my ink is expired but it lets me say "ok" and keep printing. It only does this when it I turn it on, but never after wards.

The cartridges were only $25-30 when I bought them. Buy them from Smart Electronics or off of eBay, then buy some quality ink to put in them.

And yes... it is much cheaper in the long run. This is a VERY EASY printer to refill. Just make sure you get quality ink! That's the important part. These ink cartridges are pretty much just hollow tanks, very simple design.

 

[phkhgh]

RMM, thanks for helpful details. Did you mean supersmartelectronics.com? Their HP02 refill kit w/ carts, 4 oz bottles ink, syringes is $40. Carts come filled w/ ink.

Haven't checked many sources for empty refillable HP02 carts except Ink Supply (near $90 for translucent carts & supplies kit) and InkJetCarts.US ($80 for full kit). But Inkjetcarts' cartridges are black, so have to depend on chips for level (which doesn't sound like will work reliably) or take out & shake them - probably not a good idea.

Their CS suggested keeping a "refill time table log." That's only useful if print consistent # pages over similar time span. I don't.

A diff of over 2x price (or >2x cheaper) seems too much diff for both kits to be same quality - whether it's the carts or ink that's lesser quality. May be cheaper sources for the carts - but may be getting into the territory, "you get what you pay for."

 

[RMM]

Yes, I meant them. And like I said I have put about 20,000 pages through each of these two HP C7280s over the past two years and have had zero problems with the cartridges. The cheap ink has however clogged them a few times. Don't worry about the cartridges.

I would maybe try and contact supersmartelectronics to see if the would sell you the cartridges for less. That, or what I would do at this point would be to buy some cheap carts off of eBay like this link: http://cgi.ebay.com/Refillable-cart.../190449506352?pt=BI_Toner&hash=item2c57acd830

Like I said, cart construction with these is not as crucial as with the Canon cartridges. They are just hollow pieces of plastic. They do not affect ink flow.

 

[phkhgh]

Yes, thanks.
I think you misread, or I misunderstood. Smart Electronics was cheaper on the refill kit than other 2 places - by 1/2 or more. OR... did you mean ask SSE if they'd sell empty cartridges vs. prefilled refillable ones?

Like I said, cart construction with these is not as crucial as with the Canon cartridges.

It's the chips I'm worried about. At least w/ reman carts I've bought, the ones that failed was because of bad chips - either not recognized / report empty from get go / report empty after very short time. Cheap chips. Say that quickly 3 times.

When you mentioned cheap ink clogging your print heads, was it from Super Smart Electronics or other?

 

[RMM]

Ink from supersmartelectronics didn't give me the bad head clogs, but the colors for photo printing are not too faithful.

Like I said... I have had NO problems with the chips on either set of cartridges over the past two years.

If I were you I would buy the cheapest set of cartridges available and some good quality ink and then stop worrying so much about the chips.