Refilling HP 940 cartridges - HELP @#$%^%$#@#$%

[TheTonerGuy]

As my name suggests, I am mostly a toner expert. However, every now and then a customer comes to see me requesting an inkjet refill.

I have some deep concerns about refilling the HP 940 and 940XL cartridges because of the chip. Apparently there is no way to reset the chip nor are there any replacement chips available.

Here are my concerns:

1) Once refilled, the chip will still say "low ink" but the printer will print. If the cartridge runs out of ink, won't this damage the print heads?

2) Is there a practical way to ensure that the user does not run out of ink?

3) Some people are selling remanufactured cartridges with chips that are not reset. Don't they have the risk of damaging print heads too?

I am confused. From my experience the print heads are more expensive that the printer. So why would anyone want to refill if the risk of damage is so great?

I would appreciate hearing about your experiences on this subject and about your recommendations.

Thank you .

TheTonerGuy

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

As I recall, HP940 is similar to HP564, right? EDIT: Wrong. Disregard this post.
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My C309a printer says it's empty when there is still quite a bit of ink left. The directions say you can keep printing until you start getting streaks, but not to continue after that. The directions for your printer may vary, and who knows if it will damage the head?

"Remanufactured" cartridges -- same deal. No ink monitoring. They're usually just filled.

I think you can get new chips and/or cartridges. You can order from China in lots of 1 to 600,000,000, or from E-bay. But watch out. The chips for some HP printers are localized. That means that ink sold in one country cannot be used on the same model of printer that was sold in another country. Cute, eh?

There is one other thing to try. The resetting for some printers is in the printer, not the chip. The printer can remember two but not three cartridges. That means that if you can get together three cartridges, you can just swap them sequentially, until the printer forgets that the one that you just refilled is supposed to be empty. I have no idea if this works for your printer, but I would love to know.

Other people have opened their printers and modified them electronically. Needless to say, there's not much information on this.

 

[TheTonerGuy]

Thanks for your comments ThrillaMozilla!

Unfortunately, the HP 940 cartridges are quite different from the HP 564. I believe you are right when you say that the HP564 will be fine if you print until you start getting streaks. However, the HP 940 are stationary cartridges that attach to the printheads via tiny tubes. If air is injected in these tubes they will cause the prinheads to fill up with air and stop printing. Once they stop printing, they are essentially TOAST! I don't think there is an easy way to get the air out of the print heads. I might be wrong here but I have had bad experiences before with similar cartridges (HP 88).

As for chips, I have never heard of a supplier that has some, even if you order 600,000,000 !!

And the trick for swapping cartridges works on the old HP 56 57 based printers. I too would love to know if it works with other printers. If anyone can share that info it would be great.

Thanks Again
TheTonerGuy

 

[websnail]

I'm not 100% on the chip functionality and whether or not they will continue to function if you simply leave them in and insist the printer continue to print but if that is the case then the "simplest" solution all round is to convert the cartridges to use a CIS system.

It's something I experimented with for a while and then gave up with because of the problems I experienced with getting a suitable fitting but this guide for the HP10/11's is positively brilliant and equally applicable to the 940's

http://www.continuousink.info/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4194

The bit I can't help with is the fittings because I've never had the time to source enough to make it worth doing... Here in the UK we don't have them... BUT I would be interested in a stock if anyone in the USA is willing to do a little quid pro-quo to get them ordered and shipped USPS which a lot of places simply won't do.

Let me know how you find the guide...

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

Oh I see. Those are the ones with the bags. I don't know which cartridges I got them mixed up with, but as you know, you can probably disregard everything I wrote.

 

[TheTonerGuy]

Hi Websnail.

Thank you for posting that CIS article. It is truly amazing.

I will not go that far but have gained a ton of insight on how these cartridges work. The printhead swection was also very educational.

From what I can see so far, the best solutions seems to be using some form of CIS where the ink level is clearly visible. This way the printheads are protected because the ink never runs out.

Thanks again for the post.

TheTonerGuy

 

[websnail]

Not my post but boy was it educational and one I plan to keep for a LONG time...

 

[mgr]

Yes, it's March 2013.. and I just came acrosseed this thread in a search.. (my wife says I'm gunna be late for my own funeral. She's right, as always..)
If any of the 3 of you are still monitoring this thread, (or anyone else that stumbled across it like I did) here is some accurate facts concerning some of the items brought up here. Their are a couple of after market chips available today. And evacuating air in the inking system is fairly easy with the right tools. Inkowl .com has a great setup.. (i would have put a URL here for ya, but since i am a new member, i have to prove myself to be a "no-spam" kind-of-guy..) has a great setup with a 'double-funnel' and a air-tight sealing device that clips over the jet nozzles allowing you to hook up a 30ml syringe to it. With the proper colors of ink in each channel of the dbl funnel, you pull the plunger on the syringe causing a vacuum in the chamber of the print head, hence evacuating any potential air trapped inside and at the same time flushing the print head with fresh ink. (pretty slick setup..)

Hope this is some help..

Take care

ricky

 

[cls]

There are Auto Reseting Chips out.. i ordered a refillable cartrige kit with those ARCs since the yellow chip died in my self-refilled oem cartige

 

[LeoKesler]

Yes. In alibaba express site, there is a seller selling some ARC chips for HP 564 and 364 for 20 dollars.

However, I unable to find a thread, a video or something else, showing if this chips really work.