Generic Inks: Useful at all?

[Fenrir Enterprises]

I'm not interested in getting into the ink refilling business myself, but I have many customers ask me about these kinds of things. However, most of them are very averse to waiting for mail order when they can go down to the local store and buy a refill kit. Are any of the ink kits commonly available on store shelves any good for people who only want to use it for text printing?

Wal-Mart sells Nu-Kote refill kits. The one in my area sells two kinds of Black ink and two kinds of Color ink refill kits, with multiple models across several brands printed on them.

OfficeMax sells their own brand, and Jetfill refill kits that come with an automatic injection system - you just put the cartridge in and squeeze it for 3-8 refills. Seems like a huge waste of materials to me, as the whole injection system is rather large, and not refillable itself so you're throwing out this huge plastic thing when it's empty

Staples sells Jet-Tec inks. They have different sets for each of the major brands: HP, Canon, Epson, and Lexmark. On their online store I've seen that they differentiate between Dyebased and Pigment black inks, but the ones on the shelves don't mention this anywhere on the packaging. The fact that they have different formulations per brand rather than being cross-compatible makes me think that they're probably more useful than the others.

Are any of these even marginally useful? Or should I just tell people to avoid refilling if they're not willing to order ink formulated for their specific printer?

 

[Osage]

Dear Fenrir Enterprises,

I can't really speak knowlegably about any of those inks because I never tried any of them---although I did download a refilling video--maybe from jet-tec--or maybe a similar sounding brand--and the instructions just flat out disgusted me.

But you may have hit a nerve here--because this is what our society wants----INSTANT GRATIFICATION---just buy the product--don't read the fine print--take it home---then read the instructions--and you too can be an instant expert on the path to huge savings. The problem of course is that there are a few slips between cup and lip. Not real bad on a cartridge with the printhead on the cartridge itself--but can get into a real expensive gamble when you play the you bet your printhead game on a Canon or an Epson.

At this point in time, I would never buy or even try an ink not favorably reviewed on this forum. I can get anything I want mail order and seldom have to wait more than three or four days from order to delivery. But I have also invested my time in reading the experts on this forum and now that investment in time pays me huge dividends---in both monetary savings and in terms of having no time wasting hassles--unlike some poor smuck who used a poor quality ink and now wonders why the printhead is clogged, the color balance is off, or any of the problems likely with a poor ink.

I also note a first time refiller needs either some hand holding by some one experienced or some damn good instructions. And I am overall very dissapointed with the instuction available for BCI-3&6 canons cartridges--once you learn what to expect and become experienced its far easier--but the first time is sheer terror if you are unlucky enough to have that experienced hand guiding you. And suddenly the cartridges is doing something different than the instructions say it should--just takes awhile to realise the fault is not in you--its piss poor instructions that need improved.

But the odd part of the refill printer ink game seems to be the total lack of a correlation between price and quality. So one has wonder why some of the better ink makers are not competing more agressively to see their products on the store shelves of major office supply stores or outfits like Walmart--with clealy labeled packaging that indicates which printers the product works in---and with very good instructions that almost guarantee even an inexperienced user will have that happy first time experience---would do wonders for repeat business.

Instead the better inks seem to market mail order only---and what is on store shelves seem to operate on Greshams law---bad money drives out the good. money.

 

[websnail]

They have different sets for each of the major brands: HP, Canon, Epson, and Lexmark. On their online store I've seen that they differentiate between Dyebased and Pigment black inks, but the ones on the shelves don't mention this anywhere on the packaging. The fact that they have different formulations per brand rather than being cross-compatible makes me think that they're probably more useful than the others.

Are any of these even marginally useful? Or should I just tell people to avoid refilling if they're not willing to order ink formulated for their specific printer?

For what it's worth I just avoid them... I just can't accept that "ink" means it'll work across the board. If you actually think about it a little.. Epson uses a cold process to shoot it's ink out, Canon boils their ink, etc... so on that alone I have to wonder how the two could possibly use the same inks..

Add to that there's plenty of people who've done a little experimentation and found that different formulations allegedly for the same printer all product vastly differing results, let alone for different manufacturers...

I just wouldn't bother touching universal inks...