Questions about refilling HP cartridges

[susiejo]

I usually try to refill my ink cart. because the cost of new ones is outrageous, but I was wondering, can these cart. be refilled indefinately or just a few times? I have read where people thoroughly clean their cart. and use them indefinately. What are my options and how do I clean these cart. without damaging the copper areas on them? Will getting the copper areas wet cause them to not work? Please any advise would be soooooooo greatly appreciated, I am tired of fighting with my printer!



Printer: HP psc 2175v all-in-one printer scanner copier
cart. : hp56 & hp57 (sometimes hp58)


Thanks!!!

~susiejo

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

With HP cartridge like this, the most important thing is to refill BEFORE they are empty. This becomes difficult once the status monitor stops working, but the 56/57 can be reset (I don't remember how, but it involves putting tape over the contacts in the back). Because they work through heating the ink, if there is no ink in the print head, it can 'burn out'. If you always catch them before they run dry, they should last a lot longer. Most of the 'cleaning' methods involve vacuum or centrifugal chambers that are usually bought only by people in the refill business.

Eventually, you will have to replace them, but if you get 5-10 refills or more per cartridge, you're still saving a lot.

 

[Jack]

I think since the 78/45 times the good ol "burn out"story should be known as fairy tale.....
yet it is still a good idea to fill early to avoid emptying the chamber between sieve and nozzles.
Air in these chambers can be removed but it might be tricky. The process should be identivcal to the down-under method of 23/78 but i have yet somebody to see to test, or at least report it.

 

[jackson]

When I got my HP 932c years ago it came with a six pack each of 45/78
I refilled the carts a few times then assumed that when they were no longer recognized that they were kaput.
I wasn't aware of the 'memory' trap that HP had set up for us and in fact it was only within the last year that I heard about the fix and have been using it since without a hitch.

http://stratitec.com/inkrefill/support/hplowink.html

 

[Jack]

Jackson,

the method linked is the common one, which may fail every now and then ( but will work most often). The exact method is on my website.

You could even change the serial number today - lately i have found the method to reprogram the carts bits (and burn 45 to be 15).

 

[mikling]

Susiejo, the 56 and 57 are fairly easy cartridges to refill from the beginning. The key thing to improve your success rate dramatically is to refill BEFORE they empty on you. So when the indicators gets low, refill. Secondly, always make sure that the needle is filled with ink and NO air before you penetrate the sponge. Squeeze out any air from the needle. Thirdly, you must penetrate the sponge deep enough that your needle is BELOW the level of the remaining ink in the catridge or else you could trap some air in the cartridge. This is the most common newbie mistake and that is why it is always advised to refill before empty.
The HP 56,57,58,59 cartridges are better cartridges to refill that the older HP's like the 78 and 23. The older ones had weak nozzle plates that came loose( printer head fell apart) fairly often as they aged. The newer cartridges are much more rugged.
You can get water on the conatct area and as long as you dry it off and keep it clean it is not a problem.
As to how many times you can refill, it will depend on the luck of the draw since there are many variables. If you never run your cartridges dry and use good quality ink (like mine), AND you get a well assembled cartridge originally I can't see you not getting at least 8 refills.
Keep in mind that these cartridges were meant to be disposable so if one dies after a few refills, then you just move on and hope for better luck.
The status monitor can be reset by using tape on various contacts and reinserting three times to fool the printer. When a cartridge dies, do not throw it away. You can use it for resetting, so you can eliminate taping.
Sometimes, the heater does not burn out but is rather caked with dry ink ( Looks like clog during printing) . In these cases a professional refiller can revive it by using a centrifuge and lots of water to dissolve the caking.

 

[susiejo]

Thanks everybody and thanks mikling. You all helped very much.
Mikling, what is the difference between Black Dyebase and Black Pigment ink?

 

[mikling]

Within the HP printer line, you will find that pigment ink is used for cartridges meant primarily for printing text, llike the HP56. Dyebase black is used in cartridges where a photo centric application is targetted like the HP58 and HP59. Pigment ceates a sharper text, higher permanence/less fading and allows faster text printing and is more costly. Dyebase however provides a better color balance and retains gloss effects on glossy photo paper like the other dyebase colors. Do not mix dyebase with pigment in the 56 cartridge, likewise in the 58 etc. I assume you know to avoid the universal ink kits.

 

[susiejo]

Nope, didn't know to avoid the universal ink kits. I usually use whatever I can purchase at Wal-mart, although I have been checking out places on the internet where you can purchase larger quantities of ink (like your site).
Thanks for all the info!

~susiejo