can I refill my ink jet cartridge with water or alcohol?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Stan
  • Start date Start date
S

Stan

My work provided a color printer for me. They will pay for black ink
ONLY. The problem is although I only print with black ink, it still
uses the color ink very slowly. My work will NOT pay for the color
inks. Now my printer stopped working because the color ink ran out
after several month of use. I'm tempted to refill the color inks with
either water or alcohol since since I never print with color
anyway.

So my question is, can I refill these color ink cartridges with either
water or alcohol? I'm not planning to print with the color, it's just
so my printer thinks there is ink and it will print in black.
 
From: "Stan said:
My work provided a color printer for me. They will pay for black ink
ONLY. The problem is although I only print with black ink, it still
uses the color ink very slowly. My work will NOT pay for the color
inks. Now my printer stopped working because the color ink ran out
after several month of use. I'm tempted to refill the color inks with
either water or alcohol since since I never print with color
anyway.

So my question is, can I refill these color ink cartridges with either
water or alcohol? I'm not planning to print with the color, it's just
so my printer thinks there is ink and it will print in black.
Click to expand...

LOL

Just buy the bloody cart's.
 
Stan said:
My work provided a color printer for me. They will pay for black ink
ONLY. The problem is although I only print with black ink, it still
uses the color ink very slowly. My work will NOT pay for the color
inks. Now my printer stopped working because the color ink ran out
after several month of use. I'm tempted to refill the color inks with
either water or alcohol since since I never print with color
anyway.

So my question is, can I refill these color ink cartridges with either
water or alcohol? I'm not planning to print with the color, it's just
so my printer thinks there is ink and it will print in black.
Click to expand...

What printer are you using? Perhaps there is a chance to select a true
black mode. I know about Canon printers, but not other brands.
 
Stan said:
My work provided a color printer for me. They will pay for black ink
ONLY. The problem is although I only print with black ink, it still
uses the color ink very slowly. My work will NOT pay for the color
inks. Now my printer stopped working because the color ink ran out
after several month of use. I'm tempted to refill the color inks with
either water or alcohol since since I never print with color
anyway.

So my question is, can I refill these color ink cartridges with either
water or alcohol? I'm not planning to print with the color, it's just
so my printer thinks there is ink and it will print in black.
Click to expand...

Set for black only (still uses color but at a slower rate). I know Epson
will use color ink and is set up to do so to protect the head. AN EPSON
PRINTER WILL NOT PRINT WITHOUT COLOR INK CARTS USING COLOR INK. If you ask
properly they will tell you that and the 'reason'

Does the printer belong to you or the company? If the latter the company is
paying only for part of the cost.
 
NotMe said:
Set for black only (still uses color but at a slower rate). I know Epson
will use color ink and is set up to do so to protect the head. AN EPSON
PRINTER WILL NOT PRINT WITHOUT COLOR INK CARTS USING COLOR INK. If you
ask properly they will tell you that and the 'reason'

Does the printer belong to you or the company? If the latter the company
is paying only for part of the cost.
Click to expand...

When a cleaning cartridge is made one can fill it with a 90% isopropyl
alcohol / 10% ammonia solution to help clear the heads on an Epson. I've
done that as well when I'm putting a printer in storage for awhile. One will
also have to reset the chip on the cartridge so the firmware on the printer
sees it as 'full'.
 
Stan said:
My work provided a color printer for me. They will pay for black ink
ONLY. The problem is although I only print with black ink, it still
uses the color ink very slowly. My work will NOT pay for the color
inks. Now my printer stopped working because the color ink ran out
after several month of use. I'm tempted to refill the color inks with
either water or alcohol since since I never print with color
anyway.

So my question is, can I refill these color ink cartridges with either
water or alcohol? I'm not planning to print with the color, it's just
so my printer thinks there is ink and it will print in black.
Click to expand...



Tell them " I want a laser printer,....and you can take this piece of junk
back or I QUIT "
 
Set for black only (still uses color but at a slower rate).  I know Epson
will use color ink and is set up to do so to protect the head.  AN EPSON
PRINTER WILL NOT PRINT WITHOUT COLOR INK CARTS USING COLOR INK.  If youask
properly they will tell you that and the 'reason'

Does the printer belong to you or the company? If the latter the company is
paying only for part of the cost.
Click to expand...

My company will pay for new print heads, but not new color
cartridges. I was desperate for the printer to work and just refilled
it with water. I will post again if my printer messes up. For now,
it works fine and I'm only printing in black and while. However, the
printer does prime in color when I turn it on.
 
On 1/18/2012 5:42 PM, Gernot Hassenpflug wrote:

You did not tell us what your printer is. Without that
information, it isn't possible to help you very precisely.
However, I can answer if it is like my own Hewlett-Packard inkjet
printers.

In my HP control routine, there is a setting for black-only. This
stops the printer from sucking out your wildly expensive color
ink all the time. I think that it's the color ink that runs most
deeply into the pockets of HP's CEO. Why, with a stash of money
like that, you might believe that she'd be so wealthy that she
could almost run for Governor of California.

Setting the printer control routine like this is especially
helpful. The color cartridges can be pretty difficult to fill,
especially if the refill ink that you use is lousy and wrecks
your cartridges. There's a certain outfit that's doing business
under the names of 20 former ink suppliers who they bought, and
their ink ruined almost all of my HP color cartridges. They're in
Los Angeles, and if you go to one of these fake fronts, you'll
think that you're doing business with a little company in Canada.
I got suckered because people right here on this forum were
pleased with the ink from this Canadian outfit. They didn't know
about the switcheroo, and I didn't either until one of their
employees explained some of this much later, to me.

If you notice that a certain ink site has too much in common with
another ink site, don't walk: run, to a competitor who looks
completely different.

Refilling black is easy. Refilling the 3-color carts can be a
real pain, even more so when they don't work after all the
trouble. I found two Korean brands, InkTec and their own
off-brand, to be fine. There are more which are trustworthy, but
I don't know who they are.

Richard
Click to expand...

Sorry Richard,
I haven't log on for a while. here is the info you asked for...

Model Number: C8192A
Model Description: HP OFFICEJET
PRO L7780 ALL
 
On 1/18/2012 5:42 PM, Gernot Hassenpflug wrote:

You did not tell us what your printer is. Without that
information, it isn't possible to help you very precisely.
However, I can answer if it is like my own Hewlett-Packard inkjet
printers.

In my HP control routine, there is a setting for black-only. This
stops the printer from sucking out your wildly expensive color
ink all the time. I think that it's the color ink that runs most
deeply into the pockets of HP's CEO. Why, with a stash of money
like that, you might believe that she'd be so wealthy that she
could almost run for Governor of California.

Setting the printer control routine like this is especially
helpful. The color cartridges can be pretty difficult to fill,
especially if the refill ink that you use is lousy and wrecks
your cartridges. There's a certain outfit that's doing business
under the names of 20 former ink suppliers who they bought, and
their ink ruined almost all of my HP color cartridges. They're in
Los Angeles, and if you go to one of these fake fronts, you'll
think that you're doing business with a little company in Canada.
I got suckered because people right here on this forum were
pleased with the ink from this Canadian outfit. They didn't know
about the switcheroo, and I didn't either until one of their
employees explained some of this much later, to me.

If you notice that a certain ink site has too much in common with
another ink site, don't walk: run, to a competitor who looks
completely different.

Refilling black is easy. Refilling the 3-color carts can be a
real pain, even more so when they don't work after all the
trouble. I found two Korean brands, InkTec and their own
off-brand, to be fine. There are more which are trustworthy, but
I don't know who they are.

Richard
Click to expand...

Sorry Richard,
I haven't log on for a while. here is the info you asked for...

Model Number: C8192A
Model Description:HP OFFICEJET PRO L7780 ALL


BTY - so far the printer still works fine. I will post again in a few
months if it still works.
 
This is awesome!!! It's been almost 2 months and the printer still
works great. I still don't print color, but I've printed several
hundred pages of black and it's works perfectly.

For like me who only want to print in black, should seriously consider
refilling their color cartridges with water.
 
For anyone who wants any update on my printer, it's still works
great. I've printed several hundred pages of black with no problem.
The printer is kept on 24/7. I think for anybody who only wants to
print in black and white, should highly consider refilling their ink
cartridges with regular tap water.
 
For anyone who wants any update on my printer, it's still works
great. I've printed several hundred pages of black with no problem.
The printer is kept on 24/7. I think for anybody who only wants to
print in black and white, should highly consider refilling their ink
cartridges with regular tap water.
Click to expand...

Do your printer cartridges have a chip that has to be reset?
 
Do your printer cartridges have a chip that has to be reset?
Click to expand...

Yes, it does. Which is strange because it still works. I refilled
the yellow ink 1 times with regular ink and the last time with water.
So I figure by now the printer should say something related to the
chip, but it has not yet. At home I have a Canon and whenever I
refill that printer, I need to use a chip-resetter. However, this HP,
since it's from my work, I don't want to spend any money on it....so I
don't have chip resetter.

BTY - The printer is still working great.
 
Yes, it does. Which is strange because it still works. I refilled
the yellow ink 1 times with regular ink and the last time with water.
So I figure by now the printer should say something related to the
chip, but it has not yet. At home I have a Canon and whenever I
refill that printer, I need to use a chip-resetter. However, this HP,
since it's from my work, I don't want to spend any money on it....so I
don't have chip resetter.

BTY - The printer is still working great.
Click to expand...

Thanks

Wonder why that works?? Does it actually read the ink and not take a
guess.

My laser HP has chips on each cartridge which indicate the quantity used
- but you can over ride this in the control panel and gain another 20%
or more or refill and keep using them.

The epson which has chipped cartridges, for which I bought some non
genuine refillable.Theses are all the same pattern so they will fit into
any slot. The problem comes when you, by accident, slip the colours
around into the wrong slots and start chasing colour casts in the
prints. :)
 
Thanks

Wonder why that works?? Does it actually read the ink and not take a
guess.

My laser HP has chips on each cartridge which indicate the quantity used
- but you can over ride this in the control panel and gain another 20%
or more or refill and keep using them.

The epson which has chipped cartridges, for which I bought some non
genuine refillable.Theses are all the same pattern so they will fit into
any slot. The problem comes when you, by accident, slip the colours
around into the wrong slots and start chasing colour casts in the
prints. :)
Click to expand...

I just acknowledge it does give a warning. I just never read the screen. I just press the ok button until it starts printing again. It doesn't give the warning that often though.
 
I just acknowledge it does give a warning. I just never read the screen. I just press the ok button until it starts printing again. It doesn't give the warning that often though.
Click to expand...


Just in case anybody is still interested, my color tanks that were refilled with water still works great. Every once in a while, I forget to set my printer to print only black, and when it prints in color it still looks good.
 
Just in case anybody is still interested, my color tanks that were refilled with water still works great. Every once in a while, I forget to set myprinter to print only black, and when it prints in color it still looks good.
Click to expand...

FYI - my ink cartridge that was refilled with water finally stopped working.. The head on the printer and the printer is fine, no problems. I finallyhad to buy a new yellow ink cartridge. The problem is the cartridge. I tried refilling the yellow cartridge with water again, but the printer keepson saying it out of ink. In conclusion, I have to say my experiment proved that you can refill a ink jet cartridge with water only. The problem is for some reason, it run out really fast. My red and blue ink is still at least 1/2 way full, while this refilled yellow with water ran out already.
 
FYI - my ink cartridge that was refilled with water finally stopped working. The head on the printer and the printer is fine, no problems. I finally had to buy a new yellow ink cartridge. The problem is the cartridge. I tried refilling the yellow cartridge with water again, but the printer keeps on saying it out of ink. In conclusion, I have to say my experiment proved that you can refill a ink jet cartridge with water only. The problem is for some reason, it run out really fast. My red and blue ink is still at least 1/2 way full, while this refilled yellow with water ran out already.
Click to expand...

If the plug you use to stopper the fill hole doesn't fit tight, the
ink/water will run out much faster.

Dave S.
 
Back
Top