HP 56 cart clogging

[TJ]

I live within a couple of hours from the border and have been to Canada
regularly over the years. The exchange rate lately isn't as great as it
used to be. A couple of years or so ago, $1 US was nearly $1.50
Canadian. That can make a big difference. Canada also has a high "sales"
tax (what DO they call that tax?), which I believe is used to pay for
their universal health care system. That's something we here in the US
aren't willing to pay.

TJ

I stand corrected. The sales taxes, a combined federal and provincial
tax, is for most provinces high by US standards, commonly 14-16%. The
health care system is largely funded by an income tax, so my research
tells me. I'm not sure what the GST/PST taxes pay for. I'm sure somebody
can enlighten us about them. Regardless, adding 14-16% to the cost of
something is definitely significant.

TJ

 

[George E. Cawthon]

TJ wrote:
((snipped))

I stand corrected. The sales taxes, a combined federal and provincial
tax, is for most provinces high by US standards, commonly 14-16%. The
health care system is largely funded by an income tax, so my research
tells me. I'm not sure what the GST/PST taxes pay for. I'm sure somebody
can enlighten us about them. Regardless, adding 14-16% to the cost of
something is definitely significant.

TJ

Doesn't really make any difference about the taxes
unless prices posted in stores include the tax.
The posted prices on staples and many other common
products were way higher (on a US dollar
equivalent) that what I see in the US.

 

[Frank]

I didn't miss it. I refill, but I don't see any point in exaggerating.
I can't imagine anyone using 24 full cartridge changes in a year unless
they had a business. And in that case they should be using a heavy duty
printer. Most people including people who refill would likely use less
than 8 cartridges per year. So the savings is likely to be less than
$500 per year.

I'm a semi-heavy user and 24 carts a year are about what I use. I
co-mingle personal/work with my printers. I got my first ink jet in '94
going from dot matrix.
Frank

 

[Dave C.]

I figure it's my printer so I can modify it the way I want. On some
printers I cut an access door using a cabide tip on a Dremel like tool.
This is not necessary on the 56/57 carts, but you need to drill one
small hole near the back of the 57's cart hold down clip to inject the
red ink. The black cart can be accessed with no drilling using the
front holes through the paper. The 57 color cart seems to be especially
sensitive to being removed and replaced, but works fine when filled in
place.

Al, a great idea! I have been filling the carts, then rotating two other
sets to reset the levels. Leaving them in place makes the best sense.

How do you know the fill time, when print quality is bad? Or do you add ink
every so often so as they do not run dry? Either case, the levels do not
get reset.

hp photosmart 7660, cartridges 56 and 57.

Thanks, Dave C.

 

[DK]

Al, a great idea! I have been filling the carts, then rotating two other
sets to reset the levels. Leaving them in place makes the best sense.

How do you know the fill time, when print quality is bad? Or do you add ink
every so often so as they do not run dry? Either case, the levels do not
get reset.

I've destroyed several cartridges by letting them run dry before
refilling. It burns out a resistor supposedly. So the trick is to
keep them half full or better and never let them come close to running
out.

If you can stick a needle in the hole you can also see before you
overfill and immediately suck out a couple of mil worth of ink back
out of the cartridge. . I use a strong flash light and watch the
black sponge turn shiny just before it overflows. The colors turn
dark just when they are saturated.

My source of ink is http://www.ink-etc.com/

They are the best at supplying a different speciality ink that works
with every cartridge. They do NOT sell a universal ink.