Refilling Lexmark cartridges?

[Eric]

I own a Lexmark printer that uses black cartridges #16 or 17, and color
cartridges #26 or 27 (respectively high yield and moderate yield). A
little while ago I started to print a document and noticed I was
running out of ink after a few pages, so I refilled my black cartridge
the day after, waited a few days, printed again and everything was
fine. However, after trying to print a week and a half after this (the
printer had been idle since), no ink would come out.

What I did is I cleaned the cartridge's head with cartridge cleaning
fluid (or something as such), and I was able to print, although with
white streaks/lines that I have never been able to fix. Now everytime
I want to print, I have to clean the head beforehand or no ink will
come out of the cartridge. I was told that Lexmark cartridges can dry
out in hours and that I should refill them as soon as they run out of
ink. Is that true? Should I print stuff more often? It's my second
Lexmark printer, and I had the same problem when refilling cartridges
with the old one as well (had to clean them everytime). Has anyone had
the same problem and know what I should do? Thanks!

 

[whatcartridge.com]

Hi Eric, these Lexmark cartridges don't seem to refill that well - it
seems as though the sponges in them are not very good quality. The
nozzles burn out quite easily too, so the combination of not enough ink
flow and easy to burn out nozzles has probably fried your cartridge.
There may also be some issues with the ink quality, always make sure
you spend a little extra to get a better quality ink. You will have to
scratch this cartridge and start again with a new one. Remember the
rule with ink cartridges that have printheads: never let them run dry,
it is best to top them up when they are half empty.

James Sodor
www.whatcartridge.com

 

[Brendan R. Wehrung]

I own a Lexmark printer that uses black cartridges #16 or 17, and color
cartridges #26 or 27 (respectively high yield and moderate yield). A
little while ago I started to print a document and noticed I was
running out of ink after a few pages, so I refilled my black cartridge
the day after, waited a few days, printed again and everything was
fine. However, after trying to print a week and a half after this (the
printer had been idle since), no ink would come out.

What I did is I cleaned the cartridge's head with cartridge cleaning
fluid (or something as such), and I was able to print, although with
white streaks/lines that I have never been able to fix. Now everytime
I want to print, I have to clean the head beforehand or no ink will
come out of the cartridge. I was told that Lexmark cartridges can dry
out in hours and that I should refill them as soon as they run out of
ink. Is that true? Should I print stuff more often? It's my second
Lexmark printer, and I had the same problem when refilling cartridges
with the old one as well (had to clean them everytime). Has anyone had
the same problem and know what I should do? Thanks!

I don't refill but have had conversations with lexmark about non-printing
cartridges. For whatever reason, Lexmark cartridges have a shelf life and
really ought to have a sell-by dates stammped prominently on them. My
seldom-used Z52 has a real clogging problem. The bright side is that I
can bring any cartridge back for a few prints by dampening a piece of
gauze (I imagine any non-linty fabric would do), taking the cart our and
gently patting the print head until you see color. I don't usually even
re-allign, just print a test page to be sure all nozzles are firing. A
test page about once a week might also keep an old cart in printing
condition.

Brendan