What's the latest on InkJet Refills

[Dave Cardarelli]

A few years back, I use to refill my Canon BJ200ex black cartridges with a
black refill. It was OK, and printing was not as crisp as the original
Canon cartridge and a little messy but it worked.

I see many kits around, and today I saw a refill kit with the Polaroid label
(Polaroid does not make them) and of course the box says they are compatible
with seven manufacturers of printers. Maybe compatible but no mention of
clarity, etc.

Has anything changed today in the chemistry of the refill inks in that they
work nearly as good as the mfgs? (I am likely to try one just to see.)
--
Dave C.
(e-mail address removed)

(In email reply, remove both off and out words.)
=====================================================

 

[jbuch]

Dave Cardarelli wrote:




I would avoid any refill kit that claims to be compatible with more than
one specific manufacturer - universal kits have traditionally been very
poor kits.

I would like to see a good reference for semi-scientific laypeople on
ink technology. What are inks? A fairly good listing of the additives
for property modification that are typically used.

It reminds me of the difficulty of understanding the differences between
the additive packages of different lubricants and/or the different
additive packages asdded to "standard gasonline" that characterize the
different commercial brands of gasoline.

To many, liquids are liquids and other than color and smell there is
little difference between liquids.

Jim

 

[Bill]

I see many kits around, and today I saw a refill kit with the Polaroid label
(Polaroid does not make them) and of course the box says they are compatible
with seven manufacturers of printers. Maybe compatible but no mention of
clarity, etc.

I would avoid any refill kit that claims to be compatible with more than
one specific manufacturer - universal kits have traditionally been very
poor kits.

Has anything changed today in the chemistry of the refill inks in that they
work nearly as good as the mfgs? (I am likely to try one just to see.)

I have a Canon i850 and use AtlanticInkjet refills and bulk ink. The
colour match is virtually identical and refilling the clear ink tanks is
a snap - very fast and easy to do. Black ink prints text just as sharp
and crisp as original ink on any coated paper, even cheap multi-use copy
paper.

Bulk ink costs are roughly 1/10th of the original ink tank costs if you
refill the tank 10 times. That makes colour inkjet printing so cheap, it
competes with laser printers.

For photos, I use Office Depot 8.5x11" photo paper. Combined with bulk
ink, my photo costs are less than what it costs to get them done at a
lab.

 

[jbuch]

jbuch wrote:




I doubt you'll find any references because ink formulas are kept
somewhat secret for obvious reasons.




I hope that was a joke...

NO, it is no joke.

Lots of people with little to no chemistry background really have
trouble with complex liquids like "ink" or "lubricants".

In the case of quite a few people, including several engineering
disciplines, we have the following law:

"If I don't already know how complex it is, then it is only as simple as
I assume that it is. No matter how little I know."

Jim Buch
--
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[Dave Cardarelli]

I'll check out Office Depot for paper. Also as a previous poster just
noted:

http://www.inksupply.com/index.cfm?source=html/inks.html

as a source of inks for specific printers, i.e., HP in my case.

Think I'll pass on the Polaroid refill kits.

As jbuch says, you don't know what quality is in the refills until you try
them.

--
Dave C.
(e-mail address removed)

(In email reply, remove both off and out words.)
=====================================================

 

[Bill]

I would like to see a good reference for semi-scientific laypeople on
ink technology. What are inks? A fairly good listing of the additives
for property modification that are typically used.

I doubt you'll find any references because ink formulas are kept
somewhat secret for obvious reasons.

To many, liquids are liquids and other than color and smell there is
little difference between liquids.

I hope that was a joke...