Is it Advisable to Refill Your Printer Ink Cartridges?

Printers are quite cheap these days. For a mere $55 or so, you can buy a fairly good quality and branded inkjet printer. There are some that are more expensive but with better printing quality and speed. Some printers have several other combined functions such as a scanner, copier and even a fax machine. One major concern is that if you use your printer a lot, you're going to run out of ink quickly and you'd have to buy a new cartridge to replace your old one. But they don't come cheap. They cost around $20 on the average. And in certain living conditions, it's a luxury to even be able to buy one.

So you may have been thinking that it's possible to refill your ink cartridges instead of buying a new cartridge. It is possible but in my experience, I strongly do not recommend refilling your ink cartridges no matter how stern they claim to be 100% as efficient as using a new and original cartridge. Here are some reasons why.

It's a fact that refilling a printer ink cartridge is cheap. You don't have to buy another cartridge and all you need to buy is the ink as well as for the services of refilling it if you're not doing it yourself.

Now, it is not advisable to refill the ink cartridge because the ink you'll be using will most likely not be the one the printer manufacturer uses in their original cartridges. Manufacturers always, unless there's really one that offers refilling, recommend buying new cartridges thus, you only see original cartridges on sale and not the ink by itself. They will vouch for the print quality of their printers but they will never assure you of the output if you use a different ink.

Thus, it will most likely result in poor print quality. The colors may be wrong especially when the colors are mixed. Non-original inks may blot and could also result in inaccurate printing. The letters may not be aligned and picture may become crooked or basically not what you expected.

The worst thing that could happen is that it could ruin your printer. Most ink cartridges cannot be refilled and you'd either have to punch a hole through on the sides or through the opening near the outlet where it makes contact with the printer head. Some printers may print fine at first but as you use the modified cartridge, it may prevent the printer head from moving. It is really costly since once it gets damaged, you'll most likely need to replace the printer.

You may be saving a lot by refilling your ink cartridges but since it is not recommended and can affect the printouts or the printer itself, you'll probably spend more if you need to buy a replacement printer. Buying original cartridges will ensure that your printer will work well and you'll achieve the print quality you are expected.