BS: Printer ink cartridge trick

Subject: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: gnu
Date: 07 Feb 11 - 02:42 PM

I weas gonna post this to the You Tube Gems thread but I wanted to make sure everyone sees it. I dunno if it works but...

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 07 Feb 11 - 02:52 PM

Funnily enough I was sat here with an old cartridge in front of me! No hole in mine:-( (HP342) but it wouldn't at all surprise me if a lot did. We used to do very similar with laserjet toner cartridges - Used to last about 50% longer.

DeG

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 07 Feb 11 - 02:57 PM

I tend to ignore the warnings, and change the cartidge when it actually stops printing.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 Feb 11 - 03:00 PM

Great idea- now all I have to do is remember.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 07 Feb 11 - 03:02 PM

My Canon cartridges are a little different. If they have the feature shown, one might get a little more mileage.
I will look next time one runs out.

For day-to-day copies, I use a laser Black and white (When that shows signs of quitting, I take out the cartridge, shake well, and return. This works for a couple of times before i have to replace the cartridge).

I turn on my color printer (eight inks) only when I want high quality prints.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: frogprince
Date: 07 Feb 11 - 03:26 PM

Nuts; just looked at my cartridges, and they have the circuit board (that much I already knew) but there isn't any reset on them.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: gnu
Date: 07 Feb 11 - 03:26 PM

Q... thanks for reminding me to shut off my printer.

I would also shut of my monitors but both of them are HPs so the on/off swicthes don't work.

There's a good question... how many people have HP monitors on which the on/off swich is busted?

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: kendall
Date: 07 Feb 11 - 08:02 PM

I just bought a new printer, a Kodak and already it says the color cartridge is empty! I haven't even used it yet! It says on it, Introductory cartridge. WTF? I thought I bought a friggin' printer! It's like buying a new car and finding out the engine is temporary!

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: Janie
Date: 07 Feb 11 - 08:50 PM

Rats! No hole in my Cannon cartridges.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 07 Feb 11 - 09:37 PM

Janie, just drill a little hole and enjoy the latest fad- colored fingers!
My Canon cartridges look like they have in part a sponge-like filling. I have always suspected that only half the ink was delivered before they quit, and Gnu's first post adds a little weight to that.

A Google adv. below this post from Canon.ca/Ink states free same day shipping on $100+ orders. I think I am into the thousands by now. I think inks keep both Canon and Staples profitable.

There are cheaper substitutes, but people I know who have tried them have gummed up their printer.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: EBarnacle
Date: 08 Feb 11 - 12:05 AM

Sorry, Kendall. They even use that trick on laser cartridges now--both color and black and white. Plus they've made the laser cartridges smaller.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: Gurney
Date: 08 Feb 11 - 12:31 AM

Like Q, I have both an inkjet and a black laser printer. I use the inkjet so seldom that the ink sometimes dries up (on the jets?) and the only way I've found of clearing the clog is near-boiling water.

Try it at your own risk. It works for me.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 08 Feb 11 - 07:28 AM

Cheap substitutes messed up my old printer.

If the printer comes with cartridges they will be the smallest size available. If you then use a larger one, the printer will think it needs changing when you have used the amount of ink that was in the small one. I only change them when the printing starts to come out pale.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 08 Feb 11 - 07:43 AM

I've had inkjets clog through lack of usage but no problems I'd attribute to the use of substitute cartridges. I'm not particularly concerned if in the longer term they did cause problems either...

I guess I paid around £100 for Epson Photo R200. Genuine cartridges seem to retail at around £15. I can get substitutes for £2.50. I only need to get away with 8 changes to have saved the cost of the printer.

I've had this printer a few years now and it is no longer made. The savings on just 7 cartridges would replace it with a new and better specified Epson P50 photo...

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: Greg F.
Date: 08 Feb 11 - 10:55 AM

I would also shut of my monitors but both of them are HPs so the on/off swicthes don't work.

Um, ever think of pulling the plug? Or plugging them into a power strip with a switch?

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Feb 11 - 01:26 PM

A while back, I got notice that I could partake in a class action award against HP. The suit claimed that HP printers consistently gave false notice of ink levels, thus making consumers replace cartridges long before they were empty. The award gave me a discount on a cartridge or two if I bought them at the HP store. The discount brought the price down to approximately what I pay at Amazon, so I didn't bother.

What kind of class action settlement is that?

-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 Feb 11 - 01:43 PM

The 8 PIXMA cartridges for my Canon Pro9000 cost $Can20.00 each at Staples. Some combinations are available at cheaper prices. Some inks run out more rapidly than others, but I keep spares on hand.
If the ink runs out on any cartridge, the printer stops and replacement is necessary before printing can re-start.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: alanabit
Date: 08 Feb 11 - 02:57 PM

I bought one of these multi function efforts about fifteen months ago. The printer worked until the first cartridge change came up and I inserted generic cartridges. The printer stopped working and never worked again. The service staff at the shop explained that the printer was programmed to reject any cartridges which were not made by the company. Apparently, buying a printer also implies a lifelong obligation to product loyalty. It also appears that the things are programmed to reject any cartridges ever again if you even once deviate.
I took the thing back four or five times and the staff from the store treated me with exemplary courtesy. However, even when I inserted the printer's "own" cartridges, every time I got a reading "Printer Does Not Recognise The Cartridge". As every visit involves an hour long trip to the shop - not to mention the discomfort of carting the bloody thing to and from the shop from the multi-storey car park - I was not prepared to make another pointless trip. There would have been some temptation to keep the thing for use as a scanner/fax machine. However, until it was happy with the cartridges inserted (which in my case was never going to happen - because it had been programmed not to work) one was unable to access other functions on the menu. For approximately eight weeks use of the printing and photocopying functions, I paid for the price of the machine, one set of generic cartridges and another new set of the company's - not to mention several time consuming trips into town. As I have neither time nor money to repeat visits to the shop, I took it back for the last time today and asked the staff to return it to the company and dispose of it. Obviously I can not name the makers on a public forum, but I will be more than happy to tell anyone who it was in a PM!

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 Feb 11 - 04:20 PM

My Canon 9000 does excellent work, been using it for two years. I would never subject it to cheapie cartridges.

As I noted before, my day-to-day printing done on a $100 BW laser (HP).

PM me with make- but why not name? Lemons are often named. It also seems to me that a good tech could re-set.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 08 Feb 11 - 04:39 PM

We use both (colour - Xerox Phaser 6100N) laser and inkjet. I don't think I'd return to an inkjet for the ordinary/day to day stuff.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: alanabit
Date: 08 Feb 11 - 04:56 PM

I live in Germany, where the company could quite easily sue me if I told the truth about them in public. I should also add that I used generic cartridges in another printer with no ill effects for years. In my opinion I do not owe a company "product loyalty" just because I happen to have once purchased one of their products.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 08 Feb 11 - 05:58 PM

Could a company in Germany force Mudcat to reveal your identity?
They wouldn't get far trying to serve a writ on 'someone somewhere in Germany who calls him[her]self "alanabit"'.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 Feb 11 - 06:54 PM

Using a cheapie cartridge is akin to using a non-specified bolt in aircraft assembly. One is asking for a crash.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: Janie
Date: 08 Feb 11 - 07:24 PM

I've used Office Depot cartridges in my Cannon instead of the Cannon cartridges with no problem. They are not a whole lot less expensive, and Office Depot doesn't usually have all the cartridges available. But even a dollar or two off is an improvement.

Q,

I've got the Cannon MP 830. It is an ink hog - apparently uses the colors even when printing black. I've been looking at new printers - I have to have an all-in-one . No room for 2 printers, plus I need a fax. When I finally spring for one, I'm gonna pay close attention to the print costs listed in the CU ratings.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 08 Feb 11 - 07:26 PM

Not quite, Q. I can afford to take the chance with my printer and I consider the risk very low.

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: andrew e
Date: 09 Feb 11 - 03:01 AM

I have a Cannon iP4500 with four separate ink cartridges.

As I do quite a bit of printing, mostly black,[I direct A Cappella choirs] I refill the cannon cartridges myself.
I got the syringe and plastic stoppers from a company that goes round refilling from a van. I buy bulk ink from them.

To overcome the little chip you just hold down the "feed" button on the printer for a few seconds. It's all on the net.

Heaps cheaper than buying the cartridges, though I do have about six now, as I refill them all at once.

I know when the ink's run out as it doesn't print properly anymore! Just have to keep an eye on it.

Printer cartridges are way overpriced! Sometimes it's cheaper to buy a new printer. How silly is that!

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: kendall
Date: 09 Feb 11 - 12:05 PM

If I bought a new car and found out after driving it a few miles that the tires were temporary I would be livid!

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 09 Feb 11 - 02:30 PM

Cars are sold with second-rate tires- a big business at dealerships and tire shops is selling good tires and removing the cheapies. Temporary? - yessiree!

Subject: RE: BS: Printer ink cartridge trick
From: gnu
Date: 09 Feb 11 - 02:52 PM

When I was shopping for a new truck I went to look at GMs and I could not believe the cheap rubber on them... and they were 4X4s.