When using a printer, particularly the officejet series from HP it is not a good idea to mix paper types in the printer.  In our experience it can cause poor paper handling leading to catastrophic jams.

Wherever possible it is more economical to purchase the XL or extra large version of cartridge for your printer if it can use them.  They do cost more but they print much more, therefore the cost of each page you print is lower than when using a low capacity, rip-off cartridge.

Even if you are a moderate printer user you will eventually use all the ink in an XL.

When taking your cartridges to be refilled it is a good idea to wrap them individually in tissue and put them in a plastic bag.  This avoids any possibility of them knocking together and causing damage to the sensitive electronic components.

It is also good advice to take them for refilling promptly.  Leaving them lying around in a drawer for weeks is not advisable.  The longer you leave it the smaller the chance of a successful refill.

Your cartridge refiller should clean and repackage your cartridge after testing it, we certainly do so there is no risk of damage on the way home.  However when you remove it from the protective packet be sure to only hold it by the plastic casing.  Touching the copper circuitry can cause it to malfunction.

Our advice to customers is that if they intend to refill their HP, lexmark, Dell etc cartridge, take it to a reputable refilling company before it drys out.  Watch for poor print quality and if a head clean does not help, do not do any more printing.

If you do you run the risk of overheating the print head and clogging the print nozzles.  There is nothing that can be done for a heat damaged cartridge and you’ll have to purchase a new one.  Ouch!

We have recently started seeing cartridges particularly from Lexmark that refuse to work when refilled.  Please let us know about your cartridge type, if it can be filled and your experience with refilling.

Recently one of our customers brought us a Canon printer, only about 3 years old.  The print quality was poor and we traced the problem to the print head being worn out.  This does happen eventually, these parts don’t last forever.  Fortunately this type of part can be replaced in a Canon printer but when I attempted to order a new one for this gentleman, I discovered that it had been discontinued.  I could not find a supplier who had stock so this customer had a perfectly good printer and no way to keep using it.  What’s going on Canon?