Archive for January, 2011

Remanufactured cartridges help to save our planet

Friday, January 28th, 2011

Remanufactured cartridges help to save our planet

Not many people give much thought when it comes to discarding their empty ink cartridges. Most of us are probably guilty of throwing them in the bin. Unfortunately ink cartridges take thousands of years to fully decompose in UK landfill sites; they also emit harmful chemicals whilst doing so. Every year in the UK millions of empty cartridges end up in landfill sites when most of them could be recycled and re-used with little effort.

Often people don’t realise there are cheaper recycled alternatives to expensive OEM cartridges. These not only save you lots of money, they also save our planet.

Don’t be fooled in to thinking remanufactured cartridges will be of a lower standard compared to OEM products. If you buy from a reputable retailer you shouldn’t be able to notice the difference between the two.

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Installing Epson Cartridges

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Installing Epson Cartridges

Installing your new ink cartridges:

  • Remove all packaging and carefully insert the cartridge into the printer
  • Follow the instructions on screen to install the cartridge
  • Perform a head clean/nozzle clean through the printer software to clean the print heads and get the ink flowing.

Troubleshooting

My printer is producing cartridge error message?

  • If the cartridge is producing an error message and won’t allow you to print then try removing the cartridge and installing again.
  • Check the cartridge you have purchased is the correct one for your printer.
  • Sometimes you will need to reset your printer. Leave the printer switched on and pull the power cable out the back (do not turn the printer off at the mains). Leave the printer switched off for a few minutes and then plug the power cable in and turn on the printer.

Print quality is poor or printer is producing black sheets

  • If the print quality is poor then it means your print heads inside the printer need cleaning. To do this you need to go into your printer settings on the computer and perform what’s known as either a print head clean or nozzle clean.  This can be done several times to clean the print heads if required.

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How to Clear HP Cartridge Error Codes

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

How to Clear HP Cartridge Error Codes

Sometimes when we install a new cartridge we encounter an error message popping up on our computer screens, this can be very frustrating when we have a pile of work building up which needs printing. Not many people know what to do when they see an error message. Quite often an error message can be cleared quickly using the simple steps below.

If you install your new ink cartridge and receive an error code preventing you from continuing, firstly you should reinstall in the cartridge.

1. How to reinstall an ink cartridge

Switch on your printer, open the front cover and carefully remove the cartridge.

Place the ink cartridge back in the holder, close the front cover and then turn the printer off for one minute.

After one minute switch the printer back on and try to print a test page, if the cartridge still brings an error message, please read one.

2. Thoroughly clean the cartridge

Turn the printer off, open the front cover and carefully remove the cartridge.

You will need a clean piece of lint free cloth or some kitchen roll, slightly dampen the cloth.

Gently wipe the circuitry (copper contacts) from top to bottom and side to side, making sure not to miss anywhere. Carefully dry the cartridge using some lint free cloth.

Place the cartridge back in to the cartridge holder, close the lid. Switch the printer off for one minute.

After one minute turn the printer back on, try to print a test page. If this still does not work please read below.

3. Reset the printer

Firstly, switch the printer on, open the cover and remove both cartridges, black and colour.

Remove the power cable from the back of the printer; also disconnect the cables running to your computer and router if you have one.

Wait one minute and reconnect all of the cables.

Open the front cover and reinstall the black and colour ink cartridges.

Switch the printer back on and try to print a test page. If the above does not correct the problem, you have an irreparable fault with your ink cartridges and the only option is to purchase new cartridges.

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Understanding Dye Based Ink

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

Understanding Dye Based Ink

Dye based ink is mainly used in digital printers because it is easier and cheaper to manufacture than pigment based ink. Dye based ink is water soluble, and produces images which are much more vibrant than what you would get from a pigment based ink.

One of the main drawbacks of dye based ink is fading. An image printed using dye based ink is much more likely to fade in the sun faster than a pigment ink based image. Dye based ink always takes longer to dry, this means if you remove the paper from the printer too quickly, you could end up with inky fingers and a smeared image! Even once dye based ink has fully dried on to the paper, if it comes in contact with water, it can still smear and blur.

If you have a colour inkjet printer, it’s very likely it will use dye based ink cartridges. Pigment based ink is really only used for black and white printing. Your inkjet printer may use pigment based ink in the black cartridge.

To decide which type of ink is most suited to your needs, you will need to access the type you printing you mostly do. If bright, vibrant colours are a priority, you should go for the dye based option. If longevity is most important, go with the pigment based ink cartridges.

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How much ink does my cartridge contain?

Thursday, January 6th, 2011

How much ink does my cartridge contain?

If you look at the facts and figures, it seems printer ink is one of the most expensive liquids in the world. Why is ink so expensive? Read on to find out…

Ink cartridges aren’t the most exciting thing in the world; in fact they are very boring and most people dread purchasing them. Everyone complains about the cost of replacing their ink cartridges and not many people realise just how little ink they are getting for their money.

A typical colour ink cartridge contains 3 separate colours. Until recently HP colour cartridges used to contain on average 18ml of ink, 6ml Cyan. 6ml Yellow and 6ml Magenta and these were far from cheap! Recently printer manufacturers have reduced the amount of ink in their cartridges. Some HP cartridges now contain as little as 5ml of ink in total, less than 2ml of each individual colour! This means if you use a lot of one particular colour, you could find it running out very quickly. Even though some HP cartridges now contain less than 1/3 of the previous cartridges capacity, the price has stayed the same, this gives HP an immediate 300% increase.

HP is not the only company guilty of this trick; Lexmark and Epson have followed the same pattern over the years. It appears that Canon are the only company who have kept consistent amounts of ink in their cartridges over recent years.

The most expensive cartridge you will purchase is the starter cartridge that comes with your new printer! Some of the starter cartridges contain as little as 3ml of ink overall! The good news is there are more economical cost effective options out there, such as remanufactured or compatible ink cartridges.

Lexmark and HP used to give different model numbers for their higher yield cartridges, and in some cartridges HP continue to do so. Many models are now using ‘XL’ after the cartridge number to signify it is the high user option. This makes a significant difference to the amount of ink in the cartridge. For example, a standard HP 350 cartridge contains a mere 4.5ml and for a little extra cash the HP 350 XL contains a whopping 25ml, this is an increase of 500%! So make sure you keep an eye out for any XL versions.

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Remanufactured Toner Cartridges Myths

Wednesday, January 5th, 2011

Remanufactured Toner Cartridges Myths

Many people believe that using a remanufactured cartridge will damage their printer, this isn’t true. Printer manufacturers would like you to believe this is the case so you will continue buying their expensive OEM cartridges. A toner cartridge rarely makes any contact with any part of your printer; the ink does not touch the printer or the internal parts other than the print head and outer cartridge casing. The ink is applied to the paper as it is fed through the printer. The only problem with a toner cartridge is leaking ink, all toner cartridges lose some ink inside the printer, this is why you need a waste toner box, these come as standard on most modern printers. If a cartridge has been poorly remanufactured there is a risk of excess leaked ink accumulating in the printer, so ensure you buy from a reputable supplier.

It is also a common misconception that remanufactured cartridges produce grainy inferior copies compared to OEM products. Almost all of OEM cartridges contain chemical toners, these produce high quality print outs due to finer ink particles. A good ink cartridge remanufacturing company will also use chemical based toner when they refill the cartridges. It has been proven that OEM cartridges contain slightly more chemicals than remanufactured alternatives but the difference would only be noticeable on very high resolution images whilst using the OEM recommended paper.

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