What Do You Do When Your Printer Runs Out of Ink and You Have a
Rush Printing Job?
It is always a pain in the neck when you run out of ink while
printing a very important document - on a deadline. When
everything fails, make sure you keep your cool and you know what
to do next. Don't worry! You'll have that paper in your boss' or
professor's desk in time - even if you run out of ink.
Undoubtedly, computer parts and accessories cost a lot. And you
usually don't realize when these parts would reach the end of
their lifespan, so be sure you are prepared. Running out of ink
is not a funny situation, not when you have a deadline for a
paper. And buying a refill in the middle of the night is not
exactly a fun thing to do. Now, you'd probably ask, "How do I
keep my cool?" Here's how: Know about ink refilling and do it
yourself!
Ink refilling is popular nowadays, that it has even given birth
to lots of ink-refilling stations. But that would mean another
expense to you too, although it might be cheaper compared to
buying a new ink cartridge. You can actually do the refilling
yourself provided you have the materials and the knowledge how
to do it.
Anybody who can read a manual would surely be able to get on
with the task. Below is the list of what you should have and
what you should do when refilling your own ink cartridge.
Remember, keep your cool and don't panic!
A place with a close access to running water is the best place
to do the refilling. This is so as not to smear ink on
furniture, other things most especially important documents.
The amount of ink to be refilled varies on the size of the
cartridge. The cartridge states how many milliliters (ml.) of
ink it can hold.
In your ink-refilling kit, a syringe is provided to draw the ink
(of any color) to refill the empty (or near empty) cartridge.
Along with it are bottles of ink of different colors, a bottle
of cleaning solution especially designed for the sensitive parts
of the cartridge and a user's manual. Refer to the manual on how
to properly inject the ink to the cartridge.
To transfer the ink from the syringe into the cartridge, there
must be a very tiny hole (the size of the tip of a ball point
pen) poked on top of the cartridge, near the label. Insert the
needle of the syringe and slowly, very slowly inject the ink
into the cartridge. It is necessary to do this process very
slowly so that the ink would not form foam and the bubbles would
prevent it from printing.
The newly created holes need not be sealed after refilling, as
it would look like the other "breather" holes on top of the
cartridge. Left over ink inside the syringe can be returned to
its original bottle. The syringe must be properly washed before
using for another color. It is also preferable to use different
syringes for different colors.
To make sure ink is not dripping out of the sponge, turn the
cartridge upside down. Replace the cartridge back in the printer
cradle, totally cleaned up. Run test print to see changes and to
clear and clean any printing problems.
Few important things to remember:
It would be best to refill a near-empty cartridge than a totally
empty one as dried up ink might cause clogging.
It would be best to let refilled ink cartridge stand overnight
to let the newly injected ink even out.
It would be best to poke a tiny hole on top of the cartridge
with UTMOST care so as not to cause a crack which will
completely make it useless. Even a very thin crack might cause
the newly refilled ink to dry up no sooner that when you put it
in.
It would be best to inspect the cartridges to be refilled
because there are some ink cartridges that say "Single Use
Only", and refilling it might cause damage to the printer
especially when the ink injected is not the same with the
previous content of the cartridge. Worse, when found out, the
one who refilled it (you or some commercial refilling station)
could face charges.
It would be best to check the cartridge (especially the newer
models) for the green chip that keeps track of the levels of the
ink. Its memory can be reset so as to be able to check the level
of the cartridge with the newly-injected ink or when it is
necessary to refill "again" before it has completely run out of
ink.