Contents:
1. Types of cartridges: From the point of view of the manufacturing mainly there are four types of cartridges:
OEM, or Original Equipment Manufacturer cartridge. Re manufactured cartridge. Compatible cartridges. Drill and fill cartridges
1.1 OEM or Original Equipment Manufacturer cartridge
There is no need to describe these cartridges.
1.2 Re manufactured cartridgeRe manufactured cartridges are also called refurbished cartridges. They are OEM or third party manufacturer's toner and or inkjet cartridges which have been through one cycle of service and have been recharged. Every re manufactured cartridge has to be thoroughly cleaned, worn out parts replaced, filled with the same ink formulation, and gone through vigorous testing. However, if they are manufactured by third-party manufacturers and do not carry the printer brand names on the cartridges, and may exceed OEM specifications.Re manufactured cartridges are cheaper than OEM cartridges but more expensive than compatible cartridges. They are very popular among environmentally concerned customers. Considering that it takes 3 quarts of oil to produce a new toner cartridge and hundreds of year to decompose an old one in landfill, re manufactured toner / ink cartridges are both environmentally friendly and cost effective
1.3 Compatible cartridgesCompatible cartridges are specially manufactured to meet or exceed OEM specifications, offering the same quality and reliability as of OEM cartridges. However, they are manufactured by third-party manufacturers and do not carry the printer brand names on the cartridges.Compatible cartridges are only sold at 1/2 or 1/3 of the price of OEM cartridges. Therefore, they are cost-effective alternatives to expensive OEM and or re manufactured cartridges. 100% compatible cartridges mean that these cartridges include all the components (e.g. replacement chips) so that they are fully compatible with the specific printer models. Replacement cartridges that are not 100% compatible are available at a lower price but they may cause problems in printing. For example, compatible cartridge without a new replacement chip may have problem communicating with the printer as the printer software would think that the ink / toner are always low.Most compatible inkjet cartridges are manufactured 100% brand new, containing only new components. Compatible toner cartridges may include both new and used components unless otherwise stated.
1.4 Drill and fill cartridgesAs the name applies these cartridges are only filled with toner. And no body claims to cell it, probably you can manufacture it yourself by buying the toner and filling it.
2. Types of TonersNot all compatible or re manufactured toner cartridges are the same.The quality of each may vary, by the amount of recycled components used, and their average defect rate. There are four compatible tones to an OEM Toner cartridge. Premium, Jumbo, Standard, MICR. Although all four of these are compatible with an OEM the only difference is the type of drum, defect rate, and the yield. When purchasing toner cartridges consumers today have a wide range of choices.
2.1 Premium Compatible: Defect Rate Less than 1%, Components: 80% of all New
2.2 Jumbo Compatible: Defect Rate Less than 1%, Components: 40% of all New
2.3 Standard Compatible: Defect Rate 1-2% Components: 40% of all New
2.4 MICR Compatible: Some particular toner cartridges also have an option of a MICR compatible toner cartridge. MICR stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. MICR is used in on all checks to produce a special font known as MICR. The MICR line on a check is for all the check information to be automatically readable by machines. MICR allows for not only secure but also a ast method of processing information. MICR technology is generally used by banks not only in the United States but also by many other world wide countries. There are two things needed in order to print MICR checks:
A printer that is capable of printing MICR checks, and A MICR toner cartridge.
3. Printer Cartridge Life, or shelf life Like all other consumable, printer cartridge definitely has a duration or yield after which it will not perform its role. In simple words; a cartridge has a limited shelf life. But what is that duration after which cartridge will become useless. There are number of factors that affect the life of a cartridge. Depending upon these factors life of cartridge varies from few months to couple of years. Factors are many but the most important factor is that whether the cartridge is opened or sealed. When you keep cartridge in company packing it will remain intact in good condition even for a year or more than that. But if the cartridge is opened it may dry up if not taken care.Usually any printing consumable like water ink with or without usage over a year is in danger of being been dried up and so it’s worth decreases. The life of cartridge also depends on the kind of wear and tear it gets over the time period it is in use. Life span of cartridge can be increased by recycling it or refurbishing it. If you consider refilling your printer ink cartridge, it may last longer. In general, a cartridge can be refilled 3 to 6 times, if the cartridge holds out.However, these are rough figures and actual printer cartridge shelf life would depend to a certain extent on the make & model and also on storage conditions. Quite often cartridges have been known to last a lot longer than 12 months.Cartridges are best stored in a cool dry place with attention paid to making sure the cartridges are sufficiently protected as even a small pin prick in the packaging will break the seal and the ink will start to dry out. If it is still sealed then it should last at least a couple of years. Some people even report buying cartridges in bulk and finding them in perfect condition even 3 to 5 years later. However, the manufacturer’s given expiry date is usually of 20 to 24 months.The same thing also applies to Printer Cartridge Life when you are actually using the cartridge in the printer. Even if you only print off something every two months the cartridges should last a couple of years with no degradation in quality.
3.1 Re manufactured Printer Cartridge Life
A lot of people want to use re manufactured cartridges due to cost effectiveness. However, they are concerned about its life span. A question that often comes to mind that re manufactured cartridges stay fresh as long as an OEM cartridge?” Of, course. These days, re manufactured cartridges are of the same or better quality than the original OEM cartridge.One more important factor to be considered is that the OEM cartridges are not filled up to capacity. Whereas the re manufactured cartridges are usually filled with more ink, sometimes up to 20% more hen OEM versions so of course they will have a longer printing life.The companies listed below all supply high quality re-manufactured printer cartridges, simply choose a supplier and start saving money on printer cartridge costs today.
4. Page YieldPage Yield is an approximation of the number of standard pages that can be printed with one cartridge, usually measured at 5% page coverage.5% coverage is a standard 8.5 x 11 inch page with a light letterhead, address and three paragraphs of text double spaced.If you print mixed text and graphics or web pages, your page coverage is closer to 15% and therefore the number of pages printed with each cartridge will be less.If you are printing photos your page coverage is close to 100% and the number of printed photos will be much less than the amount the number of pages you would be able to print if you were just printing standard text documents.
5. Smart chip or page counter chip
Smart chip is installed in some cartridges by OEM manufacturer to keep track of printer functions as well as to make life harder for recyclers and re manufacturers.Compatible chips are used by re manufacturers and they are available for almost every cartridge that uses chip. And they work as well as OEM chips.
5.1 Effect of the smart chip on the cartridgeWith smart chip on the cartridge, you can track the number of pages printed, also the printer will show "toner low" and "toner out" messages when it is time to install a new cartridge.When you first install a cartridge without smart chip, your control panel will display "NON-HP cartridge detected. Ignore it and Push the large green "GO" button on the printer, as a result the "Ready" message on your printer will display. Your printer will print and operate normally, but the "toner low" or "toner out" messages will not display. Reports from the printer's "home page" will not be available as well.When vertical "white streaks" appear in your printed pages, it is the indication for you that your cartridge is running out of toner. Shake the cartridge as usual and continue using it until white streaks appear again. If by shaking the cartridge the white streaks do not disappear then it is the time to install a new cartridge.NOTE: Epson cartridges with smart chip only work in Epson printers released before March 2007. After March 2007, Epson has updated drivers / firmware on their printers which cause the printers not to accept these cartridges. If your printer was manufactured before March 2007, but you downloaded new drivers from Epson after March 2007, these cartridges will not work. To determine if your printer was manufactured before March 2007, check the serial code number on your printer. Reading from RIGHT to LEFT you see a 7 digit Number. The 6th digit is for the MONTH of production, and for months October, November, December use X, Y, Z respectively, the 7th digit is for the YEAR of production. Here is an example:Serial # C65301002W156Y16332, From right to left, the 7th position means the Year (example 6=2006, 7=2007) the 6th position means the month (example 1=January, 2=February etc. X=October, Y=November and Z=December) the 5th and 4th positions mean the day of production. The serial used as example above means that the printer was built on November 16, 2006.
5.2 Uni-Kit Epson Resetter V3.0 In order to use Epson cartridges released after March 2007 you would need The Uni-Kit Epson Chip Resetter V3.0. The Uni-Kit Epson Chip Resetter V3.0 will reset the newer Epson T069 / T078 series 9-pin inkjet cartridges back to full specs allowing you to refill any Epson inkjet cartridge. The Uni-Kit Chip Resetter for Epson cartridges will reset the "smart chip" on Epson cartridges multiple times. Reset cartridge chips to factory specs, showing full ink levels and providing the same number of cycles as when the chip was new. This device works indefinitely and can be extended by simply replacing the 3 small batteries the same way you would replace a battery in a wrist watch.The following cartridges are compatible with the Uni-Kit Epson Chip Resetter V3.0: T007, T008, T009, T015, T016, T017, T018, T026, T027, T028, T029, T036, T037, T038, T039, T0321, T0322, T0323, T0324, T0331, T0332, T0333, T0335, T0336, T0341, T0347, T0348, T0421, T040, T041, T0422, T0423, T0424, T0431, T0441, T0681, T0691, T0692, T0693, T0694, T0695, T0771, T0772, T0773, T0774, T0775, T0776, T0781, T0782, T0783, T0784, T0785, T0786 Epson Stylus Printer model numbers compatible with the Uni-Kit Epson Chip Resetter V3.0: 680, 777, 777I, 780, 785EPX, 790, 810, 820, 830, 870, 870LE, 875DC, 875DCS, 890, 895, 925, 950, 960, 1000ics, 1270, 1280, 1290, 2000P, 2100, 2200, C41, C42, C50, C60, C61, C62, C70, C80, C82, C120, CX3200, CX5000, CX5200, CX6000, CX7000, CX7400, CX8400, CX9400F, R200, R210, R260, R300, R310, R380, R510, RX580, RX595, R600, RX680, R800. Disclaimer: The Epson Resetter is not an Epson product. It is designed only for the purpose of "resetting" the smart chip on your Epson inkjet cartridges so as to allow the successful refilling of the cartridges and save the consumer the expense of buying a new cartridge. In order to use it Just place the cartridge on the resetter and wait 5 seconds! Thats it! The ink levels on the cartridge are restored to new. Since Epson has started to make most of their new Inkjet cartridges with "smart chips" that send a signal to the printer when they are empty. This prevents the printer from recognizing a refilled cartridge as it still "remembers" the cartridge as being empty... But the Universal Epson Resetter will RESET this memory chip, allowing you to refill the cartridge and allowing the printer to recognize it as a brand new cartridge. IMPORTANT! This resetter will only work if your cartridges are at least 25% full when you reset them. If you allow the cartridge to sense there is less than 25% ink left in the cartridge before you reset it, the chip will not be resettable. This is very important to remember
6. HP inkjet cartridge part numberMost HP cartridges only have one type such as the No.56 which you will also see shown as the C6656, C6656A and C6656AN. HP sometimes shows the cartridge as the 56A or C6656A, but the full part number is C6656AN. All versions are the same product with the same ink volume. Only if the first letter after the numbers was different would it be the same cartridge with a different volume. Other first letters at the end such as 51645G and 51645A are the identical cartridge, but with different volumes. The G is the free starter cartridge that comes with a printer and the A is the regular high volume cartridge that is sold in stores. When our cartridges are manufactured we always fill the cartridges completely. So, regardless of the letter at the end of part number or the letter you are used to order you will always get a high volume cartridge from us.Since some cartridges fit as many as 50 different printers, it is not possible to list every compatible printer model in our website and or on the outside of each cartridge box, simply because there is not enough space on the box to list each compatible model. There for if the product number on the box match the cartridge number on your old cartridge, then you have the right one.The letters on the end of the product name actually indicates the amount of ink that an OEM cartridge contains. Regardless of the letter at the end, the physical cartridges are exactly the same.Some of our inkjet cartridges, particularly those for HP, Lexmark and Compaq are shipped in a protective plastic clip. This may cause the cartridge to appear like it won't fit inside the printer. Please remove the shipping clip. After removing the clip, the cartridge should look exactly the same as your original cartridge.
7. Trouble Shooting Tips for inkjets No ink is coming out of the cartridge, the possible and potential problems could be:
Clogged jets.Air in the cartridge.Foamy Ink.Ink does not reach the bottom of the sponge material.Contact Point is fatigued.Print head is fatigued or damaged.There are white streaks in print.You are getting partial print.
7.1 To remove a clog at the print head Take a paper towel and wet thoroughly using distilled or filtered water. Put the paper towel in the microwave for 20 seconds. Remove paper towel from microwave. Place cartridge on paper towel put print head directly on the towel. Allow to sit for 2 minutes. Do not scrape the cartridge along the towel; this will damage the print head. Ink should be seen on the paper towel. The more, the better. This shows that the potential clogs are clearing and that the print head can distribute it.
7.2 Air in the chamber The easiest way to remove air in the chamber, which can reside just above the print head when a cartridge 'runs out of ink is to place the cartridge in cartridge clip to protect the print head and contact points. With the print head facing down smack the cartridge on your hand. What you are doing here is forcing ink down. When you smack the cartridge on your hand, the heaviest thing inside (ink) goes down and air is forced up.
7.3 Foamy Ink When dealing with foamy ink, there are three things you can do. The first and most common solution is to allow the cartridge to sit for a day.This is an awful thing to have to do, but foamy ink is thick and contains a lot of air pockets trapped throughout the cartridge. The second thing you can do is to perform the cartridge smacking as listed above. The third solution is to take the cartridge and place in cartridge clip. Put cartridge in a zip lock bag and swing the cartridge in a circular motion. The print head should be on the outside of the circular motion so that ink is forced down towards the print head.
7.4 Ink does not reach the bottom of the cartridge Any of the solutions above should assist in bringing ink down to the bottom of the cartridge.
7.5 Contact points are dirty Clean contact point with a soft, non abrasive cloth (CD cleaning cloths are excellent for this). You can use a small amount of filtered or distilled water. Never use tap water.
7.6 Contact points are fatigued Obviously we assume that you have not come into contact with the point with your fingers or any other abrasive material. If for some reason you have touched these contact points then we recommend cleaning them as mentioned above. The problem though with skin contact is oil from finger tips and salt. These can easily damage the cartridge. There is no solution other than cleaning.
7.7 Print head is fatigued or damaged If the cartridge ran dry for any length of time and was allowed to print, then damage to the print head may have occurred. Lexmark, like Hewlett Packard uses a thermal process for dispensing ink. It literally heats the print head and ink to dispense. Printing without ink in the print head can 'burn-up' the print head. To see if the print head can transfer ink properly use step one for wicking the print head. This is a good indication that the print head assembly can be used.
7.8 White streaks in print The information above applies not only to refilled cartridges, but new OEM cartridges. As a matter of fact the information seen here is what Hewlett Packard recommends for cartridges that print with streaks on rand new ink jet cartridges. Common causes for white streaks in text or images are: Ink cartridge has poor electrical contact with the printer, Ink cartridge needs to be cleaned, one or both of the cartridges are out of ink.
7.9 Getting Partial Print You have either inserted a new ink tank or have refilled on and you are receiving partial print, or you may be encountering an ink tank deprime condition. In this case try the following procedure to correct this condition. - Remove ink cartridge from printer. - Dry the port and vent area of the ink tank with a paper towel if ink residue is present. - Tape port and vent of ink cartridge. This is to prevent the splatter of ink onto the user during the recovery process. Place tape on the ink cartridge in the same orientation as the original removable foil. The tape should be pressed in place firmly to insure a good seal. - Place a paper towel or newspaper on a table top surface to protect it during the de-prime recovery procedure. - Hold tank so that the foot is up and the vent end is at the bottom. Place the index finger over the end with the Ink Logic feature. This helps maintain a firm grip on the cartridge during the next step. - Firmly rap the vent end of the tank on a table top three times. This causes ink in the free ink chamber to saturate the foam so that the print head can pull ink from the foam. - Remove the tape carefully. There may be ink on the tape. - Insert ink cartridge into machine. - Go to the Maintenance screen in the print driver. Click the Clean button, select Color, and then click the clean button. - After the cleaning procedure make a test print. If the problem is still present replace the ink tank.
8. Cleaning the Cartridges Cleaning the Print Cartridges Cleaning the electrical contacts Cleaning the nozzles with a damp cloth Cleaning the cartridge with hot water
8.1 Cleaning the Print Cartridges
This applies to ink jet cartridge with built-in print heads The steps are broken into 4 procedures of cleaning. If the first step does not adequately clean the cartridge, try procedure 2, and so on. Cleaning the cartridges through the printer utility Hewlett Packard, Lexmark, Xerox and additional companies that carry cartridges with built in print heads have some type of cleaning routine that the printer will perform to clean the print heads of the cartridges. Because of the sheer number of printers and different software versions for the printers we can not supply all of the commands used to clean the cartridges in all of the printers. The easiest way to locate this information would be to access your printer properties and locating the help file.
8.2 Cleaning the electrical contacts
This is an HP solution that works with all built-in cartridges
Remove problem cartridge from printer.Using a clean, dry lint free cloth wipe the copper contacts using an upward motion. Do this one time. The contacts are very sensitive and repeated rubbing can cause them to wear out.Replace cartridge into cartridge carriage and latch down.Run a test print. If no change in quality occurs try the fourth procedure. Note: Hewlett Packard recommends a dry cloth while Lexmark recommends a damp cloth on the contact points. You may wish to try it both ways.
8.3 Cleaning the nozzles with a damp cloth
This is a Lexmark solution recommended for all built-in cartridges Dampen a clean, lint free cloth with water (use distilled or other 'clean' water - do not use tap water). Gently wipe the nozzles of the cartridge in one direction. Note: Lexmark does not mention the use of filtered water. Nevertheless, the use of tap water on the cartridge is not recommended.
8.4 Cleaning the cartridge with hot water
Thoroughly saturate a clean lint free cloth with distilled or filtered water. Place paper in microwave for 20-30 seconds. (allow water to get very hot) Place print head of cartridge directly on paper towel and leave for a minute. The idea here is that the hot water will break up any dry ink whether it is on the outside of the cartridge or in the jets. And cartridge will startdrawing ink out of the print head.This is one of those 99% no fail routines that seems to always work provided that the print head is still useable. If for some reason this does not work we have to recommend something that Hewlett Packard and Lexmark recommends after the first two procedures: replace with a new cartridge.
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