Tricks to jumpstart generic ink carts?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Doc
  • Start date Start date
D

Doc

I have an Epson Stylus CX-5200 and thought I'd try reloadable replacement
ink carts, since I've had great success with reloadables on an older Canon
Bubblejet. I got the carts, along with refill ink and a chip resetter from a
company called I-Matek off eBay. They worked great when I first loaded them.
Made several passes printing some pretty involved pics, to my eye they
looked just as good as the stock Epson ink.

However, about a week later, I tried to print something and get nothing.
Tried several head cleaning passes.

Any suggestions how to remedy this other than buying the much pricier Epson
carts?

Thanks!
 
Doc said:
I have an Epson Stylus CX-5200 and thought I'd try reloadable replacement
ink carts, since I've had great success with reloadables on an older Canon
Bubblejet. I got the carts, along with refill ink and a chip resetter from a
company called I-Matek off eBay. They worked great when I first loaded them.
Made several passes printing some pretty involved pics, to my eye they
looked just as good as the stock Epson ink.

However, about a week later, I tried to print something and get nothing.
Tried several head cleaning passes.

Any suggestions how to remedy this other than buying the much pricier Epson
carts?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Clean heads on cart with cleaning solution then put cart in TWO plastic bags
one inside the other (heads down). Then twirl it round your head as fast as
possible to use centrifugal force to move ink towards the heads. Check every
now and then to see if any ink is coming out of the heads.

Works for me.
 
Doesn't it seem just a bit too much to save a few $$$ to twirl carts over
your head? BTW is this twirling ritual done at midnight under a full moon
while dancing naked around a fire?

Oh and one last thing...is it better to twirl the carts CW or CCW? LOL!!!

If this poor guy had just used factory carts he'd be printing now and
getting his print work done instead of posting and receiving dance
lessons...LOL!!!

--

- Charlie
Looking for blues harp player in Mississippi for guitar/harp duo
(e-mail address removed)

..
 
If this poor guy had just used factory carts he'd be printing now and
getting his print work done instead of posting and receiving dance
lessons...LOL!!!
Click to expand...

Actually, as it turns out, the problem was that I neglected to remove the
seals from the top (that are marked "remove"), which I assume cover over a
vent hole. Musta created a vacuum.
 
Good luck ....thx for the update..this also would have not happened with
factory carts...

Gee I bet you saved a bundle eh on a $30 factory cart???

--

- Charlie
Looking for blues harp player in Mississippi for guitar/harp duo
(e-mail address removed)

..
 
CWatters said:
from

Clean heads on cart with cleaning solution then put cart in TWO plastic bags
one inside the other (heads down). Then twirl it round your head as fast as
possible to use centrifugal force to move ink towards the heads. Check every
now and then to see if any ink is coming out of the heads.
Click to expand...


Yes, and after the twirling around don't forget to check your wallpaper :-))



--
regards,

|\ /|
| \/ |@rk
\../
\/os
 
Charlie said:
Good luck ....thx for the update..this also would have not happened with
factory carts...

Gee I bet you saved a bundle eh on a $30 factory cart???
Click to expand...


Color printer requires 4 carts. Epson carts for this particular printer are
approx $12 each. About $50 when you include tax to fill up a $120 printer
once.

For 4 replacement carts each of which has a full load of ink, plus 4 bottles
of refill ink & chip resetter I paid right at $70 including S&H, which sets
me up for probably 6 or 8 refills, probably at least a couple of years worth
of printing unless I start doing some heavy duty printing. Next time, if the
printer outlives the ink supply, all I have to buy is ink.
 
The price of the printer vs ink costs is not relevant or unique..it is an
industry fact-of-life.

IMHO being able to actually use your printer in a straightforward way
without vent holes being capped off, time spent trying to make them work,
time spent twirling carts, time spent waiting for an answer on Usenet is
worth something.

Refilling carts is never a good deal unless you ask someone that sells them.
No doubt with the profits they make from people trying to save a few $$$
they enjoy factory fresh carts which also have a vastly better quality of
ink. Many carts (like HP) have patented inks that are superior and
proprietary.

Keep swingin' LOL!!!!!!!


-ps I loved the wallpaper comment
--

- Charlie
Looking for blues harp player in Mississippi for guitar/harp duo
(e-mail address removed)

..
 
Refilling carts is never a good deal unless you ask someone that sells
Click to expand...
them.

8 refills @ $50 = $400 (assuming the price doesn't go up)

-vs-

8 refills for $70
-------------------------
A savings of $330. On ONE set of refills. (The cost of almost 3 printers)

You have an odd sense of economics.

"LOL" if it makes you feel superior and all-knowing. I'll take the $330.

Later.
 
From what they charge for the cartridges, they could afford to give away
Click to expand...
the printers.


Some printer manufacturers just about do. My daughter bought a cheapie for
her kids, paid $39. It came with a full set of cartridges, one black and
one color. The replacement cartridges cost $61 ($29 blk, $32 color). Geez,
for that, it'd be cheaper to buy a brand new printer every time she needs
ink!

--

Jo
PSP 8 Private Beta Tester
=============================
Got PSP Questions? Get Answers!
Visit our FAQ's site, hosted by Porter:
http://campratty.com/questions.html
=============================
 
Charlie said:
Doesn't it seem just a bit too much to save a few $$$ to twirl carts over
your head? BTW is this twirling ritual done at midnight under a full moon
while dancing naked around a fire?

Oh and one last thing...is it better to twirl the carts CW or CCW? LOL!!!

If this poor guy had just used factory carts he'd be printing now and
getting his print work done instead of posting and receiving dance
lessons...LOL!!!
Click to expand...

Charlie, tell him if he didn't waste his money on Paint Shop Pro, he
would have $$$ to purchase decent cartridges!

:-)

Uni
 
JoAnn said:
Some printer manufacturers just about do. My daughter bought a
cheapie for her kids, paid $39. It came with a full set of
cartridges, one black and one color. The replacement cartridges cost
$61 ($29 blk, $32 color). Geez, for that, it'd be cheaper to buy a
brand new printer every time she needs ink!
Click to expand...

Except the cartridges supplied with the new printer are usually contain
a fraction of the ink that a new cartridge does. It really is a sorry
little scam, but I don't know what can be done about it. I found
refilling cartridges a filthy waste. Buying another, much cheaper brand
is a real lottery, but if you can find one that works well for you is
probably the best solution.
In the last 5 or 10 years, owning a computer has moved from an expensive
hobby, to an almost essential part of life. Most of the hardware in that
time has improved in speed and usability by orders of magnitude, and at
the same time the price has drop to a tiny fraction of its cost just a
few years ago. This is a reflection of the economies of scale... it is
far more costly to produce each item that sells a few thousand than it
is to manufacture an item that sells millions.
There are however 2 areas of computers that don't reflect this trend...
printer ink and software. While many other items are sold at a price
that reflects the reduced cost of production, these are sold on the
basis of what the traffic will bear. And of these 2... even in a
marketplace where a minor cosmetic update of some office software can be
sold for hundreds of dollars, the single biggest case of corporate greed
in the entire pantheon of computing is printer ink. A teaspoon of dye in
a gimcrack little plastic box is worth no more than a few cents. Much of
the extra expense of manufacturing them is the cost of making them hard
to copy. Even then they should be $5 a dozen. The current prices are
just gouging and greed... and they are pretty much unavoidable.

Oh Well

Tim
 
Refilling carts is never a good deal
Click to expand...

Well that's a load of crap.

I have an HP that is used mainly for text work. It's seen nothing but
refills for nearly 4 years and still gives first class results. Definitly
cheaper.
 
CWatters said:
Well that's a load of crap.

I have an HP that is used mainly for text work. It's seen nothing but
refills for nearly 4 years and still gives first class results. Definitly
cheaper.
Click to expand...

Yeah, so, why isn't every HP printer owner using your Brand-X
cartridges??!!!

:-)

Uni
 
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