Save money on printer inks

Posted on 8 Apr 2009 at 15:19

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A bulk refill kit's running costs work out at around £3 per refill for either type of cartridge. Initially, you'll have to spend £27 and £17 respectively to get enough ink for several refills. Some cartridges have a chip that needs to be reset before a printer will recognise it, but these two cartridges will work after being refilled without you having to reset the chip. For DIY filling, you'll also have to buy a chip resetter, which costs between £5 and £20, depending on the type of cartridge you have.

The cost of recharging a laser printer also varies, depending on the method. We've compared prices relating to the Q2612A toner cartridge used in many monochrome models in HP's LaserJet range. A new HP-branded cartridge costs around £45. Compatible cartridges start at £25, with remanufactured cartridges costing £20.

A refill kit with enough toner for a single cartridge will cost from £7.50. However, some companies deliberately shy away from DIY kits because, unlike inkjet kits, there's great potential for making a mess with the fine toner powder. There are also health and safety concerns relating to the possibility of inhaling toner. We've chosen a cartridge that works when refilled without you having to reset a chip. Some cartridges need a replacement chip, which adds £5 to the cost of the refill kit.

Chipping in

If a cartridge has been chipped, it means that it includes a silicon circuit that communicates with the printer's electronics. Most inkjet cartridges are chipped, and this practice is also becoming established with laser toner cartridges. The chip tells the printer how much ink or toner is remaining, so the printer driver can provide the user with an indication of when the cartridge is likely to need replacing.

In normal use, the level of the ink or toner always goes down. However, the software in the chip is not programmed to understand the concept of being refilled. This means that when the cartridge is refilled, the chip continues to tell the printer that the cartridge is either low or empty. With some printers, this means that you'll get annoying warning messages every time you print and you'll no longer have a genuine indication of the ink or toner level. Other printers will simply refuse to work.

One solution is to replace the chip with a new one indicating that the cartridge is full. This is commonly offered for laser toner cartridges, although replacement chips are also available for some inkjet cartridges. Resetters are also available for many inkjets. This simple piece of hardware allows you to reset the chip so it reports that the cartridge is full. A resetting device will often cost more than a new chip, but you can reuse it, so it will work out cheaper in the long run.

However, you must bear in mind that replacement chips are not available for all cartridges, and that the original chip can't always be reset. Suffice to say, when these cartridges are empty (or reported as such), the printer will refuse to work. If that's the case, refilling will not be possible and you'll have to buy new manufacturers' cartridges.

It is evident that significant savings are on offer with both inkjet and laser printers when refilling as opposed to buying new and branded, compatible or remanufactured cartridges. In these comparisons, we've picked the lowest prices. This doesn't necessarily mean that you should go for the cheapest possible prices when shopping for these products or services. The sentiment that you get what you pay for applies as much to refilling kits and services as to brand-new products.