Refilled ink jet cartridge suggestions...

[Jon_King]

I've been using the same company for two years for refilled inkjet cartridges and the last two 'batches' I've received are not the quality as past ones.

I am an artist that watches minute details from my printer and these recent cartridges have 'thinner' and 'watery' ink. I cannot be fooled as I run a calibrated monitor and printer. And even my customers have noticed the difference.

I ordered a second group of three a month later and the same thing. So I want to try a different company.

For a critical user such as myself some might say I should not be using these 'used' products and I would agree except I have done it successfully for almost two years at a significant savings...

Any recommendations? (Please not every one selling these things but experienced users)

[jrobbio]

Obvious question: Have you actually told the company in question that you have noticed a drop in quality? If you've got any left then send it back to them maybe with a copy of a recent print so they can see for themselves.

Is it ok for Jon_King to say which brand his printer is?

[Jon_King]

I did make an attempt... and realized quickly it would be difficult to reach and convince the right person in their company. They have some sort of outside service answering their calls.

I'm not in the QC business. That is their business to ensure good quality.

It is an HP1220.

[georgeek]

Have you thought of filling your own with a refill kit? You could experiment with the inks and find the one you prefer. Also it will work out cheaper as cost is a consideration.

[trillianjedi]

I'm not in the QC business. That is their business to ensure good quality.

I agree in principle, but they rely on users like you to notify them of problems. I'm not saying it's right that the end users should be the testers, but that's how it is.

I'd send it back with the comments - it'll get to the right person I'm sure.

TJ

[gsx]

HP have redesigned many of their printheads so that they wear out after about one and a half time the amount of ink has gone through that the cartridge should hold.

As HP printheads are copyright, no company can make their cartridges from scratch and must use old cartridges (with wearing out heads) to refill.

If it is top quality you need, you can only rely on the original manufacturers cartridges.

[Jon_King]

trillianjedi,

This company is making it so difficult to reach them I'm just not going to put that much effort into it. I honestly can't be working with companies that are this far off the mark in regards to original OEM quality.

I really didn't think that for professional use these refilled units were going to work, but they did until now; and I did enjoy the savings.

As far as refilling them myself or having my employees do it, please understand I work to produce art not printing cartridges. It is not worth that much for me to consider this route.

I really am not trying to be pompous, but if these things can't work without problems there are no savings, and might even cost me more, after I consider the cost of writing these posts as well as complaints from my staff, research into what was 'going wrong' with the printer etc...

The cartridges simply have to work as well as OEM versions at a lower cost for me to be interested. I gave it a shot and it worked for a while, I'll try one more time with one more company. If it doesn't work out - well, nothing ventured nothing gained.

I am looking for critical quality users at ad agencies or service bureaus that can recommend a supplier.

[chris_f]

There are alot of companies out there that can get you the proper manufactures ink at a faction of the cost because they buy in bulk. If you buy in bulk you can cut the cost even further. I get the proper stuff for all the school I work in at a very low cost.

Chris

[gsx]

There are alot of companies out there that can get you the proper manufactures ink at a faction of the cost because they buy in bulk.

Unfortunately, different cartridges use different inks. Even by the same manufacturer, so it is almost impossible to get the match perfect. They match it to the size of the nozzles and their own specific papers. Note that this is why manufacturers paper has a list of machines on it, it does not usually state 'suitable for all HP deskjet printers'.

These things are more complex than people think. (HP spent over $10,000,000 to build the first HP51645A black cartridge. Then, they had to develop the colour...)

[chris_f]

Sorry ... I wasn't clear.

There are alot of companies out there that can get you the proper manufactures ink at a faction of the cost because they buy in bulk.

I meant that alot of companies suppy the manufactures cartridges (not just the ink) at a fraction of the cost. Not refills, the actual cartridges.

Chris

[gsx]

Sorry Chris, my mistake. Don't expect a lot off HP cartridges though! 5% markup is what a lot of suppliers get for them.

If you are in Europe, but out of the Euro zone (such as the UK), you will see prices fluctuate throuhout the year by 10% (sometimes even more). The best time to buy is when prices are low and you buy in bulk then. Some suppliers will offer discounts for as few as five cartridges.

[jrobbio]

Maybe you should seriously consider upgrading to something like the HP 2280tn, which has a very economical cost per page. In the long run it might work out cheaper than having to buy the OEM cartridges.

[Jon_King]

jrobbio

I use it primarilly for it's 13" x 19" or 11" x 17" paper size. The model you speak of will not handle those sizes.

[jrobbio]

Okay that's understandable. I'll have one more stab at it. How about the HP Designjet 10, or cp1700ps. I've kept to HP since you have that now on a sub 1k$ basis.

[Jon_King]

Now that's a printer (HP Design jet 10)!

We use our current printer as a sort of pre-proof that accompanies a final production disk to a printer.

So you might imagine that several pre-proof and customer copies of a 48 pg catalog full bleed with about 90% coverage can do to ink consumption... I sometimes use a tri-color cartridge a day.

I assume the ink cost in the separate cartridges is much less expensive? For I really don't have a beef with the output speed ... the HP1220 spits a high res page out pretty quick.