WILL using refilled cartridges harm my inkjet printer?

Question

I have a hp 1410 which is out of warranty

Answer 1

Hi there:
I checked out the specifications, the manual, the replacement ink carts etc. on the HP website, and your printer is 100% " HP normal" in that there is nothing different about that setup.

I refill carts all the time, particularly the HP and the Lexmark type, and other brand names like DELL that use the same type.

These carts have a gold foil on plastic strip with a gold or chrome plated printhead glued to the bottom of the carts. When you replace the cart, you also put in a new printhead, which is a very efficient way to keep any printer working.

There are 2 general ink storage methods used by HP. One is a FOAM cart, where the foam holds the ink, usually about 3/4 full.
The other is a bladder delivery, sometimes on the older models with 2 bags with aluminum springs and a pressure chamber, or on some of the larger carts, a single larger bladder. Refill ink kits have instructions either online or in the manuals in the kit.
HP is, in my opinion, one of the best for refilling. I belive that you have nothing to loose in trying to refill. If it does not work well, you just buy another cart ( you would have to anyway ). If it does work, you will save huge amounts of money. COSCO has the biggest, best, refill kit I have ever found, and will keep any printer going for home use, a year or more ( $20 ). You need to pay attention to how you refill, and come to terms with how to keep the splash to a minimum.

The printer itself has no way of knowing if you are using an HP cart, or a refilled HP cart, or a clone cart. The ink will only touch the paper, and does not touch your machine at all. IF the refill or clone is not satisfactory, just put in an HP cart, and continue.

Here is a cut and paste answer on a DELL cart, which is the same as an HP cart...

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How many times can you NORMALLY refill Dell ink cartridges before they start failing?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Dell does not make printers. What you are looking at is the same factory type of Lexmark or HP printer carts, with the gold foil on the bottom, which is the actual print head. I like these the best, as, if you are careful ( CAREFUL ) not to press, deform, or mechanically abrade the gold or chrome print hole surface itself, you can use for YEARS, -- I have one that is 10 years old. There are a few situations though, that might give you problems such as a few types of BLACK ink that are incompatible with many standard refills, and if you put in black ink, the cart immediately quits. If you soak the cart in water about 3/4 the height of the cart overnight, you can print a page or 2, and then it quits again. I have not heard any explanation for this behaviour, but a typical cart is the dark green capped black cart in a LEXMARK printer 5XX or 6XX printer with the 16/17 26/27 carts. The color, on the other hand, can be refilled for years. The best carts just have various compositions of ordinary FOAM in them, sometimes with a layer of fiber on the top or bottom, but the foam is the holding mechanism. NEVER drill an existing vent hole on a cart if it contains micro-baffles that allow a tiny amount of air in, without allowing dry air outside to dry out the foam. HP uses a dual bladder air charged black, on a few models, and a few other ones do as well. These require more time and care in loading and taping.
If you purchase an ink refill kit, there is usually online instructions
and/or a manual that explains where to drill holes and tape etc.
They may even explain about the bladders or foam, although they usually do not. I have learned where to drill holes " my " way, which does not always agree with the typical instructions, and even different ink refill instructions have different methods.
If you are serious about refilling, COSCO has an awesome refill kit with 3 huge bottles of black, 3 huge bottles of the 3 colors, and 2 bottles of the photo ink, the drills, beads, tape, manual etc. for $20. I would go to many kitchen stores or such in the malls and look for digital scales - they are everywhere, about $25 and will tell you how much the full or empty carts weigh, and you can tell EXACTLY how much ink is in all the carts, regardless of the estimators.
Try not to push in or abrade the actual print surface, although it can be wiped gently with a damp soft cloth in the direction of the print movement. I put old carts that are sitting too long unused and drying out , in a glass of water 3/4 the way to the top overnight.
In filling, each cart for each type is slightly different, but for foam
carts, I drill a hole for each color about 3/4 the way up the side in an area that I put a piece of black electrical tape over when I am done. I try to avoid altering the micro-air ducting that is used by the manufacturer. After soaking, and filling to the 3/4 mark, I sit the cart on 2 or 3 folded kleenex gently in a glass for a few minutes and then check to see if the print surface is still dripping - if it wipes clean, then you are ready to do a couple of test prints.
When refilling, it is probably best to fill ALL the colors, and keep them this way.
Letting the print head go to completely empty IS REALLY BAD - because the print head is 1/2 to 3/4 away from the foam, separated by a microfilter and a long tube. If this tube EVER gets empty, the fast drying ink dries inside the tube, and on TOP of the print holes, and you will never fully regain the use of the cart after that. (( I do, by tying a string to a filled cart and spinning it at about 10 G to force air bubbles out of the tube, and by melting holes into the tube and using hypodermic needles to rinse with water, and them fill with new ink, and then epoxy the holes shut - most people would be unable to do these proceedures, and as far as I know, I am the only one who has done so. But then, I have over 200 printers, so that I have to be creative... ))
Keeping the print heads used on a daily basis ( I recommend a print of all 4 colors at least every three days ) and NEVER letting the heads dry out, would enable you to use the carts for years...
Lets face it, you can buy a brand new printer WITH carts for less than the carts, do that if try to use the old ones, you have nothing to lose,- if you screw up, well, you buy a new one - if you drill it properly, then you just saved the price of either a cart , or a new printer. I have seen, in an industrial park, a pile of brand new identical printers, in the boxes, with all the software disks and packaging, untouched, except for the box top opened and the
ink carts removed ie, the entire box, software, printer, packaging, and even free bonus CD's and sample paper, was less than the ink carts, so they just bough a pile of new printers, and threw them all out-- for the ink. Go figure.
Hope this helps.

Dell changes options and marketing constantly, so I am GUESSING what printer you probably have. If you post the exact carts and description of them and the printer, I could help better.

Also, I note from two of the other answers provided since I posted this, that people are stating that you can ruin your printer and void your warranty and damage things by using " NON DELL " ink..
Please.... give it a break. I have never, in a quarter of a century heard of an ink refill damaging a foam cartridge type of printer - people can damage a printer and do really strange things, but if the ink, which everyone states is poorer quality, is not giving you the TRUE, DELL, look,
then just get another DELL cartridge. Your printer has no idea what ink is hitting the paper that you are printing on!
Someone mentioned that LEXMARK has a bad reputation of poor ink cartridges, which is debateable - which make model and year and refill cart is the person talking about? Where are the statistics? Out of the hundreds of printers I work with, I can list the models from HP, Canon, Epson, etc. that had horrible problems, and for that matter, I can list horrible problems with almost any " Brand name" computer component over the years. With new techniques and products and modifications being sold daily, it would be difficult to imagine that every single thing sold by one specific company was perfect, all the time - they arent, and people do get stuck with lemons occasionally - from ALL manufacturers.. All you can do is hope for the best. But the SALES and MARKETING and LEGAL bs of doom and gloom in using a NON DELL ink, is actually funny! I cant help but wonder how many HUNDREDS of printers these people have actually used in their lifetime....
Another addendum, as people provide other answers.... Reading over the answers is quite funny since the logic they present is " DONT use refills, since it will destroy the machine and warranty , AND, throw out the printer anyway, since it not a good one in the first place ! " So ... I ask, why worry about a warranty if you are going to throw out the printer and buy a " good" one ? Also, below an ANSWER states that you CAN refill, but never use a generic kit... but they don't state what you CAN use if you arent using a generic kit? And they highlight the word " NEVER ". As though HP or DELL put out name-brand specific refill kits !!! Unheard of -- they give away printers at cost just to make money on the carts, so providing " NAME BRAND " refills would destroy their greedy marketing plans...

You can check my ANSWERS for information on other printers, ink and refills as well.

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Hope this helps

robin

PS most of the answers above are really bad, or even wrong!
Ink Delivery Systems are on high end commerical printers that print cardboard boxes on an assembly line, etc, and the HP printheads are NOT bolted to the machine etc. so people are just guessing !

Answer 2

Not as long as they were re-filled properly.

I use the cheap refill kits from WalMart all the time on my HP Printer. Saves money!

But it's only good for about 3 refills. Then I have to buy new ink cartridges.

Answer 3

I have had one problem. My computer normally lets me know when my ink levels are low, but since the cartridges are old, they no longer register on the ink level scale.

Be sure to get your cartridge refilled ASAP. If you wait too long, they can't do it. Also, there are times when they can't do it more than once--the guy at Cartridge World tried to explain the reason to me, but I'm not even sure HE knew what he meant. So, be prepared to possibly get a new printer in the near future.

But, no, refilled cartridges won't hurt anything.

Answer 4

Yes they will.

Its even riskier for HP printers because the printhead is mounted on the printer itself and not the print cartridge.

Low quality and clotted ink of inconsistent quality will damage the fine micro-tipped nozzles, leading to blotted and bad quality prints.

Apart from the mess and uncertainty in the print quality, best to stick with original cartridges, particularly more so for HP printers.

But if you are keen, there is this refill system by Medea International called the Peach Snap and Print system which functions like a replaceable print cartridge. Check it out.

Answer 5

Yes It will certainly Hurt the Printer

Understand that there is an IDS (Ink Delivery system ) In the printer....If u use refilled cartridges...IDS will go bad...If it goes bad ,u will not be able to service that or service will cost u the same price as the printer...

Pls donot....

Answer 6

No. I switch to generics as soon as my printers go out of warranty. Repair is far more costly than replacement. For example, I purchased two HPs all-in-ones, refurbished, for $49.50 each, with cartridges. To have a tech look at it would cost at least $60.

Try www.1-inkjet.com. They are reasonable and on my last order, offered free shipping.

Answer 7

No, thats the whole point of refills, it works and its cheaper. The worst that could happen in the ink not flow properly but it wont hurt the printer

Answer 8

If you return your printer for repair under warranty, evidence of refilling is the first thing they check for

Answer 9

No I would not think so as long as you dust your printer becouse it can couse it to clog. I had to take mine to a shop to get it fix and the person that fix mine said as long as they are not more than 3 yrs old. After 3 yrs you might want to throw them away and get new ones.

Answer 10

Absolutely ! Without a shred of doubt !