Question: Is it really true, using COMPATIBLE cartridges will damage the printer ?

[klaus]

What is your experience?
Is it really true, what printer manufacturers claim that using compatible and not original printer manufactured cartridges will damage the printer head, or the whole printer,
what is the life expectency of a cheap around a hundred dollars printer anyway?
will it make any difference if you use printer manufacturers or compatible cartridges, for the life of a printer,
and I am not talking about the printing quality on paper,
can the life be improved by cleaning the printer head frequently and how often and how do you clean it, or doing something else?
question, questions, questions,
any answers are appreciated!
Klaus - the marzipan man -

[Cat person]

My LexmarkZ11 is over four years old and the cartridge (the original) is refilled with cheap refill ink and works great.

[Taz]

go hp the print head is in the cartridges, hp or compatible ones

[dbusguy]

I agree with Taz.
I had a Xerox 3in1 and tried refill inks. It screwed up the print heads big time.
Go HP

[Taz]

I agree with Taz.
I had a Xerox 3in1 and tried refill inks. It screwed up the print heads big time.
Go HP


I buy my HP cartridges off Ebay the most I've paid is half of actual retail

[sybil]

Same here - I refill and use remanufactured hp cartridges. My 970cxi is over 5 years old and still works flawlessly. If the print nozzles are in the cartridge, either it works or not - I don't really see how it could damage the printer. I've only ever had one remanufactured cartridge that didn't work and that was exchanged - just a faulty cartridge.

[Ken_ver_1_5]

my lexmark 2030 I have used many different inks and cartridges works fine
no damage ever.

[BillD]

The warranty on my HP said that if there was damage because of ink leaking from an aftermarket cartridge, it would not be covered by warranty. There is alaways the risk that the output won't be the same but if it doesn't leak, there is no damage, so no problem.

[rcdraft]

You get what you paid for, remember that. Cheap cartridge=cheap ink. Leaks and gumming up common with aftermarket cartriges.

[binhereb4]

I have an Epson 760 about four years old. I've never used original Epson cartridges ... always generic. Never had a problem yet.

[Jackthemeangiant]

I have an Epson R200 and I recently replaced the cartriages with compatible cartriges bought from eBay. I saved about $40 over Epson cartriges. I havn't noticed any problems yet.

[Canuck2fan]

I have been using an Epson 860 and two 740 Epsons that take the same cartridges for over 3 yrs now with only compatible cartridges and NEVER had a problem with any of the three printers being "damaged".

I personally would never by an HP/Lexmark printer for the very reason that the print head is on the cartridge so that you continually pay to replace it over and over again. To me that is seriously bad engineering and a real kick in the teeth to the envoirment. Not too mention a fortune maker for both those companies who insist that the user pony up HUGE bucks for this planned obsolencence. Then they charge 3 to 8 times as much a cartridge as I pay for same amount of ink in my compatible Epson ones. (BTW I have to yet to see an HP printer with the same specs as my trusty old 860 out print it either)

Just to show that I am not totally sold on Epson when these epsons are done I am going to Canon because with Canon you can use very inexpensive compatible cartridges and once a year or so depending on the volume of printing you can when necessary buy the factory Canon ink in a kit that includes the print head to replace it giving the user the best of both worlds.... Which Epson doesn't yet allow the end user to do, to the best of my knowledge as print head replacement on their printers requires paying for the service...

[neil01]

I personally would never by an HP/Lexmark printer for the very reason that the print head is on the cartridge so that you continually pay to replace it over and over again. To me that is seriously bad engineering

I wouldn't agree with you conclusions in all cases.

If the printer is used regularly, I agree 100%, but, if it is not used for any extended periods, there is the possibility (probability?) that the ink may dry and the nozzles block. Yes it is often possible to clean them, but it is in no way a certainty that you will succeed.

If you have separate heads this is usually expensive, and in the case of a budget printer, possibly more expensive to replace just the head than to replace the printer, however, if the printhead is in the cartridge - just a new cartridge is required.

I have just seen too many people buy printers with separate heads, expecting to save money, only to let the ink dry and ruin the heads.

Sometimes I think that manufacturers of inkjets should put a warning on them 'Not suitable for occasional use'!

[DazedNConfuzed]

just to let you know.
don't use aftermarket cartridges during your first year manufacturer's warranty. possibility to void the warranty.

use aftermarket cartridges well after your warranty.

[kkrawler]

yeah I had to replace the print heads in my Brother MFC3420 after using "comptables"

[justabitcrazee]

At Epson, If you are using Generic cartridges Withing the manufacturers 1 year warranty, It is void. But, (depending on the problem) Epson Ink will usually fix the problem, anyways.
All Printers are crap. Just buy a cheap one.

[BEM]

I had a great Epson 880 printer that become junk, after 4 years of use and then 6 refills with a refill kit, the ink heads sealed up; but must say I only use the printer maybe once every two weeks or so. I have a HP laser printer for text.
Now have a Epson C86 and will use only Epson ink untill the warrantee is over or the original ink is used up, then because of Epsons over priced products I will use after market ink again. After the original refills, the printer owes me nothing at Epson prices. Epson looses. I just can not believe how fast the ink goes down on the new Epson printers. I think the cleaning cycle each time it turned on is draining ink fast, and is programed in for that reason by Epson. Using it for such small print jobs it must use many time this ink for the cleaning.
I am printing the same files as I did with the 880.
Thinking of going to colour laser next time for all I do.

[Taz]

The keys to using refill kits or places like Island Ink is to only refill cartridges 2X and to be very carefull not to overfill

[sybil]

BEM - you're much better off with an hp with the ink nozzle on the cartridge if you don't use it that often. They can be refilled or you can get remanufactured cartridges (I pay about half the price of the originals and refill, so ink cost is minimal). A couple of years ago, I had stored one hp for just over a year with the ink cartridges in - started it up and it printed just fine.

[BillD]

They claim you can refill the HP cartridges about 4 times. The cost of replacing the printhead assembly in a Canaon is more than the cost of a new printer (according to the Canon tech).

[sybil]

I can only refill the colour 2 - 3 times, but the black many times more.

[novabus726]

I used to have an Epson printer. The model is a Stylus C64 printer. There was something wrong with the inkheads. You see, I used to refill my black ink cartridge at Island Inkjet - twice. That was back in November 2004. The most recent refill was in December 2004.

It wasn't until January 2005 when something serious when wrong. Whenever I tried to print something out, it appears that there are some garbled text on the black part of the printer and i didn't see no black text at all. I went to work on cleaning the inkheads using some rubbing alcohol and q-tips (not an easy job). That didn't work. I tried to get another black ink cartridge (a genuine one), it appears that i can see the text, but it was scrambled. Therefore, I have to abandon all plans and right now, I'm settled with my Lexmark Z715 colour inkjet printer........:(

This morning, I connect my Epson C64 printer for the first time, did a test page, and I finally see some black text on the test page, but I didn't see the Windows XP logo colours on it......At that time, the blue, red and yellow are almost empty. I did a nozzle check and I can see black, but not the colours of the blue, red and yellow nozzles. Then I immediately remove the printer driver, for some unknown reasons.

I was considering getting remanufacturered cartridges for my Epson printer, do you know what should I know before getting those cartridges? I owned the C64 for almost two years and have been "rotting" in my room for months (I still have that printer however).

[ve3sab]

My cartridges have the print head included and I refill my cartridges about a dozen times and then by a new cartridge. I use "JETTEC" inks from Staples/Business Depot. Cost about $25 and get four refills per kit.

They have inks that are specific to each manufacturer as well as "generic" inks. Having worked in a cartidge refilling company, I can attest that there is sometimes slight and other times large differences between inks. Remanufactured cartridges can be refilled many times depending on how much effort the company puts into the process of cleaning them. We could usually guess which cartridges were in seldom used printers as they usually had dried ink completly blocking the nozzels (which are hair thin)

If you want to refill your cartridges, try to get ink made for that manufacturer. When you notice quality starting to degrade you should think about getting a new cartridge and starting again.

[Lesley]

I bought refills for my Epson photo printer at computerfest. A total waste of money. Black text was fine, simple colour printing was ok but photo printing was awful. It was a nightmare to clean the ink off of the print heads afterwards. never again.

[justabitcrazee]

I used to have an Epson printer. The model is a Stylus C64 printer. There was something wrong with the inkheads. You see, I used to refill my black ink cartridge at Island Inkjet - twice. That was back in November 2004. The most recent refill was in December 2004.

It wasn't until January 2005 when something serious when wrong. Whenever I tried to print something out, it appears that there are some garbled text on the black part of the printer and i didn't see no black text at all. I went to work on cleaning the inkheads using some rubbing alcohol and q-tips (not an easy job). That didn't work. I tried to get another black ink cartridge (a genuine one), it appears that i can see the text, but it was scrambled. Therefore, I have to abandon all plans and right now, I'm settled with my Lexmark Z715 colour inkjet printer........:(

This morning, I connect my Epson C64 printer for the first time, did a test page, and I finally see some black text on the test page, but I didn't see the Windows XP logo colours on it......At that time, the blue, red and yellow are almost empty. I did a nozzle check and I can see black, but not the colours of the blue, red and yellow nozzles. Then I immediately remove the printer driver, for some unknown reasons.

I was considering getting remanufacturered cartridges for my Epson printer, do you know what should I know before getting those cartridges? I owned the C64 for almost two years and have been "rotting" in my room for months (I still have that printer however).

I used to work for Epson call centre. Back in November to about January of 04/05 Epson had a BIG problem with the "c" series printers. This includes the C40ux/C64/C82/C84/C86 as well as the R330/R500/R600. We were told if they are IN warranty, Epson will replace and upgrade the printer you have (ie, a C84 to a new-head C86). If you are not in Warranty, keep tryin' those printheads, or get a new printer.

As for the problem it was something inside the printer that was defected and wasnt discovered until many had been made and sold. The hose in which the ink goes though, inside the print head was messed up and eventually would clog allowing partial to no ouput at all. This was (or maybe still is) a REALLY is problem that costed Epson millions by having to send out new printers free of charge to its customers.

My advice if you are in warranty (its one year from date of pruchase) is call epson. They WILL replace it. if they dont want to tell them that they were replacing them for other people and you need yours replaced and upgraded. good luck!

[novabus726]

I used to work for Epson call centre. Back in November to about January of 04/05 Epson had a BIG problem with the "c" series printers. This includes the C40ux/C64/C82/C84/C86 as well as the R330/R500/R600. We were told if they are IN warranty, Epson will replace and upgrade the printer you have (ie, a C84 to a new-head C86). If you are not in Warranty, keep tryin' those printheads, or get a new printer.

As for the problem it was something inside the printer that was defected and wasnt discovered until many had been made and sold. The hose in which the ink goes though, inside the print head was messed up and eventually would clog allowing partial to no ouput at all. This was (or maybe still is) a REALLY is problem that costed Epson millions by having to send out new printers free of charge to its customers.

My advice if you are in warranty (its one year from date of pruchase) is call epson. They WILL replace it. if they dont want to tell them that they were replacing them for other people and you need yours replaced and upgraded. good luck!

Since my warranty had expried probably a year and a half ago and the damage is finally done, I would probably try this do-or-die scenario that I had improvised and proposed:

- whether to use genuine ink cartridges
or
- consider getting remanufacturered ink cartridges, to further reduce costs.

I tested my C64 printer this morning (it wasn't plugged into my computer) and I realized that my Blue (Cyan) and Red (Magenta) (and possibly Yellow) needs to be replaced.

What happens if I try to use a combination of genuine ink cartridges and remanufacturered cartridges? Will I encounter a very serious damage? Any suggestions is greatly appreciated.

[justabitcrazee]

its not the ink carts, its the printer itself. You can put in any cartridges you want and it still wont work properly. You printer is screwed. Buy a new one.