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Refilling Ink Cartridges - Introduction

We are the UK agents for InkTec products, which includes their ink cartridge refill kits and bulk printer ink. InkTec printer cartridge refill kits are designed to suit an individual ink cartridge, or a small range of ink cartridges. Central to each kit is the refill clip, designed to fit a particular shape of ink cartridge, which holds and seals it during the refilling operation. This makes the process both easier and cleaner than is usual with a universal kit. The ink used in each kit is also specially formulated to match the characteristics of the original printer manufacturer’s ink, so that you suffer no loss of quality by refilling your printer cartridges.

Refill Instructions and Demonstration Videos

Each refill kit has the full instructions available as a .pdf file, while most also have a demonstration video, showing the whole refill process. These can be found on the main pages for each refill kit and give the best idea of what is involved in refilling your particular cartridge.

To see the instructions or video, follow the links for ink refill kits in the top menu bar to the kit for your particular cartridge and follow the links from there to view whichever you want to see.

What ink cartridges can be refilled?

It is important to note that InkTec refill kits are designed to refill manufacturer's original ink cartridges only. We cannot guarantee the results if they are used on remanufactured ink or compatible ink cartridges. We also recommend that an ink cartridge is refilled within one week of running out.

Our 30 day no quibble guarantee of satisfaction only applies if the cartridge refilled is an original printer ink cartridge that ran out of ink no more than one week before refilling.

How to refill an ink cartridge

As there are still plenty of places where fast connections are not available, the refill process is summarised below. This cannot be as comprehensive as the instructions for a specific ink cartridge, but it will give a good idea of what is involved.

Before starting

Put on the protective gloves provided with the kit. We also recommend working on a disposable surface, such as an old newspaper, in case of accidental spills.

The Refill Clip

Each kit usually contains a refill clip that is designed to fit a specific shape of cartridge (on the right of the picture). Depending upon the make of printer, this may cover a number of different printer cartridges, although some kits fit just one ink cartridge. The first step is to clip the ink cartridge into the refill clip. This creates a seal around the ink nozzles and holds the printer cartridge firmly, in a convenient position, during the refilling operation. A few cartridges can be refilled without the need for a clip

Ink Injection Position Sticker

Most kits include a sticker to be attached to the top of the ink cartridge. This sticker shows the position of the hole or holes through which the ink is to be injected and it should be attached to the top of the ink cartridge. Make sure that the sticker is attached the right way around. Some kits will have a choice of stickers, depending upon the cartridge number and, in this case, take care to select the correct sticker.

In most cases, there will already be a hole in the ink cartridge where the ink is to be injected. However, some kits are supplied with a small boring tool, which must be used to make a suitable hole.

Ink Plungers

To refill the cartridge, fit the needle to the syringe fitting on the ink plunger, remove the safety sheath and press the needle deep into the ink injection hole. Withdraw the needle slightly, usually about 5mm, then slowly inject the recommended quantity of ink for the cartridge and hold the plunger in place for a few seconds, to allow the ink to permeate the sponge inside the ink cartridge. Finally, remove the plunger and needle, refit the safety sheath and detach the needle from the plunger.

To refill the cartridge, fit the needle to the syringe fitting on the ink plunger, remove the safety sheath and press the needle deep into the ink injection hole. Withdraw the needle slightly, usually about 5mm, then slowly inject the recommended quantity of ink for the cartridge and hold the plunger in place for a few seconds, to allow the ink to permeate the sponge inside the ink cartridge. Finally, remove the plunger and needle, refit the safety sheath and detach the needle from the plunger.

Repeat the above steps for each colour in a multi-colour printer ink cartridge.

If it was necessary to drill a hole to inject the ink, it will normally now be necessary to fit a plug, supplied with the kit, to seal the hole.

Ink Bottles

The ink plungers only contain 20ml of ink each. Larger ink cartridges may need more and, in this case, the ink is supplied 25ml or 40ml bottles, with a needle and syringe for each colour of ink. Each needle and syringe pair should be reserved for a particular ink colour in multi-colour kits.

The ink plungers only contain 20ml of ink each. Larger ink cartridges may need more and, in this case, the ink is supplied 25ml or 40ml bottles, with a needle and syringe for each colour of ink. Each needle and syringe pair should be reserved for a particular ink colour in multi-colour kits.

To refill the cartridge, fit the needle to the syringe, remove the safety sheath and draw up the recommended volume of ink for your cartridge into the syringe. Press the needle deep into the ink injection hole. Withdraw the needle slightly, usually about 5mm, then slowly inject the contents of the syringe and hold the plunger in place for a few seconds, to allow the ink to permeate the sponge inside the ink cartridge. Finally, remove the needle and syringe and refit the safety sheath.

Repeat the above steps for each colour in a multi-colour printer ink cartridge.

If it was necessary to drill a hole to inject the ink, it will normally now be necessary to fit a plug, supplied with the kit, to seal the hole.

Cleaning The Nozzles

All kits have a syringe without a needle for this stage. The syringes in kits with ink in bottles can be used for either refilling or nozzle cleaning but, once a syringe has been used for nozzle cleaning, it should be kept exclusively for that task.

Fit the syringe to the rubber hole in the base of the refill clip and draw off the specified volume of ink, usually about 1ml. This will clean the nozzles and, in some cases, balance the air pressure in the cartridge. Take care that the ink drawn off is not allowed to flow back into the ink cartridge and remove the syringe from the clip. The ink in the syringe should be discarded, for example, by discharging it into an absorbent material.

Final steps

Remove the ink cartridge from the refill clip and clean away excess ink from around the nozzles, by gently dabbing the cartridge onto a soft, absorbent tissue until no more ink is left on the tissue.

Fit the cartridge back into the printer and run the cartridge cleaning process before use. If the cartridge is not going to be used immediately, fit it into a storage clip, if one was supplied with your printer or original cartridges, or wrap it tightly in cling film.

Notes:

1 If the cartridge, or one of the colours in a multi-colour cartridge, is not completely empty, you should reduce the amount of ink injected, to avoid overfilling. Overfilling or injecting the ink too quickly can cause ink to leak out of the cartridge.

2 In many cases, we can supply replacement ink plungers or ink bottles so, even if you have used all the ink in the kit, keep the tools and just buy ink, for even greater savings.

3 It should be possible to refill original ink cartridges 5-10 times before the nozzles deteriorate to the point where the print quality is affected. It may be possible to refill some ink cartridges even more times, but this cannot be guaranteed.