HP 920 update

Posted in: Customer Service, blog by Jack on 9 July 2010

Recently I mentioned that we can now offer refilled HP 920 and 920XL ink cartridges. There are conditions specific to these cartridges I need to bring up.

We had hoped that the cartridges would have chips on them we could reset. Evidently those chips are not yet available, so the refills we sell still have the original chip on them. Because of that there are a few models of HP printer that will not print using these cartridges. In addition, the original chip, having been expended, will not reset the page counter inside the printer, thus you will not get an ink level.

This is a common situation with all the major brands these days. The primary function of a chip on a cartridge, and a secondary function of the electronics on a printhead-type cartridge, is to reset the page counter. Printers have no way to determine the actual level of ink in a cartridge. Every time a new cartridge is installed, the chip or electronics resets to zero the page counter function in the printer’s software and memory. The manufacturer has programmed the printer to use an algorithm to determine how much ink is being used each time a sheet of paper passes through the printer. The algorithms are generally based on 5% page coverage. Below is a chart detailing how most printers estimate page coverage.

Page coverage examples

As you can see, printing out an Excel spreadsheet uses 9 times the amount of ink per page than the 5% page coverage standard. This is why some of our customers think that their cartridges don’t last very long. They don’t take into account the 5% rule. Here’s another example of 5% page coverage on a standard 8.5×11″ page:

It’s obvious that much of the general printing we do will exceed 5% page coverage. So why does the industry use such a misleading and unrealistic standard? So that they can advertise their cartridges as providing enough ink to print 200, 400, even 750 pages, when in the real world our results will be far fewer pages per cartridge.

In the case of refilled cartridges that still have the original chip or have electronics that don’t reset the page counter, the only way to know when the cartridges are running out of ink is to judge the quality of the finished print. When you notice a decline in the quality of the printing, bring in your cartridge and we will weigh it to determine if it’s empty or malfunctioning. In most cases we advise our customers to continue printing even after a low-ink warning. We don’t want you to drain a cartridge completely as this can lead to making the cartridge unusable for refilling. But you should continue printing until you see signs that the cartridge is no longer producing a decent image.

The majority of manufacturers set their printers to warn of low ink well before the cartridge is empty, hoping you’ll rush out and buy another cartridge before you actually need one. Since their profits are tied directly to the sale of cartridges they will do anything to get you to buy them as often as possible, even when you don’t really need them.

In the specific case of the HP 920 and 920XL cartridges, your printer may give you warnings when you install them that say the original HP ink is depleted and that a previously used cartridge has been installed. Here are the warnings and what you should do after each is displayed:

Original HP ink depleted. Press [OK].

Previously used ink cartridges(s) installed. Press [OK].

Ink Alert. Replace cartridge(s) or press OK to continue. Press [OK]

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HP 920 & 564 cartridges

Posted in: blog, inkjet by Jack on 25 May 2010

We are now able to provide you with HP 920 and 564 replacement cartridges.

We cannot yet get the XL versions of these.

Our pricing is:

HP 920 black $12.99

HP 920 color $7.99 each

HP 564 black $8.99 (this is the slim black cartridge next to the colors in the image)

HP 564 color $7.99 each

Troubleshooting tips for refilled ink cartridges

Posted in: Tips & Tricks, blog by Jack on 10 February 2010

Image via Wikipedia

Reusing ink cartridges benefits both the environment and your pocketbook, but there can occasionally be an issue with a reused cartridge that causes it to not give out ink or fail to be noticed by your printer.

The following tips are generic and may not apply to your particular printer. If the cartridges you purchase from us are not performing to your expectations and the following suggestions either don’t work or don’t apply, please call us for specific solutions to your problem.

“My printer says the cartridge is low on ink or empty when I first put it in.”

Some printers are able to detect a cartridge that has been in another printer. This ability is provided by the software in the printer and cannot generally be over-ridden. The electronics on the reused cartridge isn’t resetting the page counter in the printer, and that page counter is the only way the printer has to know how much ink the cartridge contains. You can usually ignore these warnings of low or no ink and print normally. You will have to monitor the quality of your prints to know when the ink cartridge is running low since the printer won’t warn you. To dismiss these warnings, click the “OK” button until the dialog box goes away. Sometimes checking the “Don’t display this dialog again” option in the warning window will prevent the printer from popping up the same warning every time you start to print.

“My cartridge seems to have dried out and won’t print properly even though I’m sure there’s still ink in it.”

The first thing to do in these cases is to run the printer’s built-in cleaning process. You shouldn’t run it more than once as it uses a lot of ink. If that doesn’t produced the desired result, take a paper towel and slightly dampen it and place it on a surface that won’t be discolored or damaged by ink. Tile is a good surface. Hold the cartridge with the print head against the paper towel for about a minute. Since water is a larger molecule than ink, you should start to see a bloom of ink form around the print head. This is the water wicking out the ink. Usually this is enough to moisten the print head and get the ink flowing again if the only problem was ink dried on the print head. If the cartridge still isn’t printing correctly, bring it back to us and we’ll either fix or replace it.

“I bought the right cartridge for my printer but it doesn’t fit.”

We get a phone call like this about once a week; it’s not as rare a problem as you might expect. The usual cause is the failure to remove the tape and/or clip from the cartridge prior to installation. We use a very light adhesive tape over the printhead  on black inkjet cartridges to protect them from damage or even the casual touch and we combine the tape with a plastic clip on color cartridges. The clip is intended to prevent color mixing at the printhead and to keep air from getting into the printhead. When removing the tape, be sure to only remove the light adhesive tape. Do not attempt to remove the brass electronics strip that constitutes the printhead. This will guarantee the cartridge can never be used again. We like to say that if you can’t remove the tape with your fingers, you’re probably trying to remove the wrong thing. Pliers are not required to remove the tape.

“My photos look dull using your cartridges.”

First, make sure you aren’t printing photos in “draft” mode. Check the settings in “printer properties” and be sure you have “Best” or “Photo” selected for the print quality. Second, for the best possible results using our cartridges, be sure you’re using the photo paper recommended by your printer’s manufacturer. Inks are formulated to work with certain types of photo paper. Saturation and drying time are particular to the recommended paper. Printing photos on ordinary copy paper will result in dull colors and saturated paper.

For the very best results when printing very important photos, we recommend you use the manufacturer’s paper and ink. Because we have to manufacture our ink using different components than the OEM ink to avoid legal complications, we cannot make the same claims as the manufacturers do about photo quality and longevity. Our inks are not archival quality inks, and that, usually combined with acid-free paper, is required to attain the promises made by the manufacturers as to photo quality and their claims that their ink won’t fade for 100 years.

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World’s first web-connected printer

Posted in: Printers, blog by Jack on 22 June 2009

Looking to make the wild and not-entirely-wondrous world of printers exciting for the first time in decades, HP has just unveiled the “world’s first web-connected printer.” If you’re wondering how it plans on accomplishing such an impossible mission, let us just say this: the Photosmart Premium is going the way of the widget. Up on the 4.33-inch front panel is Touchsmart Web, a touchscreen interface with several bundled, online apps to accommodate usual paper-friendly tasks such as printing Google maps, tickets from Fandango, coupons, recipes, Sudoku, etc. There’s even a full-on HD Apps Studio just in case downloading new apps on one’s printer really becomes the new hotness. The API’s being made open for the entire realm of developers, but we have to wonder what kind of interest we’ll see here. Pricing is set for $399…

HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web is the world’s first Web connected home
printer. Powered by touch and empowered by the Web, this sleek device provides quick,
simple touchscreen access to important, useful and personal online content.(1) With the
largest LCD touchscreen of any all-in-one inkjet printer (4.33-inches), the HP TouchSmart
Web control panel conveniently connects users to the Web via pre-loaded HP apps.
Part of an entirely new Web-based printing platform, these apps enable easy printing of
maps, coupons, movie tickets, recipes and more from partners including Google,
DreamWorks Animation, Fandango and Coupons.com, among others.

Users can also connect to Snapfish and directly from the HP Photosmart Premium with
TouchSmart Web, which saves time and enables customers to archive or print photos
from the site like never before… just touch, print and go. People additionally can
access projects from the HP Creative Studio.

A versatile printing solution with print, fax, copy and scan functionality, the HP
Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web is perfect for multi-tasking households –
meeting all their high-quality home printing needs in one premium product, from laserquality
text to lab-quality photos. With a full range of wired and wireless connectivity
options, this printer provides the freedom and flexibility to print directly from Wi-Fi
enabled PCs, Bluetooth®-enabled devices, the iPhone™ and the iPod touch™ using HP
iPrint Photo. Expected to be available for purchase September 2009 in North America.

Click over to Engadget for a full rundown on the capabilities of the HP Photosmart Premium.

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Cleaning the HP All-in-One

Posted in: Tips & Tricks, blog, inkjet by Jack on 26 January 2009

(Source-HP) For more information on different styles of printer, visit the HP website at that link.

Ink and toner prices increased by OEMs

Posted in: News, OEM, blog by Jack on 14 January 2009

Printer.com, the largest proprietary database of printer ink and toner prices, announced their price indices show most major manufacturers are increasing their retail pricing anywhere from 3% to 6%.

This affects not just one or two manufacturers, but appears to affect all manufacturers. As of September 2008, HP increased the list prices on all Mono and Color LaserJet Print Cartridges by 5%, as well as approximately 5-6% on Inkjet Cartridges. Lexmark and Xerox also raised their pricing on printer supplies in November 2008 with 5% across the board for Lexmark and 3% to 6% for Xerox. Brother, Canon and Oki soon followed suit.

Printer.com’s Director of U.S. Operations Bob Crum, says, “Expect the ink and toner cartridge price increases to remain until several months after the recession has been put to bed. No one likes increasing prices, but ink and toner are often very profitable revenue streams for printer manufacturers, and incremental price increases just make business sense for a lot of organizations looking to increase profit margins in tougher financial conditions.”  (Source-PRWeb)

These increases were all enacted last year, before the severity of the economy was fully appreciated. Expect to see further cost increases this year from the major manufacturers as they attempt to keep their revenues consistent with past years.

Cartridge sales are keeping some of these companies solvent. They have to continue to raise prices to keep their profit margin consistent.

HP offering money for old tech equipment

Posted in: Recycling, blog by Jack on 6 January 2009

Subtracting the cost of postage from the amount they’re offering, I don’t think this amounts to much of an incentive. But since recycling needs all the incentives people can offer, I’m not going to discourage anyone from considering getting rid of their old tech equipment this way.

This new recycling program does not require people to buy anything to get the money for their old tech equipment, although they are responsible for postage when mailing in the item.

HP calls its new program the HP Consumer Buyback and Planet Partners Recycling Program. The program offers money in exchange for any brand of PC, monitor, printer, digital camera, or smartphone HP determines still has some sort of value. It’s part of HP’s effort to recycle 2 billion pounds of electronic junk by 2010. As of now, the company has recycled over 1 billion pounds.

It’s like Antiques Roadshow for techies only you don’t have to go to the fair to find out what your attic junk is worth.

HP has a quote Web site for the buyback program where consumers can input the specs of their old tech equipment and receive a free instant quote.

If you find the quote worth your time, mail them your stuff (at your expense) and HP will mail you a check. Alternatively, you can opt for a “Premium Service” in which FedEx picks up the item or items at your house. The cost of that service is taken out of your final check from HP.

In testing out the system, I discovered HP offers examples from a drop-down menu, but will also accept items that have been modified and offers a place to put in the modified configuration and evaluate it. For example, I found that an old Dell Inspiron notebook with a 20 GB hard drive, 256 MB of RAM, a Pentium III M 1.0 GHZ processor, and loaded with Windows XP Professional is worth about $60.

If your tech junk is determined by the online tool to have no value, you’re out of luck on the money, but can still opt to mail it to HP for recycling if it’s an HP or Compaq brand product. (Source-Cnet)

HP CC364A/X

Posted in: Conservation, blog, laser by Jack on 29 December 2008

We are now able to remanufacture the HP CC364A (low yield, est. 10,000 pgs.) and the CC364X (high yield, est. 24,000 pgs.). We now have a supplier for the toner and replacement parts we need to fully remanufacture these cartridges.

What we do not yet have are empty cores. If you need a remanufactured 64A or 64X we will need your empty cartridge. Please note that we cannot convert a 64A into a 64X and the cores are physically different.

Our pricing will be $99.99 for the 64A and $179.99 for the 64X.

Please contact us if you have any questions at all about our work or our products.

HP Photosmart error codes

Posted in: Tips & Tricks, blog by Jack on 3 December 2008

If you own an HP Photosmart or Photosmart all-in-one and receive an 0xc18xxxxx or 0xc19xxxxx ink system error code displayed on the front panel, you’ll find the printer cannot copy, receive faxes, or print.Here’s a possible solution to the problem.

HP 60 and 901 inkjet cartridges

Posted in: blog, inkjet by Jack on 20 November 2008

We now have the ability to refill the HP #54, #60 #701 and #901 series of ink catridges.Our pricing on these:

#54  Black  $16.99

#60  Low yield Black  $9.99

#60  High yield Black  $17.99

#60  Color  $16.99

#701  Black  $16.99

#901  Low yield Black  $9.99

#901  High yield Black  $18.99

#901  Low yield Color  $11.99

#901 High yield Color  $21.99

We recently heard of a new HP cartridge, the #564. According to our tech support division, the #564 cartridge requires a replacement chip which currently is not being manufactured. We are looking into the possibility of providing compatible replacements for the #564. We’ll be posting here when we can offer those.