Refillable Epson Ink Cartridges

by Izzy Goodman

These refillable Epson ink cartridges save you money and time while reducing problems.

The biggest complaints about Epson ink cartridges are the cost, the small amount of ink they hold, the fact that Epson printers often report the ink cartridge as empty when there is still ink remaining and the problems which arise when the Epson printer no longer recognizes the ink cartridge. This clever design solves all of these.

A key factor in the cost is the chip which must be attached to all Epson ink cartridges. The Epson printer communicates with the chip and counts each page printed. However, some pages take more ink than others. The Epson printer doesn't really know how much ink is used so it estimates. Since it could damage your Epson printer to run without ink in an ink cartridge, it errs on the side of caution and reports an empty ink cartridge when there is often ink in it. When it decides there is no more ink, it sends a signal telling the chip the ink cartridge is empty. Once this happens, you have to buy another ink cartridge.

The refillable Epson ink cartridge contains a chip which automatically resets to full. When the ink cartridge is low, you refill it from an ink bottle, pop it back in the Epson printer and you're good to go. You pay just for the ink. There is no need to pay for another cartridge. You start saving money with your first set and the savings mount up.

While Epson ink cartridges hold about 7 ml of ink and our Epson compatibles hold about 15, our refillable Epson ink cartridges hold about 20 ml and the refill ink bottles hold 100 ml. And while regular Epson ink cartridges often report empty when there is still 10-15% of the ink left, our chips reset, so you get full use of every last drop of ink.

While on the subject of chips, we would be remiss not to point out that even reusable chips do not last forever. They can be damaged by spilled ink, being touched directly, stray voltage from the printer and the friction of being removed and inserted repeatedly. We highly recommend getting a backup set - even a single use set.

Additional bonus for those who own two or more Epson printers. The refill bottles are the same across the entire Epson line. You don't need sets of ink for each printer.

How does this system get around the dangers of refilling which we warn about in our article on refilling? Simple. 1) Unlike regular Epson cartridges where the chip self-destructs, these chips are designed to reset to full. 2) You don't mess around with hypodermic needles. You use the convenient ink dispensers. Each 100 ml ink bottle can fill a cartridge about 8 times. Don't wait until a cartridge is empty to refill. Top them off when they dop below half. 3) While clots start forming in regular ink bottles from the first time you open them - clots which can get into your Epson printer and destroy it - these ink bottles minimize the air contamination with their tiny openings.

So that's the story. Inexpensive Epson ink cartridges which hold more ink and use the same chip already recognized by your printer - easier on your wallet and your sanity, not to mention the environment.