What are Universal Ink Refill Kits & Why They Don’t Work to Refill Your Hp, Dell or Lexmark Cartridge

John C. Arkin asked:


People who are interested in saving money on their printing supplies may be interested in refilling those old cartridges. Not only will refilling reduce the costs associated with operating any of the inkjet printers on the market, but this is a useful form of recycling that can also benefit the environment. However, not all refill kits are going to be a good choice for your needs.

What are Universal Ink Refill Kits?

To make things convenient for consumers, universal ink refill kits were introduced. The idea was that one kit could be used with any brand of inkjet cartridge which makes finding a kit easier for consumers and would encourage them to refill instead of buying new. While the idea sounds good in theory, universal ink refill kits don’t live up to their promises.

Problems with These Kits

There are a number of reasons why universal kits don’t deliver the results consumers want:

• Different inks. Manufacturers do not use the same type of ink in their cartridges which means the ink may not work with all brands. As a result, you may either end up with reduced printing quality or a cartridge that simply doesn’t work at all.

• Different cartridges. If you’ve compared inkjet cartridges, you already know that are not designed the same. As a result, there is no single way to refill all of them. That means what may work for brand is going to fail miserably for another.

• Different tools. Because of the different designs found in the inkjet cartridges, different tools are needed for refilling.

All of these reasons have contributed to an increase in failure rates among these universal kits.

Better Refill Alternatives

If you want to refill your inkjet cartridges, the better choice is to purchase model-specific refill kits. These are designed specifically to work with your model and, therefore, have a much higher success rate.

Should I Refill?

If you’re debating about whether or not to refill your ink cartridges, remember that you will save money, especially if you are a heavy printer. Choosing these model-specific kits makes the refilling process more convenient and more reliable. Also, there is nothing wrong with refilling used cartridges. Manufacturers may warn that doing so will void your printer warranty but that is simply not the case.