Should you trust remanufactured printer cartridges for your printing needs? The company that made your printer is spending millions trying to convince you that you should not but just about every store you go in to offers some type of remanufactured cartridge as an alternative to the manufacturer brand cartridge. What to do?

Let’s take a look at a few facts that might help you decide.

We’ll start with the two biggest advantages offered by remanufactured printer cartridges; they are environmentally friendly and they are inexpensive. Since remanufactured cartridges are produced with reused materials, fewer natural resources are used to provide you with a cartridge you can put in your printer. Because fewer resources are used and less production takes place, remanufactured cartridges are less expensive than their manufacturer brand equivalent.

For some, these two facts alone are enough to answer the question, should you trust them? Others of you might need a bit more information. Let’s take a look at the remanufacturing process.

Remanufacturing a printer cartridge is a multi-step process. Some remanufacturers do it very well, others not so well. While no company will completely disclose their exact process, the general process is as follows.

Empty cartridges are first visually inspected for damage. There are varying levels of visual inspection. I know of a few companies that will refuse to remanufacture a cartridge at the slightest sign of damage. Unfortunately, there are others who ignore major signs of damage. It’s the yin and the yang of the industry! Regardless of their level of inspection, all damaged parts are repaired or replaced. The next step is to test the cartridge’s circuits to make sure they are still functioning properly.

Cartridges are then cleaned and emptied of any remaining waste ink/toner or ink/toner  residue.  Once clean the cartridges are filled with an ink or toner that the remanufacturer claims is equivalent to the manufacturer brand ink. Remember, it cannot be the same ink. Printer manufacturers hold patents on their ink formulations. Unless a remanufacturer were to license the formualation it is illegal for them to use it (or to claim it).

After the cartridge is filled, it must go through a very important process. The sealing process is of the utmost importance to the cartridge. If a remanufactured cartridge is not sealed properly you can expect a cartridge that does not print with any quality, if it prints at all. Once sealed the cartridge is print tested. Some remanufacturers do multiple print tests, others only do one. The print out from the remanufactured cartridge is matched to a print out from a manufacturer brand cartridge. If the prints match the cartridge moves to the packaging phase. If the prints don’t match, some remanufacturers will still move the cartridge to the packaging phase. It’s the yin and the yang of the industry again!

The final step is to clean the cartridge, one last time, and then to put it in a sealed plastic bag and retail box.

Are you feeling some trust now?

You should be. The key to all of this is finding the right place to buy your remanufactured cartridges. If you can do that you can have a high level of trust in the cartridge you are getting. Reputable cartridge vendors only deal with reputable remanufacturers. They know the cartridge they provide to you reflects directly on them and your desire to keep buying cartridges from them.

Remanufactured inkjet and toner cartridges are a low price alternative to the expensive printer manufacturer brand cartridges, but are we about to see them become extinct?

Printer manufacturers have been trying for years to eliminate these cartridges from the market place. Why? Because remanufactured cartridges eat in to the profits earned by your printer manufacturer. If you are buying a remanufactured printer cartridge, you are not buying a cartridge made by the company that made your printer. Remember, these companies depend on the sales of printer cartridges to really make their profits. Printer manufacturers currently use two major tactics to eliminate remanufactured cartridges from the marketplace.

The first tactic is the lawsuit. Printer manufactures have a history of bringing lawsuits against those that  remanufacture printer cartridges. The suits are based on infringement of design patents.

The second tactic is recycling. Yes, recycling! In most cases printer manufacturers are recycling cartridges and doing the “green thing”. But, their recycling programs also keep empty printer cartridges out of the hands of remanufacturers. Remember, in order to remanufacture ink cartridges, you must first have an empty ink cartridge.

Remanufacturers depend on a steady flow of empty ink cartridges to work with. If they don’t have the “empties” they have nothing to work with.

I would not deem either of the printer manufacturer’s tactics as overly effective. The lawsuits have come and gone, the recycling programs have been in place for years, but the remanufactured printer cartridge has continued to flourish.

Now comes a threat that could effect your ability to use remanufactured cartridges (it has nothing to do with the printer manufacturers) . . . A shortage of empty cartridges caused by consumer habits.

That’s right, we are creating our own dilemma!

Without a steady supply of empty inkjet and toner cartridges, the remanufacturing industry cannot survive. Our recession kicked off a series of events that have severely limited the supply of empty cartridges.

As the recession took hold, the nation underwent a drastic change in their printing habits. Everyone was looking to save money where ever they could. Home and work printing was an area where cutbacks occurred in order to achieve savings. Printer cartridge users either cut back on the amount of actual pages they printed or they switched over to remanufactured cartridges.

Both of these have a direct effect on emtpy cartridge availability. Remanufacturers rely on a certain percentage of the population to buy printer manufacturer brand cartridges. They then collect these cartridges to be remanufactured. If  consumers are printing less, then less manufacturer brand cartridges are being purchased. The fewer that are purchased, the fewer that are available to be remanufactured. When consumers switch from manufacturer brand cartridges to remanufactured cartridges, less manufacturer brand cartridges are available to be remanufactured.

What’s the fallout from an empty cartridge shortage? Well, I doubt remanufactured cartridges will go extinct, but we will see the price of these cartridges increase. As this happens remanufactured cartridges will become a less attractive offer for those trying to save money. When that happens the only alternative is to go back to the manufacturer brand cartridges.

Isn’t that what we were trying to get away from? Kind of ironic, huh?

I recently have a friend contact me about switching his printer over to a Continuous Ink Supply System (CISS). Maybe you’ve heard it called other names, Continuous Flow System (CFS), Bulk Feed Ink System, or an Off-Axis Ink Delivery System. Which ever name you refer to this system by, it provides a method for saving on the cost or printer ink. They system allows you to buy large containers of printer ink that connect to a special cartridge system you put in your printer (where the cartridges go). A set of tubes then connects the large containers to the cartridge system. When the containers run out of ink, you replace them.

What are the advantages of this type of system?

Well, first and foremost,  you are going to save money. You may invest a little more to get started, but over time using a CISS will save you money. You’ll just be buying ink rather than an entire cartridge. You’ll also be replacing your ink far last often.

Second, you’ll be able to refill or replace ink while your printer is printing. Because the ink is no longer contained within the cartridge inside the printer you won’t have to stop everything when you need printer ink. Simply refill the exterior ink holder and you are good to go. Ever notice how each time you replace a cartridge your printer needs to run an alignment and cleaning process. This requires the use of ink. With a CISS, there is no need for either of these processes.

What are the disadvantages of a CISS?

The ink for Continuous Ink Supply Systems is not made by your printer manufacturer. For this reason, some say that it is not of ‘good quality’ and your prints won’t look at good as they would if you had used a printer manufacturer brand cartridge. Maybe this is true, maybe this is not. It’s something you will have to decide for yourself.

Using a CISS requires some retrofitting of your printer. In order to get a CISS to work in your printer, you are going to have to make some physical changes to the printer. A few systems will require you to cut a hole in your printer so the ink tubes can be connected to the cartridge unit.

Printers are made with close fitting cartridge holders. If you check out your printer you will see that the ink cartridge fits snugly in its holder. This can make it difficult, or impossible, to install a retrofit cartridge unit in your printer. There is simply not enough room. Additionally, jamming may occur when the tubing gets in the way of the path of the print head. The only prevent this is to permanently remove the printer’s cover and cut holes in to the printer’s body for the tubing to run through. In some cases you may also need to modify the printer’s carriage (the part that holds the cartridges) by removing the cartridge clips.

Here’s the danger in making all these physical changes to your printer . . . You warranty will definitely be voided.

Is CISS right for you?

Maybe , maybe not. You need to decide. If you don’t mind making modifications to your printer that will void its warranty and are up for saving money on printer ink, a CISS is for you.

If reading any of this made you nervous, the CISS is not for you.