Printer Ink - A Secret Way to Get More Ink from Your Cartridges

07/20/2009 - Computers and Technology Although millions of printers are sold each year printer ink is where the manufacturers make the greatest profit. Once you've replaced your cartridges for the first time you most likely will have spent more on the printer ink than you did when you bought the printer.

Printer ink is a thirty-two billion dollar a year worldwide business. This ink is one of the world's most expensive liquids. Most printers ink is about seven times as expensive per milliliter as Dom Perignon, a somewhat pricey champagne that many people drink only on special occasions, like New Year's Eve.

With that being said, printer manufacturers are concerned because they're currently losing increasing amounts of their market share to the refill industry every year. Everybody seems to be getting into the act. Even Walgreens, a US chain, recently rolled out a service at a lot of its photo labs that makes it easy for people to get their inkjet cartridges refilled.

A Secret Way to Get More Printer Ink From Your Cartridges

What makes matters worse for the consumer is that you may be spending a lot of money replacing cartridges that haven't actually run out of ink.

A relatively recent trend in ink jet cartridge technology causes your computer to sense that an ink cartridge has run out of ink before it actually has. It's possible to override this reading with a little known trick. Here's how:

When your computer indicates that a cartridge has run out of ink, take it out of the printer and look at the space right above the little circuit board on the cartridge. On most cartridges you will see a small indentation in this area. This indentation is a micro switch.

Take a pointy object such as a paper clip that has been bent at right angles, and gently press the micro switch on the side of the cartridge. Then put the cartridge back into your printer. The previously "empty" cartridge may now read half full because you have just reprogrammed it.

While this does not work with every cartridge from every manufacturer, it can certainly be worth the small amount of time you will invest seeing if it works for you. If you can reset the cartridge you will have pretty much doubled the lifespan of your printer ink cartridges and effectively cut your costs in half.

If this little trick does not work, you do have other alternatives.

Because the printer ink is so expensive, when it comes time to replace an ink jet cartridge, many people save money by refilling their empty printer ink cartridges themselves. You can purchase a kit that's specific to your printer.

And, in addition to saving money by refilling your cartridges, you will be lessening the negative impact that the plastic and metal ink and toner cartridges would have on the environment if they just ended up in a landfill.