Technical information

203

If you print less than 2 pages per week, or so, you are way better off sticking with an integrated printer

system (i.e. 2-cartridge printers from HP or Canon) as the printer will only use a little bit of ink at a time

(mainly for printing). These types of printer systems do not invoke between job spitting, meaning your

cartridges can last 6 months to a year with limited printing (per above).

However, if you print 5-10 pages every week, or more on average, then it is suggested to migrate to an

individual ink tank printer model (i.e. 4, 5 or 6 cartridges are installed into the printer).* These types of

printer systems do invoke between job ‘spitting’ and many have time based cleaning routines to protect

the health of the electronic printhead (which the cartridges are installed into/connected to) – this can

add up to a lot of ink over time if you are not printing a lot to offset the delta. The exception is select HP

Officejet Pro printer models (i.e. 8500/8500A/8600/8700s, etc.) – these have an electronic eye built-in

to the printer which helps maximize ink efficiency by only performing spit routines when it notices

misfiring ink jets. It is recommended to keep printer power on at all times with many of the newer

Canon and HP IIT* printer models to avoid losing ink (due to ink system cleaning/maintenance routines)

during power on & off cycling. How the Printhead Works: http://inkjet411.com/?page_id=2054

NOTE: Most new printer models will still consume a small percentage of color ink due to normal

ink/printer maintenance, such as between job ‘spitting’. The purpose is to ensure the printhead is

maintained to avoid clogging. Keeping printer power on at all times will help minimize ink loss,

particularly with most new HP and Canon printer models.

All of the Canon individual ink tank printer models (i.e. Canon 5/6, 220/221, 225/226, & 250/251 ink

cartridges) seem to have one of the best refill friendly track records...except for the 250/251s, ink level

monitoring is restored since the ink chips are reset and customer satisfaction has been extremely high to

date.

Any of the HP printer models which use HP 564, 920, 932/933, 940, or 950/951 cartridges also have a

very high reliability rating, though you will lose ink level monitoring when using refilled ink cartridges (so

you'll receive ink low messages here and there - you just ignore them until print quality begins to fade).

NOTE: For all HP564 ink-series printer models it is suggested you leave the printer on as much as

possible since turning the printer off and on will ‘suck’ a small percentage of ink (i.e. this ‘ink

maintenance’ action protects/wets the replaceable PRINTHEAD). Most of the new HP's printers, i.e.

those sold at Costco or Best Buy, use either HP564, HP932/933 or HP950/951 ink cartridges.

Epson printers which use T124-T127 ink cartridges are also considered quite friendly as the chips are

reset and ink level monitoring is restored, just like the Canons. However, since many use pigmented inks

which have a tendency to clog if not used, you will need to be printing on a frequent basis (like every 2

days or so).

Kodak ink cartridges (i.e. #10s or #30s) are not refilled to our knowledge by any of the refillers in the

marketplace.