Whether you’re working from home or have kids that need to get their assignments ready, having a reliable printer is an absolute necessity. However, nothing’s more agitating than having your printer’s cartridge run out at the last second and you have to learn to refill Epson ink cartridges or other brands. Sometimes, you want your printout to look as crisp and clean as possible and that isn’t going to be happening with a cartridge that’s low on ink.
Getting a new cartridge for your printer can be equally frustrating, it takes up a lot of your time and the entire ordeal sometimes costs as much as buying a new printer itself. Thankfully, there’s a much easier solution. By using Epson refillable ink cartridges, you drastically reduce the cost and effort of getting your printer up and running again.
While the entire process might seem daunting, don’t worry about it! Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about how to refill Epson ink cartridges.
How to Refill Epson Ink Cartridges
Refilling an Epson Ink Cartridge is easy, trouble-free, and does not require a lot of time. All you’ll need is to follow these quick steps which we’ll be talking about in detail too:
- Prepping up your supplies
- Checking if your cartridge is empty
- Removing the cartridge
- Locating the refill hole on the ink cartridge
- Injecting the new cartridge with new ink
- Re-inserting the cartridge back into the printer
- Running and testing your printer
With all these steps done and dusted, you should be able to know how you can refill your Epson ink cartridges. Here’s a detailed overview of each step:
What Printer Does This Method Work For?
You can use this method for any commercially available Epson Inkjet printer. Epson Refillable Ink Cartridges work on all models that include but are not limited to the T048 till the T200 Series. Moreover, you’ll also be able to refill your cartridges on the Strawberry and 18/18XL range of Epson printers as well.
Gathering the Right Supplies
- While this project is relatively intuitive and does not require a lot of supplies, you will still need to take a quick trip to the stationery store. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Tape (Transparent works best!)
- Ink
- Hole Maker (Only if it is necessary, you can check from your cartridge.)
- Rubber Stopper
- A Syringe (An Ink Spring Bottle Also Works!)
- A Chip Reset Tool
You’ll need to combine the four primary colors of a cartridge to get the best result possible. They are Magenta, Black, Yellow, and Cyan. A combination of these colors leads to your printer being able to print virtually any image.
What If I Have A Thermal Printer?
Not to worry! Thermal Printers are just a little bit different than Ink-Jets. They use an Ink-Ribbon instead and use a greater variety of colors. Most common households generally have an Ink-Jet printer, so this guide should apply to most cases.
Checking, Selecting and Removing your Cartridge
Before you go about refilling your cartridge, make sure that your ink is at least 25% full. You’ll be able to find this out if your printer displays a red exclamation mark whenever it is connected.
Next, make sure to check that the ink you’ve purchased matches the description and requirements of your particular printer.
Once you are sure, carefully remove the cartridge you wish to refill from your printer. (Do not apply too much force!)
Note: If you aren’t in the mood of making a mess, we recommend wearing rubber gloves and covering the surface you’ll be working on to avoid any stains.
Finding The Refill Hole
Finding the Refill Hole in your Epson Ink Cartridge is perhaps the trickiest part. Thankfully, the cartridge is well-labeled. Generally located at the bottom, you’ll notice the hole being completely barred with a small stopper.
After you’ve found the hole, you’ll need to remove the seal yourself with a pin or create an entirely new hole with a pointed object (like a needle.) You are now prepped for refilling! But before you do just that, here are some more precautions you need to take:
- Ink might seep out of the nozzle once you start refilling. Therefore, seal it up with tape. The nozzle hole is located in front of the cartridge. It is about 0.5 inches away from the refill hole you just located.
- If you see a lot of ink dripping out, make sure to check your seal. If you are absolutely sure that the leakage has been dealt with, wipe off all the excess ink to reduce smudging.
- If you’ve taken the rubber stomper off – keep ahold of it! You won’t be able to plug it in with anything else due to its extremely small size.
Refilling Your Epson Ink Cartridge
Finally, here comes the fun part! Get your syringe or ink bottle ready and prep it up with exactly 16 mL of ink. The ink bottle makes this process relatively easier but both achieve the same purpose.
Once you are done, put the tip into the refill you just created and fill the cartridge up. Once you are done, insert the rubber stopper back into the hole.
Voila! We’re all done. Make sure to wipe off any ink that remains on the hole or nozzle, they can smudge the first few prints that you make.
Once you are done, remove the tape you put on the nozzle, clean everything up just one last time and you should be all good.
Resetting The Chip
Epson Printers come with a smart chip inside the Printer that provides you with information on how much ink is remaining and how many pages you can print with your current ink levels. Sadly, these don’t reset themselves after you refill your cartridge which means you’ll have to reset it manually. Here’s how:
- Get an Epson Smart Chip Resetter and find the Chip on your cartridge
- Tap the resetter on your chip until it starts flashing/blinking green
You are now done! If you don’t use a resetter, the printer may recognize the ink as empty even though you’ve just refilled it forbidding you from printing further.
FAQ About Refilling
Now that we’ve gone through the entire process, you still might have some unresolved queries. Here are a few common ones regarding how you can refill Epson ink cartridges:
What if my Chip resetter keeps blinking Red?
Make sure the resetter is aligned properly with the cartridge and attempt the process at least 4-5 times. If it still doesn’t work, you might have a faulty chip.
What’s the use of refilling instead of replacing?
Refilling is faster, cheaper, and easier on the environment. Replacing your Epson Ink Cartridge would mean discarding the older one creating redundant e-waste. If you refill, however, you can keep using the same cartridge thereby reducing environmental impact.
Can I refill my cartridge an unlimited amount of times?
Well, yes and no. The amount of times you can refill significantly depends on your use. If you don’t leave the cartridge completely dry before refilling and use your printer often (thereby keeping the nozzle clean), you can refill at least 3-4 times with ease.
Does refilling the Cartridge offer the same quality?
Yes! If you’ve followed the process mentioned above to the teeth, you’ll find no difference in print quality between a refilled and a re-used ink cartridge.