Should You Refill Printer Consumables?

Last Updated on April 14, 2021 by Christian Ralph

Unfortunately, printer consumables don’t last forever. At some point your toner or ink is going to begin to falter, or run out completely.

When this happens the initial low cost of refilling your printer cartridges, rather than just replacing them, can be a tempting option. However, there are many risks and downsides to this choice that may make this a more expensive decision after all.

Read below to discover why, when it comes to your printer consumables, it’s better to stay safe and replace instead of refill:

Ink consistencies

Different types of printer ink can have different consistencies. This can be an issue if your consumables are refilled at a third-party vendor or somewhere other than your original manufacturer.

While the price is initially lower than buying a replacement cartridge, refilling your consumables may bring about some unexpected costs. For example, the new ink in your refilled cartridge may be a different consistency than that which is intended for your device.

If the ink is too thin, your cartridge may be unable to contain it and can therefore cause a leak in your printer. A printer leak is considerably more expensive to repair than paying for a new cartridge, which is why cutting corners with your printer consumables may be a mistake.

If the ink that your cartridge is refilled with is too thick, it may cause your device’s print heads to become clogged. While they can occasionally be cleaned, the issue can cause damage to your machine which will require repair.

Quality reduced

If you refill a toner cartridge, it can cause a noticeable reduction to the quality of the print that your device produces.

If you’re used to seeing prints produced from a Samsung toner cartridge, or another official manufacturer, third-party toner may seem inferior as it is not as vivid.

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Along with this, when toner is refilled, the consumable cartridges cannot be easily cleaned out. This means that the remnants of the previous toner can be left in the cartridge when they are refilled. This will result in different colour shades mixing inside the cartridges, which can produce a strange effect when they are used to print.

Durability

Many printer toners and ink cartridges are only designed for the initial use and were never intended to be refilled.

This means that the more times you use them, the more likely it is that they will become damaged. If a cartridge gets damaged, jammed or springs a leak, this can in cause havoc in your printer.

As well as this, using third party consumables can void your printer’s warranty, so if damage should occur you could be left printer-less while your device is repaired.

Environmental issues

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It may seem like you are doing your part in saving the environment by reusing your printer cartridges. If you are reusing your own cartridges, this is saving them from ending up in a landfill, right? Well, this is not necessarily true.

Many refilled cartridges end up being thrown away after they cease to work, as you will need to purchase a new one eventually. Whereas if you choose to buy new cartridges from manufacturers such as Epson, they will recycle your used Epson toner cartridge instead of throwing them away.

This is a much greener option than having to throw away cartridges that have become damaged or broken due to excessive refilling, and is a choice that will keep your printer healthy too!

As you can see, there are a lot of benefits in choosing to purchase your cartridges new, rather than refilling them. While it may seem like the higher cost option at first, you will save time and money in the long term.

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