BizNet OnLine Magazine, Why Not "Pump" Your Own Ink?

Filler Up!

Do You Pump Your Own Gas?

Then Why Not "Pump" Your Own Ink.

If your like me you pump your own gas at the Self Service Gas Station to avoid paying as much as 30¢ per gallon of gas extra just to have some guy take two minutes to "stick" a nozzle in your gas tank. Hey, on only ten gallons of gas, that's a $3.00 savings, and gas ain't cheap! At ten gallons a week, that's $12.00 per month!

Let me ask you, "Do you have an Inkjet printer?” If so, why are you paying someone $20.00 to $35.00 just so you don't have to "stick a nozzle" in your printer?

Don't get it? Can't figure out what I'm talking about? Lets try this. When your Inkjet printer runs out of ink what do you do? You go out and buy a new cartridge (at $20.00 to $40.00 bucks a piece or more) and throw out the old one.

Why? All you have to do is "stick a nozzle" into your cartridge and "Filler up"! Instead of paying the $20.00 to $40.00 dollars for a new cartridge how about it costing no more then about $5.00 to just "filler up".

Still not interested? Still think it just makes more sense to throw the old one out and get a new one. Let’s get real! Buying a new inkjet cartridge every time the "Tank" is empty is as silly as buying a new car every time you run out of gas!

By now you’re thinking why is this guy so bent on comparing putting gas in a car with putting ink in a printer? I think you will understand when I tell you what it was like the first time I ever put gas in a car, and the how most people feel before they refill their first inkjet cartridge.

The first time I ever put gas in a car was in the mid 1970's. In fact I had never even worked a gas pump before this. I was driving an old 1950's car that belonged to a friend of mine. I pulled up to the gas pump and got out to pump the gas. I walked to the passenger side of the car. No gas cap. I walked around the driver’s side. No gas cap. I thought oh! I know. I tried to pull the rear license plate down. No, bolted to the car, no gas cap there. I walked around and around the car. I could not find the gas cap. Come on! How hard can it be to put gas in a car! I was feeling like a moron. I can't even find a gas cap. I guess the gas station attendant took pity on me or the novelty of watching was wearing off, but he came over to help me. Without saying a word he walked over to the driver's side rear taillight and pushed something. Bingo a gas cap. It was hiding behind the taillight!

Now I was ready to go. Took the cap off. Grabbed the nozzle from the pump. Put the nozzle in and squeezed the handle. No gas, nothing... Now I'm thinking HOW THE H.... do you pump gas!!!!!

Again the gas station attendant just walked up and flipped the lever on the pump. Bingo I was pumping my own gas!

I went from trying and feeling like it was impossible to do, to knowing how simple it was. The only trick was to know were the gas cap was and how to start the pump! In other words, I needed to know "how exactly do you put gas in a car?"

Now lets look at refilling an inkjet cartridge.

Most people think, Oh, I can't do that. I don't have any idea how you put the ink in. Where does it go? What do you use to put it in?"... Just how do you do this, what do you use?

It's easy. All you need to know is where the filler cap is, and how to inject the ink. Get the comparison now? Once you know how, refilling an inkjet cartridge is as easy as putting gas in your car!

I have been refilling my own cartridges for over five years. In fact I have some cartridges that have lasted for up to three years, just by refilling them. I have played with a lot of "refill" kits and different inks. Just like gas for your car, some inks are better than others. I have seen some inks where the color is so watered down that your printer just can't print the right color shades. I have seen ink so "thick" it clogs the inkjets. For the most part, my ink problems were limited to a handful of off name brands coming from offshore.

Almost every brand of ink on the market today is pretty good. I still believe some are better than others. I personally look for ink that gives very "rich" colors and keeps my cartridges in good shape. But in reality almost any ink you buy nowadays will be at worst OK.

The big difference in the kits is really the 'How" of putting the ink in. Some kits come with such generic instructions that they tell you to "drill" a hole into the cartridge to put the ink in. In fact some kits even come with a small drill bit or screw to do the drilling with. Now let me tell you. Drilling a hole in your cartridge is as silly as drilling a hole in your car to put the gas in. Believe me, the filler cap is there, you just need to know where (more on this later)

For what to use, almost all kits are the same. You get a long needle that looks like the one you see at the doctor’s office just before you’re told to bend over. The big difference is that these needles have no point on them. You cannot hurt yourself or anyone else with these "applicator" needles. The needles connect to an "Injector”. Some kits use a syringe (just like the doc uses) and separate bottles of ink. Others use "collapsible" bottles or a "squeeze" type bottle (both with the ink already in them). So which one is better?

Like I said, I have been doing this for five years. I believe that after you do your first cartridge you will feel the way I do. The way to go is with a syringe and a separate ink bottle. This way you only pay for the syringe(s) once, then just keep buying the ink. Also this way you can save even more by buying your ink in the larger sizes. I personally buy ink in 250mil bottles (most kits come with only 25mil of ink). Refilling both the black cartridge and the color cartridge on my inkjet printer costs about $4.00 to $5.00. It takes me about 5 minutes to do both cartridges. Not a bad deal when you look at the fact that the black cartridge cost $20.00 and the color runs about $35.00 (both at a real discount price).

In five years of doing this I have learned a lot. I even have a "system" for doing my refilling. I keep all the supplies in a plastic tray. I wear rubber gloves when I do the refilling. I do all my refilling in the tray. If I get "klutzy" and spill ink, No big deal. I just wash out the tray. I also no longer have to wash any ink off my hands as I simply put on some disposable gloves and toss them when I'm done.

So, how did I come up with this? What ink refill manufacture showed me the way? None, not a one (until now, but that part’s coming). I made mistakes and learned. That's also basically how I had to find out the right way to refill the different cartridges I have used. I have had to "dissect" the cartridges. Believe me, if you follow the drill the hole method you will not be happy.

At the last Computer telephony show (the what???? Telephony: the marriage of computers and telephones) ..... I know you’re thinking "what does this have to do with inkjets????? ". I'll get to it. Here it comes... I met a guy named Russ Kalvin with Universal Inkjet Refill company. He showed me not only a great line of inks, but also the one thing everyone else was totally missing. Instructions! Total utter and complete instructions showing exactly how to refill an Inkjet cartridge!

Not the "drill the hole" junk, but real instructions. Instructions anyone could follow. Not some "one-set-of-directions-fit-all directions. I think this guy has dissected every cartridge out there and made detailed instructions for every last one.

For those not comfortable with reading about it and doing it, He has instructions for the "show me" crowd.

Russ has gone to the extent of including video instructions on a CD that you can play on your computer.

Remember how I talked about gloves and a plastic tray... Russ covers it. He covers everything you need to know. I was amazed. I can't think of a thing he has left out.

I not only met with Russ, I visited his company. I talked with his son, Jeff. Believe me these guys obviously want to sell you ink, but they also really care about making it easy and educating the consumer on how to do it.

Check out their web site at:

http://www.kalvins.com

You will find a wealth of information on Ink and Inkjet Cartridges. They even have Web based technical support. If you want to save money on your Inkjet cost but have felt, shall we say, a little nervous about it… Then just shoot on over to http://www.kalvins.com . You will be happy with the kits Russ sells. You can even get the big bottles of ink.

How sure am I that you will be happy and able to do it yourself? Ever give a tip or advice to a family member. You know what it's like after they take it and then disagree with it. You know what a pain that can be. I do too. With this in mind I sent my uncle over to Russ when he (my uncle) started to complain about the cost of inkjet cartridges. Now my uncle is telling other family members about Universal Inkjet Refills.

Universal Inkjet makes more then just great ink. The make it easy to use!

For having the best instructions and user support, we at BizNet Online give Universal Inkjet the WOW Award!

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