Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hplabs!hp-pcd!hpvcfs1!neff
From: neff@hpvcfs1.HP.COM (Dave Neff)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: REFILLING HP DeskJet INK CARTRIDGES -- a warning...
Message-ID: <2150017@hpvcfs1.HP.COM>
Date: 28 Sep 89 23:10:20 GMT
References: <890922.08325265.044109@SFA.CP6>
Organization: Hewlett Packard, Vancouver, WA
Lines: 70

O.K. I'll open my mouth a bit.  A little truth can go a long way ...

>I've been refilling my hp carteidges for about 6 months now, and,
>last weekend, my dj stopped printing.  I put in a brand new cartreidge
>that had an expiration date of 12/90 and it printed about 10 pages
>and then died.

and a responder says:

>>I don't see how this could have anything to do with refilling the
>>cartridge.  I mean, the whole print head IS the cartridge.  If you
>>replace the cartridge, you'd have to invoke homeopathic magic to
>>blame it on the previous cartridge!

...

>>When I had my HP DeskJet Plus taken apart to pieces (a very easy
>>task, by the way) I saw the little plastic tube that runs the primed
>>ink down to a blotter pad in the base of the unit.  It certainly
>>wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how to clean the
>>tube out if it did become clogged!  (The fact that HP ink is 
>>air drying and so is "bogus" ink, leads me to seriously doubt that
>>one is more likely to clog than the other.)

The person that had a pen deprime that would not recover probably is
seeing one of two situations: 1) His pen deprimed due to a pen failure
which has nothing to do with ink refilling.  This does happen sometimes
and if a new pen suddenly deprimes and priming has no effect our dealers
are authorized to replace the pen.  2) His pen deprimed and normal priming
would have reprimed the pen but the prime tube is clogged due to using
refilled cartridges.  One way to distinguish between these
cases it to try to prime the suspect pen on another DeskJet and see if
the pen works.  If it does, the tube is probably clogged and your
printer is no longer priming.

The person who mentioned it is fairly easy to clean the tube is also
correct.  It is also true that a clogged tube is the main reason ink
refills will void the warrantee.  However, YOU may be brave and smart
enough to take apart your printer, risking breaking who knows what,
and unclog the prime tube, but the average DeskJet user would be
more likely to take his printer in for warrantee repair.  It is also
fairly messy to take apart and clean the service station -- I know, I've
done it before, but then again, I always figured I could have been a
rocket scientist if I had wanted to :-).  It is also fairly easy to break
some of the plastic parts if you don't know what you are doing.
Since we are pushing the DeskJet as a no mess, no fuss inkjet solution
obviously messing with ink to refill cartridges and taking apart the
service station to clean it and unclog tubes runs contrary to this message.
Refilling cartridges and cleaning the service station is kind of like changing
your own oil in your car.  Its not very hard to do, but most people
would rather spend some extra money to avoid dirtying their hands.

Obviously, once your DeskJet printer is out of warrantee, do with
it as you please.  You paid for it.  If you break it, you will have
to pay HP to fix it :-).  But if its on warrantee I hope you guys can all see
why HP does not want to have to pay for warantee repairs due to operating
printer in a way that it wasn't designed.  The ink formula is a
critical part of the entire service station behavior.  Thats one of the
reasons waterfast ink is so difficult.

Now you may wonder how HP is going to catch someone who refills
cartridges.  Generally its hard to prove that someone has refilled
cartridges -- except in the case of those people who openly confess
to it on notes :-).  However our service people might ask if the
customer has ever refilled ink cartridges.  Some people use colored ink
in their refills and of course I'm sure our service people could notice that.
But don't worry, I won't turn you in :-).

Dave Neff
neff@hpvcfs1.HP.COM