Tired of paying the high cost of replacement ink cartridges? Refilling your Lexmark ink cartridge is a good way to save money and it's fairly easy to do. Here are step-by-step instructions to refill a Lexmark ink cartridge with a Lexmark refill kit - available online, in drugstores and office supplies stores.
Instructions
1. Use only a refill kit ink specifically labeled as appropriate for a Lexmark cartridge. Ensure the cartridge is in good working condition. If the cartridge has been empty for more than a few hours, buy a new ink cartridge.
2. Using a prying tool - like a thin pocket knife or skinny slotted screw driver - to lift the plastic top off the cartridge.
3. Fill the syringe or prepare the bottle - depending on the type of refill kit you purchased - with the correct Lexmark ink. To prepare the bottle, place the O-ring inside of the cap and put the needle on the end of the cap, then screw the cap onto the bottle.
4. Look inside the empty Lexmark ink cartridge and note the separate color chambers and ink sponges. Before refilling the ink sponges make sure you are putting the correct ink in the correct chamber, or you will contaminate the sponges with the wrong color ink.
5. Insert the ink-filled needle into the sponge as far as it will go. Then, draw back slightly, about 1/8 inch. The needle must be inserted all the way, except for the slight drawback, before injecting the ink. If you do not insert the needle far enough into the sponge an air pocket will form in the sponge and the cartridge will not work properly. Drawing back a tiny bit prevents the needle from being blocked by the sponge material.
6. Squeeze the bottle or syringe slowly but firmly to inject the ink into the cartridge. Be sure to keep the needle as deep in the sponge as possible. Saturate the sponge, pull the needle out and reinsert it at a different angle once or twice. Keep injecting slowly until you see ink begin to appear at the top of the sponge.
7. Rinse the syringe and needle with warm water.
8. Repeat the process for the other colors.
9. Wipe excess ink from the cartridge. Fold a paper towel in half, then in half again, and hold it against the print head. You should see a triple-colored spot of ink develop. Do not wipe across the print head, only blot it. To remove any excess ink and air bubbles trapped, hold the paper towel against the print head for two to three minutes.
10. Install the refilled cartridge into your Lexmark printer and run one cleaning cycle. To run a cleaning cycle, set up an 8 x10 page of cyan, magenta and yellow rectangles. Print 10 color pages. The first page may not be the best quality, but by the 10th page it should look perfect.
