Should You Trust Remanufactured Printer Cartridges

Should you trust remanufactured printer cartridges for your printing needs? The company that made your printer is spending millions trying to convince you that you should not but just about every store you go in to offers some type of remanufactured cartridge as an alternative to the manufacturer brand cartridge. What to do?

Let’s take a look at a few facts that might help you decide.

We’ll start with the two biggest advantages offered by remanufactured printer cartridges; they are environmentally friendly and they are inexpensive. Since remanufactured cartridges are produced with reused materials, fewer natural resources are used to provide you with a cartridge you can put in your printer. Because fewer resources are used and less production takes place, remanufactured cartridges are less expensive than their manufacturer brand equivalent.

For some, these two facts alone are enough to answer the question, should you trust them? Others of you might need a bit more information. Let’s take a look at the remanufacturing process.

Remanufacturing a printer cartridge is a multi-step process. Some remanufacturers do it very well, others not so well. While no company will completely disclose their exact process, the general process is as follows.

Empty cartridges are first visually inspected for damage. There are varying levels of visual inspection. I know of a few companies that will refuse to remanufacture a cartridge at the slightest sign of damage. Unfortunately, there are others who ignore major signs of damage. It’s the yin and the yang of the industry! Regardless of their level of inspection, all damaged parts are repaired or replaced. The next step is to test the cartridge’s circuits to make sure they are still functioning properly.

Cartridges are then cleaned and emptied of any remaining waste ink/toner or ink/toner  residue.  Once clean the cartridges are filled with an ink or toner that the remanufacturer claims is equivalent to the manufacturer brand ink. Remember, it cannot be the same ink. Printer manufacturers hold patents on their ink formulations. Unless a remanufacturer were to license the formualation it is illegal for them to use it (or to claim it).

After the cartridge is filled, it must go through a very important process. The sealing process is of the utmost importance to the cartridge. If a remanufactured cartridge is not sealed properly you can expect a cartridge that does not print with any quality, if it prints at all. Once sealed the cartridge is print tested. Some remanufacturers do multiple print tests, others only do one. The print out from the remanufactured cartridge is matched to a print out from a manufacturer brand cartridge. If the prints match the cartridge moves to the packaging phase. If the prints don’t match, some remanufacturers will still move the cartridge to the packaging phase. It’s the yin and the yang of the industry again!

The final step is to clean the cartridge, one last time, and then to put it in a sealed plastic bag and retail box.

Are you feeling some trust now?

You should be. The key to all of this is finding the right place to buy your remanufactured cartridges. If you can do that you can have a high level of trust in the cartridge you are getting. Reputable cartridge vendors only deal with reputable remanufacturers. They know the cartridge they provide to you reflects directly on them and your desire to keep buying cartridges from them.