New Way to make your Ink Cartridges Last longer!
This new system is for the Lexmark Z11, Z22, Z31, Z32 and similar printers using
cartridges with the numbers 12A1980, 12A1985, 12A1970, 12A1975 etc. The ideas of
this page can be adapted to many other printer cartridges both black and color and to
other printer manufactures as well.
Almost everyone has a printer these days that uses an ink cartridge. Bubble Jet and similar printers work well and produce wonderful text and images, but we all know the one and only problem associated with these type of printers.
The ink cartridges cost too much!
Some cartridges cost as much as two thirds the price of a new, on-sale printer. This is ridiculous, and as far as I am concerned, a consumer rip-off!
The most popular way of alleviating this problem is to refill the cartridge. This is a messy, inconvenient and far from reliable process. Some cartridges are not well suited to be refilled, requiring the top to be pried off. Even with monitoring ink levels with software, color cartridges often run out of ink in at least one of the three colors. Refilling color cartridges helps but the problem arises when one of the colors runs out of ink.
Some people thing using software to know how much ink is in the cartridge is the way to go. If you take out the color cartridge and put in a black cartridge then replace the color cartridge there is no reliable way the software knows how much ink of each color is left in the cartridge! If you refill and rotate cartridges, monitoring ink levels with software is a guess at best. |
Important This has been my experience using the Lexmark Z11 and Z22 color
cartridges. |
My research indicates Lexmark (and probably others) ink cartridges work well and are refillable but if you run out of ink and print for a page or two without ink the cartridge fails. I do not know if this is an intentional design feature but this has happened to me and other people many times.
When you run out of ink, usually printing a multiple page document and the printer keeps printing for a page or two the cartridge will be ruined and you will have to buy a new one.
Below is a quote from a web site that deals with cartridges!
Why you should not run a cartridge dry? Do not let your cartridge dry out or run a cartridge dry: The biggest problem is letting your cartridge dry out or running it when it has run out of ink. HP, Lexmark, Brother, Olivetti, Canon, Xerox, Okidata, Compaq cartridges that have an integral print head have a tendency to burn out when there is no ink in the cartridge chamber (like running your car with no oil in the motor). At the first sign of print quality becoming poor REFILL. Another way to know when it is time to refill the cartridge will get lighter take out once in a while if it feels light refill or refill when you feel that you have printed to the point you feel it will be running out.. |
Those silly suggestions for knowing how full or empty your cartridges is: SUCK!
What is the best way of knowing how much ink you have in each of the three color chambers?
The Solution to this Problem!
After extensive research and exhaustive experimentation I have developed an accessory to be added to the cartridge so you can tell the ink levels of each of the three colors in a color cartridge or the level of black ink in a black cartridge.
Advantages to YOU!
Allows for easy and accurate monitoring of ink levels. You will be able to SEE the ink levels!!!
Gives you more control over your cartridge so you will keep your cartridge from going empty.
Keeping the cartridge from going dry will allow your cartridge to last much longer!!
Allows much easier, less messy refilling of the cartridge.
It is durable and reusable! No modification of the printer is required.
Below is information about installing this accessory and how it works
The accessory is called: the Myers cartridge sight glass. (named after Me) It is attached to the cartridge and allows you to see how much ink is in the cartridge. Below is an image of the cartridge sight glass.
The Myers cartridge sight glass is made of plexiglas and is about the size of the front of the cartridge. To install the sight glass follow the two steps.
Step 1 Remove sticker on front of cartridge. Each hole is for each of the three color chambers. |
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Step 2 Carefully glue the sight glass onto the cartridge. |
Ink filling instructions
After glue is completely dry fill each sight glass chamber Top is shown removed for clarity but the top of No more running out of ink!! |
Here you can see the levels of the ink are lower It works very well!! No more running out of ink!! |
As ink is used while printing ink in the three sight glass chambers soak into the sponge through the 3 small holes you drilled in the cartridge. I have used this system for some time and my cartridges never run out of ink and never run dry in any of the three colors. This allows my cartridges to last much longer! This has saved me money and made me a happy camper!
You too can save money with this simple system
I want you to try out this setup on your printer. Go ahead and make a sight glass and let me know how it goes! Simply make a sight glass out of plastic or Plexiglas, drill the three small holes in the color cartridge (one hole for black cartridge) glue it on and save money!!!! Power to the people and all that!! It is quite delicate work and requires a steady hand. A drill press is handy. Making the slots in the Plexiglas piece is delicate work too. Also you need to design you sight glass so that it does not interfere with the movement of the cartridge in the printer.
I have done all of these things and have a number of Myers Sight Glass accessories already made. Instead of designing and making your own sight glass, you can save your precious time and effort and simply order this new innovation from me! Now that's convenient!!
I am charging $8.00 each for either color or black cartridge. This includes the Myers Sight Glass, detailed instructions and template for holes. Every thing you need but the glue for 8 Dollars and I'll pay the postage to send it!! Now that is a very good deal!
8 Bucks for a small piece of Plexiglas!!! That's ridiculous!! If you think that's ridiculous, go buy a cartridge!! I'll tell you what I'll do. 1 Myers sight glass for 8 bucks, or 2 for 15 dollars and I still pay the shipping. Why not get one for the color cartridge and one for the black cartridge. This includes the instructions and template.
We take cash (don't send cash through the mail unless you want to), money orders, personal checks are great, and PayPal account: sightglass@thepump.org. (start an account with them and save 5 bucks! wow!) International orders are great. The check must be in USA funds.
Check out our
Order form Links page Frequently Asked Questions or Email me.
.......... Copy the order form below and print it out in your word processor. Send it in and you will be saving money...........
Fill in your address or the address you want the Myers Sight Glass and instructions sent. These make great gifts!! Email address: ___________________________________ Name: _________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________ Apt: ________ City: ______________________ State: _________ Country:
____________ Zip Code:____________ _________ Number of sight glass for color cartridge _________ Number of sight glass for black cartridge 8 Dollars each or 2 for $15 But wait: there's MORE! Special Promotion: Order 4 of any combination for 25
dollars. This is cheaper than ONE color cartridge! Send your order to: Myers Sight Glass offer |
................. Copy form and print it out in your word processor. Send it in and you will be saving money..................
Related links
Email with questions reports, ideas, or comments.
Read our Frequently Asked Questions
Technical site describing how a cartridge is destroyed when run dry
Counter reset on Jan 20, 2002