You've seen the ads for ink-jet refill kits promising to save you hundreds of dollars on cartridges. But printer companies such as Canon, HP, and Epson don't agree. Tonight on "Tech Live" we set out to see if refilling your printer cartridge is more hassle than it's worth. We also uncover the problems consumers may face when undertaking this complicated task.

After shopping for the best deal, we ordered the JR Universal refill kit online, just because it had that "As Seen on TV" look and feel. It cost $14.95 plus shipping and handling. We ended up paying $22 total and it came with a free "Tomb Raider" CD-ROM game.

It took a week to show up, but the kit had a lot of ink for each color: black, red, yellow, and blue. It also had a flushing solution to resurrect sticky or inky printer heads, a syringe (blunted needle), a tiny screw drill, and some rubber stoppers to plug drilled refill holes.

Putting to the test

We used an Epson 670 printer with the original manufacturer's cartridge. We laid out newspaper, which was a lifesaver in the end because this job can go wrong and get seriously messy. We also suggest you keep the cartridge away from carpets during any phase of the refill and for up to 24 hours post-refill until the contact points have dried and all plugs/tape jobs are proven sealed.

First we removed the printer cartridge from the printer. We had to catch it while it was out of its home position. We read the directions; the JR refill kit actually had a fairly extensive direction set with specific how-to instructions for each make and model of printer.

In the case of our cartridge we had to peel some tape off of the back (away from the print head) side. The tape ominously read, "Do not remove." The directions for some of the other models mandate making a hole in the cartridge.

Next we had to tape the outlet head. This prevents ink from flowing directly out while you inject the new ink. If you don't block the outlet, it's a serious mess.

So now it's time to play doctor.

We filled the syringe with ink and injected it into the input hole. Most of the cartridges have a sponge inside, so when you put the syringe in the input hole make contact with the sponge and then push down the plunger.

Some ink-jet kits mandate leaving the tape on the outlet to dry. Some even say you should leave it on indefinitely. But our cartridge wasn't all the way empty when we refilled it and we didn't inject a lot of ink, so we unplugged the output right away. We replaced the cartridge in the printer, washed the syringe with cold water, and packed up our ink-jet replacement kit.

Total time: Five minutes.

Ask an expert

It wasn't that hard, but we were left with a few questions for one of our computer gurus, Mike Nadelman of Advanced Computer Solutions. He repairs computers for a living and refills ink-jet cartridges for his clients.

TechTV: How much is an average refill kit?
Mike Nadelman: Twenty bucks.

TechTV: How much for a new ink-jet cartridge?
Nadelman: Between $25 and $45.

TechTV: How many times can you refill a cartridge?
Nadelman: Between five and 10 times.

TechTV: When should you not refill a cartridge? When should you buy a new one?
Nadelman: If the cartridge is completely dry and it's been out of ink for more than a day, it's shot. You want to have a refill kit on hand and immediately refill an empty cartridge to prevent dry-out. Also, if you notice print-quality degradation, it could be the print heads. Get a new cartridge.

TechTV: Can you damage your printer by refilling the cartridge? Will refilling void your warranty?
Nadelman: If the ink leaks into the spindles or gets on the circuit board it can interfere with the electronic systems of the printer. That can damage the warranty. If there is no leakage, most companies won't void the warranty, but if you're the conservative type, call tech support and get their policy.

TechTV: Can you refill all ink-jet cartridges?
Nadelman: There's a cat-and-mouse game going on between printer manufacturers and refill kit companies. [The printer manufacturers] make it so you have to physically drill a hole in the cartridge. Even worse, some of them have chips that lock the cartridge down. It stops it from working after a certain number of prints, whether there's ink or not. If you have a cartridge with a chip, you may be out of luck in the refill department.

TechTV: Why don't the printer companies sell refill kits?
Nadelman: Cartridges are where they recoup the costs of selling such cheap printers. It's like the razor and razor blade analogy. The one-time purchase razor is cheap, but the refills, the blades, are expensive and something you purchase over and over again. Cartridges are profit centers and many a lawsuit has been filed on this issue.

Bottom line: Refill to save money, be careful not to leak ink into the printer, and don't do the job anywhere near your new white carpet.

For more information on ink-jet refills, visit Advanced Computer Solutions' ink-jet resource center.