Peoples always ask me, why using syringe is a better approach when you refill a cartridge.

Simple reason, you take control. Let me explain.

When your printer “declare” the cartridge is empty, actually it is not totally empty. The printer “estimate” the ink level by calculating the ink consumed during printing. So, when you want to refill the cartridge, how do you know how much ink that you need to put into the cartridge?

The best practise of refilling cartridge is not to refill too much. This is one of the rules that I mentioned in Best practise of refilling cartridge page. If you refill too much, the ink inside the cartridge give the pressure to the print-head and you may get ink “blob” in your printout.

By using syringe, you control how much ink that you need to inject into the cartridge. Most HP cartridges inform you how much the ink contents inside the cartridge at their label, so you can inject up to the amount of ink mentioned in the label. Once again, don’t refill too much. You have to stop injecting the ink when you see the ink come out from the refill hole (suck a bit if necessary).

Some refill kit manufacturers don’t like to use syringe in their product for packaging reason. The syringe make the refill kit bulky, taken too much space in their packaging and less attractive appearance, etc.