How to Refill Lexmark Cartridges & Reset the Chip
By Joanne Cichetti
When you refill a Lexmark printer’s cartridge, you also have to reset its chip so the printer recognizes that the cartridge has been refilled. Both refilling and resetting are quite easy as long as you follow the right method. The instructions vary slightly depending on the cartridge’s model, but the procedure is essentially the same.
Refilling
Step 1
Place the cartridge on paper towels.
Step 2
Peal off the cartridge’s top label. There should be only one label on the cartridge, so you shouldn’t have problem locating it.
Step 3
Fill the syringe with about 25 ml of ink, if it’s a black cartridge, or approximately 15 ml of ink, if it’s a color cartridge. The amount of ink also depends on the cartridge capacity. If you’re refilling a single-color cartridge, inject the ink slowly into one of the holes underneath the label you peeled off. You can inject into any hole because they all go to the same sponge. After refilling the ink, you may leave the top label off. Its absence doesn’t affect the printing quality.
If your printer uses a tri-color cartridge, you will need to determine which hole leads to which ink tank--magenta, cyan or yellow. Usually, the top label on the cartridge, which you peeled off in Step 2, tells which hole leads to which color compartment. If you’re not sure, take a long needle or a toothpick and insert into each hole before you refill. When you take the needle out, it will be colored, so you will be able to determine which ink to fill into the hole.
Step 4
Put the cartridge back into the printer.
Resetting
Step 1
Switch off the printer.
Step 2
Hold down the “Ready” and “Return” keys while turning the printer until you see “Performing Self Test” on the printer screen. Now you will be entering the “Diagnostics Mode.”
Step 3
Select “Maintenance Count.”
Step 4
Choose “Reset.” The ink level count will now be reset, and you will stop receiving "Low Ink" messages on your printer.
Step 5
Push the “Return” button for returning to the “Diagnostics Mode” menu. Now you can go back to the normal mode of the printer.
References
Tips
- You can purchase a refill kit specifically made for your Lexmark cartridge. The kit typically contains all the things that you need for refilling, so you don’t have to purchase each item individually.
Writer Bio
Joanne Cichetti has written articles and Web content professionally since 2009, focusing primarily on health and lifestyle. In order to further pursue her writing career professionally, Cichetti inducted herself in the Long Ridge Writers Group, and she looks forward to having a novel published under their guidance.