I have a Dell  printer. I purchased ink cartriges (not from dell)they work ok but the low ink light stays on.?
109013
Some print cartridges have an embedded chip that communicates with the printer to advise ink levels. When you buy from aftermarket suppliers (especially refillers) they may not support these.
1007603
I think that is an ink jet, so it may just need new cartridges, or replacing the ink in the old ones. If the printer has been sitting a long time, you may be able to use the extreme clean section of the head cleaning program. Another possibility is that the FORM FEED button is being held down. Of course, it could need a new control board, which would have the same effect. If you have the original disk, there should be a diagnostic program on it, or you can download it from the HP website, and that may be able to help you resolve this issue.
481428
check the ink, unplug n replug the cartrege and check if there is any borken part in printer or try to change it
23408
low on ink or theres a message
478952
Try cleaning the print heads.  You can usually do this by using the printer software that came with your computer.
397988
Your ink level is nothing more than a page counter.  Do not trust it.\n\nTo fully answer your question however, the ink level will effect how your printing looks if the inks are extremely low or one colour has run out.   The only true gauge of you ink levels is you own eye.  The moment a cartridge starts to show signs of fading it is running out.
204127
not sure what kind of printer you have, but some printers have a refresh button, try that.
679666
heh, that is kind of funny.  You have a tracking problem.  it will require service to fix it.  If it still prints put up with it until it is time to replace the cartridges, then replace the printer.   For the Price of a new set of Dell cartridges you can get a nice little HP printer.
364549
Dell aka Lexmark can be refilled by going to a local officemax store!  make sure the cartidge is in good shape.  All of the stores should a refill station now or real soon.  We have on in my Ny store I work at and have done many dell cartidges and they work fine both black and color.  just bring you old cartidge in and should cost 14.99 for black or 22.99 for color.  can refill hp, dell, lexmark, and some cannon cartidges at officemax.  good luck!\n\n~officemax employee
782834
This is silly, but it has happened.  Make sure the protective tape on the ink cartridge has been removed before installing it into the printer.  I have an IT friend who made this very embarrassing mistake.
695880
Maybe the ink has caused the problem or its meant to happen. You should have read the manual carefully regarding refilling the cartridge or it was not designed to be refilled. Your friends may not have problems because they different models. Different models have different settings and requirements almost. Or maybe the cartrtidge is damaged. Clean the part where you can see a electronic device exposed. That's where the printer can detect if a cartridge is full or not, or nothing is present.
103069
perform a 'cleaning' cycle.  Regardless of the cause, some jets are clogged.  too many 'cleaning' cycles, and it will exhaust the ink cartridge....so beware !
1136135
I have a Dell printer as well and sadly you can only purchase it from them to avoid damage to your printer or invalidating your warranty (if you have one)
426715
It could be a number of things.  \n\nFirst off make sure that you are not printing in draft mode.\n\nSecondly,  are you using a number 94 black cartridge or a 99 photo?   The photo cartridge will result in a lighter print for things like text.\n\nThe third problem could be that HP is known to be a little cheeky, from time to time they use the colour cartridge to darken the black.   Are both cartridge performing well?\nRu a print head cleaning (the process should be outlined in your manual)  if the diagnostic page looks good then that isn't your problem.\n\nFinally if you are using a refilled or third party cartridge, that is your problem right there.
478899
Here are some things to try:\n\n1. Go through and manually configure your print options, ensuring that none of them are set to exclusively red print.\n2. Remove the red ink cartridge.
517746
your nozzle check is good.  Run a couple cleanings on it.  then check again.\n\nYou may have a priming issue with the bulk ink systems.  Epsons always need a little ink to remain inside the print head in order for them to print.   If the system is drawing back in after a print then you will have a void in the print head resulting in a lack of print.\n\nDo a few nozzle cleaning since those tend to use a little ink do your nozzle checks as well.  Trying printing immediately after wards.   Do a couple pages to see if there is improvement.  If that works then you have huge problem with the bulk ink system.  One that will eventually damage the print head beyond repair.
811070
Hi there:\nYou have a very good question, which is asked repeatedly in\nthe ANSWERS forum.\nYou do not state the actual model numbers of the Dell and Epson, so that I can only reply with general information, which may not be correct, since both DELL and Epson have hundreds of different models. The answers to the " COMMON"  models that one might find today, are listed below. These are cut and pasted from previous answers I have given on DELL and Epson, and you can read more information by browsing through my ANSWERS section.\n\nGenerally, answering your question, NO you cannot harm your printer if you refill your ink carts -- IF the printhead is actually on the carts. This would be typically true on HP, or LEXMARK, common printers. EPSON, typically has the printehead BOLTED to the large round rail that the print assembly moves on, and you have to tear apart the entire machine to get the printhead out. If you used a really bad ink refill, or bad ink foam cart on the top of the unremoveable printhead, and clogged the head, then you would be rather stuck. DELL typically has an HP or Lexmark type of printhead, which has a gold plated plastic carrier with gold or chrome printholes glued directly on the ink cartridge, so that replacing the cartridge replaces the printhead. If clogging the head with incompatible ink should occur, the printer itself is unaffected. Just get another cart, and everything is back to normal. \n As for " trying" to refill the ink carts, I have hundreds of bottles of refill inks, and try to refill everything. There are a few difficulties with a few ink carts, and a few bad ink refills, but generally, they are well worth it. Most ink refill manufacturers have special formulas made for each specific brand, so that incompatabilities are eliminated. Any local computer shop will have both clone carts, and refill kits, and you are best to shop around. The refill / clone market changes constantly, so I won't make recommendations! As far as I know, ONLY DELL will supply actual DELL carts, so that you are more or less forced to buy from them or, you can try to refill.\n\n Here are 3 questions and my answers on DELL and Epson, which give a great deal of information.\n\n_______________________________________________\n\nHow many times can you NORMALLY refill Dell ink cartridges before they start failing?\n\nBest Answer - Chosen by Asker\n\nDell does not make printers. What you are looking at is the same factory type of Lexmark or HP printer carts, with the gold foil on the bottom, which is the actual print head. I like these the best, as, if you are careful ( CAREFUL ) not to press, deform, or mechanically abrade the gold or chrome print hole surface itself, you can use for YEARS, -- I have one that is 10 years old. There are a few situations though, that might give you problems such as a few types of BLACK ink that are incompatible with many standard refills, and if you put in black ink, the cart immediately quits. If you soak the cart in water about 3/4 the height of the cart overnight, you can print a page or 2, and then it quits again. I have not heard any explanation for this behaviour, but a typical cart is the dark green capped black cart in a LEXMARK printer 5XX or 6XX printer with the 16/17 26/27 carts. The color, on the other hand, can be refilled for years. The best carts just have various compositions of ordinary FOAM in them, sometimes with a layer of fiber on the top or bottom, but the foam is the holding mechanism. NEVER drill an existing vent hole on a cart if it contains micro-baffles that allow a tiny amount of air in, without allowing dry air outside to dry out the foam. HP uses a dual bladder air charged black, on a few models, and a few other ones do as well. These require more time and care in loading and taping.\nIf you purchase an ink refill kit, there is usually online instructions\nand/or a manual that explains where to drill holes and tape etc.\nThey may even explain ab