How can you know how much ink is in a brand new cartridge? -

Recently, I bought brand new ink cartridges from ebay for my Epson Stylus C40UX printer at a great price; at least for what I thought I was getting; I believed that the cartridges would be 100% filled to capacity. When I installed 1 of them, the ink level indicator read that the cartridge was only half full. After looking at some sites on the Internet, I see that there are many occurances of this situation; people buying brand new ink cartridges, expecting them to be completely filled, but finding out otherwise. My question is how can you tell, when buying a new, unopened ink cartridge, how full it is? Also, if you have any other guidelines for buying ink cartridges, or tips on refilling cartridges (which I ve never done), you can include that as well. Thank you.

Buy from a dealer with a good return policy. I don t necessarily recommend ink refill kits due to varied results. They usually work, but not always that well.

actually, most new carts are never full. a) it s a profit thing but more often, b) it s a shipping issue. if those carts are shipped via air (in an airplane), the ink will expand. if the cart is full, BOOM! explody cartirdge. so, most often, manufacturers will not fill them anywhere near full. sorry :(

The ink cartridges that you purchased for a cheap price are probably after market cartridges, they are not Original EPSON. Usually when you purchase them, you should look for something that tells you how many ml’s of ink it has in it. If you buy aftermarket ink you might be getting ripped off, also the ink cartridges have chips on them that tell the printer what kind of cartridge it is, so you computer might be reading it as a generic cartridge and gives you a false reading. Also the ink levels are not 100% accurate because the print never knows exactly how much ink is in the cartridge, the printer calculates the amount of ink by how many pages are printed, not by the actual ink in the printer. Check the box that the cartridges came in, does it have the official Epson logo on it, or does it look generic?

Most ink cartridges that come with new printers are only half full. That s usually where the manufacturer makes there money, on the print cartridges not the printer themselves. That s why most printers are gift with purchase. Beware of a killer deal.

I ve had great success with ABC Inks out of NY. (refurbished ink supplies) They are low priced. I ve never gotten a bad one (knock on wood) and they really fill them up. Rarely, are the new ones you purchase, filled properly.