Troubleshooter

This problem could be possibly caused by several different issues.

 

The cartridge actually still contains ink but the printer is reading it as being empty:

A remanufactured cartridge is a Lexmark original cartridge that has been recycled.  For functionality and legal reasons one of the components that needs to be reused without interference is the chip that records the level of ink that the cartridge has used.  As a result when you install a remanufactured Lexmark cartridge the printer will often look at the amount of ink that has been used in the entire lifetime of the cartridge and will then use this information to report back an incorrect ink reading.

We have written extensively about this problem under a different article so to troubleshoot further please go back and select the article 'The printer warns of 'low ink' or 'empty' from the very first use'

 

The cartridge is genuinely empty:

While manufacturers give an page yield for cartridges, realistically the amount of prints you will get from a cartridge is likely to be much less than this. This is because manufacturers use a standard page coverage of 5% (set by ISO/IEC 19752) to determine page yield.

Please also note that performing a printer head clean does use a moderate amount of ink.  The printer will also periodically clean the printer heads which will result in a small amount of ink being continuously dispensed even if the cartridge isn't actually being used for the purpose of printing.

If you are concerned that you may not be getting sufficient pages from your cartridges or would simply like to check what kind of page coverage you are printing we have written an article on a free program to calculate coverage.


The cartridge is faulty:

If the possibility of the problem being caused by one of the above two scenarios has been eliminated then it is possible that the cartridge itself has become faulty before the end of its life.  In this event please send the cartridge back to the address below with a brief covering note so that we can locate your details and send a replacement:

Refresh Returns, Unit 3, Longpark, Torquay, TQ2 7AL

Please contact us before returning any products for refund or replacement so we can provide a prepaid return label.  If you are in urgent need of a replacement, please feel free to purchase a replacement off our website and we will immediately reimburse you when the faulty unit is returned.

  If you are in urgent need of a replacement, please feel free to purchase a replacement off our website and we will immediately reimburse you when the faulty unit is returned.