Review on ComboInk by Tim Solorzano

ComboInk is the ecommerce site I used for my order of a refill kit and ink. The following describes everything from giving up to receiving the package, so read on should you want to know about the experience :).

I'm not sure about it here, but ComboInk has a fairly strict policy against using its label to ship an empty refill ink cartridge. (They also refused my initial request for shipping because I used their label instead of my own). The consequence was that I had to order the non-refillable cartridge first and wait for them to ship me the refill kit. This means that you should expect at least 1 week before receiving the refill ink, unless you use your own label (and then you have to find a box).

Ordered: May 22 , 2021

Recieved refill kit: June 5 , 2021

Shipment : June 7 , 2021



First e-mail contact: April 12 , 2021

Packing:

The package came in a padded envelope with a "" sticker. The refill kit itself was a bag tightly packed with the cartridges and the syringe in an inner box well sealed from inside to avoid leakage, which is good when you have to wait for it. ComboInk didn't use any bubble wrap or extra protection, so there were some scratches on the surface of one cartridge when I opened the box, but otherwise everything else was untouched.

Cartridge: Epson T0711 black (comes with 1)

Price: $15.21 USD (including shipping)

Refill process:

The following describes my experience using their refill system:

I decided to start with refilling my own cartridges first, so I used their refill kit for T0711 cartridge. As usual the syringe was not sealed by any plastic cover, so it ran the risk of being contaminated during shipping if they didn't seal it in an inner box.

On opening the kit I found that there's no place to put additional water for flushing the cartridge once you've emptied it, but since this kit is meant for black ink only , I just poured some water on a paper tissue and flushed the first chamber first with few drops of ink. The first thing you have to take care is to put the nozzle part (with vent hole) facing up when emptying because otherwise you can do irreversible damage like cracking one of its chambers due to air pressure difference.

The first thing I found was that the hole to release air inside the cartridge is so small and there's no way to enlarge it even with a needle! So people who refill these cartridges before will probably scratch them doing so, but you can be lucky if you don't have to do this.

Once emptied, put all the parts back into place and shake the cartridge from side to side for about 10 seconds until it feels well mixed, then hold upright and insert the syringe in one of its chambers (it doesn't matter which). Keep holding firmly until you see it reach at least 5 mm deep or more , then pull back slowly until you see ink coming out from vent hole. Now press firmly again on syringe plunger and inject the ink.

Repeat this process for each chamber and once you're done, put all parts back into place again and shake it like before for another 10 seconds to get a better mixture of ink (if you can't see any bubbles coming out from vent hole then the cartridge is properly filled; if there's still some air left inside then repeat filling process until it's gone). Now put the top part of the cartridge with hole on top and close it firmly. You can now let go your hand and sit back quietly because after few minutes the printer will do its job in pumping up air pressure inside which will solve any bubble problem.

ComboInk is a reliable source for ink refills, but I would have liked better packaging. When the refill kit arrived it was tightly packed in an inner box that prevented leakage, but there were scratches on one of my cartridges due to insufficient protection during shipping. The instructions are clear and easy to follow--just make sure you place all parts facing up when emptying your cartridge so air pressure doesn't cause any damage or cracking.