The vast majority of inkjet cartridges can be refilled; however recent developments have seen printer manufacturers adding new technology to prevent people from doing this. If a cartridge has a microchip fitted then it may not be accepted by the printer afterwards. Microchips are programmed to tell the printer when the cartridge is empty, or estimated to be empty, preventing it from being used any more. The ink level microchip estimates the amount of ink that has been used in the cartridge by the amount of pages printed and the coverage per page. Therefore even if there is ink remaining in the cartridge you may not be allowed to print if the artificial empty point has been reached.

Empty refillable cartridges were introduced into the market place a couple of years ago. They consist of an empty plastic case with three holes, two at the top (refill hole and air hole), and one at the bottom (ink flow hole). These cartridges usually do not contain a sponge inside, instead the ink is held inside a plastic case or bag.
In order for the cartridge to be re-usable it must have a modified microchip, one that will reset when empty. There are a variety of versions currently available; some will constantly maintain a high level and others will gradually go down before resetting at the bottom of their cycle.

After refilling the empty cartridge you plug up the refill hole with a rubber bung. The air hole must be left open otherwise a vacuum will prevent any ink from flowing into the printer from the ink flow hole; a common mistake that can cause the user to think that the cartridge is faulty in some way.

If ink does not flow correctly from the cartridge into the printer then this may be caused by an air lock. It can be recommended to attach a syringe to the underneath of the cartridge and pull the ink through into the barrel, expelling any unwanted air.

It may be necessary to use the refillable cartridges as a set rather than mixing them with ordinary cartridges. The printer may produce and error message refuse to function with a mixture of ordinary and reset chips being used.

On some printers it may be necessary to lift the cartridges up and then click them back into place for them to reset. This is common problem with the R285 printer however the introduction of Version 6 chips may have resolved this problem.