A refilled ink cartridge can be physically full while the printer still reports it as empty. That happens because the chip on many cartridges counts usage instead of measuring the ink inside the reservoir.
Does this affect you?
Use this only for refillable or third-party cartridges with resettable chips. Original factory-sealed HP, Canon, and Epson cartridges are usually not designed to be reset once the chip reports empty.
The reinsert trick
Try this first because it costs nothing and works on some printers that cached the old chip state.
- Leave the printer powered on and open the ink access door.
- Remove the refilled cartridge.
- Wait about 10 seconds, reinstall it firmly, and close the door.
- If it still reads empty, repeat the remove-and-reinsert cycle four or five times.
- Print a test page and check whether the level has refreshed.
Use a chip resetter tool
This is the most dependable method when the cartridge chip is genuinely resettable. The resetter must match the cartridge family.
- Buy a resetter made for your exact cartridge or chip type.
- Remove the cartridge and locate the gold contacts.
- Line up the resetter pins with the contacts.
- Press firmly until the tool light changes or until the instructions say the reset is complete.
- Reinstall the cartridge and print a test page.
Covering a contact with tape
Some refill kits describe a contact-tape workaround for specific countdown chips. Treat this as cartridge-specific, not universal advice.
- Read the instructions for your refill kit or third-party cartridge first.
- Cover only the exact contact identified by the cartridge maker or refill kit.
- Remove the tape if the cartridge becomes unreadable.
- Use a resetter instead if you are unsure which contact does what.
More control
A chip reset does not add ink
Only reset a chip after refilling the cartridge. Resetting an actually empty cartridge can make the printer run dry and damage the printhead.
Factory cartridges are usually one-use electronically
Most original cartridges cannot be officially reset. If the printer rejects one after experiments, replacement is usually the practical fix.
Sources
- HP Support – About Ink Cartridge Chips and Refilled Cartridges (2025)
- Epson Support – Using Refilled or Third-Party Ink Cartridges (2025)
- Canon Support – Ink Level Detection and Cartridge Chips (2025)