Epson Black and Color Cartridge  
T032's, T033's, T042's,
T043, T044's, T048's

For best results, never leave your Epson printer without an installed cartridge -- even an empty one -- for more than an hour or so, because the ink -- the original or our refill ink -- will begin to gel to the consistency of honey, which will require multiple cleaning routines to clear.

Always refill before you are completely out of ink.

This cartridge has a chip which needs an Epson Chip Resetter.
You can get one on our Refill Tools page. Without a chip resetter these cartridges cannot be effectively refilled.

The ink in this cartridge is retained through a complex siphon design. This cartridge is a little more challenging to refill than other Epson cartridges, read the instructions carefully and be patient, this is not a fun one to refill.

Instructions:
Important: Wear old clothes and work over newspapers or paper towels.

1. Reset the chip using the Chip Resetter.
2. Drill a hole with the thumb drill provided in the area indicated by the picture. Drill a second hole in front of the first one. You will inject ink into one of the holes and the other hole is to allow air to escape as ink fills the chambers. NOTE: Make the hole towards the label otherwise you will create a permanent leak. By looking at the side of the cartridge you will see that there are two layers of plastic that you need to penetrate.
3. Fill your syringe with ink...the black cartridge will hold about 25ml of ink and the color cartridge will hold about 10ml. Be sure and use a different syringe for each color.
4. Insert the needle into the hole. It will penetrate about 1/4" before it hits another baffle.
5. Fill your cartridge very s-l-o-w-l-y. The ink has to have time to run into the various internal chambers. Air and ink bubbles will come out of the other hole. This is normal. Do not overfill. If the ink starts to come out of the hole, then stop.
6. Sealing the filling hole is optional and only necessary if you plan to transport the cartridge or if you have completely dry air. If you decide to seal the hole, we suggest hot glue, aluminum tape, black electrical tape, or candle wax.
7. Replace the cartridge. If possible, let it sit in the printer for 24 hours. This will give the ink time to settle down to the bottom and the air pockets to rise to the top.

Run 1-3 cleaning cycles as per printer instructions.
Or print the following: Black     Color

8. The next time you refill the cartridge, do it when the ink gauge reads 1/2 or 1/4 full. Remember, you reset the chip back to full but you stopped refilling when the ink bubbles started coming out of the refilling hole...this means that the cartridge was not exactly full and you want to do your next refill before it runs empty.

Troubleshooting
If the cartridge does not print, then the most likely problem is that the siphon is not working appropriately. Print something, even though the ink is not coming out. The side to side action of the carriage will loosen up any air pockets and move them to the top. If that doesn't help, stick your needle in the ink exit port and suction out some air. This should get the ink flowing.

Running an extra set of cartridges will cause you less trouble than trying to refill the ones that just ran low. After refilling your cartridges, wrap them up in plastic wrap and set them aside. Put the extra set in the printer. This will give the refilled cartridges enough time for the air pockets to rise to the top and the ink to settle down to the bottom.

A Refill Kit should include Ink plus the following:
1 Syringe/Blunt Needle per color
1 Thumb Drill