Printer ink refill yourself?

[wearfannypacks]

I've been 2 months out of ink. I don't work at a desk job where I have regular access to printers and niether does DH. I've been sending faxzeros to my apartments buildings fax if I am really in a bind and doing everything as digitally as possible. But unfortunately there are still stone age times where I actually need to print something out. It's gotten to the point where we really just need a printer with ink.

So I have a cheapo Canon pixma MP280 printer. I really only need it for less than 20 pages a month. I'd love to be able to refill it myself through cartridge surgery. I realllllllly would rather never buy a new cartridge again. But I have a few concerns before I make the leap.

-Do I need a special type of ink? I only really need black ink.
-Do I need a chip to reset my cartridge so it realizes it isn't empty anymore?
-What is a reputable place to get something like this? Any online recs or even brick and mortar stores are welcome!

[James]

First, google the printer and the cartridge it takes and read up about it.  Look for tutorials on youtube for that or other cartridges like it.

I've purchased ink from Amazon, just go with a reputable seller, not some site you know nothing about and without a reputation to maintain.

[shusherstache]

Two options:

Your local library may have a printing service for around .10/page.
Walgreens and the like refill printer cartridges with no guarantee they will work, but mine always did.  It was about $10-12 for a refill a few years ago.

[FI@2022Jem]

We refill ours with ink and a syringe.  Like James said, just google for instructions.  I think we bought a little kit with ink once from Staples and haven't had to buy again in 2+ years (and we print more than you!).  It's really easy once you get the hang of it- but I do recommend you refill over the sink in an old t-shirt as ink smears seem to be inevitable.  Good luck!