How to Refill HP 45 Industrial Ink Cartridges and Handle Rebranded Chip Issues (HP 45 / 15 / 40 / 2580 / C8842A / 45si / CG339A / 51645A / B3F58A)

Customer Question:
I’m using a handheld printer for industrial barcode printing with an HP 45 (TiJ 2.5) cartridge. My printer only uses the electronic ribbon and doesn’t read any chip. However, I saw on your site that some rebranded cartridges come with third-party chips that prevent refilling. What do these chips look like? If I remove the chip, can I refill the cartridge again?

Additionally, I attempted to refill the HP 45 without a clamp, and it printed fine initially. However, after approximately 10 prints, the print height halved, and then the printer stopped printing altogether, despite the carriage continuing to move. Can you make a video explaining these issues?

Answer:

1. Understanding the Third-Party Chip on Rebranded HP 45 Cartridges

You're absolutely right—some rebranded HP 45 cartridges come with third-party chips glued onto the top or side of the cartridge body. These chips are not part of the original HP design and are usually added by third-party vendors to lock the cartridge to their system. The chip's purpose is to prevent reuse of the cartridge, making it a single-use item. Once empty, these cartridges will no longer function even if refilled, because the chip signals to the printer that it's "used up" or "unauthorized."

These chips are often small plastic components (usually black or green) with tiny gold contacts. They are usually attached using strong adhesive or epoxy, making removal difficult without damaging the cartridge casing or the chip reader interface.

2. Can You Remove the Chip and Reuse the Cartridge?

In theory, yes—you might be able to remove the chip with a heat gun or precision tool. However, in most cases, the glue used is too strong and removing the chip could damage the plastic shell, break the electronic ribbon interface, or leave residue that blocks contact. Even if you successfully remove the chip, the cartridge's internal sponge may already be compromised if the vendor engineered it for one-time use. So, refilling after chip removal is not guaranteed to work, but you’re welcome to try it if you’re experienced with cartridge repairs.

For best results, we recommend using OEM HP cartridges without any chip modifications. They are fully refillable and designed for long-term usage.

3. Issues When Refilling Without a Clamp

What you're experiencing—print degradation after a few uses—is a classic symptom of incomplete ink priming or air blockage inside the cartridge. The HP 45 has an internal sponge that needs to be properly saturated. When you refill without a clamp or vacuum filling system, you often leave air pockets inside the cartridge. These air pockets will cause ink starvation after a few pages, just as you described: print quality drops, then stops entirely.

A proper refill process involves:

• Using a vacuum refill clamp to pull ink through the nozzle while filling, ensuring all air is removed.

• Letting the cartridge rest upright for several hours to stabilize ink distribution.

• Wiping the nozzle gently with a lint-free tissue to confirm ink flow before use.

You can see detailed methods in our video "5 Industrial Secrets to Refill HP 45" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdgEGViEdZg).

As for your video request—yes, we plan to make more videos diving deeper into chip-modified HP 45 cartridges and different refill methods. Thank you for the suggestion!

Addressing printer issues can be a complicated affair due to the hands-on nature of the problems. So, we're not able to provide remote troubleshooting, suggestions, or support for printer repairs. We offer an in-person evaluation and repair service via our local diagnostic facility (https://bchtechnologies.com/printer-repair-service). Given the high demand, we operate on a first-come, first-served basis. So, it might take a few weeks before we can get your printer to drop it off. Our services are structured to repair either a whole printer or specific parts, with clear instructions on how to proceed. However, we acknowledge that our rates aren't the most economical. Thus, we highly recommend that you resort to self-help via online research. You can start by checking out YouTube or visiting our YouTube channel's homepage (https://youtube.com/@bchtechnologies). Look for specific videos using the search icon next to "About" on the right-hand side of the menu bar. I receive dozens of queries every day asking about videos for specific topics. Having created videos over the past nine years, it's challenging to remember every single one. Therefore, using YouTube's search function would be most efficient. Plus, YouTube might suggest relevant videos from other channels that could assist you.

Thanks again for reaching out and for supporting BCH Technologies. Your input helps improve the quality of our content and service.