How the HP 88 Cartridge Works

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The Hp 88 cartridge design is one of the absolute cartridge designs put out by Hp and makes it one of the most reliable Cartridges for remanufacturing as well, considering that there is not a printhead on the cartridge that wears out.

The Hp 88 cartridge has an internal mylar bag that is filled with ink. XL black Cartridges hold an ounce of high density pigment black and the XL color Cartridges hold half an ounce. The standard size cartridges only hold half of the capacity of the XL's.

The internal mylar bag within these Hp 88's deflates as the ink is dispensed into the ink tubes that carry the ink to the Hp 88 printheads. This mylar bag is very durable, which also aids the reliability of the remanufacturing process. Ink is dispensed at the bottom of the cartridge by way of a one way valve. The ink is pumped out of the cartridge by a mechnanical plunger within the printer that pushes on a black rubber ball on the bottom of the cartridge. When the black rubber ball is pushed, ink comes out of the cartridge through the ink port. Luckily, for the sake of clean clothing, this mechanism only works when the cartridge is inserted into the printer.

The chips on the HP 88 cartridge are replaced when remanufactured, and Hp has little technology to prevent the use of third party ink cartridges, unlike other manufacturers such as Epson, which are notorious for preventing the use of aftermarket ink cartridges which are unavailable.