Toner refill

Color Toner refill

Toner refilling is the practice of refilling empty toner or used laser printer toner cartridges with new toner powder. This enables the cartridge to be reused, saving the cost of buying a complete new cartridge and the impact of the waste and disposal of the old one. Enjoy bold, crisp text and sharp black and white images, using refilled LaserJet toner cartridges. Print with consistent quality thanks to built-in toner cartridge intelligence. Get consistent print quality from a refilled toner cartridge designed and tested with the printer. Shhh........................!There is a secret that printer manufacturers do not want you to know. Toner cartridge can be expensive and some becomes harder to find as times goes on. You can refill you’re used toner cartridges 2 to 5 times and still get great print quality -When your print starts to become faint, it's not because your cartridge has worn out - it's because you're out of toner powder. Your cartridge will wear out over time, but cartridges are built strong well enough to last much longer than their stated yield. The secret to extending their life is to know when to add toner powder and where to find it. changing the chip or fuser . NOTE - Some newer cartridges have 'smart chips' or fuses which need to be replaced in order for the cartridge to function past its 'expected' life. DON'T WORRY. They are available in stock these chips for those cartridges which require them for our complete list of replacement chips) Every Laser printer is equipped with a toner cartridge that is instrumental in printing your documents or images. It is “ not ‘’ a must you must buy a new toner cartridge every time you’re toner starts displaying low toner message. All toner cartridge can be easily refilled by adding new toner powder. lf you’re laser printer starts flashing the "Low Toner" warning. you can do the usual trick of rocking the cartridge, side to side and you be able to print a few more pages to print out their essays and assignments for a while, but eventually things faded from carbon black to ghostly grey, and it will be time to face the fact that the cartridge is empty. Now, the price of a home laser printer has steadily fallen for the past decade or more until you can now pick up a decent model for under 200 dollars and more expensive ones ksh 500 dollars . Unfortunately, the price of the toner cartridge at the heart of these wonderful little machines has not seen a similar decline in price. In fact, it's not at all unusual for a name brand toner cartridge to cost one quarter or even one third the price of a brand new printer. All of the above is certainly old news to most of us, as is the fact that there is a huge business in toner cartridge refilling services -- both as a service. After refilling gently shake the cartridge to evenly distribute the toner powder and reinsert into your printer note coloured cartridge should not be shaken they have in build components to do that - it's that easy and start printing high quality documents. Make documents and marketing materials look professional when you print with refilled toner cartridges. Keep your home or office productive by avoiding wasted time and supplies. These refilled toner cartridges are specifically designed for your printer. Make a professional impact by printing rich text documents and marketing materials. This toner's gloss delivers photo quality graphics and images. Get business quality results on a wide range of laser papers. Keep printing costs low while maintaining productivity. Refilled or remanufactured toner cartridges deliver consistent, uninterrupted printing. Because cartridges are designed for exceptional reliability, you avoid wasted supplies and expensive delays. Shop for supplies hassle free with refilled toner or remanufactured cartridges Sure supply. When it's time to install a new cartridge, you can trust that refilled all in one cartridge design makes replacement quick and easy. Recycle your old toner cartridges locally and create employment for million thousands of youths globally ...! While toner cartridges are commonly refilled with results reported to be very good, in at least some cases refilling without full remanufacturing may never leave waste toner from each print and paper debris in the cartridge, potentially causing backgrounding problems and producing contamination in the refilled cartridge.

The U.S. patent for the "Refillable toner cartridge" was issued to Fred Keen on March 28, 1989.

Refilling methods

There are several different methods for refilling cartridges:

Type	Description
Refilling and reuse by the end user	This is normally done by use of a DIY laser toner refill kit that includes a supply of compatible toner, reset chips where required, and instructions for the process of refilling. There are various types of toner powder, and many DIY toner refill products are available either online from ecommerce suppliers or through specialist retail stores.
Refilling and resale by the original manufacturer	It is common for toner cartridges to be sold with reply paid labels enabling them to be returned to the manufacturer for recycling and reuse.
Refilling and resale by a third party	Many independent companies that sell toner cartridges refill and reuse the original manufacturer's cartridges which they typically obtain from recycling companies. This is generally considered legitimate if the original manufacturer's branding is removed from the recycled product.
Refilling as a service	Many independent companies offer a refilling service where customers can bring empty cartridges to be refilled. Toner refill franchises have sprung up over the last few years. Such refill chains offer services for customers to bring their empty toner cartridge and have it refilled on site or exchanges with a ready filled toner cartridge.
Toner Remanufacturing	Similar to refilling, with the exception that not only is new toner added to a cartridge, but parts that ordinarily wear out are also reviewed and replaced as required.

Toner cartridges cannot be refilled indefinitely, because mechanical parts such as rollers wear out. Some cartridges include the electro-optical drum, which becomes depleted and can be scratched. Organizations refilling cartridges for resale usually clean and test each cartridge to ensure that it is fit for reuse and resale. While several sources offer empty inkjet cartridges to be refilled, brand new empty OEM laser cartridges are not easily found. Also, some models of laser print engines, like most inkjet printers, communicate with "chips" or fuses inside the toner cartridge which indicate that the cartridge is exhausted, whether or not it actually is. Some research is usually required to determine the feasibility of refilling a particular cartridge.

In general, DIY refilling requires opening a cartridge designed not to be opened, refilling it with toner, and capping the opening that was made to gain access. Some cartridges can be disassembled; others require a hole to be drilled or melted.

Toners vary in composition; manufacturers make toner designed for their own printers, and a generic toner may not work as well. In some cases there may be separate additions of toner and "developer". Refilling kits include printer-specific instructions.

The following basic types of refill toner (differing mainly in particle size and fusing temperature) have been identified by one vendor while other refill vendors insist that each printer or copier model requires a unique type.

1. HP, Canon printers
2. Canon PC copiers
3. IBM/Lexmark Optra and similar
4. Epson EPL, NEC Silentwriter
5. Xerox and Sharp
6. Samsung and Lexmark Optra E
7. Brother

Kits are available to refill the 4 toner cartridges used by colour printers (cyan, magenta, yellow and black), or to fill a single cartridge. Kits include a reset chip where necessary. In all cases a toner that is at least compatible must be used.

While there are environmental benefits to refilling the toner cartridges of laser printers, a refilled cartridge may produce inferior print quality and reliability.

1. Refilling cartridges either by the end user, or as a service, is claimed by most printer manufacturers and toner remanufacturers to be harmful to both the quality and reliability of the prints, the cartridge as well as the life of the printers.
2. Life cycle assessments may indicate that recycling is a preferable option.
3. The quality of third party toners can vary immensely, and it is also important that the toner is appropriate for the particular printer.

Common problems can include:

1. Insufficient lubricant in the toner, leading to drum, developer unit or cleaning blade damage.
2. Wrong melting point, leading to fouling in the fusing unit, print rubbing off, etc.
3. Wrong electrostatic properties or particle size, leading to a dirty machine and poor quality print.
4. Large amounts of loose toner in the machine can also cause fouling and damage to the mechanisms, and air filters can become clogged, causing overheating.

Companies and individuals that refill toner, however, indicate that in most cases the cost benefits of refilling outweigh the possible disadvantages.

Safety considerations

Further information: Toner

As a fine powder, toner can remain suspended in the air for some period, and is considered to have health effects comparable to inert dust. It can be an irritant to people with respiratory conditions such as asthma or bronchitis.

Toner powder is not toxic but does need to be handled with care, as carbon black (one of its components) has been designated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a possible carcinogen. Health and safety regulations must be considered when handling, transporting and storing toner powders.

Safety precautions include the use of gloves, and a protective dust mask to prevent inhalation. If spilled toner is cleaned with a standard vacuum cleaner the toner may become electrically charged and catch fire, and is so fine that it passes through filters and can escape into the room or the vacuum cleaner motor. ready for any common or complicated problems that may be interrupted by your printer and may be happy to advise you on diagnosing the long-term health of your machine

Further reading

• "The environmental impact of reuse vs. recycling of toner and inkjet cartridges" (PDF). Brussels: EuroVAprint ASBL. 2014.