laser toner

[amdskip]

I'm in need of a new toner and I wondering if these refill kits on ebay are any good? The specific printer is a samsung 2010.

 

[Zepper]

Refill kits are as good as the company behind them. Check the refill kit companies out on Reseller Ratings and perhaps nifty-stuff.com

.bh.

 

[0roo0roo]

anyone have recommendations on companies?

 

[StopSign]

Originally posted by: amdskip
I'm in need of a new toner and I wondering if these refill kits on ebay are any good? The specific printer is a samsung 2010.

Get the toner from "Tonerkits" on eBay. It's an actual toner dealer that just sells through eBay. Their stuff is good and really cheap. Although I haven't bought from them personally, I found out about them through another deal hunting forum where everyone was giving them good reviews. I use a Samsung ML-1610 which is nearly identical to your printer and when my toner runs out I'll be buying from Tonerkits.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: StopSign

Originally posted by: amdskip
I'm in need of a new toner and I wondering if these refill kits on ebay are any good? The specific printer is a samsung 2010.

Get the toner from "Tonerkits" on eBay. It's an actual toner dealer that just sells through eBay. Their stuff is good and really cheap. Although I haven't bought from them personally, I found out about them through another deal hunting forum where everyone was giving them good reviews. I use a Samsung ML-1610 which is nearly identical to your printer and when my toner runs out I'll be buying from Tonerkits.

How do the toner kits work? I have an HP4M and I've always bought new toner cartridges, but it's getting hard to find them. They have generally cost me around $70 per. Can I save a lot of money and get good results and not screw up my printer?

 

[StopSign]

I think toner refills cost about $7 each depending on the capacity of your cartridge. They come in little plastic bottles and you pour it into your cartridge by popping off a cap or something of that nature on the cartridge. Print quality should be more or less the same since there's not a whole lot of magic involved in toner powder.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: StopSign
I think toner refills cost about $7 each depending on the capacity of your cartridge. They come in little plastic bottles and you pour it into your cartridge by popping off a cap or something of that nature on the cartridge. Print quality should be more or less the same since there's not a whole lot of magic involved in toner powder.

I just checked out Tonerkits' store at ebay. They have a one refill and two refill package for my printer (HP 92298X cartridge) going for around $15 and $28 respectively.

My cartridges were bought new, and I have currently an "empty" one I was going to recycle, one in my printer and a new one in an unopened box. How many times can you refill a cartridge? I guess there's stuff about this online. Anyway, what's the short answer? Thanks.

 

[StopSign]

I'd say 3 or 4 times?

 

[Muse]

Does anyone know if these kits have a long shelf life? Would a kit be good in say 5-10 years? I sometimes print a lot, sometimes hardly at all.

 

[Joony]

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=107&cp_id=10714&style=

monoprice has a decent price on toner!

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Joony
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=107&cp_id=10714&style=

monoprice has a decent price on toner!

That looks to be cartridges... at a very good price if it's the real deal (at least for the ones I always get, the HP 92298A. They list a 92298X, but I presume it's the same (?).

 

[StopSign]

Originally posted by: Muse
Does anyone know if these kits have a long shelf life? Would a kit be good in say 5-10 years? I sometimes print a lot, sometimes hardly at all.

Toner is just a dry powder so I don't think it'll go bad if the bottles/containers are sealed properly. If you plan on storing them for 5-10 years then you should try to put them in some kind of air sealed container to keep water vapor out.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: StopSign

Originally posted by: Muse
Does anyone know if these kits have a long shelf life? Would a kit be good in say 5-10 years? I sometimes print a lot, sometimes hardly at all.

Toner is just a dry powder so I don't think it'll go bad if the bottles/containers are sealed properly. If you plan on storing them for 5-10 years then you should try to put them in some kind of air sealed container to keep water vapor out.

Thanks. I found a good thread that basically says the same thing, among other things:
Laserjet toner shelf life

 

[wseyller]

Toner is much more complex than just powder.

Toner is not just toner. There are many different toner technologies. Some toner is chemically processed, and some is not. Toner has to be compatible with the components its works with. It must have the proper flow agents, so the toner properly transports. Some toner is horrible quality. Some toner will have multiple sized microns of toner particles. Some are too coarse and some are to fine. This will impact the electrostatic charging. Some particles will charge and some will not. Sometimes toner is not compatible with the magnetic roller and flow agents will separate cause a film on the mag sleeve. This will create a resistant barrier causing the toner not to charge properly. This will normally happen within 1 to 2 thousand pages. Toner has to have a proper melting point. It a incorrect toner is used it cause the toner not to fuse properly to the paper. This toner will build up on the fuser unit and damage the fuser. Some fusers only work well with chemically processed toner. I am only listing a very small percentage of potential problems.

Toner is not the only component in a laser cartridge that should be replaced.

There are many other components in laser cartridges that wear due to friction. OPC drum typically only last one cycle. The charge generation layer will wear differently depending on usage. It printing is done continuously and toner is layed down on the page evenly throughout the page then your drum will survive much longer. Turning the printer on, off, then on alot or printing in the same page area will destroy a drum much faster. Drums are cleaned by a wiper blade which does most of the damage. Wiper blades typically have a power type lubricant on them to reduce friction. Eventually the wiper blade may also wear but it will last longer than the drum. A primary charge roller charges and conditions the drum. pcr normally survive more than one cycle but they may have a mid-cycle failure later on. Most cartridge remanufacturers will replace them with new ones or have them recoated with a protective layer. Magnetic rollers have a fine abrasive layer to produce friction and also have a conductive coating. This charge toner particles also with the help of a doctor blade that rest against the mag roller to also help produce friction. Eventually the coating will wear. Without the conductive coating the roller will oxidize causing very light print. Also the doctor blade wears quite a bit.

Shelf life of a toner cartridge varies but it is safe to say 1 to 2 years depending on the cartridge and the environment the cartridge is stored in.

If toner comes in contact with any abnormal humidity or temperature it will degrade over a short time. Toner particles will stick together and produce bad prints. The primary charge rollers (PCRs) rest against the drum the whole time in storage. The PCR has chemical called plasticizers within it that keeps it plyable. Eventually the plasticizers will evaporate causing the PCR to harden and crack. Also the plasticizers will contaiminate the drum with one line across the drum. Also if the PCR rest against the drum to long it will leave a flat spot in the pcr causing improper charging to the drum.

This is all I can stand to write, but this is only a fraction of a percent of potential issues and requirements to reusing laser cartridges.

So should you use refill kits (known as drill and filling) which on replaces toner with who knows what toner and what toner manufacturer it came from. If you really just don't care about quality or if you are not worried about damage to your fuser unit, then go for it.

 

[Muse]

Thanks, wseyller, for the extensive list of gotchas and caveats. I've never used anything other than an HP 92298A in my HP4M, I suppose around 6 since I bought it in 1994 or so. I have one such in its unopened box that I must have had about 4 years now, because the one in the printer isn't depleted yet. Is this too suffering shelf-life atrophe, or is it OK because it's sealed in its pouch?

 

[wseyller]

Originally posted by: Muse
Thanks, wseyller, for the extensive list of gotchas and caveats. I've never used anything other than an HP 92298A in my HP4M, I suppose around 6 since I bought it in 1994 or so. I have one such in its unopened box that I must have had about 4 years now, because the one in the printer isn't depleted yet. Is this too suffering shelf-life atrophe, or is it OK because it's sealed in its pouch?

Hard to say whether your cartridge stored for 4 years is ok. You would just have to try it. I can say with oem 98A's, HP uses hard pcrs that tend to flat spot after a long period of time. Though they do use 2 or 3 variations of pcrs in that engine, so hard to say. One type of pcr they use is white in color and they are horrible about flat spots. When you open the cartridge and you look through the laser port you should be able to see the pcr and see what color it is. Basically the issue would cause horizontal bands on your page. The toner itself inside the cartridge may be ok as long as the bag is seal and the environment the cartridge is stored are good conditions.

 

[Muse]

Hard to say whether your cartridge stored for 4 years is ok. You would just have to try it. I can say with oem 98A's, HP uses hard pcrs that tend to flat spot after a long period of time. Though they do use 2 or 3 variations of pcrs in that engine, so hard to say. One type of pcr they use is white in color and they are horrible about flat spots. When you open the cartridge and you look through the laser port you should be able to see the pcr and see what color it is. Basically the issue would cause horizontal bands on your page. The toner itself inside the cartridge may be ok as long as the bag is seal and the environment the cartridge is stored are good conditions.

Yeah, I'm bringing this to life. Useful info and I just did searches to find out about the acronym used above, PCR, and decided it's the Primary Charge Roller in these printers.

Thanks, mfenn, for finding the thread URL in vbulletin!