Refiling laser printer toner cartridges??
Marvin Moss
cartridges but I can not find kits to refill my laser toner cartridges
like the EP-L for my hp IIp. Is this real difficult to do if the drum
is still OK and all you want to do is drill a hole (or whatever you
do) to pour some toner into the cartridge??
Marv
Sam Goldwasser
haven't checked in quite a while). They used to have LP toner fill kits.
There is a fill port on the toner cartridges with a plug, probably covered by
the outer plastic housing. So, you shouldn't even require a drill but that
may be easiest.
There is the mess factor but you have that with inkjets as well :-(.
--- sam : Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Latest Sam stuff: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/
Lasers: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
http://www.misty.com/~don/lasersam.html
Vince (AA9TL)
CAN just put more toner in the cartridge BUT.........parts do wear out and
the OPC drum does have a limited life. Also the cartridge needs to be
cleaned out, etc. Try http://lasergroup.com .
They been doing this for a while. I think the EP series cartridges are among
the easiest to do (not sure on this). Laser group sells videos on how to do
this, supplies, and how to do this for profit.
Vince
Marvin Moss wrote in message <35d73741...@news.mindspring.com>...
news
: I can find lots of info on refilling the inkjet type of printer
: cartridges but I can not find kits to refill my laser toner cartridges
: like the EP-L for my hp IIp. Is this real difficult to do if the drum
: is still OK and all you want to do is drill a hole (or whatever you
: do) to pour some toner into the cartridge??
Firstly the health/safety warning. Toner, because it's a very fine
powder, is (a) carcinogenic, and (b) explosive. However, provided you
don't make clouds of the stuff, you should be OK. It can't be _that_
harmful, as some photocopiers take 'loose' toner, and some printers have
separate toner/drum/waste toner units.
I've fixed mechanical problems on the SX and CX cartridges. I also once
moved a good drum from an empty cartridge to an almost-new cartridge with
a scored drum (don't ask...).
There are 2 things you need to do to refill one - empty out the waste
toner tank and (obviously) add some new toner.
The SX cartridge is easy to dismantle. Unclip a little triangular plate
on the side, pull out 4 plastic pegs, and the case comes off. The plastic
bung for filling the toner tank is obvious. To empty the waste toner, you
have to take the cartridge apart, remove a plate (2 screws) and empty the
toner into something. I worked inside a plastic bag last time I opened
one of these cartridges.
These printers use a combined toner and developer. The toner mix must be
magnetic for the printer to work at all.
I've seen bottles of loose toner for some photocopiers. I have not idea
which brands would be suitable (if any), but I might experiment sometime.
: Marv
-tony
Robert Blackshaw
>
> Have you tried places like Inmac, Global Computer, etc. (just a guess - I
> haven't checked in quite a while). They used to have LP toner fill kits.
> There is a fill port on the toner cartridges with a plug, probably covered by
> the outer plastic housing. So, you shouldn't even require a drill but that
> may be easiest.
>
> There is the mess factor but you have that with inkjets as well :-(.
>
assembled to get at the toner holder (done a few for other
reasons), and you really should not expose the drum to bright
light for long. I had a half full cart when the drum started
putting a smudge band down the right side of the page. Looked
among my *empties* and found one with a good drum so I swapped.
At $99 new, CX carts are worth refilling.
Bob
--
"Since when was genius found respectable?"
E. B. Browning
t...@envirolaser.com
mm...@mindspring.com wrote:
> I can find lots of info on refilling the inkjet type of printer
> cartridges but I can not find kits to refill my laser toner cartridges
> like the EP-L for my hp IIp. Is this real difficult to do if the drum
> is still OK and all you want to do is drill a hole (or whatever you
> do) to pour some toner into the cartridge??
>
>
Marv you must have an authorized remanufacture take care of the empty
cartridge Its not as simple to just put more toner into the cartridge. The
cartridge must go under many tests, taken apart and cleaned the old toner may
contaminate the new toner. There are many things to look out for and thats
what we do at envirolaser you can raech me at 1-800-5659156 or
t...@envirolaser.com For more info
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t...@envirolaser.com
s...@stdavids.picker.com (Sam Goldwasser) wrote:
> Have you tried places like Inmac, Global Computer, etc. (just a guess - I
> haven't checked in quite a while). They used to have LP toner fill kits.
> There is a fill port on the toner cartridges with a plug, probably covered by
> the outer plastic housing. So, you shouldn't even require a drill but that
> may be easiest.
>
> There is the mess factor but you have that with inkjets as well :-(.
>
> Latest Sam stuff: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/
> Lasers: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
> http://www.misty.com/~don/lasersam.html
>
> In article <35d73741...@news.mindspring.com> mm...@mindspring.com
(Marvin Moss) writes:
>
> cartridges but I can not find kits to refill my laser toner cartridges
> like the EP-L for my hp IIp. Is this real difficult to do if the drum
> is still OK and all you want to do is drill a hole (or whatever you
> do) to pour some toner into the cartridge??
>
> Marv
1-800-565-9156 or e-mail t...@envirolaser.com
Sam Goldwasser
COMPLEX but you just happen to sell the service. Geez!
Yes, to do it properly requires more than just dumping in new toner. But,
yours is not exactly a totally objective posting. Sorry.
--- sam : Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Latest Sam stuff: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/
Lasers: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
http://www.misty.com/~don/lasersam.html
Tony Duell
: In article <35d73741...@news.mindspring.com>,
: mm...@mindspring.com wrote:
: > I can find lots of info on refilling the inkjet type of printer
: > cartridges but I can not find kits to refill my laser toner cartridges
: > like the EP-L for my hp IIp. Is this real difficult to do if the drum
: > is still OK and all you want to do is drill a hole (or whatever you
: > do) to pour some toner into the cartridge??
: >
: > Marv
: Marv you must have an authorized remanufacture take care of the empty
'Authorized' by whom? Canon?
It's odd how this totally content free post comes from somebody who
happens to work for a remanufacturer, right? Laser printers, contrary
to common belief, are not magic, and they're not impossible to repair.
: cartridge Its not as simple to just put more toner into the cartridge. The
: cartridge must go under many tests, taken apart and cleaned the old toner may
Hmm... Well, the main test is probably drum sensitivity. Now, if you get
that wrong, all that happens is that the image is too light or too dark.
There are some little plastic clips on the side of the cartridge that
operate microswitches in the printer. And there are only 3 settings!.
Believe it or not, I've found some remanufactured cartridges that work
better when these blocks have been moved - in other words, the drum
sensitivity wasn't checked properly.
Everything else should be mechanical inspection - condition of
bearings/gears, leaks, primary corona, etc. Nothing that's impossible to
do at home. Of course it's rather different if you're selling
remanufactured cartridges - in that case you need to be sure the parts
will last another 4000 pages or whatever. But if you're fixing up your
own printer, and don't care if you have to fiddle with something else in
1000 pages time, then there's no real problem.
About the worse that can happen to the printer is that the cartridge
dumps toner all over the insides. I've had that happen - once. And it
wasn't from a cartridge that I'd had in bits. It was from a
remanufactured cartridge. That, together with the incident where a CX
cartridge had had the door assembly incorrectly assembled, which caused
damage to the transfer corona assembly, convinced me to avoid
remanufactured cartridges that I'd not rebuilt myself, or at least checked.
: contaminate the new toner. There are many things to look out for and thats
You do need to avoid mixing waste toner (which will probably have a higher
concentration of developer) with the new toner. Empty out the waste toner
tank, but don't add the contents to the new toner. But if the toner you
are adding is similar (or better still the same) as the original stuff,
there is no problem from the residual toner in the cartridge.
Plenty of printers (Ricoh engine?) use 'loose' toner + drum/belt as
separate parts. In those, you do add new toner on top of the old, and it
all mixes up. Now, why should Canon printers be so different?
-tony
Ralph Wade Phillips
(much good stuff about Canon toner cartridges deleted to preserve the wild
bandwidth.)
Tony Duell wrote in message <6rcvaa$1...@p850ug1.demon.co.uk>...
>
>: contaminate the new toner. There are many things to look out for and
thats
>
>You do need to avoid mixing waste toner (which will probably have a higher
>concentration of developer) with the new toner. Empty out the waste toner
>tank, but don't add the contents to the new toner. But if the toner you
>are adding is similar (or better still the same) as the original stuff,
>there is no problem from the residual toner in the cartridge.
>
>Plenty of printers (Ricoh engine?) use 'loose' toner + drum/belt as
>separate parts. In those, you do add new toner on top of the old, and it
>all mixes up. Now, why should Canon printers be so different?
>
Because the original Canon formulation for the SX engine included an
abrasive element? Thereby guaranteeing that drums would not be in the best
of shape after a run? <B-)
It's been reported (by Don Lancaster, no less!) that the original
Canon SX toner was a beautiful lapping compound for valves. His
recommendation was to dump the toner out of a NEW one and put good toner
back into the cartridge -new, before being used.
I will say that every time I hit an Oki OL400e that says "TonerLow"
and is printing light, and put new, genuine Oki toner in, and it now turns
into a dark, heavy-toner output - I DO wish that more did it the Canon way
m'self. Esp. since most that sell separate drum and toner want more for the
drum ... example is the OL400e family, dealer cost is around $160 for drum,
add the toner. Or the Panasonic KX-P5400 sitting by this machine - a
BEAUTIFUL printer, save for a) the drum is over $100, and b) the waste toner
container holds about 5% of what a toner kit holds, and is a PART OF THE
DRUM KIT, so it is supposed to require a new drum when the waste toner
container fills up ... sigh.
RwP
Tony Duell
: >Plenty of printers (Ricoh engine?) use 'loose' toner + drum/belt as
: >separate parts. In those, you do add new toner on top of the old, and it
: >all mixes up. Now, why should Canon printers be so different?
: >
: Because the original Canon formulation for the SX engine included an
: abrasive element? Thereby guaranteeing that drums would not be in the best
: of shape after a run? <B-)
There are 2 issues here.
In the first place, if a cartridge has done (say) 4000 pages, and you
refill it with identical toner, then the 4001st page will look much the
same as the 4000th.
This, however, doesn't mean that the drum will be good for another 4000
pages.
I'll agree that toner is abrasive. I don't know if it's abrasive because
it has to be, or to ensure you can't refill the cartridges without
replacing the drum. I rather think the former.
: It's been reported (by Don Lancaster, no less!) that the original
: Canon SX toner was a beautiful lapping compound for valves. His
: recommendation was to dump the toner out of a NEW one and put good toner
: back into the cartridge -new, before being used.
Hmm.... And where do we get this 'good' toner? Handling loose toner is
not my favourite passtime - it gets everwhere ! And it's a royal pain to
clean up!
: add the toner. Or the Panasonic KX-P5400 sitting by this machine - a
: BEAUTIFUL printer, save for a) the drum is over $100, and b) the waste toner
: container holds about 5% of what a toner kit holds, and is a PART OF THE
: DRUM KIT, so it is supposed to require a new drum when the waste toner
: container fills up ... sigh.
Is it impossible to empty/clean the waster toner bottle? And replace the
picofuse on the waste toner bottle if that's what it uses to make sure
you changed it?
: RwP
-tony
Ralph Wade Phillips
Tony Duell wrote in message <6rfd43$t...@p850ug1.demon.co.uk>...
>Ralph Wade Phillips (ral...@techie.com) wrote:
>: >Plenty of printers (Ricoh engine?) use 'loose' toner + drum/belt as
>: >separate parts. In those, you do add new toner on top of the old, and it
>: >all mixes up. Now, why should Canon printers be so different?
>: >
>
>
>: Because the original Canon formulation for the SX engine included
an
>: abrasive element? Thereby guaranteeing that drums would not be in the
best
>: of shape after a run? <B-)
>
>There are 2 issues here.
>
>In the first place, if a cartridge has done (say) 4000 pages, and you
>refill it with identical toner, then the 4001st page will look much the
>same as the 4000th.
>
>This, however, doesn't mean that the drum will be good for another 4000
>pages.
>
>I'll agree that toner is abrasive. I don't know if it's abrasive because
>it has to be, or to ensure you can't refill the cartridges without
>replacing the drum. I rather think the former.
Well, Canon has a US Patent on an abrasive toner formulation,
described as an abrasive toner formulation ... said patent released to Canon
in 1984, after development of the CX engine but before developement of the
SX engine. Give you even odds on which one !I! think it is ... <B-)
>
>
>: It's been reported (by Don Lancaster, no less!) that the original
>: Canon SX toner was a beautiful lapping compound for valves. His
>: recommendation was to dump the toner out of a NEW one and put good toner
>: back into the cartridge -new, before being used.
>
>Hmm.... And where do we get this 'good' toner? Handling loose toner is
>not my favourite passtime - it gets everwhere ! And it's a royal pain to
>clean up!
I'd have to pop over to his web site for the sources he recommended
away back when. There are new sources, tho.
Me - I feel the way you do. Since I can get a "Remanufactured"
Verbatim cartridge for about $45 here in Shreveport, LA, at the local Office
Max store, I don't EVEN think about do-it-yourself (my time is worth more
than that!). However, as with any other make/buy decision, YMMV (and those
of the lurkers!)
>
>: add the toner. Or the Panasonic KX-P5400 sitting by this machine - a
>: BEAUTIFUL printer, save for a) the drum is over $100, and b) the waste
toner
>: container holds about 5% of what a toner kit holds, and is a PART OF THE
>: DRUM KIT, so it is supposed to require a new drum when the waste toner
>: container fills up ... sigh.
>
>Is it impossible to empty/clean the waster toner bottle? And replace the
>picofuse on the waste toner bottle if that's what it uses to make sure
>you changed it?
Oh, sure. Since the waste toner container is one end of the drum,
you have to dismantle this end (the one with the springs for the contact to
the HV block, no less!) and dump it out there. After that, since the
printer uses the waste toner filling up a flag of transparent plastic that
fits into an optocoupler, you're good to go for several more runs.
It's just a piss-poor (pardon the term!) design, IMAO. As one of my
favorite heros from scifi said in one book, "You call that a design?
Christ, give me a bunch of nails! I could chew them up and PUKE a better
design!" (phrase was about the pressure override on a water pump used to
remove water from the lower levels of a mine ... including the one that had
caved in and trapped this hero, several other humans, and whose pump had
just blown the bypass, causing it to not pump anymore ... one of the
"Lensman" books by e.e. "Doc" Smith.)
RwP
Tony Duell
: Verbatim cartridge for about $45 here in Shreveport, LA, at the local Office
: Max store, I don't EVEN think about do-it-yourself (my time is worth more
I don't normally refill my cartridges myself either (for all I do
component level repair on just about anything...). But I am not going to
replace an almost-new cartridge because some trivial plastic component
has broken inside, especially not when I've got an empty cartridge that I
can get the bit from.
[Panasonic Laser Engine]
: >Is it impossible to empty/clean the waster toner bottle? And replace the
: >picofuse on the waste toner bottle if that's what it uses to make sure
: >you changed it?
: Oh, sure. Since the waste toner container is one end of the drum,
: you have to dismantle this end (the one with the springs for the contact to
I see... What a _pain_! No easy way to modify it to make it easy to
empty, I guess.
From my work on CX and SX cartridges, I've found there's an easy way to
fill the toner tank (after all, that has to be done when the cartridge is
made) but no easy way to empty the waster toner container (since that
'never has to be done').
: RwP
-tony
David Moisan
<ral...@techie.com> wrote:
>add the toner. Or the Panasonic KX-P5400 sitting by this machine - a
>BEAUTIFUL printer, save for a) the drum is over $100, and b) the waste toner
About $80 IIRC.
>container holds about 5% of what a toner kit holds, and is a PART OF THE
>DRUM KIT, so it is supposed to require a new drum when the waste toner
>container fills up ... sigh.
Actually, Panasonic got smart; if you buy a new toner kit from them,
it comes with little plastic containers that take the place of the
built-in container; there are two of these in each toner kit.
So far, I'm on my third or fourth toner kit with the printer and it's
only now nagging me about the drum. Since my printouts are as good as
they've always been, having had the printer for 4 years, I conclude
it's responding to the waste toner compartment being full.
I'm going to cheat and carefully drill a hole, emptying the waste
toner. Worse that can happen is I'll kill the drum. But since the
new ones have replacable waste-toner containers, I can use the new
drum for a very long time.
Unless Panasonic has brain-dead hour-meter logic in it. Then I'll be
mad! :) Mine seems to be very well built with really nothing to
break. I heard they made a nice fax machine with the same engine.
Take care,
Dave
>
> RwP
>
>
>
David Moisan, N1KGH n1...@amsat.org
http://www1.shore.net/~dmoisan
Invisible Disability: http://www1.shore.net/~dmoisan/invisible_disability.html
GE Superradio FAQ: http://www1.shore.net/~dmoisan/faqs/superradio/gesr_faq.html