FAQ'S
If toner spills into my printer, should I blow it out with air?
Sometimes laser toner cartridges spill a bit of toner into the printer. Some minor spillage is inevitable. When this occurs, you might think that the spillage can be cleaned up by blowing with canned air. DO NOT blow the toner to clean it. I have seen printers ruined by blowing spilled toner. There are surfaces in laser printers that must remain clean for the printer to work properly and blowing can result in those surfaces being coated with toner dust.
The proper way to clean minor spillage is to carefully vacuum the toner, being sure not to rub the vacuum tip against drum surfaces. Toner can also be cleaned with a soft cloth. In our re-manufacturing process we use special wipes designed to clean toner. If you have a toner spill, come by our store and we will give you one of those cloths to use.
What is a laser printer maintenance kit and why do I need one?
A laser printer maintenance kit generally includes a new fuser and new feed rollers. Typically the printer will indicate when a maintenance kit is required. Physical indications of the need for a new kit will be toner that is not properly bonded to the page and rubs off, and/or paper misfeeds.
What does the fuser do in a laser printer?
Laser printer toner is a fine powder that is deposited in the paper to form characters or graphics. The fuser then heats the page to melt the toner which causes it to bond to the paper.
If toner is rubbing off your printed page, you probably need a new fuser.
What exactly do you do when you re-manufacture a laser cartridge?
There is much more to re-manufacturing a laser toner cartridge than just refilling the toner tank. First of all, we re-manufacture only genuine original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM) cartridges. We do not use cartridges which were manufactured off-shore because those cartridges have proven to be of inferior quality.
There are numerous parts which are replaced during our re-manufacturing process. Depending on the brand of cartridge, such items as drums, rollers, doctor blades and charge roller are also replaced, making the cartridge essentially the same as a brand new cartridge.
Drums – integral with toner cartridge or separate?
Some manufacturers (eg. Hewlett Packard) have drums integral with the toner cartridge. Other manufacturers (eg. Brother) have the drum unit separate from the toner cartridge. On printer which have a separate drum, the drum usually needs to be replaced after every three to five cartridges.
Does using aftermarket cartridges void my printer warranty?
Some customers have told me that the manufacturer of their printer says their warranty will be voided if their OEM (original equipment manufacturer) brand of toner cartridge is not used. In fact, that is not true, and it is even in violation of federal law.
In 1975 a law was passed entitled the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. This law states that a manufacturer’s warranty cannot be voided because of use of aftermarket cartridges. The law prevents the manufacturer from tying its warranty to the use of specific products. This means that the OEM cannot, as a condition of the warranty require the use of a certain brand of cartridge.
What does “page yield” mean?
An important factor to consider when buying a printer is how much it will be used. That is, will you do a lot of printing or just print occasionally. If you don’t do much printing, an inkjet printer may be fine for you. Inkjet printer cartridges have a “page yield” on the order of hundreds of pages. If you print much more often, or print large documents, a laser printer might be best for you. The page yield of laser toner cartridges is on the order of thousands, with some toner cartridges having a page yield as much as 40,000 pages. But…what does “page yield” mean?
Page yield is the approximate number of pages that a given cartridge can be expected to print before exhausting the ink or toner. The page yield is based on a certain “page coverage” – that is, the percent of the page that contains ink or toner. Typically the page coverage that is used in the calculation of page yield is 5%.
The number of pages you may actually get can vary greatly depending primarily on the type of material you are printing. Pages on which you have printed a short letter may be 5% coverage or even less. On the other hand, invitations with lots of graphics can have as much as 70% coverage. For this reason, the page yield you get, as they say about the gas mileage your car gets, “will vary.”
Sometimes laser toner cartridges spill a bit of toner into the printer. Some minor spillage is inevitable. When this occurs, you might think that the spillage can be cleaned up by blowing with canned air. DO NOT blow the toner to clean it. I have seen printers ruined by blowing spilled toner. There are surfaces in laser printers that must remain clean for the printer to work properly and blowing can result in those surfaces being coated with toner dust.
The proper way to clean minor spillage is to carefully vacuum the toner, being sure not to rub the vacuum tip against drum surfaces. Toner can also be cleaned with a soft cloth. In our re-manufacturing process we use special wipes designed to clean toner. If you have a toner spill, come by our store and we will give you one of those cloths to use.
What is a laser printer maintenance kit and why do I need one?
A laser printer maintenance kit generally includes a new fuser and new feed rollers. Typically the printer will indicate when a maintenance kit is required. Physical indications of the need for a new kit will be toner that is not properly bonded to the page and rubs off, and/or paper misfeeds.
What does the fuser do in a laser printer?
Laser printer toner is a fine powder that is deposited in the paper to form characters or graphics. The fuser then heats the page to melt the toner which causes it to bond to the paper.
If toner is rubbing off your printed page, you probably need a new fuser.
What exactly do you do when you re-manufacture a laser cartridge?
There is much more to re-manufacturing a laser toner cartridge than just refilling the toner tank. First of all, we re-manufacture only genuine original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM) cartridges. We do not use cartridges which were manufactured off-shore because those cartridges have proven to be of inferior quality.
There are numerous parts which are replaced during our re-manufacturing process. Depending on the brand of cartridge, such items as drums, rollers, doctor blades and charge roller are also replaced, making the cartridge essentially the same as a brand new cartridge.
Drums – integral with toner cartridge or separate?
Some manufacturers (eg. Hewlett Packard) have drums integral with the toner cartridge. Other manufacturers (eg. Brother) have the drum unit separate from the toner cartridge. On printer which have a separate drum, the drum usually needs to be replaced after every three to five cartridges.
Does using aftermarket cartridges void my printer warranty?
Some customers have told me that the manufacturer of their printer says their warranty will be voided if their OEM (original equipment manufacturer) brand of toner cartridge is not used. In fact, that is not true, and it is even in violation of federal law.
In 1975 a law was passed entitled the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. This law states that a manufacturer’s warranty cannot be voided because of use of aftermarket cartridges. The law prevents the manufacturer from tying its warranty to the use of specific products. This means that the OEM cannot, as a condition of the warranty require the use of a certain brand of cartridge.
What does “page yield” mean?
An important factor to consider when buying a printer is how much it will be used. That is, will you do a lot of printing or just print occasionally. If you don’t do much printing, an inkjet printer may be fine for you. Inkjet printer cartridges have a “page yield” on the order of hundreds of pages. If you print much more often, or print large documents, a laser printer might be best for you. The page yield of laser toner cartridges is on the order of thousands, with some toner cartridges having a page yield as much as 40,000 pages. But…what does “page yield” mean?
Page yield is the approximate number of pages that a given cartridge can be expected to print before exhausting the ink or toner. The page yield is based on a certain “page coverage” – that is, the percent of the page that contains ink or toner. Typically the page coverage that is used in the calculation of page yield is 5%.
The number of pages you may actually get can vary greatly depending primarily on the type of material you are printing. Pages on which you have printed a short letter may be 5% coverage or even less. On the other hand, invitations with lots of graphics can have as much as 70% coverage. For this reason, the page yield you get, as they say about the gas mileage your car gets, “will vary.”