My laser printer (NEC Superscript 870) is running out of toner. Instead of replacing the entire cartridge for $98, I’m thinking of trying a refill kit. Has anyone had any luck with it? Any problems? Any recommended brands?
In the hell hole where I work, we have our laser printer cartridges refilled by a service. They work just fine.
Our printers are HP and we use re-filled toner cartidges. They work great at about 2/3rds the price.
I’d like to re-ask the original question, and hijack it a little bit. I ordered dry ink to refill my own cartridges (rather than using a service). Before my cartridge ran out, I had replaced the original printer with a different one (both are HP Laser Jets).
Is the ink interchangeable? Have you had any experience “loading your own”? Is this something best done outside?
The kit has to specify your printer … I don’t think you can just refill any printer. DA, at the aquarium we have a post on the board about how dangerous that toner dust is…
anyway, check ebay.com for your printer, they have original new toner carts there often very cheap. Just input your printer name in the search box.
I’ve waited years, and now I finally get to answer a question for which I have expert knowledge. I worked for a laser printer cartridge recycling company a few years ago. It was the worst job I ever had, but that’s besides the point.
If you buy your own ink, you’ll need to break down the cartridge to get at the resevoir opening. This is a pain in the ass, but shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. Then very carefully pour the ink into the resevoir through a funnel. I’d do it outside, and do it slowly, the powder is so superfine it gets everywhere with the slightest air current.
The recycled cartridge should work fine, provided you reassemble it correctly. The print quality may be marginally lower, but no biggie. If you recycle it more than once, your print quality will drop precipitously, due to other components of the cartridge wearing down (parts with technical names, that I knew only as the “drum” and the “black roller thing”). I’m so glad I don’t do this anymore. I wish I had a cooler area of expertise.
See, my NEC cartridges have this plastic cap on the sides where the toner goes. That’s what made me consider refilling mine. When I realized that all you have to do is open that cap and pour more toner in, I was wondering why I was paying nearly $100 for a toner cartridge when all I needed was more toner.
We finally banished refilled toner cartridges in my old office. They were substantially cheaper, but we had several of them leak. Perhaps they’d been improperly reassembled, or maybe some parts were worn. In any event, the amount of staff time it took to clean out the insides of several large, expensive laser printers (the big, high-speed, duplex printing, bells-and-whistles kind) far outweighed the savings. So, go ahead and give it a try, but be careful, and take a look inside your printer periodically.