Dopers, thought I’d check in with y’all before I part with my hard-earned cash.
I got an awesome deal on a Samsung CLP-500 color laser printer about a year ago. I bought it with the knowledge that the low cost was something of an illusion as the cartridges were expensive as sh*t. Being a grad student who has no patience for waiting in long lines at the lab/paying 5 cents a copy, I figured it was worth it. Up until now, it has been! It’s a great printer (though a little slow).
This definitely crushes the alternative of buying a new cartridges like a grape. However, I watch enough late-night TV to know that ink-cartridge refilling is one of the more popular “as seen on TV” deals. Which means I question their efficacy.
So… has anyone refilled a laser printer toner cartridge, and if so, how were the results?
It’s marginally acceptable, in most cases, but it’s nothing like a new cartridge. For one thing, the drums are generally integrated into the cartridges, and these will wear out. They are engineered to last only as long as the cartridge is expected to work. After that, print quality starts to degrade. You can usually get one acceptable refill and maybe a second barely acceptable refill, but more than that is pushing it. It’s not damaging to the printer itself, so if you can live with the reduced quality of prints, then by all means, go for it.
Oh yeah. Especially on clothing. Definitely wear gloves and consider wearing an apron, or at least some clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. You might want to wear a dust mask, like drywallers use (available in hardware and home improvement stores), too, since inhaling the fine particles can cause problems, especially if you do refills often. I probably wouldn’t, personally, but if you want to err on the side of caution, go that route.
Another option is remanufactured cartridges, available in some retail outlets and online. These are less expensive (and consequently less reliable) than OEM carts, and they don’t always work well, but it’s worth looking into. These carts are not only refilled, but have the drums replaced or resurfaced and are relubricated. In most cases, it’s better than refilling your own carts, but not quite as good as a new one.
On a similar note, there are stores popping up in the malls around here that specialize in refilling ink jet cartridges, or providing self-service kits so you can refill your own.
They claim that their ink is every bit as good as the OEM ink, and that they carry multiple varieties of inks to exactly match the originals.
Anyone have the Straight Dope on whether these things are any good? I have to admit I’m getting tired of paying through the nose every time my printer runs out of ink.
I dunno about the services that offer refilling, but I have used the refill kits myself with great results. They are particularly effective for printers which have the heads separate from the ink carts, but even with those with integrated heads the results are pretty acceptable. Again, they can be messy, so you definitely want to wear gloves. As with all such things, some brands and types of carts refill better than others. Typically, you can get between 2 and 5 refills before you need to replace the cart. Some carts need to have the integrated chip reset, so that the printer “knows” the cart is full. Refill kits for these types either have the resetter included or offer it as an accessory.
Your printer uses a central drum and the toner cartridges are just toner.
You should be able to refill the cartridges with no problems. One day though, the page count will increment to some value (like 200,000 pages) and the printer will shut down saying “Buy me a new drum!” And “Buy me a new fuser!” and “Buy me a new transfer belt!” At least drums and tranfer units for this one are fairly cheap.
The general wisdom on these cartridges is to refill them only twice, then replace. There are seals and mechanisms in there that will wear out eventually. There is also a “waste” toner collection container that needs to be changed out once it’s full.
Honestly, we tried those cheaper, online sources of ink cartridges. I forget which one, but we demanded our money back. The refills lasted a week, if that! Obviously, they were not filling the cartridges to capacity. It is not like our consumption increased significantly!
I was against it, but my wife and I agreed to try once - ONCE!