Refill your own laser/copier toner?
 

The powder kind... not the ink.

Anyone doing it?

Nope....the toner for the newer 1200 DPI laser printers is mighty fine stuff....dangerous to mess with....in the sense it becomes airborne very easily and lingers a very long time...bad stuff to get into your lungs.

Specifically I'm dealing with an older HP 4M and a Canon Copier, Model 940.

Seems everyone is doing this... and I'm tired of spending $$$ for toner when the drum, etc. is still just fine.

:)

OK, that stuff is courser, and easier to do, untill your imaging drum takes a dump......I know kits used to be availible and I know what you mean..remanufactured toners prices are going through the roof on the older ones....

I no longer use a 4 series HP....longer so I am out of the loop there.

I have a 4100N ( I found for free in the alley) and a Samsung color Laser these days...

Yup. I bought some kind of soldering iron looking thing to "melt" a hole in the side, and two bottles of toner for $30 delivered to my door. Crap, I can't get 1/2 of a high-capacity toner for the 4M for that (not a good one anyway...)

I figure I'll give it a whirl. If it doesn't work, I'll ebay the soldering iron looking thing, and be done with it. When I think of all the toner carts I threw in the garbage I could have recharged and used the drum until it died... who knew.

Well, I'll see if it works.

:)

THe imaging drum is good for a few refills before you start getting image degradation....go for it..thats no small savings.

Don't do it under a strong light...you can damage the imaging drum....as its light sensitive.

Don't forget to do this somewhere where there is good ventilation...perhaps outdoors in the shade somewhere so that you're not damaging the imaging drum or inhaling the toner powder which inevitably gets everywhere.

My last boss showed me how to do this and he ended up losing a 1/4lb of toner in a A level office bathroom sink counter. The toner that did make it into cartridge later leaked into the gear drive and caused every page to look like a earthquake seismograph readout.....needless to say....we were still required to use the cartridge. IT at its finest :D :rolleyes:

I saw someone try to refill a Kyocera once....in an office....notice the operative word try...

Its amazing how big a cloud and how big a mess about 2 cups of toner can make in a closed room....when dropped from waist level to the floor.

Lets just say they were finding toner on things for two years afterwards...AFTER the room was thouroughly cleaned...

I'm pretty neat when I work, so I'll be sure to make sure I am this time.

Funny bit:

The "hole maker" they sold... ready for this one?

Is a $1 store soldering iron with the tip removed and a 1/2 copper cap (for pipe sweat work) screwed in it's place.

Hey if it works, they deserve the money -- they got me for $8 on this "special" tool.

The toner they sent came with funnels, etc. So I think it should be mess free if I'm careful.

THANKS for the hint about keeping things in a low-light area!!!

The stuff came with instructions, haven't sat down with them yet.

Thanks again,
Pete

Friggin directions don't mention squat about doing it our of direct sunlight.

But it makes good sense to!

Hehe, I'm actually excited for my 4M to run out of toner now.

Me=Geek

Hehe.

Pete

Direct sunlight or strong light will mess it up....not exactly common knowledge but is for people who have worked on them.

For the most part, brief exposure to sunlight will not be fatal to an OPC drum. Put it back in the dark and it will recover after a while. There are exceptions, for example the drums in the Okidata color printers do not recover very well. (Note that the Oki's are sold under several labels).

Aside from that, drum life is related to rotation time. Make long runs, drum will last a long time. Print one page at a time, drum life is shorter.

There are a lot of different kinds of toner. Analog vs digital models are opposite polarity for example. Differences in particle size, fusing temperature, monocomponent vs dual component, etc. If you buy toner for refilling, make sure it is the right stuff for your particular model.

It might work satisfactorily, or it might not. You pays yer money and takes yer chances. If you find a refill brand that works, stick with it. Trying a different brand every time is like Russian roulette.