Friday, June 22, 2012

5 Harsh Realities Of Ink

By Joseph Bake


Modern day laser printers are useless without toner cartridges. Toner cartridges are used to print ink on paper. Toner cartridges contain many parts, such as: carbon, a mixture of plastic particles, and toner power. Toner cartridges fuse ink to the paper by using heated rollers after the ink is applied to the paper through electrostatic charged drum piece. Toner cartridges and drum units are the two main parts that make up most printers. However, there are a number of other printers which include the drum unit in the toner cartridge. The drum unit must be replaced at the same time as the toner cartridge in these printers. Many people prefer printers that only require the toner cartridge to be changed due to cost and time restrictions.

There are all sorts of manufacturers of toner cartridges. OEM, or original parts are made by the original manufacturer. Guarantees are usually given on OEM toner cartridges. There are cheaper toner cartridges to choose from, such as: refills, off brands, or re-manufactured cartridges, but OEM is usually the best and safest to use. While being more expensive, OEM toner cartridges can usually be found at a few special retailers at a cheaper price. Compatible, generic, or off-brand toner cartridges are called so because they are made by a completely different company under a different name. These generic cartridges must have a different appearance because of the US patent laws. Being drastically cheaper than OEM brands, compatible toner cartridges can tempt buyers, but it should be known that these brands are said to be less reliable by some.

Most times air jet milling is used to try to create very specific sized particles that make up the toner in the cartridge. Often times air jet milling doesn't lead to consistent uniform sized particles. With the need for a more consistent way of creating toner particles, some companies are now growing them using a chemical process.

Toner cartridges come in many different prices. At times, toner cartridges can even be more expensive than the actual printer. This is rare though, and only happens with printers that were very cheap because of inferior quality. Some people who own a cheap laser printer simply throw out the printer when the cartridges go empty, not knowing that printers only come with cartridges that are a third full. If consumers truly need to save money they should buy generic compatible toner cartridges for a nicer printer.

There are specific ways in which to clean toner cartridges. Cold water should never be used to clean toner cartridges, but rather hot water because it will keep the toner in place. A vacuum cleaner should never be used to clean toner. A HEPA filter and a conductive hose should be used to clean spilt toner.




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