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October 9, 2009

Printout Defects - How to determine if the toner cartridge needs to be replaced?

October 9, 2009
Too much hype has been accorded laser printers lately, with features involving state of the art technology that is intended to produce the best possible printout. But then again, all electronic based devices and applications packed into the laser printer are designed to ease the transfer of paper from one printer component to the next and likewise help users diagnose errors even without opening the unit. However when one assesses the laser printer, one fact remains unchanged - it (laser printer) is still a mechanical beast composed of rollers, starting from the paper pick-up tray to the OPC Drum till the paper exits as a printout.

Since paper comes in contact with all these rollers, pertinent print defects that materialize over the printout can help detect if one of the rollers is in fact worn out or defective. Rollers in a laser printer come in a variety of sizes to therefore leave a trail on the printout - in the form of print irregularities. And the defective roller can be detected by simply measuring the distance between print defects. A damaged OPC Drum for instance will produce print irregularities commensurate to the circumference of the drum. Therefore, the bigger the diameter of the roller, the greater the distance between defects can be expected.

A defective toner cartridge can be diagnosed when defects on printouts appear at regular intervals at particular distances of say 32mm, 37.7mm, and 76.3mm between defects. This would indicate that the roller inside the toner cartridge is already defective and requires immediate replacement. In this case, no amount of toner refills - even from quality toner refill kits, could resolve the print issue. This condition becomes highly likely following the third refill of an empty toner cartridge because by then, cartridge parts may have worn out as the cartridge unit reaches the end of its serviceable life.

An empty toner cartridge meanwhile will not produce repetitive print irregularities but instead generate faded printouts. When met with this scenario, the user should be elated over the fact that the cartridge is still in fine form and therefore requires only a new shot of toner; that is quality refill toner powder from a reliable toner refill kit – in order to print again.

A laser printer user need not be an expert to determine when the toner cartridge requires replacement. Studying the trail of defects that materialize over the printout would show the irreparable condition of the cartridge unit.

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