Announcing LTS' New Xerox Toner Refill Kits

Laser printer users are on the lookout for more affordable printer consumable options everyday. And given the rate by which new printer models from different makers are introduced and distributed into the market, producers of compatible toner in the aftermarket just can’t sit back and wait until the toner cartridges and other peripherals of these new printers are discontinued and no longer available to users.

To keep up with a fast moving industry, LTS is happy to announce the availability of new toner refill kits from its growing line of Xerox compatible toner refill kits for the color laser printers Xerox Phaser 6360, Tektronix Phaser 7700, the wide format printer Tektronix Phaser 7400 and the networked printer Tektronix Phaser 2135. Xerox Phaser 6360 units are still being distributed while the other models have already been discontinued by the manufacturer.

Our Xerox compatible toner refill kits are loaded with gram loads of compatible toner that meet high capacity requirements. Meanwhile, Xerox 7400 and Xerox 2135 kits are supplied with reset chips intended to replace the lockout chips outfitted with respective cartridges. The reset chip will reset the printer’s counter so that printouts can be generated from the refilled cartridge. Note that individual Xerox toner refill kits come with a bottle of high yield, compatible toner powder; 1 funnel cap, a pair of latex gloves, toner wipes and an illustrated instruction manual.

LTS offers competitive pricing with individual kits retailing at $74.95 (Xerox 6360); $56.95 and $64.50 (Xerox 2135 monochrome and color toner respectively); $70.95 and $80.95 (Xerox 7400 monochrome and color toner respectively); and $47.95 (Xerox 7700). Rainbow packs are also available.

For more details and Xerox toner refill kit orders, please visit the LTS website or call our toll free hotline number 877.945.2737.

The Real Deal about Toner Cartridge Smart Chips

From the looks of it, consumer advocates are unanimous in saying that toner cartridge smart chips a.k.a. reset chips are a ploy by printer manufacturers to entirely bar the refill of cartridge units with compatible toner. Who then can question the motives of advocates when the smart chip does not only serve the tracking of toner supply status but also includes all other functions that make it all too controversial? This includes a unique ID system that will only recognize an OEM toner cartridge coming from the same printer company through the serial numbers imprinted on the cartridge. The manufacturing date of the cartridge is also stored which likewise serves as basis in disabling printer operations once the expiry date is breached; as if toner really has an expiry date.

How does the smart chip work? The smart chip is a data memory bank integrated into the cartridge. The chip stores information about the printer type, cartridge serial number, the OPC drum’s total revolutions, the manufacturing date, number of pages counted (page count), amount of toner left and all other pertinent data. Data stored in the chip are communicated to the printer by way of radio frequency (RF) or infra red (IR) signal. And when certain limits are breached or perhaps when a non-compatible device is loaded, the chip automatically disables the printer’s operations. Example, the printer automatically responds when chip delivers information about the breached yield capacity or designated total revolutions in the case of the primary charge roller (PCR).

Does the smart chip really furnish the laser printer with accurate information? Well, as culled from consumer testimonials over the Internet, the answer is a big NO because it has been noticed that the smart chip tends to disable printer operations even when a substantial volume of toner is still left in the cartridge’s toner chamber. This gives consumers the notion that smart chips were really devised to encourage the premature purchase of replacement cartridges while preventing the conduct of refills on the unit.

Well, these assumptions are likely wild speculations because the smart chip is an electronic device that must be subjected to ideal or laboratory-like conditions in order to function seamlessly. The smart chip operates with an RF circuitry and must be provided with a self-calibration feature to render it immune from damaging thermal conditions, noise, power deviations inside the cartridge and particularly during the manufacturing process as it passes through several variations – factors that cause the chip to malfunction.

In the end, the cartridge should be outfitted with a high grade smart chip that passed superior standards set in its manufacture in order to get an accurate feedback of toner supply status, among others.

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To produce decent laser prints and yield at a reasonable price, refill OEM toner cartridges with toner refill kits. The toner refill kit line of Laser Tek Services is cheaper by as much as 80% than the prevailing retail price of OEM toner cartridges.

Brother Toner Cartridges: Reset Gear Versus Reset Chip

Brother Industrial Corporation (BIC) is perhaps the only printer manufacturer that does not implement the ‘razor and razor blades’ mentality in the design of printer peripherals. In fact, BIC encourages refills on its toner cartridges and even provides users with step-by-step remanufacturing guidelines to extend a cartridge unit's capacity to over 3 print cycles. Moreover, BIC retained the reset gears in the design of their cartridges - in lieu of the more sophisticated microchips. This would allow users of Brother cartridges to simply adjust the reset gears to its starting position each time a refill is performed, which by the way reactivates the toner cartridge.

If reset chips are designed to control the printing process based on the number of printed pages, how does BIC implement this with the reset gear?

While cartridge yield is determined from the number of pages printed under a particular page coverage; calculation is based on the actual revolutions per minute (RPM) of the developer roller. For the Brother high yield black cartridge series, the maximum life of the developer roller is 110,000 revolutions or equivalent to 6,000 pages - at 18.5 revolutions necessary to complete the printing of a single page. Users can actually convert a high yield cartridge such as the TN-115 to a low yield TN 110 toner cartridge or vice versa, since only the reset gear controls the lifecycle of the Brother toner cartridge.

BIC’s laboratory tests confirm that the Brother HL 4040cn laser printer can detect if a new cartridge has been loaded; where the bias voltage is automatically set to high because of the tendency of new toner to print light. But as the cartridge is used regularly, density also increases. And to sustain this level all throughout the life of the cartridge, the density bias voltage is reduced accordingly. While users of non-Brother cartridges complain of how reset chips would desist printing while the cartridge still has sufficient toner supply, BIC can however assure its users that Brother reset gears will only respond when toner supply is really low or totally depleted.

Brother compatible reset gears (a.ka. flag gears) intended for starter cartridges are also available with Laser Tek Services. The flag gear resets the printer and eliminates the "Toner End Life" prompt so that a new cartridge cycle can commence.

Refilling a No Fill Hole, Lockout Chip Controlled Toner Cartridge

Of all the laser printer toner cartridges available in the market, the HP Q2612A is probably one of the most cumbersome to refill. For one, the cartridge does not come with a built in fill-hole; which was obviously intended to discourage refills. Moreover, the cartridge operates with a lockout chip that limits printouts to the yield rated for the cartridge. Third party manufacturers however have developed a refill tool which makes access to the toner hopper and waste chamber possible. From the aftermarket, a reset chip was engineered purposely to override the lockout chip and allow printing with the refilled cartridge. Many call the invention of third party consumables such as the HP 1010 / 1012 / 1020 toner refill kit ingenious; but it makes much sense in the intent of helping laser printer users cope up with rapidly bloating business printing expenditures.

Access to the concealed toner hopper becomes feasible with the refill tool – an improved version of the soldering iron where the conical tip is replaced with a copper tube measuring 18mm to 20mm in diameter. When plugged to an electrical outlet, the copper cylinder tip gets sufficiently heated (in a span of 5 to 10 minutes) to be able melt a hole into the plastic carcass of the toner cartridge. Note that a regular drilling tool should not be used to perform this procedure. Plastic shavings that would likely collect inside the hopper cannot be retrieved entirely and can damage sensitive imaging components. This would then reduce the effective life cycle of the cartridge.

In the process of refilling the Q2612A toner cartridge, the user will be required to create two holes – one each for the toner hopper (where toner supply is contained) and toner waste chamber. It is necessary to empty toner residues lingering inside the toner hopper and waste chamber as failure to do just that will ultimately result in print defects. If possible, use the device called the toner vacuum to completely rid the chambers of toner residues. Likewise note that mixing fresh toner with waste toner will have an unfavorable impact on print quality and yield. Learn more about the refill tool from our previous post.

Of course, the refill process will not be complete without the replacement of the lockout chip with the reset chip. The reset chip will refresh the cartridge's counter and override the Toner Out prompt so that printing can commence with the cartridge refilled with a compatible toner refill kit. Learn more about the reset chip from another previous post.