Is it OK to keep a laser toner out?

[OM2]

I've bought a Dell colour printer
Cost of ink is *extortionate*
The reason why I purchased was because the cost of 3rd party ink is super cheap

I've ordered and received the 3rd party ink...
But... I need to test and make sure all is OK!!

If I take out the existing ink toners... will it dry out and cause similar problems as experienced with inkjet cartridges if unused for a small amount of time??

Thanks


OM

 

[Apostolos]

Everything you leave out in the atmosphere is bound to be affected, one way or the other. For toners is the opposite of inkjet cartridges. They don't dry out, instead they absorb the moisture in the atmosphere and clog.

Although i'm pretty sure that everything is going to be ok with the 3rd party toner, you should store properly the OEM toner. Just put it in the bag of the non-OEM cartdridge and make sure it is closed with tape. That should do it.

Furthermore, leave some amount of powder in the OEM cartridge before storage. Do that in case your printer presents a problem and needs service. You can restore then the OEM cartridge inside the printer before shipping it to your local dealer. Just in case they will want to void your warranty for using non-OEM toner.

Happy and cheap printings!

 

[Łukasz]

@Apostolos's answer is very fine.

May I ask about Dell's printer model name?

Ł.

 

[OM2]

thanks for the replies guys
the model is C1760NW
i bought because of the super cheap ink of compatibles... the main reason for being OK with this is because on amazon the 3rd party ink has very good ratings
the only thing is that just a handful of buyers complained about the toners NOT fitting - hence, i just wanted to use a few times to see if they fitted ok - rather than wait 1 or 2 months and then find out that i'm stuffed. lol

+ the printer came with a 3 year warranty

the cost of printing now becomes about £0.002 per page
+ i get super fast prints

i got it so that i can print invoices with photos on...
i wasn't sure if the photos would look ok...
they look perfect so far
but now i have to try the compatible ink...

 

[Apostolos]

This model is not officially imported here in Greece (comes only from independent vendors) , so i have no knowledge of it, but i can confirm that the cost per page (including the paper) is about 2-2,5 cents (not 5% coverage). Seems like a nice deal.

i got it so that i can print invoices with photos on...
i wasn't sure if the photos would look ok...
they look perfect so far
but now i have to try the compatible ink...

99 out of 100 times, the compatible ink images look a little darker. This is because the non-OEM factories are using black powder with different color tone from the OEM (usually darker). In this way, every color that mixes with black, comes out a bit darker from the original. Keep that in mind.

I personally on my color lasers solved the problem by buying each time all the color cartridges compatible, but the black cartridge OEM. For photograph printing and high quality that is. For everyday use, all 4 compatibles are just fine.

 

[Łukasz]

These toners are powder only, I mean all mechanical parts are inside printer.

If toner agglomerate inside developer unit, it is hard to repair such situation with just putting again OEM cartridges.

I guess this printer has dedicated toner bin, so service center will know what was going on.

Ł.

 

[Apostolos]

OM2, for statistics sake, take a print of a photo with the OEM toners, and then the same photo with the compatible ones. I 'm curious if my findings apply on Dell as well. So far on HP and Samsung models, the darker compatibles are the rule.

 

[OM2]

@Lukasz... what do u mean? is my warrant invalidated by using compatibles!!!
wtf! OMG!
why why why?
+ where does it say that the warranty is invalid if u use other 3rd party toners??
(i'm not doubting you... i just need to know where it says it)

what does the toner bin do? and how will they be clever enough to figure out?

@Apostolos, what cents are u talking about? american dollar?
the black for example cost about £5 and give 1500 pages print (so i am led to believe)
that gives a cost of £0.003 per page

dark prints: no... i Wouldn't say dark at all. you Couldn't tell them apart to be honest

i plan to print lots and lots of colour!!
on my invoice, i want to advertise other things for sale in my store
so my coverage will probably be more like 20%

 

[Apostolos]

@Apostolos, what cents are u talking about? american dollar?
the black for example cost about £5 and give 1500 pages print (so i am led to believe)
that gives a cost of £0.003 per page

dark prints: no... i Wouldn't say dark at all. you Couldn't tell them apart to be honest

i plan to print lots and lots of colour!!
on my invoice, i want to advertise other things for sale in my store
so my coverage will probably be more like 20%

Not dark. A bit darker than the OEM in the black and grey areas. But if they are identical it's OK.
Just tell me the brand of compatibles you use, so that i know for future reference.


As for the cost, i don't talk about dollars, but Euros.
2-2,5 eurocents is the minimum. Forget the 0.003 per page. That is with 5% coverage. That means 10 rows of text. Now start multiplying. An entire page of text, plus a small logo perhaps (since you said something about advertise), you are looking at 35-40% coverage. I have somewhere examples of the coverage of pages but i can't find it now. If you google it you will see. Now add the cost of the paper (which i included in my post) and you will see that you are far from 0.003.

Nevertheless it is an ISO measurement for us to see which printer prints more pages with that coverage and make our decision easier, but in the real print the cost is much more. I would say for the average user a toner that says 1500 pages, prints about 600-700 pages.

 

[Łukasz]

Yes, warranty is invaded by using compatibles, because they can damage printer.

But in such case, manufacturer (or distributor) of compatible toners should be responsible for repairing printer - not printer manufacturer, neither printer owner.

Toner cartridge was intentionally reduced to box-of-powder only, cause it is much harder to clean developer unit (inside printer) from remains of wrong/faulty powder.

Faulty (bricked) powder may lead to fry electric motor driver placed on motherboard - it is hardware damage, expensive to repair.

It is not as easy as it was before, when putting away used toner cartridge (with developer unit) was sufficient to cover most trails of compatibles.

I think low price of compatible toners is better than any warranty, even if they finally make printer unrepairable, so why worry

Ł.