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Robert Bennett and Rob Jaques
Computing Center Electronics Shop Technicians
hardwarehelp@oregon.uoregon.edu
People often ask us if there is any appreciable difference between recycled toner cartridges and brand new ones. If recycled cartridges are just as good, why not use them and save a little money?
Our experience with laser printer repairs argues against using recycled cartridges. We see a lot of laser printers in the shop that have no problems other than a bad toner cartridge—and in the majority of these cases the cartridge is a refilled cartridge.
Not all parts are created equal: the importance of the photoreceptive drum. Most toner recycling companies rely on the fact that many of the components may have been engineered to last longer than a single life cycle, and therefore refill the toner and reuse many of the old cartridges components, most notably the photoreceptive drum.
The photoreceptor surface on a cartridge drum is the most important element in a toner cartridge, as it most directly affects the quality of the print. The drum surface on a refilled cartridge may not be as good as that of a new cartridge. It’s also likely that the mechanical elements (gearwheels, drive belts etc.) of a recycled cartridge could be unusually worn, and these elements are often overlooked by cartridge recyclers.
Toner. The toner used by most recyclers is touted as having better print quality than the toner used in the original cartridges. This simply isn't true. The toner used by the manufacturers is designed specifically to work in the cartridges they make and in the printers they make. Most recyclers use toner that is designed for copiers, toner that has different properties (in some cases, the toner is finer but also has a rougher texture).
The recycling issue. Many laser printer users are concerned with the "recycling" aspect of toner cartridges, and like the idea of reusing their old cartridges. All the major manufacturers of toner cartridges offer some way to recycle their cartridges, usually in the form of a prepaid mailer that comes with the cartridge. Just put your old cartridge into the box the new one comes in and ship it back using the mailer. The manufacturers will recycle the raw materials in your old cartridge (as opposed to reusing its components).
Cost benefit analysis. The small cost benefits associated with the use of recycled cartridges must be weighed against the increased support and maintenance costs, print quality problems, and down time. Many users don't suspect cartridge problems, even though they are the single most likely cause of poor print quality. Or if they do, they will install another refilled cartridge, which may not be any better than the one they removed.
We generally find that the small cost savings are not justified. It ends up costing you more to use refills if you have to have your printer down for maintenance because of problems associated with faulty refilled cartridges.
Laser printers do require periodic maintenance and component failures do cause printer malfunctions, but there is no reason to accelerate the need for service by using refilled cartridges.
1. HP’s warranty statement at
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=bpl02665&locale=en_US&prodSeriesId=25471&prodTypeId=18972#P11_1227
(All printer manufacturers have statements very similar to HP’s.)
2. Laser Printer Secrets by Steven Burrows. This comprehensive technical guide is available for checkout from the Computing Center Documents Room, 175 McKenzie Hall.