If you have a Samsung laserprinter with number pad and empty toner / imaging unit try menu # 1904 menu and reset the counter, then happily print thousands of pages more
CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge
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Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge
#42I would like to see cartridges designed ecologically - refillable perhaps, or at least designed to flow as much out as possible - and allowing you to override the "toner low" warning and keep printing even if it's almost dry.
I remember when I was at school about 15 years ago there were printers that used wax(?) blocks, that were just put into it, not sure how it worked exactly.
Xerox Phaser printers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Phaser) used wax „solid ink“ blocks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_ink)
Advantages: waterproof print; very clean; easy to change ink blocks; maintenance was mainly just emptying a tray containing small amounts of waste wax (biodegradable)
Disadvantages: when offline, the printer still used power to keep the wax in a liquid state, otherwise a cold start could take a while; colors were occasionally not as vibrant as regular laser printers
Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge
#43The printer industry needs a revolution.
Does it? It’s a dying industry. When was the last time you printed anything?
Manuscripts. My spouse runs multi-hundred page manuscripts off anywhere from once to a few times a year.
Sheet music.
Patterns.
Legal documents. There are still places that won't do esign.
Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge
#44The printer industry needs a revolution.
Does it? It’s a dying industry. When was the last time you printed anything?
I print standard library docs all the time to read.
That includes building Table of contents/indexes.
I print out pages of source code to do physical cross ref of when I get in some really gnarly code to help me physically reckon through the abstraction spaghetti.
I print invoices, letters, diagrams, books, pamphlets.
I mean, just because you don't do documents or have anything you want on paper, doesn't mean everyone else doesn't.
Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge
#45Looks like they market CT scanners. Otherwise I'd ask - why not cut it open instead?
Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge
#46Manufacturers want to provide a product that produces reliable high quality prints. That's why the toner low warning comes up very early, so that there's no chance that your important documents look unprofessional due to low toner levels. As a consumer, naturally, you can almost always ignore the warning and use the toner until you can't even read granny's apple pie recipe anymore.
Agreed.
I spent some time maintaining a fleet of printers, among other things. Toner cartridges streak when they are near empty, and can be restored by shaking them, for a time. Shaking them more and more as they near the end. I can understand why you’d want a cartridge to report “empty” before it starts streaking.
I don’t really care about a bit of wasted toner, though. What I really want are more durable mechanical parts (gears, etc) and a ready supply of replacement parts like fusers.
I also wonder how the printer counts its toner “empty”. If it’s just a page count, surely it wouldn’t be accurate. I know that you can measure page coverage, but I wonder if they actually do it.
I’m also sure that they have no incentive to make the “empty” threshold more accurate.
Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge
#47If you have a Samsung laserprinter with number pad and empty toner / imaging unit try menu # 1904 menu and reset the counter, then happily print thousands of pages more
Brother lasers also have a funky reset procedure (depends on model, but searchable on internet). It’s outrageous. You can get another 500 to 1000 pages out of it.
Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge
#48Unlike ink jets most laser printers will let you disable the low toner “lock outs” although by default it may refuse to print. Then you just wait for the streaks to appear to know when you’re out. You can shake it to extend the life once that occurs. I’ve printed hundreds of pages after the printer said I was out of toner. There’s probably some small quality loss but for text you don’t really notice if it’s not strea…
Yep; we went eighteen months between the first "no toner" and visible impact on print quality, despite two kids in school needing stuff printed daily.
Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge
#49Looks like they market CT scanners. Otherwise I'd ask - why not cut it open instead?
You will get dirty if you cut it open, we are no longer living in the stone age.
Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge
#50I would like to see cartridges designed ecologically - refillable perhaps, or at least designed to flow as much out as possible - and allowing you to override the "toner low" warning and keep printing even if it's almost dry.
I have never used one, but I think it is interesting that Epson does sell a line of printers that have easily refillable ink reservoirs. https://epson.com/ecotank-ink-tank-printers
They sound cool but apparently have a sponge that holds the ink between the tank and the jet and eventually that becomes saturated and it's basically game over for the printer because it doesn't sound like the sponge is user serviceable https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25047231