CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge • Hacker News Board

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#231

Post by Animats » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 4:55 AM UTC

l8rlump wrote: post #216

dlmiller wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Developer loses its charge over time. You have to replace it. Every laser copier/printer still uses developer. If you can show me a model of laser printer that does not, I'm all ears. There is also a transfer roller in each copier, maybe that's what you're talking about? I could be mistaken, but as recently as 2020, every commercial copier I worked on, still uses developer. I have never worked on, or heard of a laser…

"Mono-component" toner is toner that is magnetic in its own rite, so it doesn't need separate developer (iron powder) to make it magnetic. I believe the original mono-component toners had magnetite in them, but I believe now there's non-magnetic mono-component toner too.

Xerography is electrostatic, not magnetic.

Magnetic printers, with magnetic toner, have been built [1] but never really caught on. It was one of those dead ends from the early years of trying to build a faster printer.

Somehow I managed to encounter, early in my career, the first CRT phototypesetter prototype (Harris-Intertype), the first electrostatic liquid printer prototype (Clevite-Brush), the Data Interface Magnetic Printer, the Teletype Inktronic (swept a beam of ink dots with deflection plates, like a CRT), and a Corning Glass display that used photochromic glass (write with UV, view in green, erase with IR).

None were successful products, although for a decade or so, electrostatic liquid printers from Versatek [2] were a thing. They used "dark juice", toner particles in a liquid suspension. A row of electrodes charged the paper, which passed over a liquid surface where the paper picked up toner particles. Then a heating station fused the toner and evaporated the liquid. Required special paper. Print quality was mediocre, but the devices were quiet and fast.

[1] http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/DataInterf...

[2] https://archive.org/details/TNM_Electrostatic_Printers__Plot...

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#232

Post by Animats » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 4:58 AM UTC

ElijahLynn wrote: post #182

Bought an Epson "Ecotank" a few years ago, best printer I've ever had. Only had to refill the ink tanks a couple of times, and the refill ink is super affordable. Paid a much higher up-front cost for the printer but damn... I print out TONS of photos now, and don't have to worry about the ink cartridge depleting at a fast rate.

I still have one of those. I don't print enough to keep it from clogging, and often have to run two or three cleaning cycles after not using it for a few weeks. I had to refill black ink once, for a few dollars.

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#233

Post by Fiahil » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 5:14 AM UTC

My laser Brother printer let me print until there is no more ink.

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#234

Post by ChainOfFools » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 5:24 AM UTC

martinflack wrote: post #159

mc32 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

At least with Brother you can mail in the old laser drums that you pull out. I hope to God they're doing something sensible to reuse ink/parts.

Canon also has a program like this, although they dont have that brilliant consumables separation of toner from drum that seems to be a brother-only hallmark at the sub $1,000 pricepoint. so you have to replace a perfectly usable drum with each toner change, like HP and all the rest.

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#235

Post by sgc » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 5:32 AM UTC

nebula8804 wrote: post #131

jp_nc wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have had good luck with ZeroWater which comes with a TDS meter on the pitcher. Unlike Brita indicators which are time-based, this allows you to just measure the solids have actually been removed (if it's too high, it's time to replace it)

Zerowater is great but man their expensive filters do not seem to come near the advertised amount. The expense and lack of good third party alternatives for their filters just adds salt to the wound(since it didn't get filtered out HA!).

What is the appeal of these compared to just getting a 10 inch under the counter filter set? I have a double filter set, with two different multistage filters. The water is extremely well filtered and it's relatively cheap to change the filters a couple times a year as per manufacturer recommendations. It took me 35 minutes to install, but it's been running fine for years.

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#236

Post by camilo86 » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 6:25 AM UTC

The is outrageous. At this point we mind as well build an open source printer with reusable cartridges

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#237

Post by fractallyte » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 6:33 AM UTC

_carbyau_ wrote: post #193

fractallyte wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 st…

I had to support one of these. I thought the colours were quite good but had nothing to compare with. Main disadvantage was the smell when it was warmed up. It had to be kept in a ventilated separate room.

Yes, I forgot about the smell. Definitely a downside...

It smells like slightly burnt, melted wax. Very much like a candle, including the smoke...!

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#238

Post by t0bia_s » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 7:47 AM UTC

onemoresoop wrote: post #161

chaostheory wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think Samsung is bad, HP is much worse. Stay away from HP printers including laser

Is Brother any better? So far happy with my Laser Brother, way happier than the nightmares I've had with inkjet printers. But I have to admit we changed the tonner after less than 2000 pages. I assumed the cartrige had small capacity and didn't arise my suspicions. Should I worry?

I have Brother HL-L2300D. I can print around 2500 pages from non-genuine toner.

Annoying is sleep mode that cannot be changed. Printer won't turn on when I send print task to it. I have to turn on printer manually every time before print.

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#239

Post by synaesthesisx » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 7:49 AM UTC

culi wrote: post #219

grishka wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TIL people actually throw laser printer cartridges away instead of having them refilled for pennies multiple times over.

more modern printers have smarter chips that are harder to reuse and the printers can even permanently brick themselves if it thinks you're using non-proprietary cartridges

Generally some folks will re-use the proprietary cartridge, but manually refill them. In the mid 2000s I used to do this with inkjet cartridges - you could remove some of the labels/wrapper on the cartridge to expose a port that was accessible via syringe, and refill the reservoirs with cheap ink.

Re: CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge

#240

Post by indemnity » Thu, Dec 01, 2022, 7:52 AM UTC

max-ibel wrote: post #168

denton-scratch wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought a Samsung printer a few years ago. A couple of months later, I discovered that Samsung's printer arm had been acquired by Hewlett-Packard - the company I least wanted to buy a printer from. My printer has no number pad. It has a horrible menu system you navigate with arrow-keys. The cartridge it came with was tiny - it lasted for less than a ream. But the replacement I bought is still going strong (I don't p…

Just make sure you never do a firmware upgrade unless it's absolutely required, and, if possible, disable DNS lookups for FW upgrade with something like pihole. E.g., for Epson, that is epsonpfu.ebz.epson.net

My first and last Epson (inkjet) ended its life on my balcony after I took to it with a cricket bat, Office Space style. Never again. Leaks, overpriced cartridges, crappy software.

Had a Brother laser since then (HL-3170CDW) no complaints, just works, toner lasts forever.