Cheap Amazon Laser Printer Cartridges / Refills - My Mess Experience

Nifty

Printer VIP
Administrator
Joined
Nov 3, 2004
Messages
3,046
Reaction score
1,405
Points
337
Location
Bay Area CA
Printer Model
CR-10, i560 ,MFC-7440N
The cart for my Brother laser printer was throwing an "empty" error. I was thinking I'd refill it, but an Amazon seller had a sale on clone cartridge that had great reviews.

I received the cart, plugged it into my printer, and immediately got huge vertical streaks and smudges. Nothing solved the issue :(

I ended up having to totally clean the drum with alcohol / cotton ball... it was pretty gummed up. I'm not exactly sure what it was about swapping carts that did it, but I'm guessing the "new" cart's toner or roller didn't play nice with my drum.

I didn't want to put the same cart back in the printer, but I needed to print, so I pulled off the side tab, and the "empty flag gear" from the replacement and put it on my old cart, and was back to printing... at least until I decide to either refill this old cart or buy one from a different supplier.

Thank goodness for youtube videos! These two were very helpful:

Cleaning the drum unit:

Replacing the flag gear:
 

The Hat

Printer VIP
Platinum Printer Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2010
Messages
15,617
Reaction score
8,691
Points
453
Location
Residing in Wicklow Ireland
Printer Model
Canon/3D, CR-10, CR-10S, KP-3
I received the cart, plugged it into my printer, and immediately got huge vertical streaks
This also helps...
When you replace a toner cartridge in your laser printer it’s always wise to clean the corona before commencing printing again.. to clean the corona wire there is a little plastic tab on top of the drum unit, just move this tab back and forth a few time to clean..
 

stratman

Printer VIP
Platinum Printer Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
8,712
Reaction score
7,163
Points
393
Location
USA
Printer Model
Canon MB5120, Pencil
to clean the corona wire there is a little plastic tab on top of the drum unit, just move this tab back and forth a few time to clean..
Just like in Nifty's video above. :frow
 

Artur5

Printer Master
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
1,294
Reaction score
1,618
Points
278
Location
Kmt. 0.
Printer Model
MB5150,Pro10s,i3Mk3s+,Voron2.4
Third party stuff for lasers is a hit and miss game, much more so than for inkjets. You may purchase a cartridge of a certain brand and it’s OK. Get another one from the same batch and it’s unusable.

Incidentally, I’d avoid touching the drum with any kind of liquids, specially aggressive solvents (including whiskey :rolleyes:),
No matter what you see on youtube, if the drum needs cleaning, just wipe it very gently with a dry soft cloth,
 
Last edited:

Mervinlee1235

Newbie to Printing
Joined
Aug 25, 2020
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Printer Model
Epson l805
Third party stuff for lasers is a hit and miss game, much more so than for inkjets. You may purchase a cartridge of a certain brand and it’s OK. Get another one from the same batch and it’s unusable.

Incidentally, I’d avoid touching the drum with any kind of liquids, specially aggressive solvents (including whiskey :rolleyes:),
No matter what you see on youtube, if the drum needs cleaning, just wipe it very gently with a dry soft cloth,

I was just thinking of what is the best way to clean up the drum for any laser printer. Thank you Artur5 for mentioning the best solution of it. Perhaps, soften cloth won't make any spot or harmful effect?
 

Artur5

Printer Master
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
1,294
Reaction score
1,618
Points
278
Location
Kmt. 0.
Printer Model
MB5150,Pro10s,i3Mk3s+,Voron2.4
As you all probably know, the surface of the drum is covered with a photosensitive layer which will be easily damaged by chemicals or scratched by rough materials. It will be permanently damaged too if it’s exposed to strong light for a few hours.
Probably a cloth slightly embedded in plain water won’t do much harm if applied gently, but if we don’t let the water to evaporate totally before starting to use the printer, toner powder will stick to the wet parts of the drum, making a mess. Therefore, I prefer to avoid any kind of liquid cleaning.
 

Mervinlee1235

Newbie to Printing
Joined
Aug 25, 2020
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Printer Model
Epson l805
As you all probably know, the surface of the drum is covered with a photosensitive layer which will be easily damaged by chemicals or scratched by rough materials. It will be permanently damaged too if it’s exposed to strong light for a few hours.
Probably a cloth slightly embedded in plain water won’t do much harm if applied gently, but if we don’t let the water to evaporate totally before starting to use the printer, toner powder will stick to the wet parts of the drum, making a mess. Therefore, I prefer to avoid any kind of liquid cleaning.

Thanks again for your excellent and authentic clarification. Hope this will enrich the drum cleaning knowledge for many like me.
 
Top