Remanufactured Toner Cartridges vs. OEM (original manufacturer) CartridgesI have worked in
toner industry for over six years, and in that time have seen a good deal of change within industry. The remanufacturing industry began as a drill and fill operation. Components were not changed; cartridge was cleaned and refilled with toner. This led to poor print quality, defects, and cartridges that leaked toner into machines. Some companies continue with these practices today, but most have made a legitimate effort at selling a quality product.
Quality remanufactured toner cartridges are now available. Remanufactured toner cartridges can actually exceed OEM quality and yield. Extensive testing and R&D have enabled this industry to produce cartridges that will not only save customer money, but also provide a better product.
As customer, what should you ask potential vendors about their remanufactured cartridges?
1. What yield and density did cartridges achieve in testing? The yield is amount of pages cartridge produces before running out of toner. Make sure that testing is performed at 5% page coverage. This is industry standard. You can ask if they used a toner head, this is best way to achieve 5% page coverage. Be careful with companies that just give you OEM yield, they may not have actually done any testing.
The density measures how dark text is. The density is usually between 1.3 and 1.6. Ask how many cartridges they test to achieve their numbers. Testing one cartridge does not give an accurate measurement. Also, ask how often they test their toner/drum combinations. Suppliers change toner qualities and continued testing is important to ensure quality.
2. Does company change any components? Ask if company changes drum, wiper blade and mag roller. These components are all very important to print quality. Some lower yield cartridges do not need to have their drums changed if they are properly tested, but anything over 4,000 pages should, at least, receive a new drum.
