Find out the basics about what a toner cartridge in a laser printer is, how many pages it covers and how to make printer toner last longer by using it wisely.
Toner Cartridge is a familiar term for the laser printer users since it is used as a mandatory part of laser printers. The toner cartridges hold very fine powder of colors, plastics, and other substances. And, the mix of all these components inks the paper by being transferred through an elector statically drum unit to the paper.
Those who are not aware of it, laser printers use either one cartridge, which only produces black ink, or, they use four cartridges, which contains CMYK colors, is, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black. No matter which one you use, be sure to check them regularly for your printer’s health.
How does toner Cartridge work?
In laser printers printings are the results of the electro photographic method where a primary charged roller coats the Organic Photo Conductor (OPC) drum with a negative charge. After that, a laser beam scans the drum to charge the required places with positive charges and form the prints – in texts or images. The difference between the inkjet printer and laser printer is that, unlike the inkjet printer, the laser printer does not use ink, rather it uses pigments and plastic substances to print. Obviously, the chances of the unwanted smear of ink in your paper are unlikely when you use a laser printer.
How many pages does it cover?
On average, a toner cartridge gives 5% coverage to about 2000 pages. Actually, it doesn’t depend on the number of pages, rather it depends on how much toner color you are using for printing. If you are printing a paper with a high amount of colors, certainly, it will consume more toner than your average document paper. It also relies on how many colors you are using – if you only use one or two of the four cartridges, say Yellow and Black, then these colors will be finished sooner than Magenta and Cyan. Page Yield is the term used to refer to the number of pages a toner can print on average.
How long the toner cartridge lasts?
Normally, you can use toner cartridges for about two years without any problem. But after the expiry date, the sponge holding the color starts to dry out and produces bad quality, blurry prints. It’s best to replace the cartridge then. But if you use too much of the color, then your cartridge will be consumed sooner than two years. Although it also depends on the type of printer you are using – if you use old model printer, it will consume color much faster than if you were using a modern printer. There are many brands of modern toners available in the market at moderate prices such as - MTech, Brothers, etc.
How to make toner cartridge last longer?
Although, the cartridges have a certain quantity of colors, and they will run out of colors after a certain use. Still, there are some easy tips to make your cartridge last longer:
1. If you are using color printer then try to print in monochrome where your page doesn’t necessarily need color.
2. Fonts also affect the lasting duration of the cartridge, use simple and relatively smaller fonts when you are running out of color. Extravagant fonts tend to use more color than simple ones.
Print the insignificant pages in draft mode. It will not produce as good results as it would in normal mode. But it will certainly save your cartridge.
Finally, I hope that after reading this article you have achieved at least a basic grasp about toner cartridge and how it works. Either you use the monochrome cartridge or color cartridge make sure you use it smartly.