What is it with Remanufactured Printer Cartridges?

[WG774]

Hi,

A few weeks back I bought a "remanufactured" cartridge for an HP inkjet. The quality was appalling, so I took it back. At no point did it make sense to me why the quality should suffer, but I got a refund.

I decided to buy a Laser a couple of weeks ago. Having been assisted by Mr Saab Dastard, I got the laser working (by fluke, I picked it up from a liquidator without a manual).

So, the quality from the (registered Jan '06) auction laser was great, but ink was low.

Today, I went to the same store (silly me...) and picked up a remanufactured laser toner cartridge...

Compared to the genuine HP cart, the remanufactured unit looks feint and grey instead of solid black...

So, I know I'm a cheapskate and now wish I'd paid for the genuine HP (easier said than done by the looks of it as many firms claim to offer genuine HP but have small-print stating "equivalents" may be substituted...), but, my question is: why are the remakes such a nightmare? Do these stores that sell remakes profit from ignorant people who aren't bothered about the drop in quality, or is it just my luck?

What physical reason is there for the drop in quality?

I picked up the network-enabled laser for a fraction of its retail (nearly a tenth) and it claims to have printed less than 5,000 sheets in its lifetime... Still, I now wish I'd just forked out for a new one - it's been nothing but hassle, and now the print quality has suffered.

I feel like a cheapskate buying the remade part, but unless you've tried it, how are you to know? There's also the environment to think about as well...

Thanks for any comments in advance.

[AcroChik]

I've had nothing but trouble with these.

Feeling frugal and environmentally virtuous I bought a few. They were all faulty in one way or another ~ faint print, impossible to align for perfect color registration, signalling empty before empty, etc.

My frugality turned out to be expensive and my environmental virtue was turnd on its head because I tossed these things out well before they were empty or even used and bought original HP carts.

Maybe I got a bad batch, but I'll never touch them again.

[Saab Dastard]

Hi WG,

I can speak with some authority on Laser Toner re-manufacture, as someone who once refilled his own LJ toner cartridges (back in the days of LJ II and III) and I know just how variable the process can be! I don't know much about inkjet replacement, and I've heard roughly equal amounts of good and bad for them.

The toner itself may be of a different spec. to the OEM variety, while the photosensitive transfer roller may be either worn, or a replacement part with different characteristics. Poor assembly conditions can expose the photosensitive roller to excessive light, which reduces its effectiveness (resulting in fainter printing).

Other problems are due to misalignment of the components in the re-assembly of the cartridge. It is also much more likely that a re-manufactured cartridge will leak, as the splitting open and re-sealing process results in a poorer seal than the OEM part.

I use HP branded long-life toner carts in my home printer, and always return the cartridges to HP (my bit for the environment).

However, it is not clear to me exactly what HP actually does with them (other than prevent them getting into the hands of re-manufacturers). I don't believe that HP could re-use them directly any better than anyone else, and my belief is that they don't even try! But they do say that they recycle them in some form, so...

SD

[IO540]

I think most "remanufactured" stuff is crap.

Years ago, I used to very heavily use a few HP lasers, and used the "recycled" cartridges for it. They used to come with a prepaid return bag (green plastic too); all looking very authentic.

They worked, but the cartridges I was getting never showed the slightest sign of ever having been inside a printer previously. They also had about half the printing endurance of the HP ones. They were half the price :)

The obvious conclusion is that this was a scam. It was an operation selling crap quality printer cartridges, capitalising on peoples' guilt over the environment (never been done before, has it ;) )

I have since tried the cheap inkjet cartridges and there were very poor too. OK for B&W printing, but B&W lasers are so cheap now that anybody doing enough B&W printing on an inkjet ought to consider getting one of those.

So now I don't bother.

[WG774]

Thanks to all for the comments.

Today, I went back and returned the toner cartridge to Cartridge World (I wasn’t going to mention them, but I feel the group needs to know who should be avoided). I ‘phoned them this morning to tell them to keep hold of the old cartridge as it had 2% left in it, which should suffice until I get the new HP-branded cart (points taken SD).

When I rang, the person who answered the ‘phone sounded as if he wanted a fight… After a string of insults (great way to treat a customer, my guess is he’s used to it) he said I could get a refund and hung up the ‘phone… I felt tempted to go in with a friend in case he was as pugnacious in person…

When I got there, the woman at the desk refunded me no quibbles.

However, I’ve now reinstalled the old cartridge to run a couple of pages off and they both have black streaks across them, as if something has leaked???

I will be ordering the legit HP item on Monday, but it would be appreciated if anyone has any suggestions regarding preparation before I put in the new cart so these random streaks can be avoided.

Many thanks again for the generous help :ok:

[Saintsman]

If the OEMs charged reasonable prices there would be no need for re-manufactured ones.

I think that the only liquid more expensive than printer ink is snake venom....:hmm:

[Saab Dastard]

black streaks across them, as if something has leaked

Across the page or down? Does it smudge?

If it is across, there's a line of spilt toner on the paper path, probably on one of the rollers. If it doesn't smudge, it's before the fuser, if it does it's after.

If down the page, there's a patch of toner that the paper is dragged over.

All you can do is try to clean the inside of the printer with a soft brush and a vacuum - you should use a vacuum cleaner with a microfine filter, because toner is a very tiny particle size.

SD

[WG774]

Will do. Thanks SD!

[P.Pilcher]

With regard to inkjet printers, the manufacturers have set themselves on a policy of getting you to pay for your printer by paying over the odds for the ink cartridges - if you buy them from the manufacturer! There are two types of cartridge - those which contain the printheads as well as ink (H.P. printers for example) and those which contain ink only such as Epson ones. For my now ancient Epson photo 925 I can buy new manufacturers colour cartridges for about £20, and equivalent ones for about £3! As they are so cheap, I have given up the game of refilling them. I have never used manufacturer's ink for such printers and have always had excellent results. As I write this, my trusty Photo 925 is rolling off my daugher's holiday snaps in excellent quality.
The problem with HP type cartridges is that the print heads also have a limited life which is why they are built into the cartridges so they are automatically replaced when the ink runs out. In my experience such cartridges can successfully be refilled with the correct ink (easily obtainable) and the print heads will last for at least ten refills provided you don't let them run completely dry, however I have had trouble with "re-manufactured" cartridges for this type of printer. I therefore start off with a brand new manufacturer's cartridge (ouch!) and then refill this as required.

P.P.

[spannersatcx]

I've used www.britink.co.uk cartridges and they have been excellent, so far.