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Can Color Toner Cartridges Be Refilled Or Only Black?
Refilling your own toner cartridges or buying aftermarket refills can save a lot of money compared to the original brand. There are plenty of choices when it comes to black cartridges, but with color laser printers becoming less and less expensive, what about refilling color toner cartridges?
One of the big advantages of color laser printers compared to color inkjets is that they have separate cartridges for each of the colors. Many ink printers use a single color cartridge that includes all the colors.
This difference actually makes things easier when refilling color toners. It's much easier to refill a single color at a time than to try and refill 3 different inks in the same cartridge - much less chance of messing things up.
Laser printer toner refill kits usually involved drilling a hole in the empty cartridge and pouring in replacement toner, which is a very fine dry powder. The hole is then sealed and the cartridge can be reused, usually 2 or 3 times at most before it should be replaced.
Color (or should I say "colour" for our Canadian and British readers!) toners are really no different. It's just the color of toner that is unique.
There are many companies offering refill kits for most of the common brands and models of laser printer. When choosing one, keep the following points in mind:
- Make sure it is specifically compatible with your brand and model of printer. Different models use slightly different types of toner and you need to be sure it will work properly in your particular printer.
- Check the guarantee. Refilled cartridges tend to be a little less reliable than the originals, so you want to be sure you can return it for an exchange or refund if you run into problems.
- If you're buying a remanufactured cartridge, find out how many times the cartridge may have been refilled. Ideally, you should only buy cartridges that have been used once. The most reliable companies don't reuse their cartridges more than that.
