When it comes to office equipment, a good working knowledge of toner is essential. Whether you’re an office manager in the Yonkers area or a business owner from across the U.S., understanding toner can help you maximize the lifespan of your equipment and ensure consistent, quality prints. In this comprehensive guide, we look at everything you need to know about toner, including its levels, refilling, upkeep, and more.
What Is Toner?
At its most basic, toner is a powder that creates images on paper after being placed, heated, and fused on it. With dry-toner copiers, both plain-paper and organic photoconductor (OPC) drums, toner levels of powder are placed onto the paper. Many single-function printers and multifunction printers also use toner for printing, scanning, and other functions.
To understand toner, it’s important to understand the types of toner it’s built from: colorants and binders. Colorants are made up of capsules, which contain colored pigments or dyes. Binders help with adhesion of the colorant to the paper, aiding both image quality and placement. The majority of toners use completely solid ingredients, rather than liquids, with mixtures of polyester and pigments the most popular. This allows for easier fusing and much more economical usage of toner.
Toner Level Checks
It’s essential to conduct toner level checks regularly. These tell you how much of the toner cartridge remains and therefore when a replacement or refill is necessary. Checks are typically made at the end of each month, when office equipment is serviced or when printers don’t produce any image.
Toner level checks may need to be conducted more frequently in high-usage periods, and fax machines may require more frequent toner levels than office copiers. Each printer or copier model has specific methods of checking toner levels, so it’s important to understand the interface fully.
Toner Refills
Sometimes, when toner levels are low, a simple refill is all that’s needed to keep your printers going. Refilling is relatively quick and easy — it involves removing the emptied cartridge, reinserting it, and resealing it.
Toner refilling requires toner of the same grade, so as to properly match with the machine’s needs and avoid performance issues. There are also online kits providing refilling instructions, so if you’re feeling particularly confident you can go down this route.
Upkeeping Your Copier
In terms of upkeep, it’s essential to clean the area around your copier on a regular basis, as dust and debris can reduce the print quality. This means cleaning the area around the machine daily, as well as wiping down the paper trays. Regular maintenance is also paramount — make sure you check the OPC drum, and replace it as necessary.
It’s also wise to use a special detergent in your copier to prevent image quality issues, something intended for internal maintenance use only. In terms of more general maintenance, it’s always wise to keep your copier in a relatively clean environment; again, dust and debris should be kept to a minimum.
The essence
Understanding toner is essential when it comes to getting the best from your copiers and printers. Make sure to regularly check toner levels, and if you want to save money, experimenting with toner refills can be an option. Of course, always remember to conduct regular cleaning and general upkeep, too — this will ensure your office remains both efficient and picture-perfect.
Topics:
toner,copier maintenance, printer upkeep