Toner Cartridges
Toner Cartridges, also known as Toners, are used in machines and equipment like photocopiers, printers and fax machines. Toner cartridges supply these machines with a dry powder or liquid substance called Laser Toner. Laser Toner is a powdery or liquid substance that is used in toner cartridges which in turn is used by laser printers, Copiers and Faxes.
The Dry Toner
The dry toner is the most commonly used when compared to liquid toners. Dry toners are mainly made up of heat sensitive plastic powder. This powder is a combination of styrene and acrylic. The pigments are added so that the toner can produce different colours. The carriers are then added causing the toner particles to be charged so that they can be attracted to the right spots of on the printed material. With the dry toner, the printer melts the toner by the heat of the fuser. This therefore binds the toner to the paper and forms text and images.
Dry toners are usually considered to be stronger than liquid toners for a number of reasons. The first one is that no penetration of the paper fibre is needed. What this means is that a lot more different types of materials can be used when printing unlike the liquid toner that needs to penetrate material. There is also no drying time required before using the printed paper. This makes the whole printing process much faster and there is no chance of the printout being smeared. Dry toners also have more stable colours, are better for the environment and are not a health hazard since no harmful solvents are used.
Liquid Toners
The liquid toner is made up of dye or pigmented acrylic resin particles. The dye or pigmentation helps form the colour of the toner. Insulating liquid is also added in which the resin particles are hosted. Liquid toners also have their own strong points. The printed text or image is more firmly attached to the paper since the material is penetrated, so it won’t fade easily and will last longer. The printer does not need to be warmed up which is what is required when using dry toners.
The Manufacturing Process
During the manufacturing process when using dry toners, the particles that make up the toner goes from pellet size and is then grinded into powder. All toners need to be tailored individually depending on which printer model its intended for. Factors like flow rate, melting point thermal and magnetic characteristics differ depending on its formula.
Toner cartridges are heavier and significantly larger in size compared to ink cartridges. There are different types of toner cartridges available. The most commonly used ones are compatible toner cartridges and OEM toner cartridges. The compatible toner cartridges are produced by third party manufacturers who reuse these empty toners and refill them. These can still be high in quality, especially if they are manufactured by well-known manufacturers. Compatible toner cartridges are the best choice if you usually print in black colour.
The OEM Toner Cartridges are produced by the printer manufacturer. These cartridges are usually more expensive than other types of cartridges. If you print in full colour and looking for high quality, OEM cartridges are the best choice.
