Laser printers are different to inkjet printers in that they use toner as apposed to liquid ink. The toner is made up of dyes, iron oxide and plastic resins. It is the plastic resins which causes the toner powder to turn into a solid mass that will cling to the paper. The toner can be either black or colour and the process of applying color toner is the same same as the process of applying black laser toner.
These days you also get a special photo paper which bonds with the powdered toner. When the laser toner is released from a cartridge, it is attracted to the paper by an electrical charge. Once the toner is attracted to the paper, the paper is passed over a heat roller and the heat melts the powder onto the page. The powder is imprinted onto paper and to keep it from spilling, it is kept in a toner cartridge. The cartridge releases the right amount of powder to print onto paper.
Refill Toner Kits from all Major Brands
It doesn’t matter which brand name printer you own your cartridge will eventually need to be changed. When your cartridge toner needs to be refilled, you are able to buy refill kits from on-line or store retailers who stock who stock all the major makes of laser toner refill kits which contain a high quality toner.
These days most of the large format laser printers have a control panel or chips which sends information to the printing and this will give you a warning on low toner levels. The printer reads the amount of toner in the cartridge, and it turns that message on when the toner gets too low.
Sometimes by shaking the cartridge, you can still get a few more rounds of printing done. You will in any case know when the toner is almost finished because you will have faded prints. Another sign of toner running low is that the remaining toner tends to form clumps, and this causes streaking on the paper. Once again you can shake the cartridge which will re-distribute the toner powder.
Steer Clear of Counterfeits
The thing that worries a lot of people today is counterfeits, because not only do legitimate manufacturers lose out to counterfeit products, consumers will be getting poor quality prints but the cartridges and inferior toner can cause damage to the printer. The cartridges unfortunately look like the real thing.
One of the major brands, Samsung provide their customers with advice on how to recognize counterfeit products. One thing to look out for is that true Samsung printing toner cartridges are shipped with an intact and embossed security label. Run your finger over the Samsung name on the label to feel the embossed Samsung name.