Posted by Carol Graff on 11/8/10 10:19am
Msg #360126

info on refilling toner cartridges

I went on the search, but only found info on Not EOM cartridges. I have a Brother cartridge and have never refilled toner yet. How easy is this to do--and how messy?

Reply by OR on 11/8/10 11:03am
Msg #360135

It is so so so easy. There is a plug on the side that is a little hard to pull out. Pull it out---fill it up---plug it in---print away.

Reply by Yoli/CA on 11/8/10 11:09am
Msg #360140

OR: What do you use to pull out plug without tearing it?

That's one of my main concerns about refilling cartridges. How messy is the process? Do you have to mix and fill or just fill?

Reply by Glenn Strickler on 11/8/10 11:17am
Msg #360144

Re: OR: What do you use to pull out plug without tearing it?

I work the edges with a small bladed screwdriver, then when it is loose enough, I can usually pull it off with my fingers. Sometimes I use a needle nose. On the side of the plug there is a rise that seals against the cartridge in a groove about 1/2 of the way down the hole. If you damage the top exposed part of the cap while taking it out, that doesn't hurt anything, it's that raised part that you don't want to damage. You will see what I mean when you take it out. Then the plug "pops" back in.

I haven't been on the website lately, but Tonerkits use to sell replacement plugs should you damage your original plug.

Reply by Glenn Strickler on 11/8/10 11:11am
Msg #360142

Go to tonerkits.com. That is where I purchase my toner. You get instructions with each order. I have a Brother 5140 and a 5150, and with these toner cartridges, it is quite easy. No drilling or burning any holes in them. They have a plastic plug in the end.

I do my filling outside, as it can get messy. When I am done filling, I blow the cartridge off with compressed air (this is where my auto hobby and notary work cross paths). If you put a dirty cartridge in your printer, the toner can gum up the mechanical works after time. I also take my printers out to the garage and blow them out with compressed air when I change toner also. I get laughed at by some of my office bound family and friends, but I have printed hundreds of thousands of pages out of these printers without issue.

I keep track of how many times I have reused the cartridge. If I refill a cartridge, and the print quality is a little off, then that will be the last time I use that cartridge. There is one I am using for the last time and I have refilled it 7 times.

As far as the drums are concerned, when the light comes on to replace the drum, I analyze the print quality, if the quality is good, I reset the warning and keep going until print quality suffers.

Go ahead and give it a try .. You won't go back to buying new ones each time you need a replacement.

Reply by OR on 11/8/10 11:29am
Msg #360147

I do the same as Glenn. It a tuff plug you can pull on it. i get my toner from ink-refills-ink.com.

Reply by BrotherOwner on 11/8/10 3:44pm
Msg #360248

Re: info on refilling toner cartridges #TIP to stop the mess

I also refill outside, on newspaper, on a picnic table, on a NONwindy day. I try to PREVENT mess rather than cleaning it up with compressed air as glenn does. My method, after removing the plastic plug, I dump out remaining toner into doubled plastic grocery bags inserted in a tall thin box about the size of a gallon of milk. Toner will "fly" a little bit as it is about the consistancy of talcom powder. Easy to tie up and throw away. Next I take a plastic sandwich bag which nicely and and tightly covers the plug end and mechanisms
and snip a little hole right where the toner plug is, not too big as it will stretch as you put toner bottle in. Fill all of toner bottle in cartridge. Pull sandwich baggy off ( gears and cartridge end stays clean!), so no need for compressed air.

Attribution: The tip to use a plastic baggy, or something similar, came from someone here on NOTROT,
I believe it may have been a SUE. My kudos to the original suggester.