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Subject:
From:
Frank Suszka <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
PCBUILD - Personal Computer Hardware discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 22 Jun 2005 18:42:00 -0700
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Anne Neighbors wrote:
>Thanks to everyone who advised me, on this news group and by personal
e->mail about a good printer to buy.

You're welcome.

> What I would like to know is this:  Is there longevity to toner as there
is to ink jets that dry up on you?

Longevity can mean different things to different people. According to most
manufacturers of Toner cartridges, the "shelf life" in an unopened box, kept
in a cool dry place is 12-24 months. If one does a lot of printing I don't
think this factor means much. To someone like you Anne, as you stated, "it
will take me years to run 1,000 copies." How long will a cartridge last in
the machine? There doesn't seem to be a definitive answer. Like you, I
scoured the net and contacted several people I know in the industry and came
up with about the same answer all around.

One response I got from Phil McKinney, the President of MaxPatch Ink
Supplies, http://www.maxpatchink.com was;

>The toner does not go "bad", so to speak. As you have noted,
>one only needs to gently shake and rotate the toner cartridge
>if there has been a very long time between uses. And, only if
>the output is off. Humidity could play a factor but not under
>normal circumstances.

These are good folks at MaxPatch. The customer service is excellent and the
products are reasonably priced.

In your instruction manual that came with the unit, on page 6.12, it states
how to solve "Print Quality Problems" there are a few headings that you may
want to review especially the part about, "Redistributing Toner" on page 5.3
Due to the fact you will not be doing much printing, the toner may compact.
There are also headings for general cleaning that may help too. Just for the
sake of it, I think I would do a test print once in a while to maybe keep
things live in the machine. This is meant to be suggestive only.

Another aspect that is often brought up is, the cartridge literature states
that it will produce X number of copies. This is solely a rule of thumb and
depending upon how detailed or complex the subject matter is, more or less
toner will be put down. A complicated graphic will use more that a plain
vanilla letter.

This is the formula that some manufacturers use;

"Cartridge manufacturer's rate yield using a formula. The page yield on
toner cartridges depends on what types of printing you are doing.
Manufacturer's yield estimate is based on each 8.5 x 11 inch sheet with 5%
of the page black. (The formula is; a capital E, in 12 point courier type,
printed 960 times on a page.) Printing a large amount of graphics with your
data could use twice that amount of toner."

And there you have it. This is my best guesstimate on the subject.

Sincerely,

Frank Suszka
netTek Computers
[log in to unmask]



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