My Experiences With Laser Toner Cartridges (Refilling and Remanufactured)
I’ve decided to chronicle my experiences with laser toner cartridges over the past few years. I’ve had a hand at refilling toner cartridges and have also used remanufactured (refurbished) cartridges.
My first experience was refilling an HP toner cartridge at one of my past employer’s. The company was on a shoestring budget and I felt like this could be a good way to save us some money. I purchased a refill kit online that contained instructions, toner, a tool to burn a hole into the cartridge (simply a soldering iron with a copper tubing end cap) some aluminum tape to cover the hole, and a special toner cleaning cloth. It was a pretty easy process but potentially pretty messy… if you’re a first timer be sure to do it outside. I was able to get at least 3 good refills with this kit for the HP toner cartridge I was refilling.
In August of 2005 I noticed my cartridges for my personal printers were having problems so I purchased remanufactured cartridges for my Laserjet 4 and 6P on eBay. The prices were amazing, almost the lowest I could find anywhere. You could also try toner refill here.
The 6P cartridge worked flawlessly, but I did have some issues with the other cartridge. The first LaserJet 4+ they shipped was either sent broken, or broken during shipment and the mylar / metallic bag the cartridge was shipped in was full of toner. They promptly sent me a new cartridge at no cost. This cartridge was in good shape, but the first prints had a bit of image ghosting. I think it was because I had the intensity set too high on my printer. After adjusting a few settings the ghosting went away. I used this printer a lot and about 7 months later it started to say “toner low”. Around that time I also started to get a vertical line down the far side of each page printed. I believe the wiper in the cartridge went bad.
Well, it was time for another cartridge. I was in a hurry so I thought I’d give www.cartridgeworld.com a try. I’ve heard good things about CartridgeWorld and have spoken with the owner of a local franchise a few times. I exchanged 5 of the HP LJ 4+ cartridges I had sitting around and he gave me a good deal on a new cartridge. Even after the deal the price was still 50% higher than ebay cartridge, but I’m expecting the quality to be much higher.
When this cartridge dies I think I’ll give refilling a try. There are two main reasons for this:
1) To save some money
2) To really test how well Cartridge World remanufactures their cartridges.
The only issues with refilling is first knowing if the toner is a quality product, and second I don’t think I’ll be able to exchange a toner cartridge with a hole melted into it. 
I’ll update this page as I continue experimenting. Until then, you can read more about toner cartridges on my forum here: Printer Forum.
Update: 6/2/07:
I ended up printing 10,468 pages with my Cartridge World cartridge. Toward the last 300 pages I started to get light prints and so I played the “shake the cartridge” game to the point where I knew it was time to refill. I used some toner from, you won’t believe this, a few bottles of toner I had purchase back in 10/2004! I was almost reluctant to use the toner since it was about 3 years old, but I had kept it in a dark moderate temp place so I thought I’d give it a try. Well, I’ve printed 1,200 prints with it and so far so good!
I’m not sure if this is a testament to the quality of the Cartridge World remanufactured cartridge or the quality of the toner I used, but my guess is that it is a combination of both. Once this cartridge gets to the point of death I’ll probably go back to Cartridge World for my next cartridge… do you think they’ll take my abused cartridge with a refill hole in the top? Probably not. 
Update: 4/08:
My HP Laserjet 4plus had been a wonderful workhorse, but it began to have feeder roller issues. Instead of spending hundreds to fix an old printer I purchased a new Brother HL-2170W from Costco about 4 months ago. The printer had given me the “toner low” message even though the prints were super sharp. I don’t like it when a printer tells me it is time for a new toner cartridge, but I’ve read that these cartridges actually use toner as a lubricant so running them dry could break things. Anywho… I purchased 2 bottles of toner on ebay for $16. Instructions said to completely empty out any old toner before adding new toner. What I like about the Brother toner cartridge is that it has a plug that I just pull out to access the tank… no plastic hole cutting / burning! Well, I dumped out the toner… a LOT of toner and then refilled it with the stuff from ebay and replaced the plug. So far I’ve printed at least a thousand pages and things look fantastic!
Update: 9/09:
As I mentioned in the printer forum my inkjet All-In-One died. I decided to buy a laser multipurpose machine to replace it. I opted for the Brother MFC-7440N which is network ready… which also makes my wife happy because she can now print, copy, scan, fax without me having my computer on! This machine takes the exact same laser toner cartridges as the Brother HL-2170W printer: TN330 or “high capacity” TN360 .
February 7th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
I have used remanufactured toner cartridges and also have done many of my own toner refills, here is what I think is true about your experience:
1) Tonerpirate and other rockbottom cost resellers (usually ebay companies) will buy and sell the cheapest toner cartridge they can find. This usually means that the cartridges they sell have not had any of the components changed, only the toner.
2) Cartridgesworld and other refill stores like 123 Refills and Rapid Refills technically and probably do remanufacture the cartridges professionally, removing and replacing worn out parts. This raises the cost significantly, but still much cheaper than originals.
The fact that you had a good experience with tonerpirate i think is quite by accident, i have ordered once from them and got a cartridge that died after about 100 pages. The reason is likely due to the fact that the empties are probably recycled without regard to changing the parts, only the toner. The reason i say this is because i took the cartridge to a professional refiller, and they told me it was the original drum and original blades were still inside, but that the cartridge had been refilled at least 1-2 times before.
I have also refilled many of my own cartridges, when refilling an original, the parts inside are good enough to last another cycle (for the most part), but deteriorate with subsequent refills. So I refill only original cartridges for 1 time, after that i buy from sources that change the parts of the cartridge, like 123 Refills or Cartridge world. Ive had similar quality experiences from both stores, and i would recommend either of them. I found 123 after cartridge world, and 123 was less expensive ($41 for a HP Q2612 which they include 50% more toner than the OEM, compared to $48 from Cartridge World for a model that has the same yield as the original). and their knowledge of the cartridges seems better, but it could be the person behind the store and not so much the chain.
February 9th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
ive also had bad experience with cheap website toners, i bought a refilled brother tn350 from ebay (dirt cheap) and it failed from page 1. ive tried 123refills toner for the same model, it was about 30% more expensive than the ebay one but still much cheaper than buying new one from staples. so far so good! i dont print that much but its looking as good as new.
ive never refilled a cartridge myself, but i think deffinetely theres a big difference if parts are changed vs not changed.
February 29th, 2008 at 4:39 am
please help me with images how to refill my hp q2612a cartridge.
March 6th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I am an owner of 4 cartridge world stores in Pennsylvania. We refill toner cartridges for 60% of the cost of a new one in Staples. All vital parts of the cartridge are replaced with new parts that sometimes are better than the original parts. Our toners are reverserd engineered from the original to be close to 99% identical to the original toner. I can only attest to our own stores, as the stores are all private franchises, but we have a return rate of less than 5% of the cartridges ink and laser that we refill / remanufacture. With the right people doing the work, it is very successfull just like any other business.
March 12th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
I tend to agree with you guys that I probably got lucky, but I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t be tempted to go with another low price re-manufacturer again.
Oh, by way of update, my LaserJet 4p has been constantly having printer jams. It was going to cost me about $120 in labor alone to get it worked on. I ended up just buying a Brother HL-2170W that has wired and wireless network support. $99 from Costco… hard to pass up. Biggest problem is that it is such a new printer that the cartridges are really hard to find remanufactured from anyone.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:17 am
I’ve used RPS Ink and Toners (www.rpsinkandtoners.com) the last two years and have had no problems. He sells the chips to reset the numbers, also.
April 12th, 2008 at 10:31 am
I’m a tech over at Cartridge World Honolulu, and I can attest to bh’s post from Philedelphia. We do the same stuff here in Honolulu: 60% of Staples cost, Part replacement, specifically formulated toners, less than 5% return rate. That is why Cartridge World Honolulu can offer a 100% guarantee on all the laser (and inkjet) cartridges we make.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Careful with RPS. They are just like them at tonerpirate, etc. You might as weell just buy copy machine toner, because thats what most these ebayers sell but in fancy bottles.
September 12th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Thank you all so much. I love when I need some advice about a specific subject and I can find a site like this. I am going to try 123 or Cartridge World.
cheers from Pittsburgh
yokaloca
December 15th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Brother has been using the same toner for years … after cutting the cartridge apart, vacuum out all the old OEM toner and put in the generic … ( the OEM and the Generic do not mix well ) …
I am wondering how many of the Panasonics use the same toner, I have a KX-MB271
February 23rd, 2009 at 8:37 am
Cartridgeworld prices are so high. Quality is ok with inkjet, but I bad experience with a few toners they sell. I heard that their franchise require the store to buy inkjet from them and store owners are reselling toners from some other manufacturer. After reading this article, I bought a few toners tonerpirate.com to use in my office and so far they are working well. Their prices are lowest ever.
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:39 am
Your ghosting is due to a bad drum. The line down the side is due to a bad fuser in the printer. I work for a large printer company.
March 5th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Catridge World is a franchise. The price comparison I like to draw is with Costco’s original brand and Office Max’ generics. The price difference is negligible to the best. 60% comparing to Staple or other retailer on the original brand price is not a good comparison in my book.
March 5th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Just another tip: When Refilling use a Vaccum Cleaner to empty the Cartridge. It is a lot less messy than just doing it outside. Make the whole not to close to any gap so that the tape can easily close the whole.
March 9th, 2009 at 12:03 am
Best solution i have found is to refill myself. Its the cheapest and as long as u use high quality product, you shouldnt see a difference. I buy my refills from Fry’s electronics, they sell the Uni-Kit refill kits there, and they work beautifully on my brother laser. I’ve also seen them online, 123refills carries them and others.
March 18th, 2009 at 10:20 am
I have Brother MFC 6800 laser printer (Copy/Fax/Scanner) that was working just fine until a few days ago. I installed new toner cartridge (TN250) and cleanned drum unit). I re-installed the drum unit, closed the top cover, turn the power on. The message “CHECK DRUM UNITE” appears in the display window every time I re-install Drum Unit. Please help! What is causing this message?
April 9th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
The Brother printers have replaceable drums. The check drum or replace drum error comes up based on the number of prints you have made. You have to go through a routine to reset the drum counter. Check your manual or download a manual from the Brother website. Has anyone had experience with databazaar toner cartridges? They have great prices. I just received one this week and the packaging looks good – very professional and printer specific. As a CPA in tax season we run through toner like there is no tomorrow so cost effective suppliers are important.
June 15th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
I refuse to give up my HP 4L although it’s, gasp, from 1995. The blacks are so beautiful. I have an inkjet HP that works well but I love my old printer. It’s time for a new cartridge. I see that Xerox has one that’s received positive reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/XEROX-6R899-Toner-cartridge-laserjet/dp/B00001U0RY
The price seems fair. Has anyone here had experience with this item?
June 20th, 2009 at 8:23 am
I used Cartridge World to replace a toner cartridge (like only 3rd cartridge replacement on a an MFC-8870DW) and the first cartridge one was fine. Cant say how many pages we got off it but no problems. When I was going to go back, girlfriend said see what the larger capacity one costs. I went back to CW and asked about prices on large capacity, but kid just replaced the 550 size and away I went. Returned home, seated in it the relatively new original drum and printer started growling/grinding back at me. I figured this was not a good thing and it was a new behavior not experienced on any of the other replacements. I took out the cartridge, examined it and figured it had to be something with the nylon gears. I could move drum gears a little slugishly, but move them, but cartridge gear seemed pretty tight or bound up. I called them, it was like closing time but they would stay open for an exchange. Off I went to Cartridge World second time in 1/2 hr, they said sometimes gears get put together wrong, not greased, or tightened too much. But that one looked fine, maybe it was my drum. I found out at home the 550 did have a bigger brother, so now talking to manager, I paid another 16 bucks to get the 570. Took it home, replaced cartridge in drum, put drum in printer and still growling/grinding gears. Now they were closed and I was starting to worry my $600 printer was damaged by flakey toner cartridges. Slept on it. Woke up Saturay, afright that the printer had been damaged. Called Cartridge World, new players. Woman said bring in cartridge and drum and we would do some problem determination. I asked ’should I bring in the printer’? She said no. She had used drums and used cartridges for comparison purposes and my drum behaved like the used ones in terms of sluggish movement and it did look better. Their used cartridges behaved like the drum in terms of gear movement, sluggish but moveable. The replacement they gave me was bound up like the first replacement they gave me. The third replacement (I checked its gears at the store seemed to behalf like the used ones – sluggish but not bound up. Took 3rd replacement home with my drum and a used drum they provided for checking drum, and powered up to finally have a usable device. So 1 of 3 toner cartridge replacements worked, or 2 of 4 if you count the first time I used them. Lots of running around, and the worry I had damaged the drive gear in my printer, have me thinking I should go back to new cartridges, or check the cartridge gear behavior, opening the box at Cartridge World. Any body else experience this problem? Its likely not the gear but something else causing too much friction or drag, however both replacement gears looked browner then the final one.
June 20th, 2009 at 8:56 am
New news. Returned Drum to Cartridge World and was told they must have forgot to reset the gears on those two…. Explanation I pieced together is the cartridge has brains enough to signal the printer that its low on toner and the brains are tied to the gears somehow. If the gears or something is not reset during the refill procedure, the grinding noise can result, and we waste our time making exchanges. Still on the fence for next replacement, but do have a larger capacity cartridge so maybe I’ll have forgotten about this by then.
July 12th, 2009 at 2:31 am
i recently changed the drum and toner for my brother 9880 printer .Now the problem is that it prints some parts of the documents but some parts dont come out.When i tried to print the fonts and some printer information it comes out properly but when it comes to photocopying some parts come out properly please help
August 4th, 2009 at 11:26 am
After using four cartridges for my Brother 5140 and fortunately saving the empty ones, out of curiosity I removed the plug and found each still had about a half of cup of toner remaining in them. I collected all the toner and refilled one cartridge. It has been printing perfectly for 2 weeks now. I will now refill all my cartridges henceforth. I bought some toner and the instructions recommended removing all the old toner before refilling. I’m afraid this is said to sell more toner. I will find out in due time.
August 4th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Richard, that’s a great point! I’ve got a Brother with the TN360 cartridge and noticed the same thing. Printer said it was empty and refused to print. I removed & shook the cartridge and got a few more prints. When I went to refill it, I did the same thing you did and found a TON of toner still in the cartridge. I read somewhere about modifying the cart so the printer always thought it had toner, so the user could decide when the toner was too light and not the printer.
Keep us posted on your results regarding the “need” to remove all the original toner before refilling. I too question if this is necessary… especially when there is so much original toner still in the carts.
August 27th, 2009 at 4:07 am
We just purchased 5 MFC7840W brother. Use extreme amount of toner. I wonder if Richard or someone else who has experience refilling the TN360 could give some more info on what refill they using and the process.
August 31st, 2009 at 4:49 am
An idea:
How about cartridge manufacturers make clear casings for the toner cartridges so we can see how much toner is left inside? Also, we would be able to see what’s happening when we shake the cartridge.
September 16th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Tom – the TN360 is easy to fill. Just pop the filling cap on the side of the cartridge, and pour in toner. I have used Uni-Kit toner (google it, many resellers) and it works beautifully (around $10 to $15 per refill). They also offer free instructions at http://www.uni-kit.com/support.htm
October 4th, 2009 at 8:21 am
guys , what about the message that says ” toner empty ” !! it doesnt go even when i refilled my cartridge . the problem is that the printer doesnt print ..
by the way , i’m using xerox pe220 … does anyone knows how to remove this msg and make the printer print again ????
October 12th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
I’ve purchased laser cartridges for my All in One Epson ALCX11, but had a horrible experience. I purchased them thru Cartridge World. They spewed yellow & blue toner through my machine. It cost nearly as much as new to repair. Can the Epson laser cartridges be refilled?
November 15th, 2009 at 8:52 am
Marly, your HP 4L is only a baby – I bought mine in the Spring of 1992, and it’s a workhorse! Still going strong and making great prints. I hope you refer back to this, since I’m looking for information on that Xerox toner. That’s why I ended up at this page. Anyone have any experience with the XEROX 6R899, or any XEROX replacement toners?