

Optimizing your printer - robin_reala
http://ncannasse.fr/blog/optimizing_your_printer

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kmm
Fascinating that the printer and the toner communicate with light. Isn't the
technology to do that way more complicated than a simple metal contact? Is it
because a laser printer manufacturer already has optical sensors and the like
lying around?

Also, he's lucky the printer decided to go with it, he could have easily
gotten a "No toner detected" message.

~~~
cube
\-- just guessing here --

my guess would be, that the window is used to determine the filling level
inside the toner by shining light / laser through it. he says there are
windows on both sides.

if the cartridge is emtpy light goes through, if not it's stopped. so closing
the windows would work.

replacing the cartridge could trigger a check wether it's full or not. if the
printer thinks it is a full cartridge, the page count is reset and it'll print
again.

~~~
itsameta4
No, there seems to be something else, otherwise the printer wouldn't know that
there had been _exactly_ 1500 pages printed. I think you're on the right
track, but the trick OP described triggered "Oh, this is a new cartridge", not
"Oh, this cartridge has ink in it".

It'll be interesting to see what happens in another 1500 pages - what exactly
will the printer compare to, and will you be able to reset?

~~~
ydant
Even before reading the article I thought this might be a Brother printer
being discussed. Sure enough...

I've had a three models of Brother laser printers, and each one did this. On
each one I covered the window with tape and on each one I printed for a long
time after. It is, the only real flaw I've found in getting a Brother laser
printer over some of the more expensive options.

I'm not sure if Brother is being deliberately evil - I think it's more likely
a matter of not having a cheap way to measure toner remaining and knowing a
given cartridge is good for 1500 "average" page prints. The profit margins on
new cartridges probably helped encourage them to not spend a lot of R&D on a
more robust toner check method.

It's probably like you suggest - if the cartridge is inserted and is "full" of
toner the printer assumes the cartridge is new and it resets the counter for
the typical output.

If Brother had simply added an option on the printer to ignore the low toner
warning, this would be a decent feature - warn me when I'm probably about to
run out, but let me continue printing until I'm entirely empty. That way I'd
have time to order a new cartridge but still probably be able to print for a
while after getting the warning.

This particular "hack" is pretty well covered over the internet.

~~~
waffle_ss
"if the cartridge is inserted and is 'full' of toner the printer assumes the
cartridge is new and it resets the counter for the typical output"

Exactly; I've done the same trick with Brother toner cartridges for quite
awhile now by using black electrician's tape. The sensor is just an optical
fill check, there is no communication going on between between the toner
cartridge and printer (although the cost of the official cartridge could make
you think it's capable).

------
Splines
One of the reasons I like my Canon home printer. It comes with see-through
cartridges so you can tell that it _really_ is empty.

On an older model I had it was easy to refill them myself using a DIY kit from
Costco. These days I can buy 3rd party cartridges pretty cheaply and they work
fine (and are probably worth it to avoid the mess of DIY refills).

~~~
zdw
I'm more hesitant to refill inkjet cartridges that don't have an integrated
print head, as I've seen cases where mixed ink vendors resulted in unfixable
clogged heads. This was only with very cheap ink refills though.

For HP and Lexmark printers where the head is built into the cartridge, it
obviously isn't an issue, but for Canon and Epson I'm more hesitant to do so.

------
abredow
I have a Brother Laser that did the same thing... however, it has a setting in
it's web admin called "Replace Toner" with the options of Continue or Stop.
All I had to do was select "Continue" and it kept printing until the toner was
actually gone. No cartridge modification required!

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trustfundbaby
This is (or should be) a well known issue with Brother printers. for example
...
[http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2008/08/...](http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2008/08/take_that_stupid_printer.html)

Just look on the Amazon pages for the toner of your Brother cartridge and you
should see tons of reviewers complaining about the same thing and getting the
advice you just posted.

~~~
dasrecht
For Brother Printers this one worked quite well for me.

[http://www.nrdy.ch/2011/05/07/printer-hacking-101-reset-
your...](http://www.nrdy.ch/2011/05/07/printer-hacking-101-reset-your-toner-
counter/)

I reset the original cartridge the second time now and it's printing like the
first page.

------
zdw
An alternative route would be to find the sensor in the guts of the printer
and block it there, rather than doing it on every cartridge.

A dark marker or one that dispenses paint would likely be useful for this.

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pasbesoin
I skimmed this, but the topic is a known issue with SOHO Brother printers
(e.g. 2140, 2170, their 22xx replacements, etc.).

There's an optical sensor. When it triggers, a significant quantity of toner
remains in the cartridge. Cover the cartridge's window, and it looks like it's
still full of toner. You can get dozens or perhaps a few hundred additional
pages, depending on what you print.

BTW, this class of Brother has a reputation for being trouble-free (well, one
odd day-of-the-week driver bug that I'm aware of) including in *NIX
environments, while being dirt cheap if you look for sales. A 2270W network
printer having Ethernet, USB, and wireless occasionally drops to $80. You're
left deciding whether to purchase a new toner cartridge or an entire new
printer (albeit with a lower-capacity "starter" cartridge).

These days, you can get a color laser for a couple of hundred. But if you're
cranking out a lot of black and white, one of these Brothers makes a good
"beater" printer.

(The one caveat being the eventual drum replacement. If your printing is
really high volume, you might want to look for something with a more durable
drum -- although again I think people manage to take Brothers past their
official metrics.)

~~~
andyking
My Brother HL-1250 was rescued from a skip outside a closing-down local
authority office where a relative worked. There were at least ten just thrown
out in the street. I got it home, it worked perfectly and has done ever since,
with no toner change. This was FOUR YEARS ago--they must have thrown it out
with a full cartridge. (I still feel a bit guilty when I look at it and see
"Property of Cheshire County Council" stamped on the front, but they shouldn't
have skipped it!)

I agree, the thing is built like a tank. It's not the fastest machine in the
world, and it's about as elegant as Kryten from Red Dwarf's head, images are
an indistinct mass of foggy grey, but for what I do, churning out black and
white text documents, the quality is perfect. It works flawlessly under Ubuntu
too. You can't argue with the price, either--but even if you can't nick one
from a skip, they're about £20 used.

(I've been beaten in the "beater" printer category, though. The workplace I
left this week has an HP LaserJet 5 of a _1995_ vintage still clunking away in
the corner printing news scripts for the radio, with a page count in the
300,000s. I believe it could soon be coming to the end of its life, though,
not because it's knackered, but because they've stopped selling the
cartridges. I love using old tech like this, for some reason.)

~~~
pasbesoin
There is still a significant used market for the _old_ HP printers, for
reasons such as you describe. There have been several posts mentioned/referred
to here or elsewhere about how they differ from the current HP SOHO line --
plastic and much less durable, as I understand it.

Actually, I'm reminded that a relative has a 4MP purchased... a decade or more
ago?, that is still chugging along just fine. It's awfully slow by today's
standards, but -- while small and designed for the SOHO -- it is indeed "built
like a tank", for the most part.

By the way, the Brother 2[1|2]40, 70, etc. look all right, and their image
quality is ok (for a basic B/W printer -- don't expect an Ansel Adams print
;-).

------
prakashk
I recently had to do the same thing on my HL-2140 printer. I believe I found
the trick on Amazon discussion forums.

