The quality and price of recycled toner cartridges can vary significantly from one vendor to another. It is often difficult to determine exactly what it is you are receiving for your money. Fundamentally, the cost and quality of a recycled toner cartridge is driven by the method of remanufacture. There are three basic methods used, Toner Action Toowoomba only supplies Premium Remanufactured cartridges.

Refilled
Also referred to as drill and fill. This recycled cartridge is cheap and nasty. Basically, a hole is drilled into the casing of the cartridge and toner (usually low quality) is funneled into the hopper. The hole is then sealed with tape or some sort of plug.

The tell tale signs of such a cartridge is sealing tape and the original manufacturers OPC drum still in place. Problems with this cartridge include:

• Leaking
• Low page output per cartridge
• Poor to average print quality
• Low price

Remanufactured
Also called reconditioned or refurbished. The cartridge is split open, the waste hopper is emptied and all parts are cleaned (typically the OPC drum, PCR & wiper blade).

New toner is added (again the amount and quality of the toner can vary) and the cartridge is reassembled. Since none of the internal parts have been replaced the cartridge can fail in a number of ways:

• Low page output relative to the OEM rated figure
• Print quality problems
• Minor leaking
• Mid cycle failure (works initially but OPC drum fails before the toner is depleted)

Tell tale signs for such a cartridge is the original OPC drum unit still in place or a streak marked drum surface. Pricing is usually middle of the road.

Remanufactured Premium
The cartridge is completely disassembled and all worn parts are replaced (typically the OPC drum, rollers, blade assemblies and seals) to ensure performance. Generally, high quality aftermarket toner is used and is matched to the drum and other components to deliver optimum performance.

Failure of a cartridge remanufactured in this way is typically very low and the print quality and page output is usually equal to or in some cases better than the original. In addition, each cartridge is subjected to a stringent quality control procedure to ensure the highest possible level of reliability.

Tell tale signs include the use of the word "Premium" on the packaging and a new aftermarket drum installed which is generally a different colour to the manufacturers original unit and should be smooth with no wear pattern.

This is the most expensive type of recycled cartridge but is still significantly cheaper than the equivalent imported OEM cartridge. Savings of up to 50% are common even when purchasing Premium remanufactured cartridges.

Questions you should ask your supplier

1. Which components do you replace during remanufacture?
2. Do you test each cartridge?
3. Do you supply a written warranty with each cartridge?
4. Does your price include delivery?

Remanufactured and Compatible, is there a difference?

Remanufactured
The cartridge, be it an inkjet or laser cartridge, is a genuine cartridge which has been rebuilt and re-packaged. The quality and reliability is dependent on the method used to rebuild the cartridge and the quality of the aftermarket toner or ink used to refill it.

Compatible
These are newly manufactured cartridges which are designed to perform the same function as the genuine/OEM product.

While these are new cartridges, their performance against the genuine/OEM cartridge will depend on the manufacturing technique and the quality of the toner or ink used.