Ink Replacement With Inkjet Printer Vs. Laser Printer
Inkjet and laser printers are, respectively, the most popular everyday printing technologies in both homes and offices worldwide. Inkjet printers use small cartridges filled with liquid ink, while laser printers rely on larger cartridges filled with a dry, powdered ink called toner. Inkjet cartridges tend to run down sooner than toner cartridges. Replacing ink cartridges is equally simple with either printer technology.
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Inkjet Printers
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Inkjet printers work by automatically delivering liquid ink onto paper in a pattern determined by a computer input. This is done by breaking the desired amount of ink into thousands of exceptionally tiny droplets, then propelling those droplets forward in a pattern that, when they strike the page, will reproduce the desired document or image.
Because break-up and delivery of the ink droplets is the most critical element of inkjet technology, a great deal of engineering work is invested into it. The avenues for ink droplet break-up and distribution include acoustic, thermal, electric field and piezo pressure methodologies,
Ink Use In an Inkjet Printer
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The main consumer of ink on an inkjet printer is, of course, the printing of the image itself. Some ink is also lost, however, through natural ink clogs and the required intermittent self-cleaning process that keeps ink channels clear. Typical inkjet cartridges can yield between 200 and 500 standard text pages, but fewer if the page contains a large image or requires a lot of ink. Inkjet ink is one of the most expensive liquids around, regularly costing the equivalent of more than $5,000 per gallon.
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Replacing Inkjet Ink
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Inkjet cartridge replacement is usually a simple affair, requiring opening the service door of the printer, removing the expended ink cartridge, and replacing it with a new one. There are also techniques for refilling expended ink cartridges, though the likelihood of success depends on your particular printer and refill procedure.
In color inkjets, it's advantageous to print with a printer that uses separate cartridges for the the three primary color inks (cyan, magenta, yellow), as opposed to a more general "black" and "color" cartridge. Otherwise, you may end up needing to replace an entire three-color cartridge because just one color has been run down.
Laser Printers
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Laser printers work by transferring a dry, powdery ink called toner onto a page in the specific pattern to produce the desired text or image. The toner transfer is accomplished by using a laser to impart precisely tuned electric charges to specific sections of a rotating metal drum, such that charged toner will be attracted to those sections, then transferred (by hot contact rolling) onto the paper in the correct pattern.
Toner Use Patterns
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Laser toner tends to be expended slower than inkjet ink and a typical toner cartridge can be expected to print anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 average text pages.
The majority of color laser printers use a separate toner cartridge for each of the three primary colors. These cartridges can also yield several thousand pages each, but are often far more expensive than the black toner cartridges of equivalent capacity.
Replacing Toner
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Similar to inkjet ink replacement, toner replacement involves opening the printer's service door, removing the expended toner cartridge and sliding in the new one. There are also techniques for refilling expended toner cartridges and the likelihood of success varies with refill method, replacement toner type and printer model.
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- Photo Credit ink cartridges image by itsallgood from Fotolia.com
