There is nothing worse than finding the printer with out of ink just when we had to print very important documents! In these cases we will have to wait for the technician to arrive (if we are in an office) or try to change the cartridge or toner yourself. If we have never done this before, we anticipate that there is nothing really difficult: you just need to understand the model of the printer and proceed with the replacement of the cartridge or toner (although the various models may offer different ways to replace).
In this guide we will show you how to change the cartridge in the printer and how to change the toners, suggesting the generic steps for each type of printer. It goes without saying that the steps described can be profoundly different for each printer manufacturer: that's why we will also advise you where to download the manuals for all the printer models in circulation (in case we have lost the hard copy).
READ ALSO -> Guide to buy a printer: laser or ink ">; with a little luck the PDF document should appear immediately to download with all the instructions.
If we can't find anything with Google, we can perform a targeted search on the main printer manufacturer sites, listed below:
- HP
- EPSON
- Canon
- Brother
- Samsung
- Xerox
Once the desired page has been opened, type the name of the printer in the appropriate fields or use the drop-down menus to choose our model among those available. In the specific page for our printer we will find both the drivers and the user manuals: download the manual in Italian from those available and dive into the reading, so as to find the section relating to the exchange of cartridges or toners.
Purchase new cartridge
Now that we know the name of the printer and we also have the user manual, it's time to buy the right cartridges. The manual or the Internet search will have already directed us to the right choice: if we still cannot find the suitable cartridges, we check the label on the printer again or we start a Google search in this format "[Printer name] cartridges".
We remind you that a particular model of cartridges can be used on dozens or hundreds of products of the same brand, so just find the identifying name of the cartridge to be sure of the compatibility. When we buy a new cartridge or toner, we will have to choose between original and compatible .
- The original cartridges or toner allow to obtain the maximum print quality and to increase the life of the printer, but they have a decidedly high price (compared to the compatible ones).
- Compatible cartridges or toners are suitable for saving money and getting more prints, but compatibility may not be guaranteed and quality often does not live up to the originals.
We also make the choice according to our needs, given that there are scenarios in which so much print quality is required (important documents or photographs) while others where we can save something and use the compatible ones (photocopied documents and home prints).
The best sites where we can buy original and compatible cartridges are:
- Amazon
- eBay
- Cartucce.com
- Prink
- Alphaink
- Offertecartucce
- ecostore
Obviously we can also buy cartridges from the manufacturers' websites, but in this case the prices are much higher than the competition. Once you have chosen your site, type in the printer model or the name of the cartridges and check the price obtained among several sites: often with discounts and promotions you can spend a very basic amount even for the original cartridges!
If instead we focus on compatible cartridges or toners we will always find very low and attractive prices, so just choose one and buy it without problems.
READ ALSO -> Buy online Compatible cartridges for the printer
4) Change printer cartridge
After seeing all the necessary preparations, the time has come to show you how to actually replace a cartridge or toner from the printer.
The steps described are very generic, it is impossible to collect the exact procedure for all the printer models in circulation, but we can summarize them as follows:
- Turn the printer on or off : most inkjet printers need to be turned on for replacement; laser printers, on the other hand, need to be turned off, also to avoid the risks associated with laser or toner dispersion (which is harmful!).
- Identify the cartridge or toner door : usually the cartridge or toner compartment can be viewed by opening a specific section of the printer or by opening a sort of door, which can be obtained from the same side where the sheets usually come out (the front part in the majority of cases). On some printers, on the other hand, it may be necessary to start a procedure using buttons or software, so as to put the cartridge housing in a suitable position for replacement, while on toner printers it may be necessary to pull out the housing of the sheets in order to access the area where the printing system is located.
- Remove the empty cartridge or toner : open the cartridge or toner compartment, remove it gently, trying to remember the direction of insertion (we can't go wrong!). If more cartridges or toner have run out, remove them one at a time and replace them, to minimize exposure to the air of the print head and roller.
- Remove the seals of the new or new toner cartridge: the new cartridges or toner often have a small protective plastic tab or strip, which goes from the print nozzle to the recognition chip (on the toner it can be a simple protection tab); we remove where indicated, so as to have the cartridge ready and available.
- Insert the new cartridge : we carefully observe the direction of insertion (paying particular attention to the chip) and insert the cartridge until we hear a click or until it is perfectly seated. The cartridge must be firm and must not have "play"; for every other detail we recommend to always read the user manual.
- Close the housing : after placing the cartridge or toner, close the door or section of the housing again and wait for the printer to read the new cartridge or toner.
In some cases we will have to start the recognition manually by pressing the print button, in other cases the process is completely automatic in the instant in which we close the housing.
Remember that the used cartridge or old toner should not be thrown in the garbage, but disposed of according to local regulations (we will have to take them to the waste disposal center or to a separate collection center).
Conclusions
After a few minutes the printer will be ready for use again: we immediately print 2 test sheets to see if the print quality is acceptable or not (in some cases a head cleaning process may be required to obtain the best results).To conclude, remember that the cartridges also have an "expiration" date, beyond which they no longer print even if there is still ink inside (usually 6-8 months); the deadline could also be applied on the quantity (no more than 400 sheets for example), so as to optimize the printing process and avoid getting "dry" (a situation that can ruin the print head).
If we want to get some other good advice to save ink on cartridges or toners, please read the following guide.
READ ALSO -> Save ink and printer cartridges
