Printer Question

[Kilgore Trout]

I bought a Lexmark Optra T612 heavy duty laser printer about 5 years ago and then used up the starter toner (good for about 2,000 pages) over a space of about 3 years.

So, when it came time to buy a new toner cartridge, (the full cartridges are rated at 12,000 pages worth of toner), the option was to get one from Lexmark for about $250. or go to the Chinese lady in Markham that I normally buy toner from in the "clone" toner market.
Her price was about $95. plus tax so I opted for her toner as usual.

But, when I got home and put it in the printer it wouldn't work. Just sat there like a dead duck and did nothing when I sent a print job through. When I put the original Lexmark toner cartridge back in it worked fine, except since the original was starting to run out of toner the coverage on page was not so great.

So, I went over to the Chinese lady's mini toner factory / plant and she stuck the clone toner cartridge inside a test Lexmark T610 series printer that she has and jigged it around a bit and it worked in her optra.

So I went home put it back in my printer and jigged the cartridge around a bit and it started to print again so I was satisfied. But after a short while it stopped printing again. I have a feeling it's something to do with the Optra not liking my aftermarket, unofficial toner cartridge.

At this time, I just didn't have time to deal with printer drama, so I purchased a tiny HP laser printer and it has worked like a charm. I just put the Optra on ice and forgot about it.

But anyway, this week I pulled the Optra out of storage room to see if I could hack it somehow and get it going again because if I can get it to work it's got 12,000 pages of toner I can use inside it.

So far no go.
If I can't get it to go , I'll sell it on Craigslist to a hacker for $10. who might be able to get it to work. Either that or I'll toss it into a garbage dumpster even though the printer still looks brand new. In any case I have to do something with this printer now because I'm not going to keep a dead duck in storage forever.

So, I'm just wondering if anyone out there has had a problem with Optra lasers, esp the heavy duty ones and whether anyone knows what might be bugging this printer so I can maybe bring it back from the dead.

(Image of printer)
http://www.all-driver.com/wp-content/gallery/images/lexmark-optra-t610-printer-images.jpg

Thanks for any input.

 

[bsi]

Well, depending on where you are, this might be worth doing.

In my old life, I was very happy with the service I got in Newmarket from All About Toner

https://www.canpages.ca/page/ON/newmarket/all-about-toner/2721249.html

I suggest you bring the printer to these guys (phone first). If it costs you $50 for them to do what it takes, you will have a printer that will last 10 years at your current consumption rate. And if they tell you it is argumentative, you can pitch it without sweating that you dumped a good unit. They don't sell printers so they won't tell you yours is bad just so they can sell you one.

We used to use the T series at work and they were quite reliable.

 

[Anynym]

You're thinking of junking a good quality printer because you bought a crappy cartridge several years ago?

All anyone has to do is to buy a cartridge that works.

E.g. toners.ca has a toner cartridge rated for 25,000 pages (5% coverage) at $328.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Okay, thanks BSI.
I'm up in Newmarket once a month or so because family is up there and I'll keep them in mind.
Thanks again.

 

[danibbler]

You're thinking of junking a good quality printer because you bought a crappy cartridge several years ago?

All anyone has to do is to buy a cartridge that works.

My thinking exactly!!!

 

[Kilgore Trout]

My thinking exactly!!!

This may be hard to believe; but, a monochrome laser printer that doesn't work has a market value of almost nothing on Craigslist.

I am not going to spend $250. on official Lexmark toner only to discover the printer still doesn't work because I don't know for a fact that it's the toner the printer is upset about. On the basis of ruthless calculating pragmatism I am not going to sink big money into a white elephant which is what this printer has become.
This printer is getting to be a toxic asset and now feels like an 80 pound millstone tied around my neck.

I can get toner for my HP 1020 for 29.00 and it's good for 2,000 pages or about 2 or 3 years and the output is beautiful. Plus I like the small footprint it takes up on my desk.

If I decide to get rid of the Lexmark and if I can't get anyone to pay $20. for it on CL ; then, I will offer it free of charge to any hacker in the Craigslist universe who thinks he can get it going or knows how to get it going.

Thanks for your insights though.

 

[PornAddict]

This may be hard to believe; but, a monochrome laser printer that doesn't work has a market value of almost nothing on Craigslist.

I am not going to spend $250. on official Lexmark toner only to discover the printer still doesn't work because I don't know for a fact that it's the toner the printer is upset about. On the basis of ruthless calculating pragmatism I am not going to sink big money into a white elephant which is what this printer has become.
This printer is getting to be a toxic asset and now feels like an 80 pound millstone tied around my neck.

I can get toner for my HP 1020 for 29.00 and it's good for 2,000 pages or about 2 or 3 years and the output is beautiful. Plus I like the small footprint it takes up on my desk.

If I decide to get rid of the Lexmark and if I can't get anyone to pay $20. for it on CL ; then, I will offer it free of charge to any hacker in the Craigslist universe who thinks he can get it going or knows how to get it going.

Thanks for your insights though.

Why don't you bring the orginal empty Lexmark toner cartridge that you have and get it refill with toner. At my work all the empty cartridge monochorme printer go back to the store that offer empty toner cartiage refill. If you had put the old cartridge and it work then it not the printer it is the cartiage.

 

[danibbler]

All of your problems stem from the fact that you went to this lady's shop and got her toner. The fact that both she and you had to "jig" the cartridge around inside both of your respective printers would indicate that it's the cartridge that's the problem.

This is one of those times when going with a no-name product really comes back to bite you because you've not only wasted the use of a pretty decent printer but you've also wasted time, money and effort. It sounds like you're very impatient so I think the best thing to do is just give it away.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

You know when I bought this printer I thought I would never ever need to buy toner because the cartridges are rated at 12,000 - 15,000 pages or so. The way I print that would last about 15 years. Then I discovered the concept of 'starter toner' when it ran out after 1,000 pages or so and asked Lexmark what was going on.

I would have never bought the printer if I'd known that they were giving me a minimal toner supply and then trapping me and tricking me into purchasing a new toner cartridge for $250. or $300. just a few blocks down the road. Withholding or burying this information is a dirty selling tactic by manufacturers.

That's like buying a new car for $30,000 from a manufacturer with a concealed, hidden programmed flaw in it's makeup that will require me to bring it into their shop for $20,000. worth or repairs in six months that I have to pay for. ( I didn't know, - well, I should have read the paragraph in the 20 pages of fine print that details this characteristic so it's my fault.)

In any case patience has nothing to do with this. That's like asking me to be patient because one day the horse and buggy will come back. Nope, ruthless, cold calculating pragmatism has everything to do with this.

Recent massive deflation in the entry level laser printer market has dramatically changed the landscape for consumers and turned this Lexmark printer into a bit of a dinosaur very quickly.
Whether I like it or not, for my purposes, there is no longer any compelling economic argument for using the big Lexmark. The cost benefit is no longer there when I can now get toner for 29. for my HP 1020 good for 2,000 pages.
And btw the cloned Lexmark toner cartridge did work for about 300 pages before the printer mysteriously stopped working.

 

[Cassini]

Never use the imitation cartridges. They are not worth the consequences when the printer stops working.

Myself, I would just cough up the money for the expensive cartridge. It sounds like you purchased a really heavy duty printer, and those printers have a long lifespan under heavy use. However, if the insides of the printer need cleaning as a result of using the remanufactured cartridge, it will cost more to get the old printer working.

Unless you have very light printing loads (which it sounds like you do), avoid the cheap laser printers. The paper feeds quit after 3 months - 2 years, and they become paperweights. The inexpensive inkjets have the same problem too. The solution to the paper feed problem is the more expensive printers (with the $300 dollar printer cartridges).

 

[PornAddict]

My work place( small commercial copy center) we refill all our HP printer and Lexmark monochrome when our toner get empty. We never buy new cartiridges it is too expensive. We bring our empty toner to them and they refill the toner
. The place is called:

CABRI Print Supplies
(They used Orginal & Compatible Printer Cartridges)

Contact is Brian Kelly (" The cartridge guy")

TeL: 905-407-7211
Tel: 416-855-9457
Email:bkelly@cabriprintsupplies.com
I pretty sure if you bring your whole printer and empty cartiridges to them they will probaly test out your printer by putting a refill cartridges and test it out if it work. Make it a conditon that you will only buy their refill orginal lexmark cartridges if it work on your printer.

I not sure where they are located in Toronto.. I would suggest you email them and ask them where is their location.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Thanks for all that.
After more tinkering around I finally got the printer to work last night.

I was becoming suspicious about the printer cable so I installed the printer software on my laptop and then connected the laptop to the Lexmark via parallel print cable and was able to get it to print a document.
Then I re attached the parallel cable to desktop and this time the printing job went through. Why it decided to work this time instead of the other 10 times I removed the parallel cable and re attached it is beyond me.

So it turned out this thing had nothing to do with clone toner cartridge and everything to do with the computer not being able to transfer the printing message to the printer via the parallel cable. Hope the gremlins stay out of the parallel cable so I can milk this thing for the 14,000 sheets of toner inside it.

 

[enyaw]

If that is the case I suggest, getting a new cable then, something from Belkin Gold plated and all that. And make sure the back of the connector port "parallel" is dust/crud free and you might have some life left in that lexmark afterall

good luck