Is it possible to refill a ricoh starter cartridge? Repair and maintenance of copiers and printers

With today's assortment of printing equipment from different manufacturers, the purchase of a modern printer or MFP is often accompanied by an unexpected problem, the essence of which is the difficulty, or even the impossibility, of refilling a cartridge of a certain brand and model. Such situations, although rare, do occur, and therefore it is better to prepare for them in advance and, if possible, avoid them.

Let's start with the fact that almost all modern consumables are equipped by the manufacturer with sophisticated electronic chips, thanks to which we not only know how much toner is left in the cartridge and what problems the printing device encounters, but also temporarily lose the opportunity to use refills. The fact is that refilling cartridges with chips usually means replacing the latter, or, alternatively, replacing the software in the printer itself. To do this, craftsmen create “correct” chips that do not interfere with refueling, and develop equally “correct” software, which are subsequently used by professional refuelers. However, both the first and second are reliably protected from copying by the manufacturer, so it takes some time to bypass this protection. Sometimes it is calculated in weeks, and sometimes in months. In this regard, when buying the latest model of printer or MFP, be prepared for the fact that refilling cartridges for them will be impossible at first, and you will have to shell out money for original consumables for some time.

Secondly, the ability to charge cartridges largely depends on the manufacturer of the printing device. For example, refilling cartridges from Canon, HP, Xerox, Samsung and other brands popular in our country usually does not cause difficulties for refillers (with the exception of the temporary problem with chips and software described above). At the same time, if you happen to acquire a printing device, say, Lexmark, Epson or Kodak, then it is far from a fact that in your city there will be craftsmen who can refill the cartridge for it with high quality. In other words, it is better not to buy such “exotic” products, especially since the range of truly high-quality printers without such associated problems is more than wide. Of course, if you look really hard, then in a big city you can always find a master from God who can refill even such a cartridge that he sees for the first time in his life, but why do you need this extra headache? We almost forgot: for such printing machines, which are rare in our latitudes, it can sometimes be extremely difficult to find even a new original cartridge for sale!

Most manufacturers supply printers and MFPs with starter cartridges.

The starter cartridge holds fewer print sheets than the standard cartridge, which is sold separately.

It is important to remember that the toners in the starter cartridge are designed only to start the device, that is, so that when installing the device, only the first tens of pages can be printed. For uninterrupted operation of the device, it is better to immediately buy standard consumables. The presence or absence of a starter kit depends on the manufacturer's sales policy.

DESCRIPTION OF STARTER CARTRIDGE CB435A HP LJ P1005/P1006 Cartridge

The CB435A starter cartridge has approximately half the volume of the waste hopper.
Toner weight in 700 page starter cartridge is 47.6 g

DESCRIPTION OF CARTRIDGE CB435A HP LJ P1005/P1006 Cartridge

Number of pages (b/w): 1500 standard pages
case with dimensions 327x123x113 mm
relatively light weight of 793 g and resource capacity of the toner bin.

DESCRIPTION OF STARTER CARTRIDGE CB436A HP LJ P1505/M1120/M1522 cartridge.

The squeegee has installation dimensions that differ from other HP models. The squeegee base has a significantly smaller width.

The waste hopper has a very small volume, so transfer efficiency is of great importance when selecting compatible consumables. The approximate capacity of the hopper is 10 g of waste.

The diameter of the charge roller is the same as in HP CLJ2600,3000 cartridges (diameter - 8.5 mm, circumference - 27 mm), but the length is shorter (244 mm). The roller is made of hard material, i.e. “indestructible” and can be easily cleaned with isopropyl alcohol. It is quite possible that, just as in color cartridges with similar rollers, there will also be “soft” rollers that are more prone to failure.

The magnetic shaft has dimensions: diameter – 10 mm, circumference – 31 mm, shaft length – 254 mm. The metering blade has different mounting dimensions than other HP models.

DESCRIPTION OF CARTRIDGE CB436A HP LJ P1505/M1120/M1522 cartridge.

The HP cb436A cartridge yields 2,000 pages at 5% page coverage.
The dimensions of the 36A cartridge are 370x123x113 mm.
The 36A cartridge weighs just under a kilogram - 830 g.

The main difference between a starter cartridge and a regular one is the volume of the toner tank. And also, if you pay attention to the photo of the HP 436 starter cartridge, its platform is wider than the platform of an ordinary HP 436 cartridge.

How to find out the Canon and HP starter cartridge?

In most cases, you purchase a starter cartridge along with your printer or MFP. They are different for different manufacturers. The same manufacturer does not imply that you will refill its cartridge, and therefore produces starter cartridges to test the functionality of the device. In the starter cartridge, depending on the model, the toner hopper and the waste toner hopper may be reduced. As a result, the resource of this cartridge when refilling will be less. If you want the resource of your cartridge to correspond to those declared by the manufacturer, then you need to buy a new original cartridge in which the hoppers will have normal capacity.

So, here is a list of Canon and HP starter cartridges that have a reduced toner tank:

HP: 35A (CB435A), 36A (CB436A), 78A (CE278A), 85A (CE285A), 83A (CF283A).
Canon: 712 Starter, 725 Starter.

How to identify an HP starter cartridge? Let's look at this using the 83A cartridge as an example. The key word here is Introductory (which means introductory). If you see this word on your cartridge, it is a starter cartridge.

Now let's look at Canon cartridges. The Canon starter cartridge says Starter.

The original toner cartridge of this model looks like this:

But Canon is pleased that the toner bins have been reduced, only in two models: the 712 Starter and 725 Starter. In all other bunker models, the starting ones are no different from the original ones.

If you have any questions, call us back

Starter cartridge - what is it? Refilling the starter cartridge

A starter cartridge, also known as a starter cartridge, is a cartridge that was sold to you complete with a printer or MFP. In general, to be honest, the purpose of a starter cartridge is to quickly run out and force the client to fork out for a new cartridge, which is no longer sold complete with the printer, but in a separate package. The practice is unscrupulous, but effective.

Therefore, as a rule, almost all starter cartridges contain much less toner (or ink) than cartridges sold separately. The difference can reach twofold or even fivefold. As a rule, the buyer finds out about this after the purchase: it is important for lively sellers to sell the device, and then “milk” the client, actually forcing him to buy new printed modules. It is useless to go anywhere or make a fuss about this: you have already purchased the product and choosing a different printer model will not make much difference; a set of a new printing device from another brand will also contain a starter cartridge with a rather symbolic amount of toner.

In this regard, the purchase of a new MFP or printer itself in any case entails future costs. We’ll give you a little advice right away: don’t fall for the cheap tricks of sellers who sell you the latest printer model. Why? You will be forced to buy a new cartridge almost immediately after purchasing the device. Since it will be impossible to refill the newest models for some time, since the system for blocking the operation of the device has not yet been studied in new models; compatible chips for the equipment models have not been developed; software changes to the internal firmware of the printer have not been worked out, according to which the cartridge can be refilled at all without chips, etc., etc.

Is it possible to refill the starter cartridge and for which models? Answer: almost everyone. Forum communities of cartridge refillers are a large collective mind; as soon as a new printer model appears on the market, thousands of people on the same day begin to puzzle over how to bypass one or another blocking of the device, which allows them to refill both the starting and newly purchased cartridges.

Is it worth refilling the starter cartridge at all?

See for yourself. One of the recently released printer models (we will not name which one, in order to avoid verbal disputes with manufacturers) on the Yandex Market is estimated at between 3,900 and 5,700 rubles. The starter cartridge for it runs out after 500 prints, and what matters is not the amount of toner transferred to the sheets, but any number of sheets passed along the paper path. Even if you print 500 sheets of information on the printer in the form of one printed character, the printer will be blocked! Let's look at the price of a new cartridge for the device: the average value is 4,000 rubles!

What happens? You bought a horse, but it turned out that its horseshoes are gold!