Get More Life from the Magicolor 2300w Cartridges

Written by joesomebody

Sunday, 02 January 2005

You may have heard that Minolta’s laser toner cartridges have a chip that supposedly measures the amount of toner left inside, well this is not true. The cartridges have a chip that just counts the amount of pages printed, and lies about the ink level, thus, when you hit the page number cap, you have to shell out $70+ for another cartridge. When you have a so-called “empty cartridge,” try removing the plug and dumping it out, a large amount of toner will spill out!  Here is a way that we can utilize that remaining toner. First, find this little bracket Then, Remove the one screw, and pry the bracket off Results! Use the “Toner Replace” function in the printer’s software to do this to each cartridge. Then, check the ink levels. They should go up. I do not know if the ink levels it then shows are the true amounts of ink, or just software BS. If someone could clarify, please post something. I am a little hesitant to try doing anything like this to the drum’s supply level, since they cost $300. If anyone has a spare (empty?), or is brave, try covering the contacts with electrical tape, one at a time, removing one before you move on to the next, and if get the levels to go up, please post that too. ! If you ever get these funky streaks down your printed pages (sorry about the whitewash): Take the little seal below the drum and peel it off on each end, and move it up a bit.

Last Updated ( Sunday, 02 January 2005 )