Is using generic toner detrimental to laser printers?

Printer manufacturers usually recommend that you only use their branded, OEM toner cartridges in their products but generic ones are commonly available for far less cost.

Print quality will of course vary between different brands/makes/models and personal experiences, so that discussion is one of opinion, however:

Does using generic toner cause any damage, or otherwise have any negative effect on the printer's lifespan? I'm struggling to find any unbiased studies.

There is a similar but different question on ink/toner refill kits here, but I'm referring to generic already-filled cartridges that can be bought online or in some discount stores.

Moses

Posted 2014-03-06T23:04:34.733

Reputation: 10 813

Possible duplicate of Do printer ink/toner refill kits work and are they safe?

– fixer1234 – 2016-09-24T19:47:04.617

@fixer1234 see my edit; I'm not referring to refill kits as those are a different can of worms with a separate set of risks/advantages. – Moses – 2016-09-28T16:54:51.727

Answers

While I would be inclined to use after market cartridges as they are much cheaper then originals, and printers are generally cheap relative to the costs of consumables, not all after market cartridges are equal and the quality is not always as good as the originals.

I believe that "Which" in the UK is a Consumer funded organization. This article talks about replacement ink cartriges, and has a useful table on the their users experiences. In summary, 63% of users had no problems, about 35% had problems related to print quality, 3% complained of ink spillage and 10% complained of other problems. (I have no idea why these figures add up to > 100% !!!). If you happen to be in the UK the article is also useful as to investigating your rights as a consumer.

A report (requires subscription) on printer reliability from the prominent Consumer Supported testing company in New Zealand found that 25% of the people they sampled had problems with generic cartridges compared with 6% of those who used same-brand cartridges.

In New Zealand we have strong protection laws, and the laws prohibit manufacturers from denying warranty claims if you use compatible consumables where the consumables were not likely the cause of the problem. You might want to look at your local laws and be guided somewhat by whether you have statutory protections.

davidgo

Posted 2014-03-06T23:04:34.733

Reputation: 49 152

2The link to the article you provided goes to an article on ink, not toner. Nothing to do with Laser. – Xavierjazz – 2014-03-07T00:12:20.840

The articles I've looked at have suggested very little difference in reliability issues between toner and ink, but thank you for pointing that out. (For clarity, the NZ article I linked to confirmed no difference in reliability between inkjet and laser printers, and the study covered consumables for both) – davidgo – 2014-03-07T00:58:26.473

1Then it's a poorly researched article - there are HUGE differences in reliability between Laser and Inkjet in my considerable experience; as well as huge differences in cost per page printed. most of my (7) laser printers are 15 years old and work fine - no inkjet has come close to living that long, or even 1/3 that long. – Ecnerwal – 2014-03-07T01:11:31.953

You missed the key word "reliability". This article was the results of a survey, and I can assure you that Consumer Guide in New Zealand do competent research, although they are targetting "joe average" in the way they write. – davidgo – 2014-03-07T01:14:38.997

I did not miss a thing. The reliability of inkjet printers is terrible, as anyone who has owned one for more than a year can tell you. – Ecnerwal – 2014-03-07T01:20:09.600

2Anecdote != evidence. Rather then beat up on me and the studies I found and referenced (I doubt you have read the consumer guide one) , why not spend some time trying to answer the question properly - specifically the part about unbiased studies. – davidgo – 2014-03-07T02:18:13.763

Based on 25 years of feeding the things:

Other than quality or lack thereof (which does vary quite a bit) no, there is no magic sauce from name-brand cartridges just due to the name brand (for which a significant premium is charged.) In the used market you can pick up a whole spare printer for the savings on a couple of cartridges if you don't need the latest laser printer they make.

I have never had "printer damage" from crappy cartridges - low print quality, short useful life of a cartridge, and sometimes leaking toner to remove, but no actual damage. Purported damage is a scare tactic to protect the high profit margins on replacement toner. Laser printer damage (in my experience over 25 years) comes from poor packing and shipping, users putting things that don't belong in printers in printers, and poorly engineered "new and improved" (not) fusers that self-destruct.

Ecnerwal

Posted 2014-03-06T23:04:34.733

Reputation: 5 046

Hi. I'm curious if you feel there is any substance in this comment: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/18650-3-compatible-remanufactured-toner-cartridges-good#255740. Specifically, the poster writes: "I looked into this a week ago and from what I can see the big deal with toner is 1. how it's made - either it's been milled (crushed from big blocks using big rollers) or grown chemically. Milled toner has lots of sharp edges on the toner as the crushing rollers tend to leave sharp edges, where chemically made toner tends to be like little smooth surface spheres."

– Faheem Mitha – 2015-03-22T08:33:07.763

"One slowly grinds against the insides of your printer, the other is much nicer to it." – Faheem Mitha – 2015-03-22T08:33:16.363

As it says in my answer, I have never seen anything damaged from "toner grinding away at it" or any other "bad toner/cheap cartridge" cause. Poor print quality, poor life, and making a mess, I have seen. Remove the cartridge, blacklist the supplier, clean up the printer, install a new cartridge, move on. – Ecnerwal – 2015-03-22T15:37:57.070