We recommend replacing OKI toner cartridges (and imaging drums) when the printer is switched off :
Oki printers are our area of greatest expertise and one of the printer manufacturers that we are more than happy and very often recommend. We have got to know and understand the workings of many oki printers and we have found that there are some very basic rules that you should follow to maximise the benefits of owning an OKI printer.
One of these rules is to turn the printer off before you replace any of the printer consumables - most notably the toner or drum cartridges. It does not matter if they are genuine, compatible or refilled cartridges - you should always replace them when the printer is switched off. To understand why please read on...
During normal printer operations the well of the image drum will fill with toner from the associated colour toner cartridge.
If you want to see this - just unlock any of the toner cartridges from the printer by turning the blue lever. Below the toner cartridge you will most likely see a slit with some toner in it. This well/resevoir is called the developement section and it’s where the toner is held just before being used by the printing process.
When you get a Replace Toner Message on the machine your OKI printer is now expecting both an increase in toner (filled from the cartridge above) and a new chip where it can store information. It will not work until it gets both. If the printer detects a new chip without an increase in the toner into the drum it will write to and kill the new chip, which then becomes useless and you will be stuck with an error message.
Toner powder can be slow to move from the new toner cartridge into the drum unit. If the powder does not fill the imaging drum quickly enough then the printer will assume that the new toner cartriidge is empty and will kill the reset chip.
To get around this do 2 simple things:
- Shake your new cartridge before replacing.
- Switch your printer OFF before you replace the new toner cartridge.
Turning the printer off and leaving it off for 5 minutes will allow time for the toner powder to refill the drum unit and everything will then work fine. We recommend leaving your printer off for 5 minutes after replacing the new cartridge just to allow plenty of time for this refill of the drum to happen.