Drum/Toner: As we will mention throughout all of these updated tech-tips, for the first time in our nine-year history, we are now using our own private sources of supplies in the remanufacturing of toner cartridges. The reasons for this principally revolve around quality and consistency. We have now switched over to Laser Group toner and drum for the best combination of print density and cartridge life. While we have tested combinations which produced either darker prints or longer cartridge life, we have not found a combination of toner and drum which produces a better combination of density and cartridge life.

Long-life OPC Drum: There have been "true" PC-Mini drums available for quite some time, but they do not work perfectly in conjunction with the autoexposure control found on most of the Canon mini-copiers in use today and will generally give lighter copies than the OEM with the autoexposure control engaged. We openly tell our retail customers for best results they need to manually adjust the exposure control. If they complain that they don't need to do that with the OEM cartridge we politely remind them that having to turn off the autoexposure control and manually adjust the density is a small price to pay in order to save $50, or so, over the cost of a new cartridge.

Will there ever be drums which work perfectly with the automatic exposure control engaged? Maybe. But, keep in mind that the install base of A15/A30 copiers is shrinking so don't hold your breath waiting for a OPC replacement drum vendor to spend a lot of time perfecting a product for an ever-decreasing base of potential sales.

Drum Coatings: Now for the most exciting news we have ever reported on a toner cartridge in our nine years of experience: We have been successfully using a drum coating in-house which has significantly improved the life of the OPC drum, while not affecting the print-quality or cartridge life. This coating is easily applied using nothing more exotic than cotton balls prior to each use and can preserve the OEM drum to the extent that it can be used for two or three uses (the OEM has gone five uses in house, but we do not recommend pushing it that far in your customer's cartridges).

The Laser Group Drum Treatment (LGDT) has shown us that when used from day one on a long-life replacement drum, it can also significantly prolong its life, as well. The number of uses the LGDT treated drum will go before wearing out increase by at least 25 - 50%. (In the lab we've seen amazing increases in the cycles of drums with LGDT.)

The only caveat we have at this point with regard to the Laser Group Drum Treatment is: DO NOT BE CHEAP! If you find you get one or two solid additional uses out of the OEM OPC or two to three additional uses out of a new, long-life OPC, be grateful. But, do not go overboard in your efforts to reduce the cost of the replacement drums. The only time you want your customer to come back is when the cartridge is empty and when they have a smile on their face from a good experience (NEVER SOONER). If your personal experience shows that a long-life drum can be used another two or three times, lean toward the more conservative second additional use rather than going for three additional uses. Keep in mind that even a single additional use of either the OEM or a long-life drum will significantly improve your profit margins.

Wiper Blade: We still recommend when replacing the OPC drum, no matter what long-life drum you install, replace the wiper blade at the same time (it is a cheap form of insurance). Remember, the A15/A30 wiper blade is the same as the EP-S/SX wiper blade.

Mag Roller Sleeves: The subject of replacement and/or coated mag roller sleeves for the A15/A30 PC-"Mini" is up in the air. While no one expects a $300 - $800 copier to produce "camera-ready" artwork, there are several good reasons to use coated or replacement mag roller sleeves. On the other side of the coin, no companies are making mag roller sleeves specifically for the PC-"Mini" cartridge, so when you do need to replace the magnetic roller, you will be doing so with an EP-S/SX mag roller sleeve. What all this means is, if you have coated or replacement mag rollers sleeves on the shelf, you won't hurt anything if you use one in this remanufacture (and, possibly you will improve the output). But, it is highly unlikely that the replacement sleeve will mean the difference between a bad copy and a great one. So, if you have replacement sleeves, use them. If you don't, don't worry about it.

Drum Padding Powder: One of the interesting adjuncts to using the Laser Group Drum Treatment is the fact that the drum becomes so smooth, you no longer need to use drum padding powder. This fact, in and of itself, told us that we were truly on to something, since in the eight years we have been producing cartridges we have never been able to get away from the fact the the silicone wiper blade seems to invariably stick to the OPC drum if no padding powder is used. Using the LGDT, the drum becomes so smooth and friction-free, the wiper blade no longer binds against the outer surface of the OPC. Because the OPC is so smooth, it takes the cartridge from 1 - 5 test prints before the wiper blade seats firmly against the OPC. Bottom line? If you are using the Laser Group Drum Treatment (and we wholeheartedly recommend you do), skip the padding powder.

- End -

PLEASE NOTE: We are always ready, willing and able to provide technical support to any of our trainees on any of the cartridges we have taught them to remanufacture. In order to make your interaction with tech support as productive and beneficial as possible, we make two assumptions: We assume that you have followed our procedures to the letter and used the supplies we recommended during the remanufacturing process. If a cartridge is remanufactured in a manner other than what we prescribe or with supplies other than the ones we recommend, the extent of our technical support can only be "generic" in nature, since we will have no firsthand experience with either the methods or supplies in question. In addition, we assume that you have already done your "swaps" (as outlined in the troubleshooting section for each cartridge) and that you will be able to answer questions based on the results of those swaps before you call and ask for help. We appreciate your understanding in this matter.

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