Where does refill hole go on HP 12A

[Jim]

I have been home-refilling my HP LaserJet 5L cartridges for years -
drill and fill - but just got an all-in-one that uses the 2612A
cartridge. Does someone have diagram of where the fill and (waste
chamber) emptying holes go? Please no replies from the guys in the
refilling business telling me it cannot be done, or that there might be
a chip resetting necessary, or other dire consequences. I know that all
of that is nonsense, designed to dissuade the easily dissuaded from
refilling their own.

Henry

 

[housetrained]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.printers
Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2006 12:21 AM
Subject: Where does refill hole go on HP 12A

chamber) emptying holes go?

Henry

Ring JR on 0800 808 7777 and they will email you an instruction leaflet
John the West Ham fan
(e-mail address removed)
<><

 

[Tony]

I have been home-refilling my HP LaserJet 5L cartridges for years -
drill and fill - but just got an all-in-one that uses the 2612A
cartridge. Does someone have diagram of where the fill and (waste
chamber) emptying holes go? Please no replies from the guys in the
refilling business telling me it cannot be done, or that there might be
a chip resetting necessary, or other dire consequences. I know that all
of that is nonsense, designed to dissuade the easily dissuaded from
refilling their own.

Henry

You are being a tad unkind to the folks that remanufacture toner cartridges,
the chances are that if they frequent this ng they would be delighted to help.
The most likely reason that they may be reluctant to help is that they know
that the "drill and fill" method has a relatively low success rate due to the
components that wear in the cartridge. The professional remanufacturers do a
lot more than empty the waste hopper and replace the toner.
This cartridge does not of course have a chip, if it did it would not be
possible to reset it. HP chips on toner cartridges are almost never resettable,
but HP have not made them hard to replace unlike some other manufacturers.
What you describe as nonsense is a generalisation not supported in fact.
Tony

 

[Jim]

For Tony:

Yours is EXACTLY the type of post I request not be made.

But since you joined in, and are an industry expert, how 'bout telling
me where to drill the holes?

Henry

 

[Tony]

This is a public newsgroup and you don't get to set any rules about who should
reply.
Your original post was a little provocative and assumed that professional
remanufacturers would not assist.
I have never used "drill and fill", it has a low success rate. If you are
planning to use this method I suggest that you ask the toner supplier for
instructions.
Tony

 

[Jim]

For Tony, and anyone scared to refill their own toner cartridges:

You have twice posted that drill and fill (melt and pour) has a "low
success rate." But in the same breath you say you've never tried it!

Well, as I have noted previously, I have been doing it for years and so
far it has worked wonderfully. Here's the history of the four genuine
HP cartridges I have purchased for my LaserJet 5L. I don't do anything
to the cartridges but refill them - and emptying the waste chamber on a
couple of them. I do not disassemble them, as that would be messy and I
would have no idea at all of what to do with the parts inside.

Cartridge # 1: Refilled 4 times, removed from service because it began
making 1 small speck per revolution of the drum, and the specking was
not cured by emptying of waste chamber. Could still be used for
printing where the specking would not matter.
Cartridge # 2: Refilled 3 times, is presently in use.
Cartridge # 3: Refilled 6 times, available for use although it has
always printed slightly fainter than other cartridges so is not my favorite.
Cartridge # 4: Refilled 1 time, available for use

I've also been making a note each time I put in a new ream of paper.
127 reams so far. The toner refilling supplies have cost me $100.
Estimating that each cartridge cost me $70 to purchase, I have spent
$380 for cartridges and toner to print 63,500 pages. Just over 1/2
cent per page.

I would say this has been a great success - and it has saved me $600.

Tony, if you respond again, let me know: Are you in the biz?

Regards,

Henry

 

[[L.]]

I have never used "drill and fill", it has a low success rate. If you are

Maybe so, but using a heated apple corer to cut the hole in the fill
chamber and in the waste chamber I have refilled one HP 6L cartridge
at least 7 times with no noticeable deterioration in image quality.

Perhaps mine is the exception that confirms the rule, but I can't
complain.

Lorenz

PS I sent my previous cartridge to HP for recycling after 4 refills
because I had not discovered the waste emptying trick yet.

Of course, the 6L is an old model and I suspect that the built-in
obsolence of newer cartridges is shorter.

[L.]

 

[Jim]

OH, and I forgot to mention: I still would like to know where the holes go!

Henry

I have never used "drill and fill", it has a low success rate. If you are

Maybe so, but using a heated apple corer to cut the hole in the fill
chamber and in the waste chamber I have refilled one HP 6L cartridge
at least 7 times with no noticeable deterioration in image quality.

Perhaps mine is the exception that confirms the rule, but I can't
complain.

Lorenz

PS I sent my previous cartridge to HP for recycling after 4 refills
because I had not discovered the waste emptying trick yet.

Of course, the 6L is an old model and I suspect that the built-in
obsolence of newer cartridges is shorter.

[L.]

 

[Tony]

I have never used "drill and fill", it has a low success rate. If you are

Maybe so, but using a heated apple corer to cut the hole in the fill
chamber and in the waste chamber I have refilled one HP 6L cartridge
at least 7 times with no noticeable deterioration in image quality.

Perhaps mine is the exception that confirms the rule, but I can't
complain.

Lorenz

PS I sent my previous cartridge to HP for recycling after 4 refills
because I had not discovered the waste emptying trick yet.

Of course, the 6L is an old model and I suspect that the built-in
obsolence of newer cartridges is shorter.

[L.]

You have done remarkably well to refill a 6L cartridge seven times, I would
have expected the drum to fail after 2 to 3 refills.
Having said that, and this is just a theory and I cannot prove it, the 6L was
developed in the days when Laser printers were really well built (yes I know
this model had some issues) and I suspect the toner cartridges including the
drums were superbly engineered. I believe that as the technology has become
more precise HP (and other manufacturers) have refined their manufacturing to
the point that refilling that number of times is no longer a reasonable
proposition. I seriously doubt that 7 times is anywhere near achievable with
the newest laser cartridges. This should not be construed as a criticism of HP,
simply an acknowledgement of market pressures keeping costs as low as possiible.
The other issue is that many of the newest cartridges cannot be easily emptied
without disassembly because of the changes in waste hopper construction.
Tony

 

[Tony]

It's not a matter of being scared, it is a question of technical knowledge.
Over the last 2 years I have helped many people refill toner cartridges both in
this newsgroup and far more often by e-mail (yes, the address above is valid)
but none of those people posted their original request in a mildly offensive
way (unlike you), impuning the motives of people that help here.
The 12a cartridge is hard to refill using "drill and fill" succesfully because
of its internal construction and because I have knowledge of that construction
I am not going to guess at a reliable "drill and fill" method. If you want to
go that way then as I previously suggested "ask the toner supplier", if they
can't tell you then don't buy from them. Simple really!
The 5L cartridges are an entirely different proposition, they were more rugged,
less prone to age related problems, the drums could survive multiple refills
and emptying the waste toner hopper was easy. None of this applies to the 12a
cartridge.
The reasons I have never used "drill and fill" on the 12a cartridge are pretty
obvious -
1. I understand the construction of the cartridge and it is not well suited to
this method.
2. I can fully disassemble the cartridge and properly remanufacture it
including replacing those components that require it.
You seem to have assumed that modern cartridges like this one are as easyy to
refill as the older ones like the 5L, sadly this is not correct.
Good luck.
Tony