What Is a Laser Toner Chip?

Posted by freemexy on July 22nd, 2019

What Is a Laser Toner Chip? Every time a warning message pops up on your PC letting you know that your printer’s toner is low, you have a laser toner chip to thank. These chips, also called printer or ink smart chips, are used by printers to monitor the reserves and levels of your current toner cartridge. They communicate with your PC to provide warnings when certain levels are reached or if any other issue arises.Copier Toner Kit How They Work Toner chips read levels by monitoring your cartridge’s droplet count, or the number or ink droplets that have been used so far when printing. Chips are programmed for specific toner designs and will provide warnings and stop printing once a certain number of droplets have been used. Unfortunately, this means that cartridges you refill may still have ink in them if the chip isn’t reset and told that a cartridge was refilled. Cartridge Refills and Replacements Toner chips have caused some controversy because they make it difficult to refill a printer cartridge. After you refill a cartridge, you have to reset or replace the chip in order for your printer to allow you to print. When replacing a spent cartridge with one from a third party, some smart chips will send users warnings that these cartridges will damage your printer. While there is little research evidence of damage, the chip will record that this message has been sent, which may void a manufacturer’s warranty. Depending on your printer model, smart chips in your toner cartridge may or may not be able to be reset. Some chips store toner levels permanently in memory and don’t allow this memory to be accessed. If this type of chip is in your toner, you will need to replace the chip when refilling your cartridge. Other chips can be reset with a “resetter,” a small plastic tool that physically connects with the cartridge chip and tells the chip to return its count of spent droplets to zero.