Friday, August 31, 2007

Hacking Brother MFC-7420 Toner Catridge

Today my MFC-7420 5in1 Laser Multi-Function Center stopped printing. The printer reported "REPLACE TONER CARTRIDGE." It wasn't really out of toner, and I suspected as much. These printer companies set the printer to alert you ARTIFICIALLY when the toner is out of printer. It's even a bigger scam on the ink jet printers.

Well, I found an article that said explained how to get more prints out of your toner cartridge, but it didn't have photographs. Well here are the instructions with pictures:


Instructions for "Hacking" the MFC-7420 Toner Catridge
1. Introducting the MFC-7420.


2. Remove the cartridge (which is in the cartridge carrier).


3. Press the blue tab to release the cartridge from the carrier:



4. Lift the cartridge from the carrier. See the "hole" right in the middle? That's the window the MCF-7420 uses to measure if you have toner in it.


5. Place an opaque piece of tape over the whole. Reverse the steps above and your "hacked" toner catridge will continue printing until it's truly out of toner.