FAQs

Printer Cartridge Tips

A few quick tips from inkpal and solutions to start printing right away. Start out by changing your font to Century Gothic, turning your pages over and printing on both sides, and recycling your empty ink cartridges, but for the cheapest discounts and savings, buy remanufactured recycled printer ink and toner for 50 to 70% less from Inkpal

If you start printing double sided, you will cut your office paper costs in half. You don’t have to buy an automatic duplex printer to take advantage of all of the benefits of duplex printing. While it might take a little more time, most inkjet and laser printers have the capacity to duplex print manually. With double sided printing, you not only can breathe easier with the personal satisfaction of knowing you saved money by following this printing tip, you can feel good about also keeping a few more trees from being cut down and more oxygen in the air.

Another printing solution has to do with green fonts, and we’re not talking about the colour. Did you know that what font you choose for your documents can actually affect your printing budget? Certain fonts (mostly the bold, serif fonts like Times New Roman) actually require more printer ink and therefore cost you more in the long run to use. The more ink you use to print each letter, the more ink cartridges you need to buy and throw away (but hopefully recycle). Learn more about which fonts use the least amount of ink and are the cheapest and most affordable to use.

More Tips

At Inkpal.com.au, we offer several ways to find the printer cartridge you are looking for. You may

  1. Browse by brand, then by ink/toner/fax category, then by your printer model;
  2. Search for your printer model (for example, “DCP110C”, omitting the brand name);
  3. Search for your cartridge by original manufacturer’s code (for example, “LC47”, omitting the brand name).

From each of these methods, you will be presented with the list of applicable printer cartridges, and if you want to, you can further filter your results to show only genuine or compatible cartridges. If you cant find what you are looking for Contact me

Laser vs Inkjet? That’s the million-dollar question when it comes to what printer is best for your home office or small business. As with any good debate, there are printing pros and cons for laser-jets and inkjets and big differences between the two options in terms of cost, speed/performance, and print quality. In addition to choosing between printer brands there are a lot of variables that you must take into account when choosing what printer is best for your home office or company.

One of the first questions you need to figure out when choosing between a laser and an inkjet printer is what your printing volume is. How many pages will you realistically need to print each day? This is the most important question when answering the “inkjet vs. laser printer” question. If you’re printing out a relatively high volume of more than 20 pages daily at your business or home office, a laser printer is probably best choice for you. If you have a small home office and only need to print out a couple sheets a day, an inkjet printer is probably best for you, especially since you can also save some space in a small business office with the inkjet’s compact printer size.

The larger the volume of pages you’re printing out, the more important printer speed becomes. There’s not much of a contest between inkjets and laser-jets in terms of speed. Inkjet printers even come with smaller capacity paper trays than laser printers, usually capable of holding no more than 50-150 sheets of paper at a time and not very convenient for businesses demanding high volume printing. Go with a laser printer if your home office or small business plans on getting the most out of your printer each day, especially if you want to print crisp and professional black-and-white documents. (If you think you might still go for an inkjet, at least make sure you choose a printer model with a larger capacity paper tray.)

Another big consideration when choosing between an inkjet and a laser-jet printer is Black and White verses Colour. Are you printing images or graphics? Whether or not you’re printing colour documents with a considerable amount of images and graphics. If image quality is an important factor, you might want to go for an inkjet printer, which will offer you higher quality graphics and image prints but also a slower print speed—more time waiting at the office printer hub.

If you work at a small business advertising agency or a media company, the “Laser printer vs. inkjet printer” can become a more difficult decision, especially considering cost per page. It costs more to print high quality colour images, so inkjets usually have a higher cost per page than laser-jet printers. Replacement laser toner cartridges aren’t exactly cheap, either, though, unless you buy compatible or remanufactured Ink Cartridges. Check out our range of Quality Ink Cartridges. If you cant find what you are looking for Contact me

Also, you need to consider what type of printer (and therefore the cartridge), you should buy. Generally, it is accepted that inkjet printers are superior to laser printers when it comes to printing photographs, furnishing results that have excellent contrasts and vibrant colors. Laser printers also, of course, have the ability to print in color, however, the price for colored toner is quite high, and you’d really have to be printing a huge amount of photographs to make it worth the money you spent. Therefore, most likely, if you know you will be printing a good number of photos, along with the usual documents and projects at home, then your best bet would be to invest in an inkjet printer.

Another factor to consider when deciding on a cartridge for printing pictures at home is something called “page yield.” “Page yield” refers to how many pages a certain cartridge can print, and thankfully companies such as Canon, HP, and Epson have already done all of the hard work for you. You can easily go online to any of their websites and find the specific page yield for the cartridge you are intending to buy.

Admit it. We all love printing our personal photos at home. Even though, technically, having photos printed in bulk by a third party such as Officeworks or Big W may turn out cheaper, nothing can really beat the convenience and ease that comes with the possibility of printing in the comfort of your own home. In addition, with those third-party services there’s the downside of having to wait–usually at least an hour (and that’s if you rush it). In other cases, you even have to wait several days to receive the package! Printing at home of course allows you to see and use the photos immediately. So, now that you’ve decided that you do want to be able to print your favourite family photos at home, the next question is, which cartridge would be the best? Which cartridge would give me the most prints at the lowest cost?

There are several factors you might want to consider first. For example, you need to take into account that you are printing photos, after all! Most likely you want these printed memories to look sharp and last as long as they can. Since that’s the case, remember that you need to pay for quality. Sure, you can find bargain ink cartridges out there, but you’ll also get cheap prints. “You get what you pay for!” If you’re willing to settle with mediocre quality photos, then by all means, go for the cheaper, mediocre quality ink. But if you want excellent quality photos, expect to pay for it.

This is the only way to accurately calculate cost. Of course, the more pages a certain cartridge can print, so then, the more photos it can print as well. Of course, even after considering all of these factors, the bottom line is you need to investigate for yourself and find out precisely how many photos you can print for a dollar.  So, looking forward to printing photos at home? Just remember to do a bit of homework first!

Inkpal.com.au accepts any valid Visa and MasterCard as credit card payment options. Alternatively, you may direct deposit into our bank account. In order to assist our order process, we request that your direct deposit be followed by an email to [email protected] with following details:

  1. Inkpal order reference number; and
  2. Your bank’s confirmation and reference number.

The Inkpal order reference number and bank details are provided on the Order Confirmation page prior to completion of the order process and also on your Order Confirmation email which is sent to you immediately after you complete your order.

Inkpal’s system checks the total value of your order when you check out. At the delivery confirmation screen, if your order is above our “free shipping” value, your order will automatically receive free delivery and no delivery charge will be incurred.

The cost of delivery is automatically added to your order during the “check out” process. At present we use a flat rate method for delivery costs and will be shown during the payment process. This means you will only be charge one fee regardless of how many cartridges you order under the one transaction. If your order is equal to or above our “free Shipping” value, the delivery fee will not be charged.

At Inkpal.com.au, all credit card numbers are encrypted using the industry-standard 128-bit encryption when your order is placed. They are only decrypted by our credit card processing facility and the numbers are not stored.

You will receive an email from Inkpal to confirm that your order has been received.

This is usually due to an incorrect email address being specified during registration or the order process. To help us keep our records correct and current, you can change your email address through your “My Account”. Alternatively, you can send us an email to [email protected] or via our “Contact Us” page with as much information as you can provide so we can confirm your identity and update your email address.

Deliveries

Please refer to our Shipping and Returns pages.

Inkpal.com.au does not have conventional stores, which allow us to minimise our costs and therefore offer you very competitive prices.

Inkpal.com.au recommends including delivery instructions in your order if you have specific requirements about delivery, including selection the option “Authority to leave” without proof of delivery signature. Otherwise, the courier may leave you a note informing you of the delivery attempt and how you might be able to collect your order. Please note that an additional delivery fee may apply for any order which cannot be successfully delivered as per instructions in the first instance.

Please refer to our Shipping and Returns pages.

Product Information

Open the front cover of the printer and leave open during steps. Press and hold the cancel button and press the Reprint button also. (you can now release both buttons as you are now in the reset menu)
Now it is just a matter of scrolling through the menu(using the + or – keys) to the appropriate cartridge you want to reset just push OK twice to reset it.
To reset the drum. Open the front door and remove the cartridge/drum unit. Hold down the front button until all lights come on. Put the cartridge/drum unit back in and close the door. The Drum life should be reset.
To reset the drum Counter. Open front cover. Hold down the start button until all lights are lit up. Then release the button and shut the front cover

Yes. Where a compatible cartridge requires a microchip, a microchip is included as standard, so you don’t have to buy a separate microchip at Inkpal.

No. Your printer warranty will not be voided simply by choosing to use a compatible cartridge. Any such claim would be contrary to the nature of competition and in breach of the Australian Consumer Law. Though now some printer companies are sending through updates to your printer firmware. If you update your printer when it is not needed, you run the risk of not being able to use compatible cartridges, and are forced to use only the genuine cartridges. This update is not reversible.

No. Drum units (which transfer toner from the toner cartridge onto the paper), also known as imaging or photo conductor units, do not come with toner. The toner cartridge needs to be purchased separately. Inkpal can supply your toner cartridges at very competitive prices.

On occasion, a specific compatible cartridge may not work with the ink/toner monitoring software on a particular printer. However, this software incompatibility will not affect the quality of the print nor the yield. This is the brand manufacturer’s way of trying to discourage you from using compatible cartridges. On these rare occasions, turning your printer off and then on again may resolve the problem. Otherwise, you may need to physically check the cartridge to determine the amount of ink/toner remaining.

A remanufactured cartridge is one that has been stripped, disassembled and cleaned, necessary parts replaced and new, high-quality toner or ink added. Remanufactured cartridges are less-expensive than the genuine products and an environmentally-friendly option. It takes 20 times more energy to manufacture a new printer cartridge than to reuse one. The main difference is in the price not quality.

A common cause for the cartridge to leak in the packaging would be due to it been left in sunlight or in high temperatures. Inkjet cartridges usually come in air tight packaging. If there is any air left in the packaging and it heats up it can then cause a vacuum effect and suck the ink from the cartridge. The temperature for storage and installation of cartridges should be around 10-30°C and relative humidity between 20-80%.

Technical Support

If you need to reach us at Inkpal, simply use our contact form located under “Contact Us”. We endeavour to respond to all customer service enquiries in a timely manner. Alternatively, give us a call and let one of our friendly Inkpal team help you with your query.

No. There is a yellow coating over the roller next to the drum. This is a kind of lubricant used in the initial cleaning cycle when the cartridge is installed.

For some printers, when you pull out the cartridge, you are actually pulling out the combined drum unit and toner cartridge. Make sure that you are trying to install the toner cartridge by slotting it into the drum unit first, and not straight into the printer.

There are a number of things they can try to solve this: a) Take the cartridge out and make sure there is no excess toner or paper stuck on the rollers; b) Give the cartridge a gentle shake from side to side to loosen the toner inside (preferably, do this gently and outside or over newspaper); c) Run a dozen or so pages through the printer to and see if it clears up.

This is a common problem when all of the seals and strips on the cartridge have not been removed properly. Take the cartridge out to check this then re-install. You may need to run the maintenance functions once or twice to flush the ink back through the tubes within the printer.

The most-common reason is that the printer has sat unused for a while and the ink has dried on the print heads. Try doing a deep head-clean to see if that helps. It is recommend that you print at least one page a week to prevent the print head clogging and to keep the ink flowing freely.

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