The FS-C5250DN
The OEM wrote about one of its printers at the Institute of Innovative Education in Bamberg, Germany, which “smelled of burnt plastic” when in use, after non-original toner cartridges were installed.
Frank Fleischmann, Managing Director of the Institute, said the prints were “strangely pale” and that the toner came away when he touched the paper. The printer eventually broke and had to be repaired, which was “a big problem” for Fleischmann and his team who rely on the device in their daily work, Kyocera wrote on its business blog (German).
Kyocera commented that “third-party toner may pollute or damage in the long run the fuser, transport and pressure rollers. The result is maintenance or repair that is not covered by the warranty”. It also pointed to testing where 300,000 pages were printed on four colour laser FS-C5250DN model printers, with both original and aftermarket toners.
The original toner stood out for “consistent colour print by the end of the toner cartridge, better uniformity and lower differences in the colour evaluation, i.e. high standards compliance”, while the OEM’s original toner “exhibited no mechanical failure or premature colour fading”.
The article went on to claim originals have “significant advantages in colour consistency, colour intensity, uniformity and toner remaining and are more reliable in terms of a low error rate”. It also said that with modern cartridges with chips that can detect toner levels, it is worth investing in originals as aftermarket cartridges often have incorrectly programmed or corrupted chips.