COLOR TONER IN A BROTHER HL-2140 MONO PRINTER> - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: neko efecktz
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2017, 04:20:46 am
content: A deviation from electronic related questions...Just a quick question that may end up an epic of discussion.I would like to, if possible, buy some color toner and fill the cartridge of my Brother HL-2140.I make my PCB's using iron on laser toner.When I make a PCB I like to put on a component overlay.I have done this on several projects and it looks good.The only problem is that black does not look professional as most boards are printed with White or Yellow.Also I clear laquer the overlay and the reflection makes it hard to read sometimes.I would like to if possible,Empty the remains out of an empty cartridge.refill it with say Yellow or red or blue toner.First....Do you think this would work, or is there likely to be a big enough difference in the toner chemistry that it won't work?could it damage the printer?Where could I get the toner? in Australia or on line.I await any replies.Thank youBILL.

author: neko efecktz
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2017, 06:55:41 am
content: Thanks Wilfred.I have had the thought of printing withcoloured,spelt as it should be, toner for a while.We now have a colour printer at work but it is out of bounds for private work.My boss did me a favor by doing a test print with blue Red and yellow for the same overlay.I will iron them onto a Blank PCB tomorrow.Just to see how they come out.None of my projects are for more than one at a time.I have a micro controller board I'm working on, but it's not finished.When it is done I may be able to get the proper overlay done at work.Once that is complete I will be making two or three copies.might post the test photos tomorrow if anyone is interested,BE WARNED. I forgot to reverse the image and will only be doing a small section of each colour.I don't think I have enough pcb to do a full size board 3 times.We'll see.Thanks Wilfred.BILL.

author: BradC
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2017, 07:16:30 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on May 05, 2017, 05:39:24 amWhereas White toner reactive foil is available. Actually, available in many colours and does a pretty good job if prepped right.http://www.pcbfx.com/main_site/pages/products/toner_foils.html

author: nali
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2017, 07:27:27 am
content: If you do get to trying colour toner in a mono printer, check the fusing temperatures first. From my experience colour toner has a lower temperature than mono, so you could end up with a load of melted toner in your fuser (a bit like melted toffee).You could try T-shirt transfer papers - you can get those for inkjet as well as laser. No need to lacquer those as they have their own protective layer.

author: Towger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2017, 08:25:14 am
content: Quote from: nali on May 05, 2017, 07:27:27 amThis is where a problem might lie. A standard colour laser has the one fuser for all four colours, so in this case it appears they all have the same melting point. So for a mono printer, it is a matter of finding the fusing temperature of your current block toner and insuring the coloured toner is the same or close. You may well fThis page says your fuser operates at 180C and gives low heat error at 60 and a an over heat error at 230C:http://copynews.net/how-to-fix-fuser-error-brother-hl-2140-printer.html

author: neko efecktz
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2017, 08:35:42 am
content: I think I'll look at the foil stuff BradC suggested.I had heard of it before but thought it might bee far too expensive but 8" by 15` for $9.00.That would give me a hell of a lot of boards.Most of my boards are in the size range of about 2" by 3" and up to about 6" by 3"Thank youBILL.

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2017, 08:49:56 am
content: Buy a colour laser. Not new of course, but they, at least in these parts, do turn up secondhand for cheap or free from time to time, I've bought a few, with toner but probably life-limited, I don't know for sure but I would assume that brother colour toner cartridges are like brother mono toner cartridges and can easily be fooled into printing quite a few more pages.Downside is most colour lasers are freaking massive.Putting colour toner in a mono printer may not work if the composition is different.White toner reactive foil (TRF) as above is probably the better option but it's not something you can find on the usual cheap places though (at least I never found any on Aliexpress, Taobao or chinese ebay sellers).Of course, the better better option is... just get the boards made if you need silkscreen that bad :-)

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2017, 11:50:23 am
content: Quote from: neko efecktz on May 05, 2017, 04:20:46 amIt used to be possible to buy cartridges for mono printers (yes, a single colour is of course mono) filled with colour toner, for instance, Lexmark/IBM 4019 and 4029s were used by some banks in the UK green toner cartridges in them for 'security' purposes so it is definitely possible.I might not want try it with a printer that has a separate dev drum (like yours I think) as they can be ridiculously expensive to replace if it doesn't work as expected and I'd probably buy a second printer as you might find it takes a while to purge the last used colour from the paper path.I would, if I were going to give it a go, buy a bottle of toner intended to refill a colour printer from the same manufacturer and experiment with fuser temperatures (it's adjustable on some printers, may be hidden under paper weight settings or some such) to get best results.