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Four Things a Cartridge Chip Can’t Do

Four Things a Cartridge Chip Can’t Do

Four Things a Cartridge Chip Can’t Do

Posted on 20/11/2017

Cartridge chips are now a fundamental part of the printing industry. Most printers are
fitted with a cartridge chip, as they perform a range of functions, such as storing information, providing power protection from voltage spikes, containing cartridge specific information, listing the cartridge yield, listing the region, storing ongoing machine information as the cartridge is used, providing authentication to allow communication and holding data as needed to allow the machine to manage the toner use.

Due to the several tasks that a cartridge chip performs, they can by incredibly helpful for a printing expert to see what’s wrong if something is not operating correctly in one’s printer. This can save you both time and money as it expedites the process of locating your printer’s issue.

While cartridge chips have lots of features, there are also some things they can’t do. In this week’s blog, we share a brief history of cartridge chips, what exactly a cartridge chip is and four things a cartridge chip can’t do.

cartridge chips

When were cartridge chips first developed?

Cartridge chips have significantly evolved over the past two decades. Prior to the invention of cartridge chips, many cartridges used electrical fuses in one form or another. These electric fuels were cheap yet easily replaceable. In 1992, the TEC 1305 engine became one of the first machines to use cartridge chips.

The first design of cartridge chips were simple and easily resettable. To reset these initial cartridge chips, one merely had to use a box that would re-write the code. The cartridge chips in the TEC 1305 and the Xerox N24 engine, which came shortly after, were fairly simple devices.

What exactly is a cartridge chip?

Cartridge chips are devices that communicate with a machine through either direct contact or radio frequency. Cartridge chips are generally mounted on a small circuit board.

They have memory to store information, have a power control circuit to feed the processor when required and sometimes, have a processor to provide the correct responses. Cartridge chips store information on the cartridge part number, yield and region. They also send the information to the machine as requested.
As one uses the cartridge in printing activities, the printer sends the chip information on the pages printed, page coverage and estimated toner amount to be stored on the chip, which is then sent back to the printer when requested. We can easily understand the relationship between the printer and the cartridge chip by viewing the machine as the master and the chip as the slave.

The machine is what first sends the data to the chip and then reads the chip data back as needed. The chip must be able to accurately respond to the machine in a limited amount of time. The chip information needs to correspond to the yield for the toner load. Chips are also unable to compensate for large changes and incorrect information will result in errors.

Most printers today have cartridge chips, such as the Canon MB5460 multifunction printer or the Canon Pixma IP110 Portable Wireless Printer.

Now that we’ve explained what a cartridge chip is and what it can do, here are four things a cartridge chip cannot do:

1) Chips do not control toner level information

The first thing a cartridge chip cannot do is control the toner level information. This is something the machine does; it controls the toner level by counting the number of pixels.

By using a formula, the machine calculates the amount of toner used per pixel and then stores this information on the cartridge chip. It would be extremely complicated for a chip to be able to control information such as the toner level. It is therefore much more efficient and cost-effective for the machine to do this.

The method by which the printer determines the toner level varies from printer to printer. There are mechanical, electrical and optical methods of controlling the toner level. However, as previously stated, this is something the machine does rather than the cartridge chip. Machines that perform this function include the HP Officejet 250 AIO Wireless Mobile Printer, the Canon Pixma TS9060W Printer and more.

2) Cartridge chips cannot control the yield

Cartridge chips are also unable to control the yield. While cartridge chips are preprogrammed with the initial yield, the machine controls the page coverage, page count, toner low and toner out. This information can be written on the chip when requested, however, the initial calculation is made by the printer.

There are some things, which are irreversible once written onto the cartridge chip. This includes a “toner low” or “toner out” error. Even after the issue is resolved, the chip will continue to read “toner low” once it has been written onto the chip. The only way to get rid of this message is to replace the cartridge chip.

3) Chips don’t shut down a machine at a specific page count

Machines decide, using the information on the chip, whether it should stop printing. While the chip stores this data, the original information comes from the machine not the chip.

4) Cartridge chips cannot provide an error message

The final thing a cartridge chip cannot do is provide an error message. All of the circuity required to produce error codes rests in the machine. If there is an issue, an error code will appear on the chip. However, this information originates from the machine rather than the cartridge chip.

At TonerInk, we offer a range of high-quality, state-of-the-art printing machines. We also sell printer cartridges, scanners, printer maintenance tools, paper, stationery, accessories and more.

An all Australian owned and operated supplier of ink and laser printer cartridges, printers and stationery products with over twenty five years experience in the printing industry, we are your one-stop shop for all your printing needs.

Wherever you are located in Australia, we can distribute your printing products from our warehouses in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane.

For more information on cartridge chips or if you have any other printing related  questions, please do not hesitate to contact us on 1300 738 194.