Emptying Waste Toner

[rinser]

Hi Guys,

We are having a debate in our office about whether or not we should be emptying waste toner containers on PM calls,

We have been doing it for years but recently heard its not the best from a health and safety position.

Do you empty them and what's your company policy on emptying?

It would be good to know if you work for the manufacture or independent.

**Could a mod move this into the general copier discussion forum, as its not just relevant for Konica.**

[kingarthur]

how do you empty them , do you vac them out, how much is a vac filter compared to a WTB, do you empty them into a black sack, what happens if the bag splits & the customers office gets covered....
Generally we never empty them, due to the mess they make, I've done it in the past....and swallowed toner, everytime i sneezed or blew my nose...it was black...suggesting it's not good for the health

[copier addict]

We empty them all the time. We do it at our shop though, not at the customer's, unless it is full and I don't have a spare with me.

[copier tech]

We supply new ones, never empty them, horrible mess & looks so unprofessional.

This is the only part we dont use genuine, cheap as chips & customer changeable so no call out required, this saves tine & money!

[tech28]

We replace them for customers, empty at shop, always have plenty of replaceable's. Speaking about black coming out of your nose, back in the eighties, working on Sharps, doing pm's on from sf 740's to sf 750's, 755's 760's 781's, would do 4-5 pm's daily, dumping developer(4-7,8K cycles) get home blow out my noise and seeing nothing buy black gook, never thought twice about it (like working in the coal mines) almost, lol. :)

[paulrid]

We empty them all the time. We do it at our shop though, not at the customer's, unless it is full and I don't have a spare with me.

100% same here, only buy them when we need more.

[FrohnB]

Rarely do we empty at the customer's site. IF we have to, due to lack of a spare, we'll usually take it outside and dump it into a strong plastic bag (don't use cheap bags or you risk it spilling in your vehicle or exploding when the trash man comes). Most of the time though, I have a spare that I've emptied, and I'll stick that one in and take their full one back to the shop to empty. Almost every W.T. Bottle can be emptied and re-used.

[allan]

I just ask where is the kitchenette and for a spare refuse bag. Use a brush and a syringe bulb to clean it. It good practice to remove the lens and clean it.
We do supply spare waste boxes to all customers for wen the machine asks for replacement.
That just means i need to return to the customer to replace the spare, and that is a waste of time.

[emujo2]

If they are a KM customer (under maintenance) you can sign them up for the Green Planet program..All MFP waste products (toner, waste bottles, IU's ect) can be placed into a pre paid UPS Shipping box and sent back to KM for free. Emujo

[rinser]

Emojo2,

You sounds like you work for KM, do you empty them?

[emujo2]

Back in the day (no longer turn screwdrivers), my vacuum was only for MFP cleaning (spilled toner, dev, dust ect) Customers were taught to have plenty of waste bottles on hand. I wasn't very keen on filling up my little POS vacuum with waste toner as it meant a unnecessary trip to the shop. So no, either they took advantage of our Green program or capped the bottle and put it in the trash. Emujo

[Phil B.]

most times on copiers.. yes I take them to my car and clean them.
some printers you have to replace them ( chipped )

but if the machine is under contract... keep spare ones there and change it out.

[Phil B.]

Back in the day (no longer turn screwdrivers), my vacuum was only for MFP cleaning (spilled toner, dev, dust ect) Customers were taught to have plenty of waste bottles on hand. I wasn't very keen on filling up my little POS vacuum with waste toner as it meant a unnecessary trip to the shop. So no, either they took advantage of our Green program or capped the bottle and put it in the trash. Emujo

on a 3M toner vac.. I have found you can empty them (filters) out several times before having to put a new one in...

[driving lots of miles]

We are an independent and we always replace the waste containers.

[tech51]

I go back to the analogue days when you had to empty the waste. No customer replaceable boxes or recycling in those days. Everyday was a black snot day back then. Techs today are so pampered in that respect😀

[rrrohan]

Using non genuine is more troubnle than its worth. We used kastun boxes for a bit. Half the time they would detect or would make strange noises. Youd think a wtb would be a safe thing to buy non genuine but you will be mistaken

[EarthKmTech]

I only empty for the customer in an emergency if they have not got a spare one and the machine has stopped. Otherwise its new genuine all the time and customers change them by themselves, they cost next to nothing.

In emergencies i also re-cap different speed/ same engine toners if the correct version is not on hand for the customer - marketing BS - no difference in toner.

I also use colour belts in black and white machines so I dont have to carry so many varieties, and here the black belts cost more than colour anyway.

A few weeks ago there was a national shortage of C3100p toners, C3110 is the same fricken machine but with a scanner on top. Chop the fins off the top of the c3110 toners and they go straight in, detect and reset fine!

Techs always have back ways.

[Don N.]

If they are a KM customer (under maintenance) you can sign them up for the Green Planet program..All MFP waste products (toner, waste bottles, IU's ect) can be placed into a pre paid UPS Shipping box and sent back to KM for free. Emujo

Not bashing the idea, but in a practical sense, how "green" is it to pay UPS and ship away waste toner vs dump in a sack & double bag? There's no more plastic than the avg fast food lunch packaging for a few employees, and it probably takes most of the same plastic inside to make another container. Somebody has to mine the new materials, melt & form the new tank, package, transport, store, order, ship to dist center, ship to dealer, deliver to client, process the orders, dang that's a lot of energy for a green program.

Takes me 2-3 min. Saves both of us money. That's what my customers care about. That's the diff between looking out for the customer's wallet like most indy's have to and corp guys who never see the checks except their own. Nobody's right, but come on, its only toner. If I were a corp guy, I'd do whatever got me out the door fastest too.

Health wise, it's all inert, (little or no ability to react) so unless your digesting it in quantity, no worries.

[copytechman]

Not bashing the idea, but in a practical sense, how "green" is it to pay UPS and ship away waste toner vs dump in a sack & double bag? There's no more plastic than the avg fast food lunch packaging for a few employees, and it probably takes most of the same plastic inside to make another container. Somebody has to mine the new materials, melt & form the new tank, package, transport, store, order, ship to dist center, ship to dealer, deliver to client, process the orders, dang that's a lot of energy for a green program.

Takes me 2-3 min. Saves both of us money. That's what my customers care about. That's the diff between looking out for the customer's wallet like most indy's have to and corp guys who never see the checks except their own. Nobody's right, but come on, its only toner. If I were a corp guy, I'd do whatever got me out the door fastest too.

Health wise, it's all inert, (little or no ability to react) so unless your digesting it in quantity, no worries.



New here as well unless it's an emergency, to generate a service call for a waste toner to me is like generating one to change a toner. Our customers are trained to keep spares and utilize the recycling programs that are free to use. If your down because you don't have a spare supply. We'll try to get it too you as soon as we can but, sometimes that takes time.


Regards!

A.

[blackcat4866]

At a previous employer the waste toner light automatically created a down service call. The customer was down until somebody could dump it. There were very few spares.

Personally I thought that it was simply ridiculous that a customer would be down for a waste bottle message, then tie up a trained tech's time dumping toner out of a plastic box. =^..^=

[copytechman]

At a previous employer the waste toner light automatically created a down service call. The customer was down until somebody could dump it. There were very few spares.

Personally I thought that it was simply ridiculous that a customer would be down for a waste bottle message, then tie up a trained tech's time dumping toner out of a plastic box. =^..^=


Oh absolutely ludicrous IMHO as well. Cuz we have nothing better to do right?

Regards!
A.

[Phil B.]

At a previous employer the waste toner light automatically created a down service call. The customer was down until somebody could dump it. There were very few spares.

Personally I thought that it was simply ridiculous that a customer would be down for a waste bottle message, then tie up a trained tech's time dumping toner out of a plastic box. =^..^=

well no wonder you are the Master of the Obvious !