clean laser printer toner from parts?

Posted by pogo on June 26, 2008, 11:10 am

I recently tore down an old laser printer. Lots of great gears and stuff inside,
but covered with toner. Anyone know of a good
solvent to wash that stuff off of plastic gears without damage? Wash off
electronics & motors without damage?

Thanks!
JCD

Posted by Robert Roland on June 26, 2008, 1:37 pm

On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:10:25 -0400, "pogo"

>Anyone know of a good
>solvent to wash that stuff off of plastic gears without damage? Wash off

electronics & motors without damage?

The only solvent I know that will take laser toner, is acetone. You
will just have to test if the plastic parts are made from a type of
plastic that isn't affected by the acetone. The problem is that laser
toner *is* actually a type of plastic. What type of plastic varies, so
it may even be possible to find toner that does not dissolve in
acetone.

But it is unlikely that the toner oln your parts is "fused". If so, it
will actually be a fine powder that may be possible to blow away using
compressed air.
--
RoRo

Posted by pogo on July 4, 2008, 12:19 am

> On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:10:25 -0400, "pogo"
>

>>Anyone know of a good
>>solvent to wash that stuff off of plastic gears without damage? Wash off

electronics & motors without damage?

>
> The only solvent I know that will take laser toner, is acetone. You
> will just have to test if the plastic parts are made from a type of
> plastic that isn't affected by the acetone. The problem is that laser
> toner *is* actually a type of plastic. What type of plastic varies, so
> it may even be possible to find toner that does not dissolve in
> acetone.
>
> But it is unlikely that the toner oln your parts is "fused". If so, it
> will actually be a fine powder that may be possible to blow away using
> compressed air.
> --
> RoRo

thanks RoRo!

Posted by pogo on July 4, 2008, 12:19 am

>I recently tore down an old laser printer. Lots of great gears and stuff

inside, but covered with toner. Anyone know of a good

>solvent to wash that stuff off of plastic gears without damage? Wash off

electronics & motors without damage?

I know this sounds like a really bad idea ... but its still worth asking: anyone
ever used anything like EasyOff or other oven
cleaner on gears, parts, motors, etc ? Does it melt any kind of plastic ?

Thanks!

Posted by Si Ballenger on July 4, 2008, 9:37 pm

On Fri, 4 Jul 2008 00:19:45 -0400, "pogo"
wrote:

>>I recently tore down an old laser printer. Lots of great gears and stuff

inside, but covered with toner. Anyone know of a good

>>solvent to wash that stuff off of plastic gears without damage? Wash off

electronics & motors without damage?

>I know this sounds like a really bad idea ... but its still worth asking:

anyone ever used anything like EasyOff or other oven

>cleaner on gears, parts, motors, etc ? Does it melt any kind of plastic ?
>Thanks!

Oven cleaners usually have strong alkali components that can
damage aluminum and probably destroy electronics. Toner is just
finely powered plastic. For removing grease/oil from components,
waterless hand cleaner might be a safe alternative.

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