Vacuum cleaners

[mattx]

Can anyone suggest a good small vacuum cleaner [ possibly hand held ] for cleaning up toner inside laser printers ?

[Ric_]

You mean that you don't just use the cleaners'?

[laserblazer]

I use cordless ones for cleaning the projector filters but they are not very successful cleaning out computers so I guess the same would be true of toner. Get a really powerful industrial one and put it on blow. That should clean it out

[Andrew_C]

ISTR, but am open to correction, that toner is really not very nice (carcinogen?). I'd be looking for something with a fine filter, and definitely NOT blowing it about!

[laserblazer]

Wasn't meant as a serious suggestion. Not only is toner bad for you, all vacuum cleaner dust is VERY bad for the eyes and bags should be emptied with great care. Just to be on the safe side, I wear swimming goggles when I empty them at home. I also use goggles when peeling onions. Because of my poor eyesight I would wear my specs over the goggles and I must have looked a right burk. I now have corrected lenses in my goggles so I look cool.

 

If you have a lot of machines to clean then this may be a good investment.

[dhicks]

I have a Black & Decker Dustbuster Minivac VH780 which I bought from Focus for around £60. It sucks big time, which is a good thing for a vacume cleaner. It comes with various nozzles, attachements and extensions which I'm sure make it suitable for cleaning up toner. It's mains powered, not battery. Woolworths do a cheap imitation for considerably less money.

 

--

David Hicks

[john]

Please stop it with this Toner is carcenogenic! Do you really think if it was that they would be allowed to use it in schools, offices etc. Fine many years ago some of the chemicals and powders in use in it are now known as potential carconogenics, but modern toner is safe enough to eat, fine you may get an upset stomach, and I don't recomend or condone eating it, but don't you think if it was a carcenogenic that the teachers would have been on strike by now and Toner devices would be banned! There probably more toxic chemicals in some of your ink cartridges and in the chemicals in the science, art and design department.

 

*Rant over*

 

Anyway, I have my own old cleaners hoover for toner, as it just seeps through the porus of the paper bags, so if you do a lot of toner the bag becomes clogged with toner particles in the paper you have to bin it. Mine has washable filters which is good though.

[m25man]

Please stop it with this Toner is carcenogenic!

 

Toners are usually a mixture of plastic resin, iron powder and carbon black (CAS 1333-86-4).

Carbon black is classified as a nuisance dust (a group 2B carcinogen, defined by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as ``possibly carcinogenic to humans'',

Animal studies have not revealed any carcinogenic qualities in inhalation tests of carbon black. Hence it is implied that at office exposure levels during normal use there is no increased risk of developing cancer from exposure to the toner itself. Carbon black may contain impurities known to be carcinogens. Contact with the tongue can lead to small growths, and other health affects may be irritated eyes, headache and itching skin. Direct contact with toner can lead to skin and eye sensitisation.

 

Chemicals generated during operation of a typical photocopier include ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds. Ozone is produced during the high voltage electrical discharge in photocopiers. It is highly toxic, with health effects such as eye, nose, throat and lung irritation, dermatitis, headaches, nausea, premature ageing and potential reproductive dangers. However, it does dissipate quickly if there is adequate ventilation.

Quoted from H&S manuals`the emission level is insufficient to cause any health hazard''. Carbon monoxide can be produced when toner is heated if there is inadequate air supply. Its effects include headaches, drowsiness and increased pulse rate. A range of volatile organic compounds can also be emitted, several of which are carcinogenic.

 

I would recommend that if you intend to maintain your printer/copiers yourself on a regular basis you might wish to invest in a purpose built cleaner designed for that specific purpose.

http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8071

http://www.convac.co.uk/

http://www.mrpcclean.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=130

 

Normal vacuum cleaners will not be able to contain the fine powder and it inevitably either ends up in the motors burning it out or it passes through the filters and will end up on your carpets or ceiling tiles!

 

I once had a call from a panic stricken engineer who had been changing developers on a mono/colour copier and had not noticed the vac bag had split!

He locked himself in the clients office and was refusing to let the client back in until he had spoken to his office. It was hilarious.

 

All I can remember was him screaming down the phone at me, "It's Green everything's bloody Green it's all Green" "What do I do".....

 

What a mess it was too!

[beeswax]

I also use goggles when peeling onions. Because of my poor eyesight I would wear my specs over the goggles and I must have looked a right burk.

 

Putting a soup/dessert spoon in your mouth while peeling oinions will stop your eyes watering as well.

[MkII]

 

Putting a soup/dessert spoon in your mouth while peeling oinions will stop your eyes watering as well.

 

...but you'll drool like Homer

[laserblazer]

Years ago I was a Rank Xerox engineer and we used to get overtime working weekends in the factory. The factory fitters used to resent us because we were better paid, had company cars and were crap at putting together machines compared with them. One day, a particularly disgruntled fitter got into an argument with an engineer who did as instructed and walked away. The fitter picked up a toner bottle and chucked it at him. It missed, hit an RSJ and split open. Your would not believe the mess. We all looked like Black and White Minstrels. It went very quiet and then we all p*ssed ourselves laughing. Luckily, we were in overalls and not the smart suits we had to wear when visiting customers.

[tomlin]

We have a convac 3000 PQ

 

http://www.convac.co.uk/

[Grommit]

The Dyson Root 6 DC16 Handheld Vacuum Cleaner .... Man it looks like you could go to war with one of these..

 

 

http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/richmedia/images/cover.gif

[plexer]

I have one of the esd safe ones from Mr PC Clean.

 

Ben

[accura2000]

I purchased a Atrix Int Express Vac portable vacuum last year for cleaning projectors and laser toner, it comes with a .3 micron filter which i believe is required under health and safety laws to clean up laser toner (Do you really want to chance it either way).

 

I would'nt have it any other way and the thing only cost me 140 quid and 20 quid for a accessories kit. (plus the ol Vodka And Tonic)