Look What I Found Inside My Laser Printer Toner Cartridge

[Qs Laptop]

I know there are some printer fans here, so I'm posting my latest adventure in printing.

I have an antique HP LaserJet 1200 (from 2002) that just won't die. Lately I noticed there was a bit of fine width vertical streaking in intermittent, regular intervals running down each printed page at the same distance from the page edge. No problem, I've seen this before and it's usually a contaminant stuck on the drum. A blob of something that is interfering with the print process.

This can be remedied by removing the contaminant by using a cotton swab wetted with isopropyl alcohol and gently cleaning the offending area. Imagine my surprise when I pulled back the drum cover and saw a coiled piece of string in there! I carefully pulled it out and examined it. It appears to be dental floss.

I do floss my teeth almost everyday, but when I do, it's usually in the bathroom or in front of the TV, but NEVER in my home office where the printer is located.

I have no idea how this got inside my printer housing and subsequently inside my printer toner cartridge. Any ideas? Elves?

 

[2HOTinPHX]

Do you have any cats?

 

[Qs Laptop]

No cats here.

Although I would like to hear your theory so, you have the floor.

 

[homestead]

Recycled toner cartridges?

 

[GrayHare]

found its way in after arriving via a ream of paper? or maybe the printer just wanted to avoid the dentist

 

[REWahoo]

HP trying a low tech approach to preventing toner tartar?

 

[2HOTinPHX]

No cats here.

Although I would like to hear your theory so, you have the floor.

So your imaginary cat could have been up late one night and doing some web browsing. He felt a little cat chow stuck in his teeth. He goes and fetches a little floss from your stash. He hurries back because he is about to purchase 15 new cat toys from Amazon. He notices the mouse sitting on the mouse pad blinking at him and gets overly excited as cats are know to do. Next thing you know the floss goes flying as the cat bounces on the mouse and it lands on the paper feeder for your printer. The cat gets back to business and prints out his order for his records and the floss gets sucked into the printer. Case solved, you sure you don't have a cat?

 

[Al18]

That's weird. It's been many years since I looked inside a HP laser printer, but I thought there was some type of fiber lined part that brushed against the paper, to clean it prior to imaging. Maybe this part has degraded over the past 23 years and needs to be replaced. I think this is an inexpensive part.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I have a

That's weird. It's been many years since I looked inside a HP laser printer, but I thought there was some type of fiber lined part that brushed against the paper, to clean it prior to imaging. Maybe this part has degraded over the past 23 years and needs to be replaced. I think this is an inexpensive part.

Yes, but this is definitely a piece of string, I don't see how it could be part of a brush.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I have a lousy theory. To conserve paper, I print on both sides of a sheet of paper. Once side one has been printed on I put the paper printed side down on the bottom shelf of my computer desk cubby. When I get 25-30 of these sheets of paper built up, I load them in the printer tray. It's possible a piece of dental floss got onto a sheet of these papers and I didn't see it. Then it went through the printer and the floss was left behind, inside the toner cartridge.

When I say "it's possible" I'm using the phrase like a defense lawyer would use it to describe something outlandish that no one in their right mind would conceive of, but since the witness is under oath they must answer truthfully that "I suppose it's possible."

I can't figure out how dental floss would have gotten into the stack of paper unless an elf placed the dental floss between the sheets of printed paper, then I loaded the paper into my printer.

 

[OldShooter]

Guess: Not dental floss at all but a piece of conductive string intended to help drain static electricity from the drum or drum area. IIRC the toner is held onto the drum by an electrical charge prior to being imaged.

 

[MC Rider]

The floss is evil and trying to drive you mad.

 

[imjustawarrior]

Mice?

 

[Qs Laptop]

Guess: Not dental floss at all but a piece of conductive string intended to help drain static electricity from the drum or drum area. IIRC the toner is held onto the drum by an electrical charge prior to being imaged.

I suppose I could take an ohmmeter to it and see what it's resistance is but it certainly looks like some sort of fabric, i.e. non-conductive material.

 

[braumeister]

Doesn't look like dental floss to me.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Doesn't look like dental floss to me.

My dental floss is waxed floss. If this piece of debris is floss, it's not from my supply. More mystery.

 

[omni550]

Per ChatGPT

"The HP LaserJet 1200 uses the HP 15A (C7115A) or 15X toner cartridge.

The "Floss-like" Strip You Found Is Almost Certainly:​

The toner seal strip — a flat, synthetic pull tab that seals the toner chamber before first use.

---

About the HP 15A/15X Seal Strip:​

• It’s a narrow woven plastic tape, usually ¼" to ⅜" wide
• One end sticks out of the cartridge (like a tab), and you're supposed to pull it straight out before installing the cartridge
• If pulled too hard or at an angle, it can break and retract into the cartridge
• It runs the entire length of the toner hopper (about 12–14 inches long when uncoiled)

---

What Likely Happened:​

• The original user broke the strip during installation, leaving it inside
• Or they never pulled it fully, and it retracted or wrapped internally
• Over time, the unused portion frayed, especially if the printer still ran and rubbed against it

---

Bottom Line:​

You’re not looking at a malfunction or repair issue — just an old broken seal strip still lingering inside the cartridge. Nothing dangerous or abnormal, especially for a 20+ year-old printer."


omni

 

[Al18]

I’m going with OldShooters description. He better described what I was trying to explain.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Per ChatGPT

"The HP LaserJet 1200 uses the HP 15A (C7115A) or 15X toner cartridge.

The "Floss-like" Strip You Found Is Almost Certainly:​

---

About the HP 15A/15X Seal Strip:​

• It’s a narrow woven plastic tape, usually ¼" to ⅜" wide
• One end sticks out of the cartridge (like a tab), and you're supposed to pull it straight out before installing the cartridge
• If pulled too hard or at an angle, it can break and retract into the cartridge
• It runs the entire length of the toner hopper (about 12–14 inches long when uncoiled)

---

What Likely Happened:​

• The original user broke the strip during installation, leaving it inside
• Or they never pulled it fully, and it retracted or wrapped internally
• Over time, the unused portion frayed, especially if the printer still ran and rubbed against it

---

Bottom Line:​

You’re not looking at a malfunction or repair issue — just an old broken seal strip still lingering inside the cartridge. Nothing dangerous or abnormal, especially for a 20+ year-old printer."


omni

No, it's not the seal strip. First of all, the string is not 1/4" wide. Secondly, it is not plastic. Third, I've been pulling this strip out of the toner cartridge prior to installing the new cartridge for over 23 years so I have personal knowledge that's it's not this strip. Finally, the mods on this board don't like it when you quote AI like ChatGPT.

 

[robnplunder]

Of course, the aliens did it.

 

[2HOTinPHX]

Of course, the aliens did it.

I still like my cat string theory....

 

[omni550]

No, it's not the seal strip. First of all, the string is not 1/4" wide. Secondly, it is not plastic. Third, I've been pulling this strip out of the toner cartridge prior to installing the new cartridge for over 23 years so I have personal knowledge that's it's not this strip. Finally, the mods on this board don't like it when you quote AI like ChatGPT.

Mea culpa.

omni

 

[ls99]

The printer tried self flossing.

 

[marko]

I'm guessing it was buried in the stack of paper. You haul out about 50-100 sheets and slide it in the printer. Somewhere in those sheets the floss was there, having come from when they cut and packaged the sheets.
Just a guess.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

So your imaginary cat could have been up late one night and doing some web browsing. He felt a little cat chow stuck in his teeth. He goes and fetches a little floss from your stash. He hurries back because he is about to purchase 15 new cat toys from Amazon. He notices the mouse sitting on the mouse pad blinking at him and gets overly excited as cats are know to do. Next thing you know the floss goes flying as the cat bounces on the mouse and it lands on the paper feeder for your printer. The cat gets back to business and prints out his order for his records and the floss gets sucked into the printer. Case solved, you sure you don't have a cat?

This story could positively be confirmed by reviewing Amazon's order history for cat toys.

The cat might be using a separate delivery address to avoid detection.

Does the OP have 2 way authentication and would the cat have access to the cell phone and cell phone PIN to log into Amazon? (pretty sure facial recognition wouldn't work to use the phone).

Could be a neighbor's cat ....