Frequently Asked Questions

Five cartridges for a four-slot printer — how is this set put together?

Honestly: the listing name does not say which position the fifth cartridge repeats, and we will not guess at it here. The set covers all four S3840 positions — black 593-BCBC, cyan 593-BCBF, magenta 593-BCBE and yellow 593-BCBD — plus one extra cartridge on top. If the repeated position matters to your planning, ask our support team before ordering and we will confirm it rather than leave you to find out at the shelf.

What does the fifth cartridge do to the price?

The 4 color set is $108.28; this 5 color set is $130.73, so the extra cartridge adds $22.45. Against buying all five as singles at $40.94 each — $204.70 — the set saves $73.97, and the per-cartridge average drops to about $26.15. Whichever position the spare turns out to be, it lands well below the $40.94 single price.

How are the yields rated across the set?

By class, never as one lump sum. The black 593-BCBC carries an 11,000-page rating. The three colors — 593-BCBF cyan, 593-BCBE magenta and 593-BCBD yellow — are each rated at 9,000 pages. That split reflects how these machines actually work: the black slot feeds nearly every page, the color slots only the pages with color on them.

Does it make sense to keep a spare cartridge before the old one is empty?

For a shared office printer, usually yes. A spare on the shelf means a low-toner warning at 4 PM is a two-minute swap instead of a stalled print queue while a delivery is in transit. Keep the spare sealed, store it flat and out of direct sun, and rotate stock so the oldest box is always used first.

What protection comes with these compatible cartridges?

Each cartridge in the set — 593-BCBC, 593-BCBF, 593-BCBE and 593-BCBD alike — is a compatible cartridge covered by a one-year warranty and one-year free returns, spelled out on our shipping & returns page. If a cartridge misbehaves, the cover applies to that unit; you are not returning the whole set to settle one bad cartridge.

Where does the set ship from?

From the nearest of our four warehouses in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia and California. Questions before you order — including which position the fifth cartridge repeats — go to our support team, Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM Central. More of the range is gathered on the Dell brand page.

Do all five cartridges go into the printer when the set arrives?

No. The set covers the four S3840 positions plus one extra, and only the position the printer is actually flagging needs a fresh cartridge. Fitting a cartridge that still has working life left in the slot throws that remaining yield away. Keep everything else sealed on the shelf; the set is stock first and a full refresh only when the machine genuinely asks for one position at a time.

Which position is likely to need attention first?

Black, in almost every office. The 593-BCBC feeds nearly every page the machine produces, while the cyan, magenta and yellow cartridges only work on pages that carry color. That is why the black carries the higher 11,000-page rating against 9,000 for each color — and why your eye, and any top-up order, should track the black position first when you are planning around this set.

We print mostly plain black text. What does that mean for the three color cartridges in this set?

They will age by the calendar far more than by the page counter. Because a color cartridge only spends toner on pages containing its color, a text-heavy office can watch the black cycle through more than once while the 593-BCBF, 593-BCBE and 593-BCBD are still working through their first long stretch. The ratings do not change — the pace at which you reach them does.

Output has gone wrong. How do we work out which cartridge to pull?

Start with the printer's own low-toner indication for a position, then confirm with hardware rather than guesswork: remove the cartridge from that slot and read its label. The codes are fixed — 593-BCBC black, 593-BCBF cyan, 593-BCBE magenta, 593-BCBD yellow — and the replacement from the set must carry the identical code. Matching label to label takes seconds and removes any chance of forcing the wrong color into a slot.

About This S3840 5 Color Set

The 5 color set takes the complete S3840 round — black 593-BCBC at 11,000 pages, cyan 593-BCBF, magenta 593-BCBE and yellow 593-BCBD at 9,000 pages each — and adds a fifth cartridge for $22.45 over the 4-set's $108.28, bringing the total to $130.73 against $204.70 in singles. It fits offices that would rather hold one spare than reorder mid-week. One honest gap: the listing does not state which position repeats, so if that detail drives your stocking plan, confirm it with support first — the price math works either way.