Frequently Asked Questions

Why would an office standardise on a five-pack of one cartridge code?

Because one code on the shelf serves every machine that takes it. When your M2040dn and M2540dw units all run the TK1172, a single stock line replaces a tangle of different boxes, anyone on the team can grab the right cartridge without checking model charts, and reordering becomes a one-line job. This five-pack is $64.33.

Will print darkness stay consistent from the first cartridge to the fifth?

Yes — the five units are the same cartridge built to the same fill and specification, each rated at 7,200 standard pages. Page one hundred from the last box should look like page one hundred from the first, which is exactly what a shared office printer needs when different people print all day.

Can I split the five across two offices?

Certainly. The cartridges are individually sealed, so send three to one site and two to the other, or hold a central reserve and issue units as each location asks. Nothing about the pack ties the cartridges together once they are on your shelves.

What is a sensible reorder trigger with stock like this?

Most offices reorder when the last sealed box comes off the shelf — at that point the printer still has a full cartridge working inside it, which buys comfortable lead time. A sticky note on the cabinet door, initialled by whoever takes a unit, keeps the count honest without any software.

What protection stands behind a five-pack bought months ahead?

Each unit carries its own 1-year warranty and 1-year free returns, counted per cartridge rather than per order. So the cartridge you open in month eight is covered on the same terms as the one you fitted in week one — buy the stock level your office needs without gambling on it.

How does delivery work, and where is support based?

Stock ships from whichever of our IL, PA, GA or CA warehouses is nearest the delivery address, shortening the journey; the full picture is on our shipping and returns page. Support hours run Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM CST.

How should the five cartridges be stored so the last one performs like the first?

Keep every TK1172 in its sealed box, stored flat in a dry cabinet at ordinary room temperature, away from radiators, sunny windows and damp floors. Toner is a dry powder and does not dry out, so a sealed cartridge waits patiently for months. Open a box only when a machine actually needs a cartridge, and draw the stock down in the order it arrived.

What does the 7,200-page rating mean once real office pages are involved?

The rating is measured on standard test pages with light, even coverage. Ordinary letters, memos and invoices sit close to that, so a TK1172 should land near its rating on that work. Pages carrying logos, shaded tables, charts or bold graphics lay down more toner and bring the total down. For planning, treat 7,200 as the figure for mixed everyday printing rather than for dense documents.

How can we tell a cartridge is genuinely finished and not just running low?

A cartridge near the end fades evenly across the page. Rocking it gently side to side may restore darkness for a short run, but the fade comes back quickly once the toner is truly spent. When that pattern repeats, the cartridge is done — fit the next sealed TK1172 from the pack and the output returns to normal.

What should we do with the empty cartridges as the pack works down?

Slide each empty back into the box its replacement came in, which keeps any loose powder contained, and set the boxed empties aside together. When a few have collected, hand them to a local toner recycling point or an office-supply take-back scheme rather than mixing them into general waste. Keeping the empties boxed also makes the count of used units easy to check.

About This Five-Pack

Five individually sealed compatible Kyocera-Mita TK1172 black toner cartridges, $64.33 for the pack, feeding the M2040dn and M2540dw. Think of it as the supply-cabinet option: one code, five deep, consistent output across every unit, and per-cartridge cover from a 1-year warranty with 1-year free returns so a well-stocked shelf never turns into a risk.