Clever Supplies brand products are made in the USA! Why pay more for cheaper product with a high defective rate? You will end up having to send it back to the manufacturer. Your time is valuable. Get a quality product that you KNOW will work. Purchase the Clever Supplies Compatible for Kyocera-Mita TK542 (TK542K) Black Toner Cartridge and experience the difference! All Clever Supplies brand products are backed by '100% Quality Satisfaction' 1 year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship for all toner products. Free tech support for any problems for all Clever Supplies brand products. The use of Clever Supplies brand replacement laser toner cartridges and supplies does not void printer warranty. Premium Quality Replacement Toner Cartridge is made by ISO9001 Certified Factory to Meet or Exceed OEM Standards. These units are manufactured 100% brand new with all new parts including OPC drums, wiper blades, a smart chip and other internal parts, they are an economical alternative to expensive OEM TK542K Compatible Toner Cartridges. The Compatible Toner Cartridges will produce the same amount of page yield as an OEM cartridge would. This is a Compatible for Kyocera-Mita TK542 Toner Cartridges guaranteed to perform with Kyocera-Mita Laser Printers. It replaces the original Kyocera-Mita TK542 Black. The use of compatible replacement Cartridges and supplies does not void Printer Warranty. Our Compatible for TK542K. Cartridge is a replacement for OEM Kyocera-Mita. We offer a 100% Quality Satisfaction Guarantee on our Compatible for TK542K Laser Toner Cartridges and supplies. For use in the following printers: FS-5100DN, FS-C5100, FS-C5100DN
Frequently Asked Questions
My letters are coming out gray instead of black. Is it the cartridge?
Print the printer's test page and look at the black block. If it prints pale or uneven while the color blocks stay strong, the black cartridge is running dry — and the cartridge you need is this one, code TK542K. Banding on the test page that survives a cartridge change points elsewhere, but a fading black block is the cartridge's signature.
How do I confirm this is the right black for my printer?
Match the code on your old cartridge: it should read TK542K. The three colors in this family carry different codes — TK542C, TK542M and TK542Y — and none of them can stand in for the black slot, so ordering by the full code is the check that matters.
Is this a full cartridge or a reduced starter fill?
It is the full standard cartridge, rated at 5,000 pages at standard coverage — not a reduced-fill starter of the kind supplied with a new printer. Dense pages with heavy graphics will work through it faster; ordinary text documents track the rating closely.
How is it fitted?
Open the printer cover, slide the old cartridge out, pull the protective seal from the new one, and push it in until it seats with a click. The job takes a couple of minutes and needs no tools and no technician.
The first few pages are still faint right after the swap. Should I worry?
Not yet. On the FS-C5100DN, a freshly fitted cartridge can print light until the toner settles; remove it, rock it gently side to side, refit it firmly and print a handful of pages. Solid black normally returns within that short run.
What cover does this cartridge carry?
A 1-year warranty with 1-year free returns under our shipping & returns policy. If the cartridge faults within that year, the cover applies to this unit on its own — no need to return or change anything else.
How long should one of these cartridges last in a small office?
The TK542K is rated at 5,000 pages at standard coverage, so the honest answer is: divide that by your monthly volume. An office printing a few hundred pages a month can run the same cartridge for the better part of a year, while a busy desk producing reports daily will finish it in a matter of weeks. Dense, graphics-heavy pages shorten the run; ordinary letters track the rating closely.
Is it worth keeping a second cartridge on hand, or should I just reorder when this one fades?
For most offices the spare is worth it. A cartridge change takes a couple of minutes, but a delivery takes days, and toner rarely runs out at a convenient moment. Keeping one sealed TK542K in the drawer turns the next fade into a quick swap, and you can reorder at leisure afterward. If the printer is rarely used, reordering on the warning is fine — the shelf spare matters most where printing cannot wait.
The test page still shows a weak black block after I fitted a fresh cartridge. What does that tell me?
It points away from the cartridge. Fading that survives a change to a new TK542K — after you have rocked it gently, seated it firmly and printed a handful of pages — suggests the cause sits in the printer rather than the toner supply. That distinction is useful: it stops you discarding a good cartridge and tells you the machine itself needs attention instead.
What do I do with the cartridge I have just taken out?
Once the replacement is in and printing solid black, the old unit has done its work. Slide it into the bag or box the new cartridge came in so loose toner stays contained, and pass it to a toner recycling collection point. Keep it only until the new cartridge has proven itself over its first few pages — after that there is nothing to gain from holding on to it.
About This TK542K Black Cartridge
This is the single black refill, part number TK542K, rated at 5,000 pages and priced at $46.22. Reach for it when text loses its depth and the test page shows the black block fading ahead of the colors. It is part of our compatible Kyocera-Mita range; orders ship from our warehouses in IL, PA, GA and CA, and support is available Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM CST if you would like the code read back against the cartridge you are replacing.
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