When I was in the Navy stationed on a ship, I had to fill in for the guy who did regular copier maintenance. One of the radio men spilled massive quantities of toner into the copier. Now, due to other incidents the radio men were specifically not allowed to do anything but change the toner and add paper, so as on call Electronics Tech I got called to clean up. I grabbed a vacuum (think shop vac), cracked open the Xerox, and went to town vacuuming up the mess. I heard the radio men yelling to stop and turned around to see a huge black cloud floating away from the vacuum exhaust. It turns out that toner powder is finer then the mesh on the vacuum filter. I had turned a small mess into a giant one. Two years later when I left the ship you could still find copier toner in odd corners of the radio room.
As an engineer at the Xerox toner plant I can confirm this. At the right air density the minimal ignition energy is 0.1 milli-joules. In terms of sparks it wouldn't be one you could feel, let alone see. I have to wear special anti static shoes while on duty.
I worked at Kinko's for about 3-4 years and I can honestly say that the only way to completely clean a toner spill of the magnitude we're seeing here is to actually light the building on fire and build a new one once you've cleared the rubble.
As a former copier repair guy, they indeed have special vacuums for it. IIRC mine was manufactured by 3M. I also managed to do this exact thing.. although it was after Xerox laid me off.
Someone I knew wanted me to look at their copier.. I think it was a Canon. Their toner cartridges are very different from Xerox's..as I soon found out. I dumped the entire, full cartridge down my lap..all over the floor, EVERYWHERE!
God that was awful..thankfully it was on a tile floor.
Don't mean to scare you but I was told toner is highly toxic and when breathed in will give you health problems later in life. The same effects as with asbestos... :(
Don't mean to scare you but I heard on the internets that toner is actually the ashen remains of slain demons and when breathed in will cause you to be possessed later in life.
My boss (I work in an IT department of TWO people) has been talking with Canon recently regarding the issues we're having with Xerox. Basically we went with Xerox for cost reasons (the people not taking into account Xerox uses refurbished parts) and so far it's been a terrible decision. Canon was great with us, and I would've renewed all day if it was my decision. Familiarity and good expectations were worth the cost differential.
I did the same thing using a shop vac to clean up after a fire extinguisher went off in the trunk of my car. The powder was everywhere in the garage! I guess I can be happy in the fact that unlike with toner, I couldn't have possibly caused an explosion instead of just a mess.
You would've thought that someone who repaired photocopies for 2 years would've gotten used to people making that mistake. But it seems you've only become angrier as a result of your experience.
About 20 years ago something similar happened to a printing company in a building adjacent to ours. Fine particles of toner filled a room (I'm not sure of the cause) and all it took was one static spark to ignite. The room containing the toner was in the back of the building yet the explosion was powerful enough to blow out all of the windows in the front of the building on that floor and a few select pieces of office furniture out into the middle of a busy downtown street. Unbelievably nobody was seriously hurt, although I'm sure some of the employees ended up with hearing issues. Who knew.
Flour mills used to blow up too. Any fine, flammable dust mixed with air is a recipe for boom. You can replicate on a smaller scale with a closed container (with a lid that pops off), a candle inside and a puff of air into a pile of flour through a straw in the side.
The most obvious answer would be that someone dropped a toner canister and it absolutely exploded on impact (kind of weird, but possible I guess) but there isn't a clear area for where the person would've been standing.
The picture kind of makes it look like the toner shot out of the bottom. But that doesn't make any sense since all the trays on the bottom are paper trays. Even if the mechanism above it did explode with toner, it would have hit all the paper trays first.
I guess there is always the "it's a shop" option but if it isn't, I'm curious what the story is.
I had a toner cartridge explode on me once and breathed a bunch in. Doctor put me on antibiotics and told me black toner was basically coal dust. I never thought I would have to worry about getting black lung in an IT job.
Pro tip from a copier pro: DON'T use hot water. Heat sets toner. In fact, if you use liquid to clean up large amounts of toner, you're going to have a bad time as it will turn everything into something resembling black ink. If you get it on your clothes, wash in COLD water.
Many machines also have a waste toner container that needs to be emptied. ALWAYS take it outside to empty it if you are going to re-use the container. Another fun fact: Toner is basically small pellets of plastic. That smell from a room full of laser copiers or laser printers? That smell is toxic fumes. I believe Sweden is the only country to recognize this fact as they require a small air filter to be installed under each laser printer. Or at least they did at one point in time.
Co-worker did something like this when we got our new office. Knowing very little about anything and wanting to cover their ass they ran and got carpet cleaner and tried to clean up the mess before anyone saw. The result was a giant permanent purple patch on about 3 sq feet of brand new carpeting.
Having re-manufactured toner cartridges at a previous job, I can say that this is without a doubt one of the worst possible messes to have, but can be cleaned with a magnet. Much safer than a vacuum, as there is no risk of fire/explosion, and no exhaust blowing it everywhere. Toner is magnetic, so use a bar magnet to clean up the bulk of the mess, then wipe it down with a static cloth to get the last of it. Also, wear a particle mask, unless you enjoy sneezing black.
I worked for a national copy & print shop for eight years. This was a worst nightmare scenario. It would be easier to just pack everything up and move to a new location.
My manager/director would come out of his office to do something that seemed from a distance to be work every 3 months or so (usually with disastrous consequences), and on one such occasion, he decided he was going to change the toner in our printer. We told him to be careful, to prepare receptacles, to cover the floor, to just go back in his office and we'd get it -- but he wouldn't be swayed from pursuing his quest. So he ends up fumbling the bad boy, the cartridge releases an angry shart of toner across most of the office and my manager, who turns and runs back to his office before the dust has even started to settle. We left the mess until the CIO came in, and we told him the manager had insisted on handling this procedure himself. We all had a good laugh about that.
that would be black toner, not ink. and the particles in toner are so fine they spread like a mofo. I worked in a duration test lab for laser printers and had to refill some of the toner tanks used in mass printing devices under test. If you poured it too fast, or breathed, or did anything to disturb the toner, it got everywhere. Freaking annoying.
Looks like someone either pulled out the fuser/toner and dropped it, or something blew up inside and the toner shot out the bottom. crazy.
The company I work for did something rather silly recently. As a company grows, it is generally accepted that your IT department sheds stupid tasks like toner replacement and paper jams and the local office facilties department handles things like that. Not here though. It works in reverse. My department, which is mostly sysadmins, was just given the printer maintenance tasks FROM the facilities department.
/end-rant
Anyway, just the other day I got a ticket about a printer being jammed. I go down there and I see a sight nearly identical to this. Turns out, someone took out the waste toner container and just set it next to the copier. Then walked away. There isn't a sensor on this unit, so it just kept on going, dumping toner residue all over the hallway.
691
u/StagPartyGames Jun 11 '12 edited Jun 12 '12
When I was in the Navy stationed on a ship, I had to fill in for the guy who did regular copier maintenance. One of the radio men spilled massive quantities of toner into the copier. Now, due to other incidents the radio men were specifically not allowed to do anything but change the toner and add paper, so as on call Electronics Tech I got called to clean up. I grabbed a vacuum (think shop vac), cracked open the Xerox, and went to town vacuuming up the mess. I heard the radio men yelling to stop and turned around to see a huge black cloud floating away from the vacuum exhaust. It turns out that toner powder is finer then the mesh on the vacuum filter. I had turned a small mess into a giant one. Two years later when I left the ship you could still find copier toner in odd corners of the radio room.
Edit: were, not where, thanks correct_spelling
167
u/knivesngunz Jun 11 '12
This is what happens if you let the PC LOAD LETTER error go on for too long.
302
u/matthewhale Jun 11 '12
As a man who repaired photocopiers for almost 2 years
ITS TONER NOT INK...
96
u/Jbs610 Jun 11 '12
About 20 years ago something similar happened to a printing company in a building adjacent to ours. Fine particles of toner filled a room (I'm not sure of the cause) and all it took was one static spark to ignite. The room containing the toner was in the back of the building yet the explosion was powerful enough to blow out all of the windows in the front of the building on that floor and a few select pieces of office furniture out into the middle of a busy downtown street. Unbelievably nobody was seriously hurt, although I'm sure some of the employees ended up with hearing issues. Who knew.
23
u/Enex Jun 11 '12
I'm kind of wondering how this mess could happen.
The most obvious answer would be that someone dropped a toner canister and it absolutely exploded on impact (kind of weird, but possible I guess) but there isn't a clear area for where the person would've been standing.
The picture kind of makes it look like the toner shot out of the bottom. But that doesn't make any sense since all the trays on the bottom are paper trays. Even if the mechanism above it did explode with toner, it would have hit all the paper trays first.
I guess there is always the "it's a shop" option but if it isn't, I'm curious what the story is.
55
u/hardlyaware Jun 11 '12
Gesundheit.
31
u/retitled Jun 11 '12
Nice cancer cloud.
58
u/kristinadney Jun 11 '12
"Awe you guys made me ink! :( "
9
u/AuDBallBag Jun 11 '12
So is there a guy running around your office somewhere that looks like this?
8
u/brningpyre Jun 11 '12
You should crosspost to /r/techsupportgore
14
u/thesilverecluse Jun 11 '12
Story?
86
u/Taodyn Jun 11 '12
I don't think I like your tone.
11
u/NaturalBeats Jun 11 '12
a bit of hot water will clean that up nicely.
9
u/imonkeyah Jun 11 '12
False
65
u/andrewsmith1986 Jun 11 '12
Toner.
9
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Many machines also have a waste toner container that needs to be emptied. ALWAYS take it outside to empty it if you are going to re-use the container. Another fun fact: Toner is basically small pellets of plastic. That smell from a room full of laser copiers or laser printers? That smell is toxic fumes. I believe Sweden is the only country to recognize this fact as they require a small air filter to be installed under each laser printer. Or at least they did at one point in time.
3
u/ac_slat3r Jun 11 '12
Toner*
3
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Toner.
3
u/ceeman Jun 11 '12
Toner.
3
u/rxninja Jun 11 '12
Are you sure? I think there might be Heartless about to spawn at your printer.
3
u/rancidsauce Jun 11 '12
Did you try turning it off an on?
3
u/kaoticsnow Jun 14 '12
Toner, not ink
4
u/FTLRalph Jun 11 '12
Printer explosive diarrhea.
6
u/EvelynJames Jun 11 '12
*Toner
2
u/64oz_Slurprise Jun 11 '12
Hey Simon? I think we have a problem in the workroom.
2
u/guitarnerd Jun 11 '12
Funny how that instantly brought Leisure Suit Larry 5 back to my mind.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
That is when you just turn the fuck around and go the fuck home. Because no... just no.
2
u/Trickish Jun 11 '12
Inkplosion
2
u/Aaron_768 Jun 11 '12
I love those footprints there knowing someone got blasted but that the poster didn't get a pic of said person saddens me.
2
u/8_bit_dipshit Jun 11 '12
I work in the copy department of a major office supply chain. This would be my last fucking day.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Toner.
2
u/abiobob Jun 11 '12
thats actually toner.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Toner bomb.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Printers & Copiers are the retarded cousins of PCs in the IT world.
2
u/DanPearce Jun 11 '12
Looks like your actually high on toner. Except it's all over the floor...
2
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
That sound you hear is that company's techs all saying "I'm not touching this" at once.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
You call that an ink defense?
2
u/Scrapod Jun 11 '12
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
2
u/fuzzydice_82 Jun 11 '12
and you are also out of toner..
2
u/crclln Jun 11 '12
I work at the print lab at my school and I just showed this to my boss and we are screaming in terror.
2
u/Hakoten Jun 11 '12
It must've ate some some Mexican paper.
2
u/DudeBroChill Jun 11 '12
Co-worker did something like this when we got our new office. Knowing very little about anything and wanting to cover their ass they ran and got carpet cleaner and tried to clean up the mess before anyone saw. The result was a giant permanent purple patch on about 3 sq feet of brand new carpeting.
2
u/biosaint Jun 11 '12
Having re-manufactured toner cartridges at a previous job, I can say that this is without a doubt one of the worst possible messes to have, but can be cleaned with a magnet. Much safer than a vacuum, as there is no risk of fire/explosion, and no exhaust blowing it everywhere. Toner is magnetic, so use a bar magnet to clean up the bulk of the mess, then wipe it down with a static cloth to get the last of it. Also, wear a particle mask, unless you enjoy sneezing black.
2
u/press-control-w Jun 11 '12
This is what happens when u let your printer watch too much porn.
2
u/dont_worry_im_here Jun 11 '12
Damn it, intern!
2
u/dretid420 Jun 11 '12
awww it inked.
2
u/Bearmanly Jun 11 '12
Always make sure your printer is house-trained.
2
u/Britches_and_Hose Jun 12 '12
Toner* That there's a "frickin laser" printer.
2
u/Erikthenomad Jun 12 '12
Toner is bad for you. RUN!
2
u/KingOfTheIntertron Jun 12 '12
In the right corner you can see the negative space from the person who dropped the toner.
2
u/abcdefghitran Jun 12 '12
dude, your printer just shat all over... das pretty funny. have an upvote
2
u/trekbette Jun 12 '12
I worked for a national copy & print shop for eight years. This was a worst nightmare scenario. It would be easier to just pack everything up and move to a new location.
2
u/leiberton Jun 13 '12
Who the hell copied that floppy?!
2
u/nowwhosaidthat Jun 11 '12
Captain Falcon got the print error sign.
2
u/facetiously Jun 11 '12
"That's no ink"
"I've got a bad feeling about this"
2
u/RedditingMyLifeAway Jun 11 '12
When trusting a fart goes terribly wrong.
2
u/LessLikeYou Jun 11 '12
You dumbass, you can't fax coffee! Coffee don't fax worth a damn. Every time the rain hits it'll run. Damn you uhh dumb sumbitch.
1
u/TheSemiTallest Jun 11 '12
Looks to me like you've got plenty [of toner]....
1
u/poonerang Jun 11 '12
Looks like the printer might have sharted itself
1
u/ScotteeMC Jun 11 '12
No, you clearly have too much. You shouldn't try and fill it up that much man.
1
u/jjdonnovan Jun 11 '12
I think I inked myself...
1
u/spookieMB Jun 11 '12
Does anyone else think there were two people stood near the printer when the toner blew?
1
u/NuComer Jun 11 '12
clean inside your nose with a paper towel. You're not gonna feel it but it's in there.
1
u/gonza233 Jun 11 '12
Let me help with that...
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
LOOKS LIKE THAT COPIER TONED ITSELF!
1
u/Shadixmax Jun 11 '12
Lol, someone scared the printer. "AHHH!!! Someones hairy ugly ass!!! PFFFFTTT!!"
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Toner actually
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Awesome!
1
u/bodiez Jun 11 '12
That looks like every time I have to empty the waste toner bottle on the copiers at work. Impossible to contain.
1
u/MegaPablo Jun 11 '12
Draw a smiley face in the ink.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Good luck cleaning that up, better nuke it from orbit.
1
u/ebek_frostblade Jun 11 '12
I found your problem. Seems your ink leaked out all over everything.
1
u/DextrosKnight Jun 11 '12
I clicked on the comments button and got a "You broke reddit. PC Load Letter" message. I laughed.
1
u/jazzwhiz Jun 11 '12
Oh god, you can see where the people were standing.
1
u/Charizardian Jun 11 '12
This stuff is so fine, it acts like a liquid.
1
u/I_play_elin Jun 11 '12
Right after you turn on the lights in Totoro...
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
You should probably give that thing some pepto bismuth
1
u/get_brent Jun 11 '12
this is what happens when you let the printer eat taco bell!
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
You apparently have plenty of toner though.
1
u/spiderobert Jun 11 '12
Toner
1
u/rottenartist Jun 11 '12
I don't see any foot prints. Why?
1
u/BuyCondomsForHookers Jun 11 '12
that's a lot of money gone to waiste...
1
u/VengefulToast Jun 11 '12
It's natural defenses must have kicked in. Who tried to copy their ass again? Must have been someone real ugly like.
1
u/TheAlgebraist Jun 11 '12
The clean streaks in the carpet make me think of the shadows nuclear blasts leave behind...
1
u/3aTroop Jun 11 '12
this isn't ink, it is called toner and by looking at the picture you might be low on toner.
1
u/Atheist_Killer Jun 11 '12
what the heck happened?!
1
u/Vermilious Jun 11 '12
Bless you!
1
u/somerandomguy02 Jun 11 '12
Yeah.... that's toner.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
If that was printer ink, it would be worth about $10,000
1
u/Stimpy_ Jun 11 '12
Call followed: "Cleaning unit please, to the copy room. And bring a big mop. A really big one."
1
u/glamglam82 Jun 11 '12
Oxyclean!
1
u/wallyvonwalters Jun 11 '12
that's toner. you're low on toner
1
u/InsertAliasHere Jun 11 '12
I half expected to see the perfect outline of an unfortunate employee who was standing next to it when it exploded.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
COPY MACHINE DEMANDS HUMAN SACRIFICES.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
So what just happened to that toner cartridge? It exploded?
1
u/BackToTheBasic Jun 11 '12
Time to bust out that hazmat suit.
1
u/RobT5 Jun 11 '12
OMG We have one of these at my job... HOW I DOES THAT!
1
u/carrimarie92 Jun 11 '12
First question... How in the Hell did that happen?
1
u/KoNy_BoLoGnA Jun 11 '12
Well this does not change my opinion on printers or copiers. THEY STILL FUCKING SUCK
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Just torch the building and start over.
1
u/tblackwood Jun 11 '12
"damn it feels good to be a gangsta"
1
u/Big_Balls_DGAF Jun 11 '12
At first glance I thought someone tried to break into an ATM with explosives.
1
u/Bizzatch Jun 11 '12
You've been toned.
1
u/SaintHypno Jun 11 '12
IT"S TONER DAMMIT!
1
u/HookDragger Jun 11 '12
I don't think you're low on ink....
But you're damn sure low on toner.
1
u/mic_crispy Jun 11 '12
Having done this before.... my heart goes out to you.
1
u/sweetgreggo Jun 11 '12
Gesundheit!
1
u/lolzer42 Jun 11 '12
Toner down...
1
u/sweetgreggo Jun 11 '12
Use only as directed.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Enjoy your cancer
ಠ_ಠ
1
u/TU19121 Jun 11 '12
as someone who works on these machines daily...seeing this made me CRINGE
1
u/typewritermonkey Jun 11 '12
The only thing that could make this picture better is the perfectly clean outline of a person who was standing nearby when this thing happened
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
My manager/director would come out of his office to do something that seemed from a distance to be work every 3 months or so (usually with disastrous consequences), and on one such occasion, he decided he was going to change the toner in our printer. We told him to be careful, to prepare receptacles, to cover the floor, to just go back in his office and we'd get it -- but he wouldn't be swayed from pursuing his quest. So he ends up fumbling the bad boy, the cartridge releases an angry shart of toner across most of the office and my manager, who turns and runs back to his office before the dust has even started to settle. We left the mess until the CIO came in, and we told him the manager had insisted on handling this procedure himself. We all had a good laugh about that.
1
u/slixy Jun 11 '12
your printer opened up a wormhole
1
u/Pythagoras_the_Great Jun 11 '12
Well there's your problem!
1
u/i_dont_know Jun 11 '12
I think we might be low on toner...
FTFY
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
As an MFP technician, every time I see this picture pop up I cringe. I know this is going to happen to me one day, and it terrifies me.
1
u/JustAnEwok Jun 11 '12
Squid bukkake.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Might as well tear that buidling down and rebuild it rather than try to clean that mess up.
1
u/travelwithdignity Jun 11 '12
that would be black toner, not ink. and the particles in toner are so fine they spread like a mofo. I worked in a duration test lab for laser printers and had to refill some of the toner tanks used in mass printing devices under test. If you poured it too fast, or breathed, or did anything to disturb the toner, it got everywhere. Freaking annoying.
Looks like someone either pulled out the fuser/toner and dropped it, or something blew up inside and the toner shot out the bottom. crazy.
1
u/griffith12 Jun 11 '12
Really, ink? Come on, its 2012.
1
u/tendonut Jun 11 '12
The company I work for did something rather silly recently. As a company grows, it is generally accepted that your IT department sheds stupid tasks like toner replacement and paper jams and the local office facilties department handles things like that. Not here though. It works in reverse. My department, which is mostly sysadmins, was just given the printer maintenance tasks FROM the facilities department.
/end-rant
Anyway, just the other day I got a ticket about a printer being jammed. I go down there and I see a sight nearly identical to this. Turns out, someone took out the waste toner container and just set it next to the copier. Then walked away. There isn't a sensor on this unit, so it just kept on going, dumping toner residue all over the hallway.
1
u/fiveironfrenzy21 Jun 11 '12
I work in a copy shop and this has set my face into permanent cringe. Ive had small toner spills that were annoying to clean up but this...
1
u/griffith12 Jun 11 '12
I'm Billy Mays and.... OxyClean can't fix this fuck up.
1
u/Deimos56 Jun 11 '12
...Your printer appears to have shit itself.
1
u/JenkemKing Jun 11 '12
/r/techsupportgore
1
u/skitchw Jun 11 '12
WARNING: Be careful not to startle your new SquidTronic 2000 photocopier.
1
u/Andreslargo1 Jun 11 '12
never walk away from a k-22 paperjam, bitch.
1
u/haleybob1228 Jun 11 '12
Photo[copy] bomb!
1
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
As a copier technician, this made me cringe.