Konica Minolta Toner TN116 – BH165 – 306i

The Konica Minolta TN-116 (part number A0X5050 or A0X5051) is a monochrome (black and white) toner cartridge designed for entry-level, low-volume A3 office copier engines.

However, when looking at your model list (BH165 and 306i), there are two critical cross-references and compatibility rules to keep in mind:

1. Compatibility with the bizhub 165 Series

The TN-116 is highly compatible with the legacy bizhub 165 family, but it is often swapped regionally with the TN-118 depending on the specific machine’s firmware region setting.

Direct TN-116 Machine Compatibility List:

• bizhub 164

• bizhub 165

• bizhub 184

• bizhub 185

Technical Specifications:

• Part Number: TN-116 / A0X5050 / A0X5051 / A0X5030.

• Page Yield: Approximately 11,000 pages per bottle (calculated based on standard 5% page coverage).

• Packaging: Standard genuine boxes usually bundle two toner bottles per box (combined yield of ~22,000 pages).

2. The bizhub 306i Exception (Important Distinctions)

The bizhub 306i belongs to Konica Minolta’s newer, advanced i-Series line and cannot use the TN-116 toner.

The configuration depends on the exact model suffix:

• If it is the monochrome bizhub 306i: It takes the high-yield TN-225 black toner cartridge (part number AA2M050), which yields approximately 12,000 pages.

• If it is the color bizhub C306i: It belongs to a full-color family and requires the TN-330 toner series (Black: ~25,000 pages, Colors: ~19,000 pages).

The old TN-116 bottle will physically not fit into any version of the 306i hopper slot due to entirely different plastic molding tracks and smart-chip configurations.

Key System & Maintenance Information:

• Simitri HD Polymerized Toner: The TN-116 uses Konica Minolta’s chemical polymerized formula. The uniform, spherical particles melt at lower temperatures to save energy while ensuring sharp text borders and clear line charts without leaving gray background dust.

• Chip-Free Layout (TN-116): The TN-116 is a purely mechanical bottle with a sliding dispensing door. It does not carry an electronic contact microchip; instead, the printer monitors toner levels using internal mechanical hopper sensors. Conversely, the newer TN-225 (for the 306i) uses an electronic chip for serialization and tracking.

• Independent Wear Items: For the bizhub 165/185 systems running the TN-116, image dropouts or gray streaks mean it’s time to check the separate, underlying imaging hardware rather than replacing the toner:

  • DR-114 Drum Unit — Rated for up to 55,000 pages.

  • DV-116 Developer Unit — Rated for up to 55,000 pages.