Laser printer - shades of grey

In message <AsP0S.9265$ snipped-for-privacy@usenetxs.com, Another John snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com writes

Give it a shake , but watch out for dust .

Brian

First of all, take the cartridge out and give it a good shake. That can shift around toner that's got stuck at one end or similar.

But aftermarket cartridges often don't have the chips to display the usage level correctly - they have chips that are enough to convince the printer not to complain, but anything more than that is a frill. So I suspect the cartridge is just empty, even if the printer thinks otherwise.

I have my suspicions that cheap toner carts don't contain as much toner as advertised, but it's hard to tell as usage is based on 5% coverage which in reality may vary wildly based on what you print. I've been recording times I change cartridges and I'm getting about 3-4k per colour on my colour Brother: with 4 carts to change I'm changing one cartridge on average every

I'd just buy another cheap cartridge. I bought this one:

Theo

I'm also fairly sure that cheap fake laser printer cartridges don't contain as much toner as the real thing, perhaps only half as much. But as they are about a quarter of the price, for my printer model at least (Samsung M2835) I find them reasonable value for money.

Has your printer got a cleanable corona wire?

Dirty Corona Wire: Many drum units (like those in Brother printers) have a built-in wire that charges the drum. If toner dust or debris covers this wire, it will cause faded or grey printing. Find the small green or blue tab on your drum unit and slide it back and forth a few times to clean the wire.

To the OP: do the above plus install a new cheap toner cartridge.

Thanks Theo! And thanks to Brian, Clive, Alan, and Spike so far! I feel much more confident about the way to go now. ----- ----- ----- BTW I discovered when and where I got the printer: I bought it at Currys Online in September 2022, I found no trace in my email (where I go to search for any past events) because Curry's confirmation, etc., only refers to "Your order", which is then detailed in the email by means of a PDF. (I had searched, of course, for brother, printer, laser etc etc,)

Cheers! Another John

If they make one that is compatible with your printer consider a Xerox cartridge. They know how to do it right! John

Probably the safest and cheapest way to get decent printing back.

One other way to save money (if you don't mind a bit of mess) is to remove the toner cartridge from a non-working laser printer and transfer the toner power to your laser printer cartridge. That will only work, however, for unchipped cartridges without page counters.

Shake it. If that doesn't work buy a replacement from somewhere like StinkyInk

To put a bit more meat on the bones . . . remove the cartridge and shake it from end to end a few times to redistribute the toner powder. Then put it back and check whether that has made any difference.