Bad photo quality after changing drum

Drum and Developer are the consumables parts.They have life in copies depending upon the model of each photocopier machine.It may be 80,000, or 60,000, 50,000, or 1,000,00 etc.Now if the drum and developer have completed their life it is better to replace them.If the physical condition of drum and developer is good and also the print quality then you can make more copies with them.

The problem with this is the design. Each toner cartridge has a microchip on it, that counts the pages you print. The company has determined that you get x amounts of prints. Then you have to replace it, empty or not. This printers do not work the same way as an expensive professional business copier. In an pro style there is a spent toner cartridge that collects all of the wasted toner that is on the drum. On a small business/home style this spent toner goes back into the cartridge. There is no level indicator, even on the inkjet printer. They too, have a chip that says you have x amount of prints/cleaning cycles they can go through. Look up inkjet refill kits or inkjet cartridge programmer.

why toner life end message keep on showing on sp 1200s prints.

Are you sure of the error message? The Brother printers that I have used have Drum Ends Soon and Change Belt messages.

The Brother MFC-9440CN has a belt that can be replaced. The Belt unit has an life expectancy of ~50000 pages. The belt unit is part BU100CL and costs a bit over $150 at office supply stores. Amazon.com and some other stores have the unit for under $100. http://www.amazon.com/Brother-BU-100CL-HL-4040CN-HL-4070CDW-Series/dp/B000SC245E is one source.

When the unit says Change Belt Unit, follow the directions from the manual's maintenance section to replace the belt unit. See page 178 (page 189 of the PDF) http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/BSC/public/files/dlf/doc002252/mfc9440_usa_usr_b.pdf . You have to remove the Drum and then the Belt Unit. Then slide in the new Belt Unit and replace the Drum unit. Then close the printer and turn it on. Finally reset the counter from the Machine Info sub menu (press Menu 8 4 and select the Belt Unit and press OK. Then press 1 followed by Stop/Exit).

If you mean the Drum Unit, that is part DR-110CL and costs over $175 at the office supply stores. Order this part when the Drum End Soon message appears and replace it if the print quality deteriorates (or when you have the new drum). The Drum Life is ~17000 pages. The steps start on page 166 (182 of the PDF). You need to remove the old Drum unit. Then remove the toner cartridges from the drum. Prepare the new Drum Unit, including putting the cartridges in the new Drum. Then replace the Drum unit and reset the counter.

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells

Hi there !

You need to replace the drum unit of the cartridge and i believe that the part life had ended. you can view this on the LCD monitor of the printer. Go to menu and choose LAN setting. Choose machine parts and check the drum unit is it says life ended. You need to replace that drum unit.

Another way for temporary purposes, set your print quality setting to PHOTO setting. It will print darker than before but not on taking photocopy.

Hello, Wendy.

Use the drum unit until you have a print quality problem, then replace the drum unit with a new one.

I've seen your drum price for about $120 (USD), so it would be cost-effective to purchase a new drum.

Hope this helps.

The light blinking means it's almost used up, when it comes on solid it will stop printing. If your prints still look good you can open the front door and hold the go button til all lights flash, and it will think it's a new drum. You can replace then when print quality gets bad.

there are 3 reason if the copy gray & less sharp:
1) the toner you are using is not compatible very well with the cartridge unit if you changed other compatible toner.
2) the cartridge going near the life-cycle, (also cause print blurred)
3) the photo drum going near the life-cycle
you may try to change the quality toner (original factory). or
change the cartridge if it is out of the life-cycle

Good Evening Robert,

The setting for non dell toner only controls the fuser temperature, and will not cause you any print quality issues. Toner is actually made up of ink and plastic. The fuser melts the plastic to "fuse" the image to the paper. Dell toner is set to "fuse" at a specific temperature. when you use non Dell toners, the temperature required to fuse may be different, and when set to non dell toner setting, the fuser temperature is raised to the maximum to ensure the other toner fuses properly. The down side to this is that you will wear out the fuser sooner then it should.

As far as the print quality issue you are having, it is most likey caused by the imaging drum.

Regardless of the estimated life for the imaging drum as stated by the printer, this is just an estimate. Many things can and will cause the imaging drum need replacing. ( Just yesterday I replaced a black toner in a 3115 that was less then a month old... genuine Dell... with more then 75% expected usage left because it was defective).

On this printer, each of the 3 colors and the black are all independent of each other with the exception of the imaging drum. Even within the imaging drum, cyan and black are independent of magenta and yellow on the first stage of transfer. When you have deteriorated print quality that effects more then one color, the first step is to replace the imaging drum.

The Primary transfer, secondary transfer, and tertiary transfer of the image are ALL contained within the imaging drum.

The chances of having 3 or 4 bad Developers is very very slim. If your print quality issue was related to only ONE color, then I would say you had a bad developer unit ( the 4 items located behind the imaging drum when removed). These are far more difficult and expensive to change.

The BTR ( bios transfer roller ) is the only other item that "could" effect your print quality, however, based on the symptoms you discribed, I doubt it. Besides, if i am not mistaken, the imaging drum kit comes with a new btr anyway.

Although I am sure you may be disappointed with the fact the drum unit is failing while showing it still has life remaining, the solution to replace it should restore your unit to full operation. The unit is light sensative, and effected by physical age as well as the number of prints it has supplied.

Please evaluate the solution i have provided and, rate the solution appropriately to show your support.

Thanks,
Cory

yes..it's almost certainly the drum..did you get a new one or was it simply refurbished?