Date: 29 March 24, 08:19 AM
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 Brother Toner Cartridge Tip



scuzzy


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I have a Brother HL-5280DW B&W laser printer that uses a TN-550 toner cartridge. This is a great printer and has earned its keep in our household. However, I get heartburn whenever the toner cartridge gets low.

The printer can be in the middle of a large job and it will suddenly stop printing. I'll have an error message that tells me it's time to replace the toner cartridge. However, it's obvious that the print jobs are still putting out solid, black toner on the pages. Taking out the cartridge and shaking it makes no difference. Once the error message is displayed, there is no supported way to make it go away other than to install a new cartridge.

I don't recall where I got this tip, but I learned a workaround. On the right side of the toner cartridge is a small, clear, plastic window. If you cover that window with white tape (Avery labels work perfect), it will remove the error message and allow you to continue using the toner cartridge for an extended period.

This tip worked perfectly and more than doubled the life of my first cartridge. About 2 months ago, my second cartridge gave me the same error. I taped the window with a white label cut to size, and again the problem was resolved. The toner cartridge continues to provide sharp, black toner to the page. From past experience, I should be good for another 2 to 3 reams of paper before I really do need to replace the cartridge.

Click the photos below, which show the toner cartridge uplifted from the carrier for clarity:

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scuzzy


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Today, Mar 28, 2012, the same cartridge above finally ended its useful life. Using the above trick, it again more than doubled the life of the toner cartridge.

This time around I installed a TN-580 (high yield) cartridge.