What is going on with my printer toner?

[dennis thompson]

Whenever I start up my computer I get a notice that my Brother printer is low on toner. Yet when I print something out the print looks fine. Is this just Brother trying to sell more toner ( it's a black and white laser printer) I did the take the cartridge out and shake it thing, but the message is still there.

[roger wiegand]

Most printers warn you when the toner is low but not gone so you have a chance to order a new cartridge before it runs out. I think they just count pages, so the estimates can be way off if your printing differs from "average" page coverage. On our HP printer the warnings start when it's down to 3-400 pages left.

[Curt Harms]

There is a way with Brother laser printers to "reset the counter" so it doesn't nag you, some key combination. I don't recall what that way is and I won't have access to it for a few days. Google should help.

[Lee Schierer]

Buy a new toner cartridge and set it to one side. Continue to use your present cartridge until it prints poorly, then change to the new one.

[Chuck Wintle]

There is a way with Brother laser printers to "reset the counter" so it doesn't nag you, some key combination. I don't recall what that way is and I won't have access to it for a few days. Google should help.

This will work to reset the counter. If you have the factory supplied cartridge it will only print only a few pages.

[Stan Calow]

What Lee said. I have a Brother B&W laser too, and I think it gives a early warning so that you have time to order a new cartridge from Brother, instead of buying one at the local office supply. I think while using it heavily, taking classes, I got about 50-75 more pages before it actually ran dry.

But the answer is yes. I think all printers are just an ink selling machine. They have low initial prices, because they make it up on the ink. Inkjet Color printers are the worst, because all the colors don't get used up at the same time, so you buy multiple packs of the colored ink.

[michael langman]

I had the low toner warning on my computer for over 2 years. I bought a cartridge and a bottle extra of toner and just had the Brother printer run out of toner completely this week.
I put in the new cartridge I had filled and in the instructions were a sequence of things to do to RESET the printer. After doing the reset the warning went away.

[Bill Dufour]

My Samsung printer has a chip onboard the toner cartridge. It counts the number of pages printed and warns you about 200? pages before it shuts down. I can buy a new chip and refill the toner for about $20 or I can buy a new full cartridge for about $18. The older cartridges you could reset the chip somehow.
I read on this site that office stores had a run on ink for the pandemic so I ordered a new cartridge last week no problems. I paid a little extra to get one sooner from a USA seller just in case. Back to school sales may wipe them out again? Toner does not go bad so i buy a refill as soon as I use one up.
Bill D

[Brian Elfert]

Most printers warn you when the toner is low but not gone so you have a chance to order a new cartridge before it runs out. I think they just count pages, so the estimates can be way off if your printing differs from "average" page coverage. On our HP printer the warnings start when it's down to 3-400 pages left.

Exactly. I had a toner cartridge that was showing low and it lasted several more years and over 1,000 more pages before it finally was really out of toner.

[mike stenson]

Some printers use an indicator mark on one of the gear wheels on the toner cartridge. You can't reset those without disassembly. The low-toner is just a warning that you're running low. People would be seriously mad if they didn't warn them early enough. (from an engineering perspective, I can say, unequivocally, people will complain no matter what you do... but more so by not warning early enough).

[Jerome Stanek]

I always hated my HP laser that had the chipped toner cartridges would not print with full cartridges as the time was up.

[dennis thompson]

Buy a new toner cartridge and set it to one side. Continue to use your present cartridge until it prints poorly, then change to the new one.

That's what I did, it will be interesting to see how long it continues to print