Printer-fix or replace

[dennis thompson]

I have a monochrome laser printer which is several years old and prints just fine. However while printing it gives me a message that the printer drum needs to be replaced. It's a Brother printer, a new printer from Brother costs about $125. If I get the drum from Brother the drum will cost $94 plus shipping, so that clearly makes no sense. I can buy a drum for about $20-25, there are several sellers on Amazon at this price, however the reviews range from one star (it's junk) to 5 stars (it's great). Anyone have any experience with these after market printer drums?

[Chuck Wintle]

I have a monochrome laser printer which is several years old and prints just fine. However while printing it gives me a message that the printer drum needs to be replaced. It's a Brother printer, a new printer from Brother costs about $125. If I get the drum from Brother the drum will cost $94 plus shipping, so that clearly makes no sense. I can buy a drum for about $20-25, there are several sellers on Amazon at this price, however the reviews range from one star (it's junk) to 5 stars (it's great). Anyone have any experience with these after market printer drums?

Are you referring to the toner cartridge when you say "drum"? I have a Brother monochrome laser printer that seems to work ok for what is cost, a little over $125 a number of years ago. I was able to take the factory toner cartridge and get a ki that allowed me to refill it for very little cost.

[Alan Rutherford]

Just yesterday I replaced the toner cartridge in our Brother laser printer. This is the third dirt-cheap generic cartridge I've used since the "starter" cartridge gave out and I have no complaints. I have no experience with the cheap drums but I won't hesitate to try one when I need to.

[Jim Becker]

Part of your decision is going to have to consider if you already bought disposable supplies for your current printer and if they will be compatible with whatever new printer you would select in lieu of doing the maintenance and replacing the drum. If you don't have extra toner lying about, then it's almost a no-brainer to get a new printer given the small difference in cost...warranty and all that. But if you have supplies and they are not compatible with a new unit...you may be better served going the other way.

[Greg R Bradley]

I have a monochrome laser printer which is several years old and prints just fine. However while printing it gives me a message that the printer drum needs to be replaced. It's a Brother printer, a new printer from Brother costs about $125. If I get the drum from Brother the drum will cost $94 plus shipping, so that clearly makes no sense. I can buy a drum for about $20-25, there are several sellers on Amazon at this price, however the reviews range from one star (it's junk) to 5 stars (it's great). Anyone have any experience with these after market printer drums?

The Drum message comes on at a certain number of pages. They usually last much longer. You don't need to replace it until you have printing that doesn't look right. Don't replace it until you aren't happy with the printing quality.

Chinese Drums, Fusers, and Toners are mostly junk with some of them working OK.

[Chuck Wintle]

The Drum message comes on at a certain number of pages. They usually last much longer. You don't need to replace it until you have printing that doesn't look right. Don't replace it until you aren't happy with the printing quality.

Chinese Drums, Fusers, and Toners are mostly junk with some of them working OK.

I seem to remember there was a combination of buttons to press on the printer to reset the drum?

[Derek Meyer]

Keep in mind that many new laser printers, especially the low-cost ones, come with "starter" cartridges that are only rated for a small number of pages compared to the regular cartridges you buy. It's common to find printers with starter cartridges that print only 1000 pages or so, while the regular cartridges print 8,000 pages or more.

The drum is typically a separate unit from the print cartridge. For the Dell printers we use primarily at work, the toner cartridges run about $170, but the drum units are only about $30.

[Cary Falk]

We have a Brothers color laser printer. We use third party toner cartridges with great success. I would try a 3rd party drum if needed. If it doesn't work then buy a new printer since it is very close to the price of a OEM drum.

[Curt Harms]

We have a Brothers color laser printer. We use third party toner cartridges with great success. I would try a 3rd party drum if needed. If it doesn't work then buy a new printer since it is very close to the price of a OEM drum.

This. We've had pretty good success with 3rd party supplies. Do they last as long as OEM? Perhaps not. Are they quite a bit cheaper/page than OEM? It sure seems like it.

[dennis thompson]

Thanks to everyone for your input. I think I'll take my chances and order the third party drum.( It wouldn't be the first $20 I wasted)

[Doug Weiner]

I buy the generics off of EBay. My Brother printer uses the 450 cartridges. I've found a combo of one drum and three cartridges for under $25 and they work just fine. Refilling the toner is a messy process - sorry to be a lazy bum but toss and replace is less hassle.

[Myk Rian]

People, it isn't the print cartridge that is the problem, it's the drum that sets the ink with heat.
I replaced a Samsung drum before. Wasn't as easy as it looked on videos.

[dennis thompson]

I bought one of the $20 drums, it was easy to replace and so far it's working fine.