Robin-Whittle
Newbie to Printing
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- Jun 30, 2010
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Further to my previous message on the general success I have had with the HL-5250DN, and with refilling the carts with bulk toner, here are my recent discoveries regarding the drum.
This may apply to many other Brother laser printers, and printers made by Brother. Maybe it applies to other brands.
This is not a How-To - it is a How-I-Did-It. After reading this you may be emboldened to try this on your own printer. Please post with your experiences, good and bad.
These printers are rated to operate for 100,000 copies, but mine is going well after 72k over 3.5 years or so, and my guess it it will go on for years at this rate.
The original (first) drum, at ~61k copies, was working OK, but had marks on it. I installed a new (second) one, at considerable cost, because I thought it was a good idea to do so. The drums are rated to run for 50k copies. They cost AUD$200+ (Officeworks has the DR-3115 for $316!). The second one worked OK until about 11k copies later, there were soft white vertical bands in the output, most noticeable on areas of grey.
The first drum had some marks on it, and the second drum had worse marks. I think this early failure of the second drum was caused by me using a worn-out cart, which leaked a lot of toner. I had to frequently remove the cart and drum unit, separate them and clean them.
I assumed the marks were scratches in the photosensitive surface of the drum. With nothing to lose with the second drum, since it was making these white streaks, and with the first drum still working fine, which I could use if this cleaning attempt failed, I got out the Brasso and tried to polish the "scratches" out of the second drum.
To dismantle the drum assembly, I removed the right circlip, pulled the axle out the left side, and then removed a little black washer on the right side. Then the top unclips and the drum can come out.
There is a fine brush which picks up used toner, and I think at some part of the cycle, lets it all go (by the voltage on the brush being changed) so the toner goes back on the drum and is taken to the toner roller, where it is effectively recycled. This means these printers are extremely efficient with toner. I guess it means dusty paper would be a really bad idea.
I vacuumed out the brush, being careful not to bend the fibres too much. It appeared to be clogged with toner in some places - where the worst black marks on the drum were, which lined up with the white bands on the paper.
I understand Brasso dates back over 100 years - and according to my understanding of the Wikipedia article, may have been developed in Australia. Anyway, I think Brasso in a tin-plated steel "bottle" is from the 1970s, with a plastic spout and lid. (Older ones were all metal.) I got it for kero lamps. I think it was made before laser printers were invented. It has a soft yellowish abrasive suspended in hydrocarbon - mainly "white spirit" according to the label.
I put a bit on some tissue and rubbed away. Quickly, in the area I worked on, the marks disappeared. With some investigation, I was very surprised to find the marks were on top of the drum, and were not scratches at all.
Cleaning away the Brasso left a shiny drum, with a slightly "deep pearlescent" appearance. I cleaned away the remnants of Brasso with Shellite (see below) and/or isopropyl alcohol.
With nothing to lose, I completed the cleaning and the drum worked like a charm - no white bands - . . . except I had somehow dinged it (probably been careless with the vacuum cleaner) so the printed page had repeated patterns of two black dots on it.
I was going to repeat the exercise with the first drum, and instead of using Brasso, I used "Shellite", which is a light, clear hydrocarbon like petrol, but with no additives. Shellite is a local tradename for "lighter fluid".
The brush in the first drum had lots of toner and a band of fluff as well. This was easy to vacuum away.
Cleaning the first drum with Shellite and tissue took longer than cleaning the second with Brasso. The black marks came off reasonably quickly, but there was a surprising amount of clear orange *stuff* coming off the drum long after the black marks had gone and the drum was apparently clean.
I have no idea what this gunk is, but it must come from the toner, since it surely doesn't come from the paper. I am not sure how much of this I removed with the Brasso on the second drum, since the Brasso is about the same colour and I didn't notice it.
The orange stuff took many Shellite-soaked tissues to get rid of. I kept going until only a minimal amount of orange was coming out. It was soluble in Shellite - not a solid granular deposit which was being washed away, like I think the black marks are.
The first drum, now cleaned, works like a charm. It was already working despite the black marks in certain places, but I guess it will work longer now since it is all cleaned, and a large amount of yellow *stuff* is no longer on or in its surface.
Since there is no scraper blade, I think these drums will probably last a long time. They appear to be made of a glass-like material, not like some older drums which were coated in plastic.
This is a great printer. It is inexpensive and the toner carts can be refilled without too much fuss. If drums can be made to go for 100k copies or more, then that is a significant part of the usual running cost which is no longer a concern.
- Robin http://www.firstpr.com.au
This may apply to many other Brother laser printers, and printers made by Brother. Maybe it applies to other brands.
This is not a How-To - it is a How-I-Did-It. After reading this you may be emboldened to try this on your own printer. Please post with your experiences, good and bad.
These printers are rated to operate for 100,000 copies, but mine is going well after 72k over 3.5 years or so, and my guess it it will go on for years at this rate.
The original (first) drum, at ~61k copies, was working OK, but had marks on it. I installed a new (second) one, at considerable cost, because I thought it was a good idea to do so. The drums are rated to run for 50k copies. They cost AUD$200+ (Officeworks has the DR-3115 for $316!). The second one worked OK until about 11k copies later, there were soft white vertical bands in the output, most noticeable on areas of grey.
The first drum had some marks on it, and the second drum had worse marks. I think this early failure of the second drum was caused by me using a worn-out cart, which leaked a lot of toner. I had to frequently remove the cart and drum unit, separate them and clean them.
I assumed the marks were scratches in the photosensitive surface of the drum. With nothing to lose with the second drum, since it was making these white streaks, and with the first drum still working fine, which I could use if this cleaning attempt failed, I got out the Brasso and tried to polish the "scratches" out of the second drum.
To dismantle the drum assembly, I removed the right circlip, pulled the axle out the left side, and then removed a little black washer on the right side. Then the top unclips and the drum can come out.
There is a fine brush which picks up used toner, and I think at some part of the cycle, lets it all go (by the voltage on the brush being changed) so the toner goes back on the drum and is taken to the toner roller, where it is effectively recycled. This means these printers are extremely efficient with toner. I guess it means dusty paper would be a really bad idea.
I vacuumed out the brush, being careful not to bend the fibres too much. It appeared to be clogged with toner in some places - where the worst black marks on the drum were, which lined up with the white bands on the paper.
I understand Brasso dates back over 100 years - and according to my understanding of the Wikipedia article, may have been developed in Australia. Anyway, I think Brasso in a tin-plated steel "bottle" is from the 1970s, with a plastic spout and lid. (Older ones were all metal.) I got it for kero lamps. I think it was made before laser printers were invented. It has a soft yellowish abrasive suspended in hydrocarbon - mainly "white spirit" according to the label.
I put a bit on some tissue and rubbed away. Quickly, in the area I worked on, the marks disappeared. With some investigation, I was very surprised to find the marks were on top of the drum, and were not scratches at all.
Cleaning away the Brasso left a shiny drum, with a slightly "deep pearlescent" appearance. I cleaned away the remnants of Brasso with Shellite (see below) and/or isopropyl alcohol.
With nothing to lose, I completed the cleaning and the drum worked like a charm - no white bands - . . . except I had somehow dinged it (probably been careless with the vacuum cleaner) so the printed page had repeated patterns of two black dots on it.
I was going to repeat the exercise with the first drum, and instead of using Brasso, I used "Shellite", which is a light, clear hydrocarbon like petrol, but with no additives. Shellite is a local tradename for "lighter fluid".
The brush in the first drum had lots of toner and a band of fluff as well. This was easy to vacuum away.
Cleaning the first drum with Shellite and tissue took longer than cleaning the second with Brasso. The black marks came off reasonably quickly, but there was a surprising amount of clear orange *stuff* coming off the drum long after the black marks had gone and the drum was apparently clean.
I have no idea what this gunk is, but it must come from the toner, since it surely doesn't come from the paper. I am not sure how much of this I removed with the Brasso on the second drum, since the Brasso is about the same colour and I didn't notice it.
The orange stuff took many Shellite-soaked tissues to get rid of. I kept going until only a minimal amount of orange was coming out. It was soluble in Shellite - not a solid granular deposit which was being washed away, like I think the black marks are.
The first drum, now cleaned, works like a charm. It was already working despite the black marks in certain places, but I guess it will work longer now since it is all cleaned, and a large amount of yellow *stuff* is no longer on or in its surface.
Since there is no scraper blade, I think these drums will probably last a long time. They appear to be made of a glass-like material, not like some older drums which were coated in plastic.
This is a great printer. It is inexpensive and the toner carts can be refilled without too much fuss. If drums can be made to go for 100k copies or more, then that is a significant part of the usual running cost which is no longer a concern.
- Robin http://www.firstpr.com.au
