Prniter newbie, toner change (Brother 5250DN)

[Please keep soc.culture.indian in the groups line. I'll have to access
the replies there.]

Severe newbie here, all help appreciated. I have a Brother HL-5250DN
laser printer and the original toner cartridge seems to have run out
(can tell form the print quality). Questions:

1. On the printer all 3 lights are on: paper, drum, toner. I know
there's paper in there. A friend says not to worry, just change toner.
Is that true?

2. As I have never done this, what does mean to change the toner?
Should I fill the cartridge myself? Are there places I can take to who
will fill it? Or do I just have to buy a new one? If new, then are
compatible ones good enough or should it be Brother?

3. If you are in/near Chicago, what's the best store to go here?

Any guidance appreciated. If it was your printer what would you do?
Thanks.

On Sun, 12 Apr 2009 11:35:11 -0500, Newbie wrote:

[Please keep soc.culture.indian in the groups line. I'll have to access
the replies there.]

Severe newbie here, all help appreciated. I have a Brother HL-5250DN
laser printer and the original toner cartridge seems to have run out
(can tell form the print quality). Questions:

1. On the printer all 3 lights are on: paper, drum, toner. I know
there's paper in there. A friend says not to worry, just change toner.
Is that true?

There must be an index in the manual. Look it up

2. As I have never done this, what does mean to change the toner?
Should I fill the cartridge myself? Are there places I can take to who
will fill it? Or do I just have to buy a new one? If new, then are
compatible ones good enough or should it be Brother?

You always want to purchase a new one as specified in your owners manual.
I believe Staples is one place they are sold. You just do not want to
endure any mess so do it the way the manual says.


3. If you are in/near Chicago, what's the best store to go here?

Staples, Office Depot and maybe Costco.

Any guidance appreciated. If it was your printer what would you do?

All the guidance you need is in the manual or at www.brother.com
Thanks.

"Newbie" wrote in message
...
[Please keep soc.culture.indian in the groups line. I'll have to access
the replies there.]

Severe newbie here, all help appreciated. I have a Brother HL-5250DN
laser printer and the original toner cartridge seems to have run out
(can tell form the print quality). Questions:

1. On the printer all 3 lights are on: paper, drum, toner. I know
there's paper in there. A friend says not to worry, just change toner.
Is that true?

2. As I have never done this, what does mean to change the toner?
Should I fill the cartridge myself? Are there places I can take to who
will fill it? Or do I just have to buy a new one? If new, then are
compatible ones good enough or should it be Brother?

1. Go to www.brother.com and download the manual for this
printer. This will tell you the meaning of three out of the four panel
lights steadily on. (My Brother HL-2040 printer has no indication
for three lights on steady -- only for four lights blinking, or else one
only, blinking or steady.

2. You should ensure the paper path is clear. (See manual: the
paper path is visible inside the back panel, and you may need to
remove the drum & toner from the front.)

3. If there is no more toner, buy and replace a Brother brand toner
cartridge (following instructions in the manual.) Some third-party
refills are OK but I do not know which may be sold in Chicago.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" wrote in message
...
In article , Newbie
wrote:

Severe newbie here, all help appreciated. I have a Brother HL-5250DN
laser printer and the original toner cartridge seems to have run out
(can tell form the print quality). Questions:

1. On the printer all 3 lights are on: paper, drum, toner. I know
there's paper in there. A friend says not to worry, just change toner.
Is that true?

What does the owner's manual say?

My God, is the entire world this stupid?

Not many of us are surprised to encounter a "severe
newbie" who does not know what the manual includes
and (when trouble happens) does not think of the
manual. Perhaps this is what NGs are for.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Don Phillipson wrote:

...

Thank you and everyone else for advice.

The owner's manual, accessed at www.brother.com, mentions blinking
lights as error messages, not when all 4 are steadily on as was the
case with my printer.

However, after unplugging the printer and plugging back, the lights
have gone back to normal, but the print quality is still poor (light
and uneven print).

I'll try to disassemble unit and clean at first, then change the toner
cartridge.

Back to the toner cartridge issue. Of course I have found a lot of
places which will gladly sell a new/refurbished cartridge, but are
there places where I can carry my cartridge and they will refill it?

Simple googling and yellow book etc haven't helped.

Thanks.

Try looking for your local Cartridge World. They can re-manufacture most
laser toner cartridges.

"Newbie" wrote in message
...
Back to the toner cartridge issue. Of course I have found a lot of
places which will gladly sell a new/refurbished cartridge, but are
there places where I can carry my cartridge and they will refill it?

Simple googling and yellow book etc haven't helped.

Thanks.

On Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:35:58 +0100, Stick Stickus
wrote in :

Try looking for your local Cartridge World. They can re-manufacture most
laser toner cartridges.

"Newbie" wrote in message
...
Back to the toner cartridge issue. Of course I have found a lot of
places which will gladly sell a new/refurbished cartridge, but are
there places where I can carry my cartridge and they will refill it?

Simple googling and yellow book etc haven't helped.

Thanks.

Of course, it would be helpful to know whereabouts in the world the OP was -
Auckland or Afghanistan, Mogadishu or Mangaweka, Wooloomooloo or Wales,
Delft or Dunedin...

--
- Nicolaas

On 21-Apr-2009, Nicolaas Hawkins wrote:

but are
there places where I can carry my cartridge and they will refill it?

Some parts may need replacing, such as the scavenger blade, and
drums don't last forever. Unless it's done properly you may be
wasting your money. Not forgetting that each mfr has variation
of toner components, too high a melting pointand it won't
fuse properly.
OEM ones for most printers appear cheaply on eBay from
companies who no longer have the printer. Companies
tend to buy OEM, domestic users aftermarket generics.
I've bough many OEM HP ones on eBay in the sealed box.

On Apr 12, 9:18 pm, Newbie wrote:
Don Phillipson wrote:
...

Thank you and everyone else for advice.

The owner's manual, accessed atwww.brother.com, mentions blinking
lights as error messages, not when all 4 are steadily on as was the
case with my printer.

However, after unplugging the printer and plugging back, the lights
have gone back to normal, but the print quality is still poor (light
and uneven print).

I'll try to disassemble unit and clean at first, then change the toner
cartridge.

You can render it broken if you don't clean it right -- depending on
what you're cleaning inside there, there's ways to clean, and then
there's ways to clean. Be careful