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I have a Brother HL-L5200 DW Laser Printer that I purchased in late 2017. Recently, it’s done a VERY poor job printing on envelopes (the output is grey, not black, and easily smudged on envelopes, sometimes to the point that the post office rejects envelopes printed with it. Its status printout says that the Toner Cartridge has around 40% of its life remaining, and the Fuser Unit >>90%. I’ve printed 6662 pages, only 140 of them from the multipurpose tray (principally the envelopes). The status also says the ?“average coverage” is only 5.06%.

On Apr 25, 2025, at 5:10 PM, jimrobertson via groups.io <jimrobertson@...> wrote:

I have a Brother HL-L5200 DW Laser Printer that I purchased in late 2017. Recently, it’s done a VERY poor job printing on envelopes (the output is grey, not black, and easily smudged on envelopes, sometimes to the point that the post office rejects envelopes printed with it. Its status printout says that the Toner Cartridge has around 40% of its life remaining, and the Fuser Unit >>90%. I’ve printed 6662 pages, only 140 of them from the multipurpose tray (principally the envelopes). The status also says the “average coverage” is only 5.06%.

I have no idea what to do to improve its printing. I’ve never replaced the Fuser Unit, but the self-diagnostics page printout seems to say it’s fine. Randy, since you are SO familiar with Brother printers I’m hoping you might have some suggestions.

What you are describing sounds typical of an imaging drum that is end-of-life. It’s easy to replace.

Compatible Brother DR820 Laser Drum Unit
$25


Here are instructions for changing the drum (be sure to reset the counter too):


While you are in there, I highly recommend that you do this too.
- Remove the toner cartridge
- Shake it semi-vigorously from side to side (NOT up and down!)
- Drop it a foot or so, perfectly horizontally on a countertop so that it makes a light thump
- Re-install

This will distribute the remaining toner in the cartridge and get it to the bottom of the cartridge. Doing this might actually get you a few hundred extra pages of life from the cartridge.


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Randy B. Singer
Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)

Essential But Hard To Find Macintosh Software and Advice

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On Apr 26, 2025, at 3:20?AM, Randy B. Singer via groups.io <randy@...> wrote:

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?On Apr 26, 2025, at 3:20?AM, Randy B. Singer via groups.io <randy@...> wrote:

Here are instructions for changing the drum (be sure to reset the counter too):

Thanks so much. I think I also have a fuser unit, but the status report says it’s far from EOL. I guess I’ll leave it in place.

I’ll report back once the imaging drum arrives and I’ve had time to insert it…

--?
Jim Robertson

I’ve had an HP toner go out long before it should have, so I would agree with replacing the drum or toner first.