The Brother HL-5470DW laser printer, like every other laser printer, periodically needs to have its toner cartridge replaced. But, less frequently, it also needs to have its drum unit replaced. This is the part in the printer into which the toner cartridge is placed. You usually need to replace the drum on the 5470DW when the printer indicates that the drum life is getting low. Brother states that the typical drum life is approximately 30,000 pages. But you may have replaced the drum unit, only to find that the printer is still indicating that the drum life is low. This is because you also need to reset the drum life counter on the Brother HL-5470DW. Fortunately this process takes only a minute or two, then you will be able to return to your normal printing without the nuisance of the warning message.
Resetting Drum Life After Drum Replacement on Brother HL-5470DW
These steps were performed on a Brother HL-5470DW printer after the drum unit was replaced. Step 1: Turn on the Brother HL-5470DW. Step 2: Open the front cover of the printer by pressing the front cover release, then pulling the front cover forward.
Step 3: Press and hold the green Go button for five seconds, until you see a message on the display that says Drum Clear.
You can then close the front cover and return to normal printer operation.
Summary – How to reset the drum counter on a Brother HL-5470DW –
Additional Notes
As mentioned previously, Brother identifies the typical page count of a Brother HL-5470DW drum to be about 30,000 pages. If the printer is indicating that you need to replace the drum, and you haven’t gotten close to this printed page count, then you can try resetting the drum counter if you haven’t replaced the drum. For the sake of reference, a TN-720 toner cartridge should provide approximately 3,000 pages, which means that an HL-5470DW drum should last through 10 toner replacements. If you use the TN-750 cartridges (the high-yield, and more expensive option) then you should be getting about 8,000 pages per cartridge, which means that the drum should last through about four replacements. If it doesn’t seem like the quality of your prints is decreasing, then you might be OK simply resetting the counter, instead of replacing the drum. The signs of a failing drum typically include random black spots on your printed page, blurry printing, or an overall decline in print quality. However, if you do notice a decline in print quality after resetting your HL-5470DW cartridge, then it might be time to replace the drum. You can check pricing on the Brother HL-5470DW TN-720 drum cartridge here.
After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites. His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well. Read his full bio here.
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