Do I need a new drum?

[scaryfast]

Hey all,

I have a Brother HL-1030 laser, but recently, the output has deteriorated.

Within solid black areas, the output is "mottled", kind of like if you were to do a paper and pencil rubbing of Hammerite paint.

No indicators are blinking, but is this a problem with the drum, or the toner, or something else?

Many thanks...

[ESALADUANE]

The drum could be nearing the end of its life. Your manual or documentation should tell you how long a drum is supposed to last. Also, your printer is supposed to have a set of LEDs (the drum light should be on top) that will come on when there is a problem. Check to see if the drum light is on (the light won't go off until you change the drum - if that's what it needs). The lights may not be working (they're attached to sensors), you may want to just pull the drum unit (and toner cartridge) out and put them back just to see if the lights come on (close all the doors, I think they're attached to sensors also).

The same panel will have a Toner light. If the Toner light is on that means that the printer is either out of toner or that the toner is not being evenly distributed inside the cartridge. I think you have to pull out the drum unit assembly to get to the toner cartridge. You can shake the toner cartridge (gently, and be careful not to get toner all over the place) to re-distribute what toner is left in there. If it's low, you'll have to replace it soon.

Check to see if the "toner save mode" is on. You can disable the "toner save mode" in the printer Properties tab of the Driver.
1. Open the properties of the printer driver.
(Right click on the printer name icon and select "Properties")
2. Open the "Advanced" tab. You change the toner save settings to "Off" or "On"
3. Once you've changed the setting, click on the "Apply" button to fix the setting and click on "OK".

Another possibility is that you need to clean the corona wire (it's on the under side of the drum unit). Your manual should tell you how to do this.

One other possibility is the quality/type of paper your using. With some printers, the toner won't fuse properly on certain types of paper. In some cases it won't fuse at all and you can rub the toner off your printed page with your finger.



This probably isn't a driver issue, but for best performance you can find the latest Brother HL-1030 laser printer drivers here.
http://solutions.brother.com/hl1200/...ivers1030.html