When I first got the brother laser printer (HL-4070), it was before my wedding and I was printing stuff like invitations and programs. Of course I wanted color, and I was printing many pages during this time. So I have 3 days to finish printing the rest of the invitations, and the printer runs out of ink. Ok, which color is it? Blue? I have been using mostly blue. I never purchased toner, I was using whatever came with the printer. So I go and look over, and magenta, yellow and cyan are ALL out of ink. At the same time. Yeash, no way I used them all up at the same time. Plus, My design was very limited in the amount of color used. I wasn't printing full page color. Just some lines.
Turns out brother puts "sheet" limits on the toners. You print a certain number of pages and it shows up as "no ink" no matter how much toner you use. I understand that companies make money off of ink, but this is ridiculous. I am not paying for a new yellow toner cartridge (around $90) when the one I have is full.
Using this method, I have yet to run out of ink. I have only reset it once, so I don't know if the printer will tell me when I run out of toner, but I am done doing large jobs and can reprint one page without worry. I have no idea how many pages the toner will actually last, but unless you are printing full page color, It's not going to be as fast as the sheet limit expires.
So here is how to increase the sheet limit and use whatever remaining toner you have in the cartridge. I have no idea if this works on other brother toners, but hopefully this will help someone save an extra few bucks, plus save the earth from more litter.
How to get more out of a brother printer toner (ink) cartridge
For: Brother TN-115BK, TN-115C, TN-115M, TN-115Y toner
Printers that use this ink: Brother HL-4040CN, HL-4070CDW
Time: 5 minutes or less per cartridge
Level: Easy
Step 1.
Take out the toner/toners that are showing "no ink" or "replace toner" sign.
If pages were printed, look at the page to see if the color is indeed missing or if it's still bright and clear.
Step 2.
Look at the side of the toner cartridge. There will be a white wheel with a bar that looks like a small clip. If the clip is clearly visible inside a groove, you have hit the printer sheet limit. If you can't tell, it might be faster to open it up and see. (picture is after I reset it, so you can't see the clip)
Step 3.
Wrap the toner in saran wrap or paper towels with the sides open if you don't want toner on your hands. Unscrew 2 of the + screws on the side. Don't lose them.
Step 4.
Note that the side will not come off. There is a small tab that needs to be lightly lifted to unhook it. Lift the handle bar so it doesn't cover the side. Use something small like the end of a fork, knife, - screwdriver etc lightly to unhook the tab and lift. You don't need to force it, it will come off easily if it is being done correctly.
Step 5.
Make sure you don't start losing stuff here! I held this between my legs so it was standing up towards me. there is a white gear with something that looks like a paper clip holding it down. We are going to have to move this so it "resets". I held the metal part lightly up while I lifted the gear and turned it. You will probably not be able to turn the gear while it's connected to the other ones. I didn't take the spring off because it would be another thing to do.
Step 6.
Once everything is in place, put the top back on and screw in the screws. You should be ready to go! (oh, and when you are putting the top back on, make sure you didn't get any saran wrap or paper towel caught in the plastic. You will have to remove the top again if you do to get it out.) Place toner into the printer and see if what you did is a success. If not, you just spend some time trying to save some money and litter so don't feel so bad.
*Please note that this method only increases the amount of pages you can print because it resets the limit on how many sheets you can print with 1 cartridge. If you have no toner in the cartridge, you will be spending 5 min to find out you can screw and unscrew stuff. I am not sure if the printer will actually tell you once it's reset, if the printer is out of ink. So if you are printing 30 pages and it starts to print with one color missing, make sure you are there to check it and stop the printing if necessary.
Turns out brother puts "sheet" limits on the toners. You print a certain number of pages and it shows up as "no ink" no matter how much toner you use. I understand that companies make money off of ink, but this is ridiculous. I am not paying for a new yellow toner cartridge (around $90) when the one I have is full.
Using this method, I have yet to run out of ink. I have only reset it once, so I don't know if the printer will tell me when I run out of toner, but I am done doing large jobs and can reprint one page without worry. I have no idea how many pages the toner will actually last, but unless you are printing full page color, It's not going to be as fast as the sheet limit expires.
So here is how to increase the sheet limit and use whatever remaining toner you have in the cartridge. I have no idea if this works on other brother toners, but hopefully this will help someone save an extra few bucks, plus save the earth from more litter.
How to get more out of a brother printer toner (ink) cartridge
For: Brother TN-115BK, TN-115C, TN-115M, TN-115Y toner
Printers that use this ink: Brother HL-4040CN, HL-4070CDW
Time: 5 minutes or less per cartridge
Level: Easy
Step 1.
Take out the toner/toners that are showing "no ink" or "replace toner" sign.
If pages were printed, look at the page to see if the color is indeed missing or if it's still bright and clear.
Step 2.
Look at the side of the toner cartridge. There will be a white wheel with a bar that looks like a small clip. If the clip is clearly visible inside a groove, you have hit the printer sheet limit. If you can't tell, it might be faster to open it up and see. (picture is after I reset it, so you can't see the clip)
Step 3.
Wrap the toner in saran wrap or paper towels with the sides open if you don't want toner on your hands. Unscrew 2 of the + screws on the side. Don't lose them.
Step 4.
Note that the side will not come off. There is a small tab that needs to be lightly lifted to unhook it. Lift the handle bar so it doesn't cover the side. Use something small like the end of a fork, knife, - screwdriver etc lightly to unhook the tab and lift. You don't need to force it, it will come off easily if it is being done correctly.
Step 5.
Make sure you don't start losing stuff here! I held this between my legs so it was standing up towards me. there is a white gear with something that looks like a paper clip holding it down. We are going to have to move this so it "resets". I held the metal part lightly up while I lifted the gear and turned it. You will probably not be able to turn the gear while it's connected to the other ones. I didn't take the spring off because it would be another thing to do.
Step 6.
Once everything is in place, put the top back on and screw in the screws. You should be ready to go! (oh, and when you are putting the top back on, make sure you didn't get any saran wrap or paper towel caught in the plastic. You will have to remove the top again if you do to get it out.) Place toner into the printer and see if what you did is a success. If not, you just spend some time trying to save some money and litter so don't feel so bad.
*Please note that this method only increases the amount of pages you can print because it resets the limit on how many sheets you can print with 1 cartridge. If you have no toner in the cartridge, you will be spending 5 min to find out you can screw and unscrew stuff. I am not sure if the printer will actually tell you once it's reset, if the printer is out of ink. So if you are printing 30 pages and it starts to print with one color missing, make sure you are there to check it and stop the printing if necessary.
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