Keep your Brother laser printer or copy machine chugging along with new toner
What is Brother toner and when do you need it?
If you own a Brother laser printer or copy machine, you will require Brother toner once it starts to run low and prints come out faded or streaked.
Brother toner is unique to Brother laser printers and copy machines, fitting inside different models based on the cartridge and/or drum to allow you to keep printing in both black and colour.
Long and rectangular in size and shape, there are different Brother toners to fit different Brother laser printers and copy machines; most will be compatible with several machines, so check the model number of your machine and the toner to ensure a match before buying.
Using official Brother toner from reputable third-party brands will ensure that your laser printer and/or copy machine continues to run smoothly, and you get clear, crisp prints as needed.
How is Brother toner different from standard ink cartridges?
Laser printers work differently than ink cartridges, though they both accomplish the same thing, which is printing text and images onto paper.
Inkjet printers use ink cartridges that contain a tinted liquid substance that transfers onto a page in a specific colour based on the pigment or dyes in each. Toner, which is used in laser printers and copy machines, is a fine, dry powder substance made from plastic particles and carbon, and with black and other colouring agents. The drum unit becomes electrostatically charged and colour is fused to the paper using heated rollers.
What types of Brother toner is available?
As noted, you can get Brother laser printer toner and toner for copy machines from Brother itself, under the Brother brand, or from a wide selection of third-party brands that make compatible toner cartridges.
Check the model numbers on the package or website listing to find the cartridge that matches your machine, or jot down the number of the current cartridge that needs replacing to search for it more easily. Many cartridges are compatible with multiple machines.
Toner cartridges come in individual colours, including black, cyan, magenta, and yellow, or you can buy sets that include the three colours, the three colours plus black, or different combination of colours. You can also buy multi-packs of just black, which is used most often, so you can keep extras in the cupboard to replace when you run low. They come in pairs, sets of three, or even up to four so you can keep well-stocked in the office or at home.
Some Brother printer cartridges can produce a thousand or so pages before they need replacing, while others are high yield and can produce upwards of 3,000 pages per cartridge.
Keep in mind that some Brother cartridges come with a chip and some are listed as “no chip.” The chip saves details about the printer and transmits information to the printer like page yield, covering rate, and more. If the cartridge does not come with a chip, you will need to remove the chip from the previous cartridge and insert it into the new one.