Do you use a laser printer at home or office? If so then you must be aware of the toner cartridge and replacement when the toner is empty. So, let’s look at the definition of each of them.
How do toner cartridge and a drum unit differ?
Toner powder is stored in a place in the printer that is called a toner cartridge. The drum unit is a cylindrical part of the printer that is electrically charged and pushes the toner powder over the paper to create text and images.
These two parts of the mechanism are most important to generate a print. You may need to change your drum unit occasionally, or your drum might be permanent and never need to get changed. This depends on what model of printer you use. That’s the question why this unpredictability? This occasion depends on the design and mechanism of the printer. Normally the drum unit is attached by default with the cartridge, in some cases, it is also available to single in the market as per the requirement of the printer. Parts of laser printer and printer itself are quite different. Many printers are manufactured in such a way that only the replacement of cartridges works for them. But some printers need both drum unit & cartridge both replaced at some interval of time. You need to check your printer manual to decide what parts are proper for your printer.
Most of the printers are with drum units while manufacturing.
Drum Unit is attached in HP Toners
If you have purchased HP laser printer the drum unit should be attached with the toner. That’s why you don’t need to change the drum unit separately. So, whenever you buy toner for the HP printer, you will have to change the drum as well. HP replacement ink cartridges are different and don’t work like this.
Toners and Drum Units are not separate in Brother Printers
Many printers like most of Brother’s manufactured laser printers mechanism have a drum unit not attached inside the toner. And that is the reason it has to be replaced every time. Unattached drum units work longer time than toner cartridges, and can be replaced after using a toner is changed 3 to 4 times. There should be an indication system when the replacement requirement of a drum unit is there but practically when the drum unit needs replacement, printed paper comes with black lines. This clearly indicates that your drum unit needs replacement. While in Brother printer ink cartridges and Canon compatible ink cartridges this system is a different way, when the tank is empty printer stops printing.
Are all printers are attached with toner and drum?
Yes by default all printers have starter-level drums and cartridges already fitted, just a ribbon to block the printing. Remove the ribbon and it will be ready to print pages.
What is needed for a drum unit?
If the drum unit is not installed, toner powder inside the cartridge is not able to throw and print on the page. These two parts are working with help of each other to get a print.
Do I need to buy the drum unit separately?
This is purely up to the brand of printer you have purchased. Most HP laser printers have drums already attached to the cartridge of toner. But if you have Brothers printers, you have to buy the drum unit additionally with the toner cartridge because it is separate from the toner cartridge. You shouldn’t get panic to hear that you have to change the drum unit because you don’t have to change it frequently. It takes time to get drum unit failure.
Which printer is better Inkjet or Laser?
When you compare ink tank printers and laser printers, finding a better one depends on usage. If you want a small number of prints every day or 2 – 3 days a week, you can buy an ink tank printer. But if you want to get bulk printing, you should go with laser printers because it is cost-effective in comparison to inkjet printing. For example, Canon printer toner can get more than 1000 print and costs 1$ while Canon compatible ink cartridges prints 500 prints at a cost of $8 approximately.
There is one more comparison between laser toner cartridges with drums and without drums. But there is no one better here. It costs almost the same overall.
The overall analysis says that separate toner is a bit more expensive than a cartridge attached to a drum unit.
This price hike is obvious, you are paying an extra price for a new cartridge and drum unit whenever your cartridge is empty.
Whenever you buy a new drum cum tonner, you make sure that the quality of printing shall be maintained thoroughly nice, the only problem is price shall be higher, especially when the cartridge price is premium and the pricing is hundreds of dollars. The price split between cartridge and drum unit makes the cost a little different. Only toner is normally low cost as you are only making payments for part of the holder where they include powder. That mechanism technology is not very much complicated as toner/drum combo cartridge which is why the cost of production is not very high.
You also should remember that the drum unit shall need replacement, we discussed previously that the drum shall need replacement after you change toner 4-5 times. The whole drum unit shall cost a minimum hundred plus dollars or maybe more, so this extra cost will be useful ultimately. When someone asks which printer is best, we have to say depends on usage. Some customers of the company don’t mind paying higher for the combination of drum and cartridge because they are more concerned about the quality of printing and they don’t have to compromise the quality of the printing. Also, they don’t have to run for separate parts whenever they find spots or rashes on the print. Some have more preference regarding the cost of the printing, they don’t mind changing parts of the printer frequently.
Whatever printer you buy just take care of the overall cost of both types of printer, separate drum and cartridges other one is the attached drum and cartridge that you have to change in short term.
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