Laser Printer OPC drums?

[Compman55]

Which is better, older drums with lower page count, or newer drums with higher page count?

4 yrs old with 72k
2 yrs old with 129k

Both are working great, but I am only keeping one for myself.

On the flipside, I used to own an HP Laserjet Series II, and the drum would only make it 2 yrs and failed. Did very little printing then.

 

[sdifox]

too many variables

 

[Compman55]

4 yrs old with 72k
2 yrs old with 129k

Both are working great, but I am only keeping one for myself.

Not really. Its one choice of the other. What would you do? Of course I am looking for opinions, not hard facts.

 

[corkyg]

This is a bit confusing. You mention a LaserJet (HP) and cite drum failure. I have used an old LaserJet 4000 for over 6 years, and can't imagine how that would happen. The drum is a component of the toner cartridge, and every time you put in a new cartridge, you have a new drum. In that design, the drum will last for 3 to 3 toner refills. I used to have my cartridges refilled by a professional agency in Oregon, and they would replace the drum with one that had a much longer life.

Therefore, based solely on my own experience, I would choose the one with the younger drum.

 

[Compman55]

This is a bit confusing. You mention a LaserJet (HP) and cite drum failure. I have used an old LaserJet 4000 for over 6 years, and can't imagine how that would happen. The drum is a component of the toner cartridge, and every time you put in a new cartridge, you have a new drum. In that design, the drum will last for 3 to 3 toner refills. I used to have my cartridges refilled by a professional agency in Oregon, and they would replace the drum with one that had a much longer life.

Therefore, based solely on my own experience, I would choose the one with the younger drum.

Sorry for the confusion. You have to understand my laserjet series II was from 1986. An I always bought genuine new old stock toners off ebay for like $10-20 dollars that were probably at least 10 yrs old by the time I opened them up. Out of the box it would print perfect. My printing habits are always, not print for months, then print 300-400 page manual, then not again for a long long time. When it started streaking, the drum was no longer "erasing" until 3-4 sheets went thru. It was becuase the OPC drum was taking too long to charge and discharge.

Fast forwardward to color lasers, My model uses toner bottles, and the drums are seperate from them, burried very deep down in the printer. The manufacture warrants them 200k pages, or 2 yrs whichever occurs first. I only print 1000-1500 pages a year.

 

[sdifox]

Sorry for the confusion. You have to understand my laserjet series II was from 1986. An I always bought genuine new old stock toners off ebay for like $10-20 dollars. Out of the box it would print perfect. My printing habits are always, not print for months, then print 300-400 page manual, then not again for a long long time. When it started streaking, the drum was no longer "erasing" until 3-4 sheets went thru. It was becuase the OPC drum was taking too long to charge and discharge.

Fast forwardward to color lasers, My model uses toner bottles, and the drums are seperate from them, burried very deep down in the printer. The manufacture warrants them 200k pages, or 2 yrs whichever occurs first. I only print 1000-1500 pages a year.

Do you need to print colour? And old stock toner is not necessarily a good idea. The toner and drum do age even in storage. You can just print a few pages to stop the streaking then print the real job.

Colour is very expensive to run.

 

[corkyg]

OK - I understand. Color laser is beyond my pay grade. In your case, the time period would be the determining factor based on your usage. So, again, I would choose the "youngest" one based on your usage.