Drum LED Light on Brother Printers

Brother laser printers track the life of the drum unit very closely, as it is an essential component in laser printing technology.  The machine will warn you when the drum is nearing the end of its life with a blinking LED light, usually indicating that the drum will need to be replaced soon. The drum is the part of the printer that transfers printer toner from the cartridge to the page, so if the drum unit gets dirty or worn down, the quality of the prints will suffer.

The green light blinking next to ‘Drum’ indicates the end of the drum’s life is near and the blue ‘Go’ button is used to clear the blinking light.

If the drum LED is blinking, you can replace the drum immediately to avoid any further issue, but don’t jump the gun on this.  Even if the indicator light is blinking, it is recommended to continue using your current drum until you can see a noticeable decline in quality. Once you start to see this, the drum is truly at the end of its life.  The LED indicator light is actually based on the number of pages printed rather than the actual condition of the drum, so it is entirely possible for you to get many more pages after the first warning sign.

If the LED light continues to blink after you have replaced the drum, the printed page counter was not automatically reset when the new drum was installed. It is important to note that you should only reset the counter after installing a new drum so the printer can accurately keep track of the drum’s usage.  To reset this counter manually, follow these instructions:

1. Open the printer’s cover.

2. Hold down the Go button until you can see that all four LED lights are on, then let go of the Go button.

3. Shut the cover.

4. Confirm that the drum LED is off.

The drum is one of the most important parts in any laser printer.  If you so choose, you can always attempt to clean the drum before replacing it.  This may allot you a few more prints, but it also comes with some risks, as does any activity that involves touching components inside the machine yourself.  If you continue to have problems, don’t hesitate to contact Brother Technical Support for further assistance.