The OEM Brother DR500 laser drum unit is professionally designed to produce the highest quality printouts for your Brother laser printer. The brand new DR500 is an ideal choice laser drum unit for your Brother printer. Brother DR500 laser drums deliver excellent, dependable results, page after page. You can depend on Brother DR500 drum units.Work with DCP-8020, DCP-8025D, HL-1650, HL-1650N, HL-1650NPLUS, HL-1670N, HL-1850, HL-1870N, HL-5040, HL-5050, HL-5050LT, HL-5070N, MFC-8420, MFC-8420D, MFC-8420DN, MFC-8820D, MFC-8820DN, MFC-8820DTN
Frequently Asked Questions
My printer leaves the same mark in the same place on page after page — what causes that?
A defect that repeats at the same interval down every sheet almost always points at the drum. The drum is a rotating cylinder, so a nick or worn patch on its surface prints the same spot over and over as it turns. Toner problems look different — low toner fades evenly, it does not stamp a repeating mark. On machines in this family, a repeating mark is the classic sign that the DR500 drum unit has reached the end of its 20,000-page life.
Does the DR500 come with toner already inside it?
It does not. The DR500 is the imaging drum only — an empty-handed part, so to speak — and it contains no toner powder. The toner cartridge is a separate consumable that you keep using and replacing on its own schedule. Buying this drum will not fix an empty-toner warning, and buying toner will not fix a worn drum; the two parts do different jobs and wear out at very different rates.
Can I clean the drum instead of replacing it?
Sometimes a light clean buys a little time. These machines have a corona wire inside the drum unit with a small slider tab, and sliding it back and forth a few times clears loose toner dust that causes streaks. What cleaning cannot do is repair a scratched or worn-out drum surface. If the marks come straight back, or the printer has printed close to the DR500's 20,000-page rating, the surface itself is finished and replacement is the real fix.
How many toner cartridges will I get through before this drum wears out?
Several. The DR500 is rated at 20,000 pages, while the toner cartridges for these machines are rated in the low thousands, so one drum normally outlasts a long procession of toners. That long service life is the point of the two-part design: the expensive imaging component is changed rarely, and only the powder is treated as a routine consumable.
How do returns and the warranty work on this drum?
Our side is simple: genuine Brother products can be returned to us within 30 days of delivery in all cases, whether the part is faulty or you ordered in error. Beyond those 30 days, the cover is Brother's own manufacturer warranty, as with any original Brother supply. Details of how to send something back are on the shipping & returns page, and our team answers questions Monday to Friday between 9 AM and 5 PM CST.
About This Brother DR500 Drum Unit
The DR500 is Brother's original drum unit for the HL-5040/HL-5070 and MFC-8820 generation of machines, rated for 20,000 pages of imaging life. This is the genuine article — the same part Brother supplied with the machines when they were new — priced at $233.87 compared with a $350.81 list price. Stock is held across our Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia and California warehouses so orders dispatch from the closest one. More original supplies for this generation of machines are listed on our Brother brand page.
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