SKU:

CS-DR420-BK

Printer Brand:

Brother

OEM Number:

DR420

Ink Color:

Black

Page Yield:

Black:12000

Printer Type:

Laser Cartridge

Condition:

New Compatible

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my printer have both a drum and a cartridge?

Because the two wear out at very different rates. The cartridge is a consumable that empties as toner is used up; the drum is the imaging component beneath it and lasts through many cartridges. This DR420 drum unit — $30.50 — is the part you change only when the printer's drum warning appears or print quality points to it.

What are the signs of a worn drum?

Defects that repeat at regular intervals down every page, background shading that makes white paper look gray, and streaks or spots that stay identical after you swap in a different cartridge. Those patterns come from the drum surface, not the toner supply.

Which printers take the DR420?

It fits MFC-7240, MFC-7460, MFC-7860DW, MFC-7360, MFC-7360DN, MFC-7460DN, MFC-7360N, MFC-7365, MFC-7365DN, MFC-7860, HL-2130, HL-2240, HL-2275, HL-2275DW, HL-2250DN, HL-2132, HL-2240D, HL-2270, HL-2220, HL-2242, HL-2270DW, HL-2230, HL-2242D, HL-2280, HL-2230D, HL-2250, HL-2280DW, DCP-2240D, DCP-7060, DCP-7065, DCP-2270DW, DCP-7060D, DCP-7065DN, Intellifax 2840 and Intellifax 2940, the Brother models designed for the TN420/TN450 cartridge family.

Can I move my current cartridge into this drum?

That is the standard procedure. Press the lock lever on the old assembly, lift the cartridge free, click it into this drum until it locks, and slide the assembly back into the printer. Nothing about the cartridge changes.

What should I do right after fitting it?

Reset the drum counter through the printer's menu — the exact steps are in your printer's guide. The counter is how the printer tracks drum life, and resetting it both clears the warning and starts the new drum's record from the beginning.

What guarantee does this unit carry?

A 1-year warranty with free returns for a full year. Full details are on our shipping & returns page.

How do I make sure I am ordering a drum and not another toner cartridge?

Read the label on the part you removed. The drum unit carries the DR420 code; the cartridge that clicks into it is a TN420 or TN450. The two are ordered by different codes and are not interchangeable, and a printer asking for a drum will not be satisfied by a cartridge. Thirty seconds with the old unit's label is the check that prevents the wrong box arriving.

Does heavy coverage shorten this drum's life?

The DR420 is rated up to 12,000 pages, and that figure is a page count rather than a toner measure — but dense, dark pages work the imaging surface harder than light text pages do. A printer fed mostly heavy graphics or dark copied originals can show drum wear before the rating, while a text-only machine may run past it. Treat the rating as the planning figure and the printed page as the final judge. For the TN420 and TN450 packs priced both ways — at the 1,200-page and the 2,600-page rating — plus the DR420 drum sets, see our Best Brother TN450 Toner Cartridges — the page that shows both cost-per-page readings.

Does it make sense to keep one of these sealed as a spare?

For a shared or business-critical printer, yes. A drum change is unplanned by nature — it is announced by a warning or by defects on the page — and a sealed DR420 on the shelf turns that event into a five-minute swap using the cartridge already in the machine. Keep the spare flat and sealed until fitting day, and reorder when it goes into service.

What should happen to the worn drum?

Keep it until the replacement has printed cleanly for a few days; it is the physical evidence of the fault if questions arise, and the fallback if the problem turns out to have been misread. After that it can leave with your office-equipment recycling. A worn DR420 has no refill path and no remaining role — its 12,000-page working life is complete.

About This Brother DR420 Drum Unit

A compatible DR420 drum unit for Brother's TN420/TN450 printers at $30.50 — replace it when the drum warning lights or when repeating marks and gray shading trace back to a worn imaging surface, and keep using the cartridge you already have. Backed by a 1-year warranty and 1-year free returns, shipped from IL, PA, GA, or CA. See the wider Brother toner cartridges and drum range.