We are getting black faxes and dark grey copies

if your drum is new and still you are getting a problem of dark background then you have to replace the toner cartridge.

Some of these machines will allow you to printe a grey scale test copy.
This will readjust the fax machine back to a nominal mode.
Not knowing how old or how long the machine has been serviced, background can be caused by dirty optics somewhere in the machine.
A remanufactured drum unit can cause this type of problem, (defective unit)
Competitive toner in the toner unit can cause poor copy quality.
Reinstall the old cartrige and see if the problem changes.
Not knowing if the machine has a seperate drum unit and developer housing, it would be hard to answer anything else.

sounds like you are using generic drum and toner. try OEM (brother brand). you say copies are coming out completely gray. try printing an internal report from the control panel. if that is gray or received faxes are gray, then the problem is not in your scanner area, and i would wager you are using "generic" supplies.

hth,
razors

I am having the same problem If anyone has an answer or whether judy you have found an answer.

If I do a greyscale strip to print my black is coming out as a dark grey. the bead off of the greyscale strip would appear that the pbk photo black is not actually printing.

This has been a problem for a few months but as I haven't been doing much printing didn't notice it just thought something was odd. Now I look at previous prints and the blacks are black I print it out now and it is a dark dark grey. Nothing has changed in my profiles or my workflow. I have tried hours of profile paper printing option changes and workflow adjustments but nothing changes, If I print 100 percent black from a file it comes out 95% grey I have tried it from three computers to clarify. It appears is a 4800 problem.
Perhaps it is not recognising that it is a PB catridge.

I have no idea.
I have tried adjusting the settings from the printer but there is no option to clarify catridge from the printer.
This is odd, if anyone has any idea.

if your RECEIVED faxes look good, then leroyal is dead on. you will need a new CIS which stands for contact image sensor. if you have an authorized brother service center nearby, they may be able to do it for 100 to 150.00, depending on their pricing of course. if rec'd faxes are bad also, pull drum out and make sure the blue tab on top of drum is all the way to the right side, although that usually only leaves about a 1/2" black band.

hth,
razors

Hello sir; Just replace drum cartridge, it will take care your problem. GOOD LUCK!

This maybe your cleaning blade, your drum or the fuser unit....the best way to find out is to make a copy a to stop it before it's getting to the fuser unit ( that's the thing very hot). If you see your border it's your cleaning or drum...But when you replace a drum you must replace the cleaning blade to !


Hope it help !

How long has the drum been in there?
try this:
1-take out toner, look and see if it is ok. do you see stripes on it?
2- look at the drum are there any black rings on it? ( you did not specify white or black lines)
3- where the glass is on the opposite side ( the part you lifted to clean the glass, look at it standing from the back. you will see a white metal plate with some springs in it if you touch it. this is the reference that the fax has if there is/are a black dot on it it will give you a black line clean carefully. if it is scratched use white out to cover and make white again.

For the darkness try making a copy in photo mode if it is still too dark change drum.

your machine most likely has toner spills in it.
if you send faxes face side down follow these instructions ;
1- take out toner
2- look for thin glass strip on bottom inside the machine
3-wipe clean

if you make copies side up then do the same except look for glass strip on the upper side of machine

are copies light too? if not then it is sending fax, but most times it is inferior ink or drum causing the problem sometimes damp paper (try printing on reverse side as well)