LaserJet 500 Color M551 PCL6 - Toner Level Error

[IndyDan]

I love my LaserJet 500 Color M551 but I am having a problem with the black toner level.  I went overnight from having a level of approximately 50-60% to 10%.  Literally overnight.  I had just checked levels at night and the very next day the black toner was showing low.  My print usage is very light.  According to the usage page the number for monochrome is 1,668.  Total is listed at 3,487.  According to the Supplies Status Page 3,543 pages were printed with the black toner and 2,154 with the 3 various color toners.  The only chance 3,543 has of being right is if black was included in all color prints so total black toner usage without color would be in the area of 1,400 pages.   There is no way we have printed 3,543 black pages in addition to 2,154 color pages.  We have had this printer 14 months.  We get a new pack of 500 pages approximately every 2 to 3 months.  At absolute most we've printed 3,500 total pages.  Most of our printing is heavier on color.  In fact we've done a large number of full page color prints.  But given the way we print the color is about where we would expect.  And when the black toner was showing 50-60% it was where we woudl have expected.

So what happened? Why did our toner level drop to 10% overnight?  I tried chatting with support but all they did was waste 1 hour of my time and accomplish absolutely nothing.  The service was so terribly slow that it was as if one person was working 3 or 4 chats at the same time.  So I tried that and got nowhere.  The support rep suggested I swap cartridges.  I don't have spare ones to swap.  It made absolutely no sense for me to buy a $160-180 cartridge so it could sit on a shelf for a year waiting to get used.  I certainly don't want to buy and open a new toner cartridge just to find out nothing was wrong with the other.   So the bottom line here is this... does anyone have any suggestions?  How do I know what the real toner level is?  Is there a way to reset the levels?

Better yet. Does anyone have this model printer and a known empty black toner cardtridge?  If so do you know the exact weight of an empty cartridge in ounces? I would also like to compare that to the weight of this model cartridge at 100% full.  If I had those two weights I would be able to calculate the exact amount of toner remaining.

Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

[Alan_R1 · Accepted solution]

I have a simple solution to your problem: just keep printing.  There have been problems with the toner gage system where there are sudden jumps in the reported toner level, like what you just experienced.  Unfortunately, we don't have a foolproof system for reporting toner levels, and there's no method to re-calculate and report the correct level in your cartridge.  The toner gages can't go up, they only count down.  When you eventually replace the cartridge, it will start from 100% again.

The good news is that you have not suddenly lost any cartridge life, it just looks that way.  Your printer will continue to print normally, and the toner level will sit at 10% for a long time.  When the black cartridge actually gets below 10%, the gage will start counting down again.  I'm sorry to see this problem coming up for customers, but it does.  There's nothing wrong except the reported black toner level.  I know this isn't a great answer, but it's the best I have.   I'm glad you like your printer - try to ignore the toner level for a while.

Best regards,

Alan_R

[IndyDan]

Thank you very much for your help Alan.  I print at such a slow rate that when I start to see the 10% level go down I will have plenty of time to order a new cartridge.

BTW you really have earned your Honor Student title. 🙂

[Meshleman]

I have replaced the black toner cartridge on my printer (the same model) however the low toner warning will not go away.

[SHThompson]

When I get odd issues like toner level reporting the first thing I do is update the firmware.

It might not help but if you call tech support that's a first thing they're going to tell you to do so I like to get it out of the way, and every now and then it actually fixes my problem.

If my post resolves your issue please click the accepted as solution button under it. To thank a technician for a post click the thumbs up button under the post. You can even click both buttons. < g >

[cds333]

LOL upgrading the firmware it what CAUSED the problem for me 🙂