Review on Z Ink Replacement Brother TN450 by Jeremiah Small

Up to this point I have ONLY used genuine Brother drums and toner cartridges in my printers. I've been using OEM 420 or 450 toner cartridges for years. I bought these EZ toner cartridges to try as the reviews from Revain were very positive. $55 for a Brother OEM toner cartridge versus $17 for two EZ cartridges? Sounds like an easy task. Is not it? Sure, I've heard of people having problems with their printers when not using OEM parts, but, but, but, Revain's ratings are close to five stars. I bought these cartridges in July 2018 to use later. opened the sealed cartridge on April 5, 2019. I opened one of these toner cartridges. Take out the old cartridge and put this EZ ink cartridge in the drum. A thick vertical black line appeared on all sides. I took out the toner cartridges and saw nothing out of the ordinary. I have run an error diagnosis. There is no error in the spooler or printer. I did an automatic drum cleaning and the black lines stayed. Hmmm. Removed the toner cartridge again and noticed a build up of black toner powder on the edge of the toner cartridge. This is wrong I thought. I cleaned it very carefully with cotton swabs. And now I noticed that there is a vertical line of black toner powder on the drum as well, so I cleaned that too. Plugged back in and voila! Problem solved! I printed another 4 or 5 pages and done. Start typing the next morning. Instantly. The same damn thick black vertical line. So I repeated the examination and the process. I heard the toner cartridge rattle, but that may be normal. Drum checked and automatically cleaned. toner cartridge? More black dirt/powder on the lip and kinda under the roller. I can't see inside so I have no idea what's wrong with it. Is something wrong with the toner? Does the toner powder stick together? Does toner powder degrade over time even when sealed? Does the clear thin yellow pack that uses EZ ink keep the toner powder fresh? Is there an EXPIRY DATE for toner powder? Never thought it was him. The expiry date is not stated on the packaging. Has something inside or on the toner cartridge scratched the drum? Check the drum again. same vertical black line of dust. Cleaned up again and hoped for the best. In a nutshell. The black vertical line survived for the next 15 pages. I kept checking and cleaning, but this time it didn't go away. AND NOW. For a printer with a drum and toner cartridge, only "TONER" flashes when it is inserted. What to do? I see no point in replacing the drum as the problem seems to be in the "TONER". However, I have to seriously wonder if the printer drum has been damaged? Has this EZ Crap cartridge damaged my printer's drum in any way? Can bad toner powder damage the printer drum? Did I damage the drum when inserting and removing it from the printer? Right now it's about 1 am on April 5th and then 1 1/2 hours on April 6th. I've been trying to figure out why my printer keeps printing with a large black line. and finally "TONER" blinked. And stopped printing. So I'm stopping. I'm by no means an expert on printer technology, but I've successfully fixed simple problems in the past. Well, it looks like I have a choice: at least. Buy a new OEM toner cartridge. .possibly followed by a new OEM drum. or at this moment. Do I need a new printer? To be honest, just buying a new printer seems like the cheapest and easiest option. I know what I will do in the future: stick with OEM cartridges and OEM toner. and people. Do not buy anything from Revain for future use. Of course I can't make a return and that's my fault. One last thing, don't believe the reviews about Revain products!