imageCLASS MF272dw - Rapidly declining toner cartridge life

[Buadhai]

My wife is a busy attorney. She prints what I see as vast quantities of documents from wills, to contracts to court pleadings and more. 

The original starter cartridge for the MF272dw lasted about 13 months from May of 2023 to August of 2024. The first standard cartridge lasted about six months from August of 2024 to February of 2025. The second standard cartridge lasted only two months from February of 2025 to April of 2025. The third standard cartridge lasted only one month from April of 2025 to May of 2025. 

This is based on the Cartridge Log Report. 

Any idea what’s going on here?

[mreg]

Well, It's impossible to say without knowing the number of documents she printed with each cartridge.

[Buadhai]

Is there a way to find the printer's page count?

If not, all I can say is that the number of pages she prints is rather consistent while the toner life is not. The starter cartridge lasted 13 times as long as the most recent standard cartridge. There is no way that she printed thirteen times as many pages in the last month than she did in the entire first year. 

[mreg]

It's hard to take your your original post seriously. You claim that the starter cartridge lasted 13 months being used by a busy attorney.  The starter cartridge states a 700 page yield, which is probably more like 500.  Your "busy" attorney printed only one ream of paper in over a year printing "vast quantities" of long legal documents?  Some part of your post is simply not true. 

[Buadhai]

OK. Let’s assume that she only printed 500 pages in the first year. That’s about 40 pages a month. That means that the most recent standard cartridge only managed to print 40 pages. Does that sound more reasonable?

[Buadhai]

I asked my wife about this discrepancy. It turns out the dates on the printer log are incorrect. She checked the receipt and found that she bought the printer in May of 2024. So, here’s a revised first paragraph with corrected figures 

The original starter cartridge for the MF272dw lasted about 3 months from May of 2024 to August of 2024. The first standard cartridge lasted about six months from August of 2024 to February of 2025. The second standard cartridge lasted only two months from February of 2025 to April of 2025. The third standard cartridge lasted only one month from April of 2025 to May of 2025. 

Trouble is, if the printer log is unreliable there’s no way for me to know if any of the dates are correct. 

[Buadhai]

Thank you for raising the issue. If it weren’t for you comment I would not have thought of questioning the accuracy of the printer cartridge log. I'm actually amazed that the log is one year off for the starter cartridge. 

[mreg]

But again, it's not possible to assess why the various cartridges lasted as long as they did unless you know how many pages were printed with each cartridge.  The default answer must be "it did not last as long because you printed more pages."  There's no point in discussing it without that info.  If you don't have the info you don't have it.  And all of this is assuming that you're using Canon OEM cartridges.  If you're using third-party cartridges, with their inconsistency and inferior quality, there can be no answer for you here. 

[Buadhai]

OK then. I give up. Just another one of life’s disappointing mysteries. 

[mreg]

Actually there's nothing to be disappointed about.  Toner cartridge life is measured in pages printed, not time.  So if you don't know the pages printed, there is no basis to be disappointed in the cartridge life.  A mystery, yes. But one that you, not we, can solve.