| |
|
|
|
Brother Printer and MFC "Replace Toner" messages.
Brother printers and fax machines. Gotta love 'em.
They're inexpensive, reliable, and durable. But their tech support speaks
little English, and they're famous for stopping in mid-job because the
marketing department designed counter thinks you're out of toner. Surprise!
There's gold in them thar consumables, and Brother won't tell. There's a lot
more pages left after they tell you but a new one, if you know how to get
the durn machine to reset. Caution: Try these at your own risk. These are
short term fixes, i.e., 3AM and 50 pages to go.. Toner waste and/or new
toner may not have the right electrical static charge to work properly or
for long.
And yes, Brother tech support ticked me off.
If you (like us) have a large selection of
Brother Printers and fax machines, and tire of having to replace toner
cartridges when you know full well that there's still plenty of life left,
here is a table of Printer Reset Codes and sensor cover-ups.
No more "Toner end of life, replace toner" error code messages until its
really time!
MFC-7840 - HL-5040 - HL-5250 - MFC-7420 |
Model
|
Message
|
Software Reset
|
BLACK ELECTRICAL TAPE!
|
| Software Counting |
|
Per their marketing department, make the user
replace the cartridge before its really empty. Read below. |
|
| Optical Sensing |
|
|
Generally, there's an optical sensor that
either doesn't see all the toner, or doesn't like a Non-Brother cartridge.
Blocking the "window" on the cartridge will keep the light from reaching the
sensor, thus defeating the low-toner warning. Black Electrical Tape and a
little experimentation works wonders. Just don't let the tape get away and
wound up in the works.If the model has a low-toner detector there will be
a hole/window on each end of the cartridge. Remove the cartridge and hold
one end up to a bright light. Looking at the other end you may be able to
see light through a hole/window on that end. When the toner gets low the
light can go all the way through and be seen by a sensor that tells the
printer's "brain" that the toner is low. The light source and sensor are
mounted inside the printer cabinet, so there are also corresponding holes in
the tray, so the light beam isn't obstructed. The purpose of the tape is to
intentionally obstruct the light beam, so the "brain" thinks the cartridge
is full. Some block the hole/window on the cartridge, some block the
corresponding hole in the tray, it doesn't make any difference as long as
the light beam is blocked from reaching the sensor. |
| MFC-7420 |
|
1. Open the front cover door.
2. Press the "Options" button.
3. Type *00 on the keypad. |
|
MFC-7840
MFC-7840W |
"Toner end of life. Replace toner" |
|
Put Electric tape on the 1/2 inch hole in the
drum tray, right side away from the gears. Photocell looks at the side of
the toner cart through the hole. This also fixes aftermarket carts that
don't reset properly. |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| MFC-8640 |
|
|
The toner level sensor, is a little bubble eye
on the inside right wall of the printer cavity where the toner/drum
cartridge rests. Look with a flashlight, you will see it a few inches from
the front. Cover it up with black tape. |
MFC-9440
MFC-9440N |
|
1. With power on, open the toner access main
door (You will get a "door open" message in the LCD.)
2. Hit the "Clear/Back" button and... ta-dah!!! you go right to the “Toner
Reset Menu” (cue Vienna Boy's choir sounds here).
3. Using the up ^ Down > "Search" arrow buttons, you can then scroll through
reset options for each of the printer's [4] toner cartridges!
Code: B. = black; C. = cyan; M. = magenta and Y. = yellow
4. For each for these cartridges is the option to reset for low yield = S
(small?) or High Yield = H
5. Using the number keypad, select option #1 (to reset each to the size you
have installed.
6. Hit the "Clear/Back" button to get out of the menu, close door ad the
problem is FINALLY solved. |
|
| MFC-9840 |
|
|
Tape the sensor hole on the right side of the
toner. |
| 9840CDW |
|
|
Some brother cartridges use what is called a
"flag gear". The gear turns slowly every time the cartridge is used. When it
gets to the end of its range, a spring stops it from turning further and the
printer will not print until the cartridge is replaced. When a cartridge is
refilled, this flag gear must be reset or printer will think the cartridge
is still empty and it will not work. You can also squeeze some extra life
out of a used cartridge using this method. Caution: in cartridges that have
a built-in waste toner reservoir, resetting the flag gear can result in
continuing to print when the reservoir is full and spilling waste toner into
your printer. This can ruin your printer, so be careful. In printers that
have a separate waste toner receptacle, this is not an issue.
Flag Gear Resets:
1. Orient cartridge so that you are looking at the end of the cartridge
with the developer roller to your left. (This is the opposite end from the
filler cap). You should see 2 phillips head screws, one at the top right,
one at the bottom left. You should also see part of the gray flag gear
through an opening in the end cap.
2. Remove screws and the end cap they were holding in place (one or 2 gears
may fall out when you do this, but they should be simple to pop back into
place).
3. Note attachment point of the spring over flag gear, then temporarily
remove it so you can reset the gear.
4. Remove the flag gear and reinstall it so that its teeth are just
beginning to mesh with the adjoining gear.
5. Reinstall the spring.
6. Reinstall the end cap. |
| HL-1400 |
|
Quick Fix: 1. Open the front cover and leave
open while completing the following steps.
2. Turn the printer off.
3. Hold the 'go' button while turning the printer on. All panel lights
should be on.
4. Release the 'go' button.
5. Press the 'go' button 2 times.
6. Pause.
7. Press the 'go' button 5 times.
8. The toner light should be off.
9. The paper light should be on or flashing.
10. Close cover. The ready light should be the only light on. |
|
| HL-2040 |
|
Quick Fix: 1. Open the front cover and leave
open while completing the following steps.
2. Turn the printer off.
3. Hold the 'go' button while turning the printer on. All panel lights
should be on.
4. Release the 'go' button.
5. Press the 'go' button 2 times.
6. Pause.
7. Press the 'go' button 5 times.
8. The toner light should be off.
9. The paper light should be on or flashing.
10. Close cover. The ready light should be the only light on. |
|
| HL-2070 |
|
Keep the printer on.
Open the front cover.
Take out the toner.
Hold 'Go' Until all LED's light up.
Put in the toner.
Close the cover. |
|
HL-4040
HL-4070 |
|
1) Open the door as if you were going to
change the toners
2) Press the Clear/Back button
3) The Reset Menu appears
4) Reset all of the TNR-S settings(four of them - one for each color). If
two settings are shown for each cartridge, reset all 8. |
The "window" to tape is on the gear side and
has a clear plastic thing hidden behind another plastic guard with a hole
that lined up with the clear plastic window. |
| HL-4050 |
|
For the toner life reset menu:
1 Open the front cover of the printer
2 press and hold the cancel button
3 press the reprint button WHILE still holding cancel
4 If a reset menu displays, reset all the cartridges |
|
HL-5040
HL-5240TN-580 |
|
|
Link to resetting the
flag gear. |
