Brother MFC-420CN
We just bought a Brother MFC-420CN multi-function printer and although I haven’t used it much, I’m already pleased with it. The reason I chose it is because of the network port and the price (less than $150). In addition to being a printer, it’s a copy machine, a fax machine, a scanner and it can even print from digital media cards (like those you use in digital cameras).
I love having a copy machine handy in the house, so that alone is nice, but having the printer on the network means we can print to it from any computer without having to set up a print server on one of them. It’s also nice to have a scanner in case we have any pictures we want to digitize. It even comes with OCR software for Windows so you can scan in documents and turn them into text.
It came with drivers for Windows on a CD but after getting it I realized I hadn’t checked for Linux support. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised. My machine is using CUPS and it was pretty easy to get it to work. In the end, it only took the following two steps:
1. Install the LPR driver and the CUPS wrapper driver RPMs for your printer and OS combination.
2. Follow the instructions for adding your printer in CUPS.
It’s not the fastest machine in the west, but it’s adequate for our needs. Printing speed is 20ppm black & white and 15ppm color. Copying speed is 17cpm black & white and 11cpm color.
It’s very compact, taking up less space than our old HP DeskJet 600C and new print cartridges only cost $6.95 for black and $5.95 for color at PrintPal. The print quality is quite satisfactory in my opinion and so far I don’t really have any complaints.
Carrot Ink is the best source of quality, inexpensive ink I know of.
Thanks! As you may remember, I’ve been considering something like this. My concerns were: speed (which now seems fine), quality (which seems fine), and noise. How noisy is it? This isn’t a huge deal, but I’m curious.
I haven’t noticed, which probably means it’s not that loud. It’s not whisper quiet either, but I think it’s about average.
Thanks, Dan. I’ve been thinking about getting a new printer for the house and you mentioned two features that I’ll be looking for – network capability, and fax. Not to mention the price. One question though. Carla prints alot of her own customer greeting cards (birthday, etc…). Aside from printing normal letter type jobs, how do you think it would perform in that capacity?
Jason: I’ll bring in an example of its work, in color, to let you make that decision. I think the quality is perfectly adequate for greeting cards.
I looked at the examples and I’m impressed. It should do nicely for the majority of print jobs we do at home. Thanks.
I have had this printer for about 6 months and had no problems until….the LED read that the Yellow Ink Cartridge was empty. It was not! I have a good amount left becasue I can see it in the window of the cartridge. Anyway, I went and bought the yellow cartridge and put it in. It now wants a cyan and still won’t let me print a black print only document! I am so frustrated right now I am screaming! These cartridges cost $12.95 at Staples. The machine is now saying that there is no cartridge in there. Help!!
I would double check that you’re putting them in the right way and making sure they’re fully inserted (it will make a clicking sound). I’ve replaced a black one already and just had to clean the heads a few times and it’s working flawlessly.
I have also had Lynn’s problem of error messages requiring me to replace ink cartridges although I can clearly see ink in them. I have put them back in, tried shutting down and restarting the printer (and the computer, though that should be irrelevant), and so on–it won’t even allow me to try to clean the cartridges until I replace them with new ones. It is frustrating . . . I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong, Lynn. I’ve been checking the seating and so on . . . And it also won’t let me print black-only docs without replacing the color inks. Any help?
I also bought a Brother MFC 420CN all in one, but am having a problem installing the cartridges. Are there any on line instructions? The ones in the book are not detailed enough. thanks to anyone with any ideas on this.
Frank: What sort of problems are you having? Make sure you remove the plastic strip that keeps the ink from leaking during shipment, then push in the ink cartridge until it clicks in. That’s all there is to it.
This printer a giant piece of garbage……I have ink refills and it works. I JUST WANT TO PRINT BLACK!!!! Why should I have fill the other carts up?????? I even pulled all the carts out except for the black, disconnected the power to the printer and it still tells me that my yellow is full……THERES NO YELLOW IN THERE!!!!
obtw IF YOU NEED A GOOD SET OF INK REFILLS GET THE ONES AT COSTCO….WORK GREAT AND IT COMES WITH A LOT OF INK.
It amazes me that a company would produce such a crappy printer….if i tell the software black and i have black ink…it should print !!!!!
Just remember you dont have to buy their crappy refills. Just score the top of the cartridge insert ink and cover the score with some tape.
Now I gotta go refill my cyan and yellow so I can print black….what a joke!!!!
Great job Brother…..morons
I would just like to know if there is a way to print black only images when I’m out of color ink. I love everything about the printer until I came to this… Is there anyway to print black text only ?
when you are printing anything (even black only pages) the yellow cartridge is needed because it outouts a hidden pattern of yellow dots onto the page so people can track that page back to you. Xeros started this some time ago. It’s supposed to be to fight counterfeiting, but its a privacy invasion if you ask me, and a nousiance if you ask each other. supposedly these dots are better visible under some special light. Before you go all CSI on me and try a blacklight, try upening an all blue image. One that is ALL blue in the red-green-blue sense. No red, no green, full on blue (0000ff). Put this up full screen and hold your paper next to the monitor, I bet that will make them visible.
I own a 420-cn, and an maving a great deal of trouble getting the cups wrapper to install. What really steams me though is how easy it was in windows to set everything up, but welcome to reality.
This da–ed printer won’t print in black, even though it has a full black cart in it. Have tried all the thing in the manual, but to no avail. What gives?
John F: Do you have the other cartridges full? (See comment #13 above)
How do I get my computer to recognize read and save a scan?
You need to install the Brother drivers and then get an application that allows you to acquire the image from the scanner. Gimp and Picasa will both work.
Hi Dan,
How do u clean the print heads on the Brother MFC-420CN
Use the Ink button (third one below the power button), then hit the down arrow and that’s the cleaning menu. You can clean black, colors or all.
this printger sucks bad, waste of money to print one paper in black ink, you have to have all brand new crtriges, a
i have one of these fantastic printers…. works great for my uses… only one thing… GREEN…. EVERYTHING IS GREEN… i scann its green… anyone any ideas?
I ENDED UP REPLACING THE BLACK AND BLUE INK CARTRIDGES WITH NEW ONES ON THIS PRINTER .. THE OTHERS ARE FINE, BUT IT STILL KEEPS SAYING “NO CARTRIDGE” —> THIS WOULD REALY BE A NICE PRINTER, IF IT WEREN’T FOR THE INK PROBLEMS THAT IT HAS WHEN IT COMES TO REPLACING IT. BECAUSE OF THIS, I’M FORCED TO ADMIT THAT THIS PRINTER SUCKS!!!
I figured out what the problem is: the printer has light sensors near one side of the cartridges (the side where the ink comes out). If the printer reports empty cartridge even after refilling, just place a sticker over the thin part that protrudes from the side of the cartridge. After that it works again (bad thing is that the printer probably won’t complain about low ink level – you’ll have to check it yourself).
JQ: Thanks for the tip! That will help a lot of people who have commented here.
Can anyone tell me how to refill the ink tanks on my 420?
Thanks,
Vince
Vince: Open up the printer, unclip the old ones and push the new one in until it clicks into place. Then run a cleaning cycle using the Ink button and you should be all set.
I am having the same problem with “Near Empty Yellow” when the cartridge is, in fact, full.
I have tried taping the ridge on the cartridge – still no luck! Off to the dealer today…Edna
Hi Dan, what I was meaning was, “How can I refill the ink tank using my ink refill kit?” I used it for the old HP I had but n ot sure how to do it on the new Brother. Thanks.
Vince: Ah, I misunderstood. I’m not sure about that. I would have expected the ink refill kit to come with directions.
I replaced my yellow ink cartrige on my brother 420 cn but the message reads “no cartrige” now i can’t print anything not even black
Thanks JQ.
Your solution also worked on brother mfc-3220c. This ink situation clasify these printers as drm, i.e. defective by design. Watch out if planning to buy.
Hi I bought my brother all in one specifically because it has the scan function. However I haven’t been able to use it. I’ve read the brother manual from cover to cover and there are no step by step instructions on how to scan a document or photo. What I do is open the cover place the document face down and press the button scan except nothing happens. I’ve searched the interent ad infinitum and there’s seems to be no step by step instructions to use this functiona and I am really frustrated. Anyone have any suggestions. Do I need to get some other additional optional equipment to make it work?
Elaine: I’ve only used it through the computer, where you place a document face down, then using a software package (like Google’s Picasa) you tell it to scan, or in some cases it’s referred to as acquiring an image.
JC, good job with Tip #23!!! I’ve been cursing this printer for hours. After reading your post, and after some strategic applicatin of masking tape, I’m back up and printing.
Bravo Zulu.
We have a Brother MFC-5840CN and I e-mailed Brother to ask why we can’t print using only black cart. Here is what their response:
Brother Customer:
Thank you for taking the time to write to us. In reference to your
question: Unfortunately, there are no settings or features that will
allow you to bypass the ink empty message or to print only in black
without replacing ink cartridges. If the unit were to continue printing,
print jobs and cleaning cycles would suction air from the dry cartridge
and damage the print head. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Sincerely,
Facsimile E-mail Support
Brother International Corporation, USA
I’ll leave it up to you to believe this or not.
I must add that until this summer, I worked at Lexmark since 1995 in printhead development and manufacturing (my new husband had the Brother previously) and have never heard of this; but the carts we built during my time each had their own printhead instead of a shared one.
Re: Brother, we all know those carts aren’t empty of ink even when they say they are.
Julie: Thanks for that information. That’s interesting.
Comment 23 by JQ fixes the problem. I’ll try to rewrite his comment in greater detail. The printer has light sensors near one side of the cartridges (the side where the ink comes out)(the right side or outer edge of the printer). If the printer reports empty cartridge even after refilling, just place a sticker (or duct tape or masking tape)over the thin part (middle up-down protrusion) that protrudes from the clear side of the cartridge. After that it works again (bad thing is that the printer probably won’t complain about low ink level – you’ll have to check it yourself, but that is easy because you can take out the ink cartridge and tilt it to the clear side to see if there is any ink left).
I have the O’Brother MFC 5840CN. I bought it about 5 months ago (July ’06) and did some light printing and was very happy with ALL of the features, especially the network printing and the half-baked Linux support (more companies NEED to get on the Linux band wagon. I am a consumer, and I have spoken!). I am just now having ink level difficulties even after replacing ALL the Colors and Black cartridges. I noticed that even my “empty” cartridges still had plenty of ink in them. What is going on? I’m going to try the tape-method-light-sensor theory and come back here and let you know how it works. Wish me luck.
To Vince who wanted to know how to refill the ink tank; I just took my power drill and made a hole in the front top clear part of the tank above those sensors mentioned above, filled it with ink, and coverd the hole with tape. It worked fine.
Hey,
I fought with the ink error — it just wouldn’t recoignize a full cart “Ink Empty Black Replace Ink” but I used JQ’s tip #23 with the sticker. I powered off and back on and sucsess instanly
Thanks for the tip
About the solution given in Comment 23: I suspect that it is the air bubbles that are causing this problem. After reading that a sticker would do it, I went and tapped the cartridge until there were no bubbles on the light sensor side. The printer happily accepted the third party cartridge.
l bought the mfc 420cn printer/fax and l hooked-up with the computer, everything is okay, coz my computer shows the fax/printer but the problem is l cannot print at all . l went to diagnosis with the cd that it came with show the connections ok but cannot communicate. do l need to get another software upgrade for my printer/fax coz ave gone through all the troubleshooting and nothing works? l am l missing something?
micheal: I’m not sure what else you need to do. My first guess is that something is wrong with your connection. Double check the network or USB cable to make sure it’s plugged in.
Just wanted to thank QJ for his (her?) post regarding “fooling” the MFC 420 into reporting the ink cartridges as full. It saved us a lot of trouble.
Other than the ink being a bit of a problem, we like the unit, and the driver that came with it. We do take into consideration that it is not a $5000.00 machine, and you can’t be too rough with it.
I’ve had some of the same problems with cartridge near empty problems but it doesn’t seem to affect the functioning of the printer. My problem arises when I try to print photos. The paper keeps jamming. I use glossy paper and make sure the settings are set up for it but it jams nearly every time. Any suggestions?
THERE WAS A PROBLE WITH MY COMPUTER SO IT HAD TO BE RESTARTED… AND NOW MY PRINTER IS NOT CONECTED TO MY COMPUTER AND I DON’T HAVE THE CD TO INSTAL IT AGAIN SO THEN I TRIED DOWNLOADING THE SOFTWARE BUT IT IS STILL NOT WORKING…. DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO FIX IT???
Does anyone seem to have any trouble with the MAGENTA not printing with their color settings? I have a Brother 420 cn that I decided to purchase for my own desktop AFTER being well pleased with the Brother 5440 model (the BIG ONE!). I do a massive amount of printing, I love the POSTER feature and the ability to refill SPONGELESS ink tanks. I have since been having trouble with the MAGENTA not printing AT ALL. The cartridges are all full and properly inserted. When the problem first started, I thought it would be worth trying purchasing the Brother Brand replacement carts., but even THAT was pointless! Their own brand doesn’t shoot ink! My dilemma: no magenta printing after REFILL, after BROTHER brand ink cart replacement, and TONS of cleaning cycles. I’ve tried everything short of bleeding my own blood on the jets to have red ink. (Didn’t KISS donate blood for red ink in their comic book in 1977??!!) Any advice before I become a felon and hurt someone with this “smart purchase?” THANKS A MILLION! The advice I have read on here already is pretty indicative that this brand and model is just not too reliable.
Randy
In addition to the post I made about the MAGENTA not printing, I failed to mention that the 420cn that I purchased is a REMANUFACTURED one, and has only been used in the last 3 months. I have not done alot of heavy printing with this one either, as my last post would imply. I am stumped as to the poor return on investment after only a few months of LIGHT DUTY/regular print usage.
Randy
FOR THOSE WITH INK PROBLEMS READ POST #23
Thanks JQ, it worked like a champ!!!!
Those little stinkin mirrors.
Got a MFC420CN that worked well for some time. Bought a supply of aftermarket ink cartridges, and at some point it stopped printing in black. All cartridges are full. All report full in the software, however if I open the maintenance window in the remote setup program, it reports that one or more ink cartridges are empty (right underneath the four “fuel gauges” that all report full carts.
If I print a page of black text, it runs, spits out pages, seems to think it’s printing, but the pages are blank. I’ve run the cleaning funciton about a hundred times. Printed a page of solid bold text and printed forty copies. No change.
Any suggestions?
It might be worth trying to find new aftermarket ink cartridges. Some of them have been used so many times they get gummed up.
I am glad I found this place. I have a problem, I just got my brother 420 CN and am in the midst of getting flustrated because I cannot get the ink cartridges in. Well they ate placed in and”clicked’ in place but when I shut the cover it repeatedly says “No Cartridges Open cover…..”What am I doing wrong. I tried the fix from post #23 on the black one should I do this to all 4?
I saw many coments in reference ink cartridges but not one about the error message “cannot clean”. Can anyone tell me how to manually clean or replace the print heads.
Jack: I’ve never done it manually, and I’m not sure they’re really meant to be done by hand. You might try contacting Brother directly about the issue.
Hi folks, my MFC 420 CN was not printing black at all, but had lots of ink in the cartridge. I ran the print quality test page, (by pressing the ink button on the front panel, and following the prompts). The test page showed the magenta was not 100% clean as well. I ran several cleaning cycles on both the colour, and the black. After about 5-6 cleaning cycles and test pages, I have all the black and colour dots on the test page. I’m back in business.
My mfc420cn worked great for a long time, until recently: I cannot print any black text, but faxes come through just fine and print in black. I ran utility, cleaned and cleaned, still no print jobs print, only faxes. Weird huh? Anyone heard of any fixes for this?
I have a brother 6 in one printer, MFC 420 CN. On very rare occassions there will be a paper jam very far back into the center of the printer. How do you get that kind of jam unstuck?
OK.. thanks for the info on the tape. I used a black marker and coloured the peice all in. It now registers that the cartridge is there and is cleaning.. Thanks for the help.. This might work for people who dont have tape handy
This is the 3rd replacement of a Brother in the past 2 years. I have purchase, Ink failure They replace entire system free no cost of shipping. Same problem with second. (210c). Went to buy Brother 420cn and SSDD.
My advice to all of you:
HP costly ink replacement.
Go Canon. Screw Brother.
I have the same problem as Tina (#52). I just bought this printer and it gives me the error message “no cartridge” after just having printed 5 minutes ago. Taking the cartridge out and reinstalling it doesn’t help. Sometimes just shutting the printer off works, but not always. Right now I can’t get it to work at all. Any suggestions?
I have a MFC-420CN. After changing a black ink cartridge, it went into cleaning mode. But the message now says, “unable to clean.” I’ve already gone through the manual and followed directions, which didn’t work. I’ve called Brother directly, and they went through the same steps, and it didn’t work. The error message displayed is “Error Message 46” – I have called a local service center to help me… but can anyone help me without having to go through a service center? THANKS
#60: Make sure it’s pushed all the way down.. I thought my cartridges were seated, but then I decided to push real hard and they clicked in (which was a surprise since I thought it was already fully seated).
Gary
When the printer does it’s cleaning, what happens to the ink used for cleaning?
I just set my refurbished MFC-420CN I got at fry’s last week. The quality test looked ok, except the yellow. The first line of the yellow was missing two dots at the end… Tried again a few days later and same thing so I decided to clean the print heads (colors only), and that fixed the problem. So far I am happy with it. Cost me $60 after rebate. I’ll see how long this last… hopefully for five years :).
my computer compaq presario pent #4 ,it came pre loaded with windows vista…. i just bought the brother 420CN all-in one …. I am frustrated already… the soft ware for xp came with it ..however it only loaded to step 9 and directed me to find the paper driver that it needs from Brother…. after reading all this great info .. idon’t know what I need CUPS ,PATCHES or what ….. help
angela: I would suggest contacting Brother about their support in Vista. CUPS is for Linux, so you won’t need to worry about it. It’s possible that you just need some updated drivers.
JQ (post #23)- THANKS!
I’ve been having the same “low ink” problem, and I’ve tried everything mentioned here. Nothing has improved. I just put new ink cartridges for yellow, cyan, and magenta, taped the thin protrusion for the light sensors, and ensured they clicked when I inserted them. I’ve also done cleaning numerous times. Is there something I’m missing?
Thanks so much for post #23. Worked like a champ!!!!
MFC 5440CN , Post #23 worked for as well. Blk upon refill would not regester as a change. Taped the TOP ink side only, just the entire Flat part. After taping it finally asked If I had changed Black. Yes, it cleaned itself and all is well.
Then I removed the tape, “Did you change Blk?”. Yes, cleaned and all is well.
Tks a bunch, really. OH,, if you go to Brother’s FAQ’s it says if you get “Low Ink” and it’s stuck to contact a local rep for repair. Mine is just past warrenty so I could just imagine the expense plus time.
Regards
Happy Camper
Dan
My MFC 420CN consistently has paper Jams. Has anyone else had this problem, or know of a possible solution? Thanks
In Response to post 45 about photo paper jamming…..I’ve found that it helps if you curl the paper down a bit on all sides. Give it a try, it can’t hurt.
hi, my brother mfc 210c had bee working fine/ i bought ink from Inkjet and picture quality is bad/ I don’t know if it is actually the printer or the ink.OPlease brief me on what I need to do to have help quick.
It would be interesting to find out how many people would like to participate in a class action lawsuit against brother. They intentionally fine tuned the printer not to print when the color cartidges come close to the end. Now, they know most people need black print in business,jobs, school where a missed letter or paper can cause loss of business, a bad grade etc.
They knew that the printer needed an override to get it going if you have black ink. They may also be in violation of federal or state laws based on this type of business practice. Brother Corporate lawyers have responsibilities to bring this problem to the attention of their corporate bosses under Sarbanes-Oxley Act; this is a law that was passed to prevent ill-minded corporate practices.
This mfc-420cn is a waste of money. It worked for a month or two for printing maybe 25 to 30 pages, then it said the yellow ink was out. I have tried three different replacements and have had no luck. This copy machine has been setting for a year justing collecting dust. You would think that after all the people that have complained that there could be a recall on this model. It is clearly a piece of crap that they just wanted to unload from their (heldware area).
Bettie: I realize you had a bad experience with it, but using one experience to make a blanket statement about every single model out there is foolish. I’ve had mine for a few years now, and have had no problems with it.
Met Karl,
If you understood how the 4 source pressurized printhead technology worked, you would realize what would happen if the ink in the micron-wide piezoelectric ink jet printhead suddenly came to an abrupt end. If you only print black, get a REAL printer and not this toy. Spend more that $100 on a piece of technology next time, and read the manual cover to cover.
Hey #23, your bizzar fix worked, and all is well. Thanks! I have a MFC-5840CN and that trick works great
my LCD reads “Unable to clean” I have done anything and everything that the manual states to do and it is not clearing. HELP!!!! I am still able to scan and fax I just can’t print or receive faxes!
I dont undestand how to take my brother MFC 420 Cn apart so i can clean it. My red and blck are both full and the rest of my colors too but red and black wont work, only yellow and blue print. Ive dont the cleaning through the machine many times but it work work. ive taken the inks out and put them back in and it still wont work. Now I have a heck of a time taking it apart! help Please!
I have a MFC 420 that has been working fine for about six months. I have refilled my own cartridges without any problems after until I let the printer sit without use for about a couple of weeks. I now cannot get the thing to print black ink. All the colors seem to look good on the test print with the exception of a few dots missing on cyan and magenta, but do not get any black from test print or copies. I’ve performed the head cleaning process over forty times now without any fix to the black or missing dots on the two colors mentioned. I’ve also checked that the cartridges are all firmly seated and don’t see anything blocking the passages at the printers inkwell bases. Does anyone have any idea that might help me take care of this problem?? This unit replaced my Dell printer and I thought this was a better printer over the Dell. Need a printer soon.
thread 23 is priceless!
I have a MFC-240C and for an inexpensive all-in-one printer, it’s worth it’s cost. The manual states that the printers will still contain ink when “empty” and that this is to protect the print head, so if you tape the ink window on the cartridge make sure you refill it, or replace it soon!
I also had a problem where the printer was stating that I had an empty cartridge but didn’t tell me which one. If you get this message, just press the ink button (if your printer has one) and then press the “up” button (up/down search/speed lever) until “Ink Level” is displayed. Press OK. Then use the same up button to move you through your print cartridges until you find the one (or many) where none of the seven rectangles isn’t filled in (black rectangle).
I bought a refill kit, but the instructions to refill LC51xx cartridges don’t exist. I went to a useful site fillserv.com, and they even mention these cartridges, but the documentation doesn’t show these cartridges either! I was able to find out that the capacity of the LC51BK is 25ml (www.eink4u.com).
Can anyone tell me how to refill these cartridges? I’m not sure if I need to drill a hole and if so…where to drill!
Answered my own question about refilling LC51 cartridges at http://www.refillinstructions.com/Brother/B5.htm.
Re post #23: I tried this but it doesn’t work for me. When I first install the black cartridge, it says “no cartridge,” then after powering down the MFC240 into standby mode or unplugging it, it says that the cartridge is empty. Does the sticker have to be dark, or just opaque? I tried coloring in the clear window with a black sharpie marker also. This is so frustrating!
RE:23….the sticker works great you just have to use the sticker thats on the cartridge itself ie: the colour is important!!…
Dan, in regards to what you said to Bettie, consider yourself lucky that you have never had any problems with your Brother Printer. It seems that most every comment here is something negative about the printer. I have the 440cn and am having the “No Cartridge” message when I have just replaced the cartridge. THREE TIMES. It never recognizes the replacement of the cyan, and continually tells me that there is no cartridge. Has anyone ever found a solution to this?
Will: I understand there are problems, but the complaints aren’t representative of all owners. Very few people who are having no problems with their printer are going to go searching about it online. I know three other people with the same printer and haven’t heard of any problems they’ve had with them.
I’m not saying there aren’t problems, just that they may not be as common as this thread makes them seem.
I’ve been using this MFC-420CN printer heavily for a couple years now. I keep a spare set of brother cartridges around for when I do have problems but I’ve refilled these dozens of times. Air bubbles happen if you refill and use immediately (which tapping fixes), but that’s true of all ink jets. Black only doesn’t work with this model with color empty – drying the empty cartridges is a reasonable thing for ink to do, after all that’s what you want the ink to do on the page. Cheap cartridges mean no print head on them so that’s part of the cheap ink compromise. I’ve printed many, many reams of paper with minimal problems. When the printer sets with power on for a week, it apparently keeps cleaning the print heads which uses up you ink… again, part of the cheap ink. Turn the printer off if you leave it for a week. Great printer, cheap ink, easy refill. Column is where a few dozen people out of probably 100’s of thousands sold come to fix problems. Moral: Thanks Brother for cheap ink, makes my day! Wonderful printer, thank the engineers, tell them “Good Job!”
Thanks for your comments Stan. I agree.
Had this MFC-440CN printer just over one year, purchased Nov. 22, 2006, two days ago all ink cartridge indications dropped, colors to just 20% and the black stated empty, printer locked, call Brother technical, if you use non original cartridge you are on your own, no warranty. They said buy ours and it will work again, spend $35 for black cartridge, DID NOT WORK, printer toast!!! Original store (Staples) where purchased not interested to help, out of warranty by 2 weeks, they stated I should have bought extended warranty.
Went to BestBuy, bought a fully functional LexMark Wi Fi unit X6570 and asked them about the problem with Brother printer, they would give a repair estimate and estimate quote for a small fee ($39). They are not keen on Brother and carry just a few units.
From all my printers over the past 20 years NONE gave me the problems that the Brother did, Epson, Lexmark and ribbon units all worked.
Stay away from Brother jetink printers (my opinion and experience)
Follow-up to previous message, uninstalled my network setup of the Brothers full software package, re-installed using the USB option, printer then accepted the cartridges and showed proper full ink BUT within 10 minutes the levels dropped to near empty again. Downloaded newest firmware from Brothers for the MFC-440CN and installed, no change. Removed all the cartridges, the printer still showed “near empty” for all 4 cartridges and still printed. replaced cartridges no change. I give up.
The Lexmark scans and prints much quieter and is faster, however, I liked the Brother face plate and interface better.
Time to move on.
Post # 23 from Vince is right on. It works like a charm. And, the thin part he refers to is part of the cartridge itself and when looking at the computer from its front side, the thin part Vince refers to is on the left; you can see the ink level from this side and so can the Brother via its light sensors. Make sure to use thin, non-seethrough tape and one later. Otherwise you may get it stuck in the groves this thin part plugs in to in the cartridge bay.
couple of corrections to my last post: Thanks to JQ in post 23, re: low ink sensor causing all printing to stop, even just black. Also, I meant printer not computer when describing the left side of the cartridge to be where the thin part JQ referred to in his post (# 23 above).
re: cartridge not installed et al messages.
I have a 640cw ..had same issues.
good carts in ..printer won’t work.
used #23 solution would not work ..
I KEPT DICKING WITH THIS , TAPING THE CARTS / ETC. ETC. ETC. UNPLUG PRINTER AFTER EACH ATTEMPT AND RESTART ..EVENTUALLY IT WORKED ..TOOK A TON OF TRIES ..KEEP TAPING THINGS UP AND DON’T GIVE UP.
I have 7 5840CN’s that I’ve been using for years and have never had this problem. I lost a ton of productivity today. Brother owes me a few hundred dollars for my time in my opinion.
My printer kept jamming and jamming too. when I opened up the top flap (2nd one, under the scanner bed where the usb cable is plugged in) I cleaned it once and it kept jamming. after moving the print head back and forth I found paper jammed towards the front where I couldn’t see it but still in the path of the print head. Prints ok now!
I guess that I’m dense. I have tried taping several parts of the black cartridge but I still get “No cartridge” I need a picture or a diagram! Do I need to unplug the printer after I doctor the cartridge?
I really like the functions of this printer and have had it about a year with no problems until now.
Hello everyone I can’t say I’ll be back to this site unless I have anymore problems with my “Brother” :-) Here is my steps to refilling the cartridges with ink. Please don’t do this more than 3-5 times as the print cartridge components DO eventually wear out.
1. Purchase a refill kit from say Wally world. Preferrable already in individual containers with there own nozzles. If you use bulk & a surrenge that is fine to.
2. Remove the noxxle & locate a 1/8″ or so from the top of the cartridges on the clear side where the sticker is NOT.
3. Heat up a paper clip with a lighter & BURN a hole through the cartridge the size of your surrenge or ink filler tubes. DO NOT USE A DRILL!!! This will inject small peices of plastic into the cartridge & ruin your printer for good. So burn/melt the hole..
4. Inject ink to ALMOST up to the hole you burned in so that ink doesn’t come out when the cartridge
5. Take your crafty got glue gun & place a small dab over the hole you created. This cartidge is sealed & needs to stay that way for correct operation in the future. Black tape or alluminum tape will work fine also. I reccommend the hot glue for a clean reusable sure fire way to seal the hole.
6. Plug that thing back in & clean up the mess you made because it was your first time..
7. Smile at the wife because you just saved $45 bucks on filling them up versus buying a new cartridges.
Justin. Salem Oregon USA
P.S. I really did spell everything correctly when I typed that comment above… :-) No ink comes out of the hole when the cartridge is sitting level. Hole location is 1/8 inch down from the top of the clear section. Leaves a little room for an air vacuum to form.
need help I want to take my brothers 420 unit apart, and fix it can anyone tell me ow ro take it apart without breaking the plastic…thanks frznk
I too would like to repair the unit myself BUT Brother will not sell repair manual to end user see their response that follows. A used MFC-440CN on flea bay goes for $0.99 and new for $50. Mine will be sent to local recycle dump!!!!
“Thank you for the e-mail. I do regret to inform you that your request for a repair manual is not an option we have to send to you. The repair service manual is only available to Authorized Brother Service Centers. You as an end user will only have access to the instruction manual.
We understand your frustration but here at Brother, we do not support consumables which are not manufactured by brother. When you replace the consumable in your machine by another brand, this may cause damage to your machine. Most non-brother consumables are not designed the way as which we design our consumables. They are manufactured to work hand in hand with the unit.
As you mention below, you are no longer under Brother Manufacturer Warranty and our written documentations state clearly we do not support Non-Brother Consumables and may void the warranty of your machine if this is what caused the damage. With that said, unfortunately we may not support you further but if you wish to have your machine repaired, you may bring it in to any of the repair centers Authorized by Brother that are found below for a repair. Please note that when you bring in your machine, there is a service fee for estimation.
Brother International stands by its products and strives for excellent customer service. We would have tried our best to accommodate you but you have tied our hands with the 3rd party consumables.”
Guys, please help.
My MFC-240 c is 1 yr old.
The cartridges are new, as I just changed them.
Now the message comes “Print unable 51. Look Trouble Shooting in your User’s guide for routine maintenance.”
I checked the user’s manual online and did the routine cleaning/dusting still the message doesn’t go.
What do I do?
Well – Black vs low on yellow scam by Brother. After reading all this and that and working on these situations, I fooled it. Switched the Yellow and Blue Around until it decided to try a clean. I got my Black working for now. Ya know I read the scam about the air and printer head and its just that. Scam to buy cartridges. Because in this case, it was their Cartridges that said low (half full) and if I cant reset my own bought and paid for printer, then they have control on my printer and the settings. Scam. Never Again will buy from Brotha! I miss dot matrix in some sort of weird way. ha.
Print unable 51 is a software code, I tried to fool the ink cartridge problem but could not. HOWEVER I did find a way into the machine code
Go Menu
Type in *2864
Type in 10
Code WSW00 shows
Type in 51
Code WSW51 0000001 will show
Try different values, eg change to 000000 or 0000010
BUT remember original code to get back to
To exit type 99
If we can find the code table we can work with these machines
Must add this works on MFC-440CN not sure about others
Did everything that you said Ralph, still says error code 52, cannot print :((
Sorry to hear, try one other thing, if you can get into the machine code using *2864, then type 01, this is a total reset of the unit, it will remove all entries in the memory. This will take some time, all indicators (copy, fax, scan, photo capture ) will flash, I started mine right now and after 2 minutes still flashing.
To exit power off and/or 99
Local repair shop says, I should junk the unit, not worth paying $ 80 for full set of ink cartridges and looking at repair costs.
Thanks so much.I’m going to do that tomorrow and let you know. Thanks again for your prompt reply.
Help Desk at Brother tells me to clean the machine by using a duster or else take it to a repair shop :(
Yeah 95! you are totally right. I was so ticked at my printer. After you “remove” the paper jam from the back, unplug the printer and move the print head to the side. My printer had some paper shreds wadded up in the corner underneath the plastic where you had to really look for them. I thought the printer was completely dead. Who knew some little shreds could make that horrible of a noise!
Thanks for the tape on the catridge tip! Masking tape didn’t work, so I used a marker to cover up the top and middle of that side of the cartridge. I don’t have the low yellow error anymore. Thankfully, we don’t have to buy another printer. WooHoo!
I have tryed tapeing every square mm of the front of my black cartridge (right side as well, as you are looking at the back of the cartridge) still getting “black ink out”…could one of you kind souls please submit a picture of the fix……..thanks, mark
p.s. i messed with this forum and i am not sure how you post pics..
Here’s another variation on the problem. My MCF 640CW will not print red. Whenever it is supposed to print red, it prints yellow (not blank). It has 3rd party cartriges in it and has had them for about a year. Was working fine untill two days ago. Suddenly red stopped, didn’t fade out like an empty cartridge, and yellow started! Before you say plugged nozzles, if the red was plugged, why would that make it print yellow? Tried many cleaning cycles to no avail. Any help would be appreciated!
Helllp! My boys need to print their ENDLESS homework and the MFC 210C just faded away… It now only prints blank pages after many head cleanings, etc.
What’s up??
Many thanks in advance,
-DJ
mY PRINTER IS READING CANNOT INIT. PLEASE CHECK MANUAL IN THE TROUBLESHOOTING AND ROUTINE CHAPTER. i DONT HAVE MY MANUAL, CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT i NEED TO DO TO GET IT GOING?
THIS PRINTER IS A PIECE OF CRAP. BROTHER HAS PRODUCED A PRODUCT WHICH IS DESIGNED TO FAIL MISERABLY UNDER NORMAL USE. ITS ONLY REDEEMING FACTOR IS THAT IT’S USUALLY HEAVILY DISCOUNTED. ANYONE WHO PAID FULL PRICE HAS LITERALLY BEEN ROBBED. NEVER AGAIN WILL I BE FOOLED INTO BUYING ANY BROTHER PRODUCT.
OH YEAH – I ALMOST FORGOT…. ANYONE WANT TO BUY ANY BRAND NEW UNOPENED INK CARTRIDGES THAT WON’T WORK IN THE PRINTER THEY WERE DESIGNED FOR? YOU CAN HAVE THEM FOR CHEAP. THE ARE NOT EVEN WORTH THE EFFORT REQUIERED TO CARRY THEM TO THE TRASH CAN.
Wally, no use using capitals implying shouting but more on your topic, my Brother MFC-440CN was one week over the 1 year warranty, Brother not interested to help nor Staples, take in for repair, charges for estimate and then whatever repair required even after I just bought new Brother ink cartridges for over $80. Printer showed, no cartridges installed. Stuck!!!
Local repair and used PC shops did not even want it for free. I was luckly bought unit on Platimun MC which extended warranty, they refunded cost of printer and not worthy for repair.
STAY away from these machines, happy with wireless Lexmark unit now.
Anyone want a MFC-440CN printer with no scratches on it and in original box, cables and CD? Foolish if you did.
Censured Version
“Proud” owner of MFC 420CN.
There once was a printer born broken.
The prints that it offered were a token
of what should have been
Until well beyond when
This piece of sh*t started sucking.
A cornicopia of problems arose
when this brother (quite a mother) I chose
It doesn’t read yellow ink,
And lately the OCR stinks,
Hence I feel this printer blows.
True, Network capabality is built in,
Along planned obsolescence within.
All colors must be stacked
If I want to print black.
Putting this on the market is a sin.
I’ll be trying Cannon next
With techni-color muscles flexed.
Except for a muse,
My brother can’t be used
for anything, for it is hexed.
To all of my brothers in pain
Who won’t buy a brother again,
Remember this saying,
When price is forgotten
Quality remains.
GA G-man
Wow – that’s the first poem I’ve heard devoted to this printer. Thanks for the contribution :)
I have a Brother 420 cn. Had a paper jam and did the usual removal through the back. All of sheet came out except a 1″ x 2″ chunk right in the middle. Followed the manual, turned off power, checked all paper jam instructions. Seems the chunk of missing paper is stuck in the printer head….but I cannot see how to get into the printer head to remove it. I read the location/instructions in previous posts…but do I unscrew something to get to the printer head? Just where is it?
Any clues/help would be appreciated.
As far as being required to print using all the colors…has anyone tried setting the print option to “grayscale” instead of “color”? When one chooses Menu, Print, then Properties, and then the Advanced tab…the selection is there for grayscale. Doesn’t this stop the colors from being used unless one needs them for a particular job?
And as far as the “low ink” or “no cartridge” messages, i’m in the same boat as many others right now it seems…obviously a serious design flaw.
I have a problem with my black printing on my MFC-240C. I have put in a new cartridge and it does nothing. Shows that it is full- new cartrdge just doesn’t work.
also have tried many new cartridges….all the same.
Cant print black? Press the Menu/Set -, Black Start – Menu/Set- butons/ ALL BUTTONS SHOULD FLASH! This enters the maintence mode thenpress 76 “set” key 4 “set key” 1 “set key” (Display should read: after entering 76: “cleaning”, after 4: “init” purge, after 1: “all” . This is a very intense cleaning cycle which should solve your problem. If not redo it several times. It is must better that the Brothers cleaning which doesn’t work most time. If your Brother’s printer don’t have a numbers key pad use arrows to change digits.
Good luck
@Rob Thanks for the info. I haven’t tried it, but if anyone has, please share what you find.
I was only having problems with the CYAN reading “NO CARTRIDGE.” I scanned these comments and decided to try the sticker trick (fully knowing it’s more of a “I have more ink left” trick) and by golly it worked! I used a small piece of white Avery mailing label on that little ‘nose’ on the front and popped the cartridge in. I’m assuming it must have filled some void and now the machine is functioning perfectly. I’m back to thinking my MFC 420 is a great investment. For now… :)
SOLUTION for LOW/EMPTY INK CARTRIGE: #23 works !!! That is, on the cartridge’s left side (front facing away from you), cut out a piece of the cartridge’s label and cover the small whitish rectangular plastic window. That will fool the printer in believing the cartridge is full all the time. Note: You will have to judge low/empty cartrige on your own.
SOLUTION for NO CARTRIDGE: #125 works!!! That is, on the front of the cartridge midway is a square opening with a whitish rectangular plastic window. Cover the entire opening with a cutout of the same cartridge’s label — make certain the entire hole is covered. This will permit the printer to see the cartridge.
NOTE: To determine which cartridge is causing the NO CARTRIGE problem, just open the cartrige cage’s door. The printer will then say “install <color”; for example, “install cyan” — when cyan is noted, then it is the cyan cartridge that needs the hole blocked out; it also means that the black and yellow cartridges are ok (reason, printer checks cartridges status from left to right).
I hope this helps everyone better understand the steps that is required to solve the above 2 problems. :-)
Solution # 23 worked! Thanks so much! I have a MCF 640 CW and was getting message that ink cartridges showing yellow and cyan not installed when I had just put brand new Brother LC41 cartridges in place — and they were in correctly and securely… Tried the sticker solution and it worked here. Wonderful — really appreciate the help and this message board.
Solution # 23 does not work for me. I am not getting any message such as no ink or low ink. However when I print the yellow ink doe not work. I replaced the yellow ink but it is still not printing the colors that uses yellow. Please HELP!!
OMG # 23 I LOVE YOU. I just clogged the clear part of the cartridge that shows if the cartridge has ink in it or not with some tape and shoved her in there. Worked fantastically!
I’ve had a brother MFC420CN for a couple years. I agree totally with the comments above about the ink (specifically yellow and “no ink ” messages. I am currently dealing with ” unable to initialize” with a print job.The printer is communicating with my computer, as I’m getting connections with the flash memory functions. I’m not a novice at this stuff, as I’ve spent almost 30 years in computer maintenance and operations for the air force. I’m convinced that the problem is in the electronic interface circuitry….e.g. don’t waste anymore of my time troubleshooting, toss the thing in the trash, and go back to buying Canon or Lexmark products. both of which I’ve had great great product reliability, and they have none of the “built in” ink problems.
Want to print File Folder Lables. Any ideas on how to do this?
thanks for the help – I now have a bit of tape on my cyan cartridge :)
Thank you so much for your help! Putting masking tape over the sensor on the ink cartridge worked instantly! Yay!
I had the “no cartridge” error on a MFC 665CW, #23 solved the problem. One small difference. The “ink viewing windows” (for lack of a proper name) are located on the front edge, center of my cartridge. It is easily recognized because it is the only transparent portion on the cartridge.
Thanks for comment #23 fixed my problem!
I tried blocking the clear ridge on the cartridges with small strips cut off of mailing labels, and it works!!! I made sure both sides of the ridge and the end was covered and I’ve had no problems! My cartridges are reading as completely full! Now all I have to do is pop ’em out and stick ’em back in if it gives me grief. This works very well for me, as this machine is only used for scanning, faxing, and copying, all of which print on our Magicolor 2430DL color laser printer instead of this ink hog.
I really appreciate the suggestions regarding taping or covering the clear windows but I have had no luck. I taped both windows on the well/outlet side, then using a black marker, blackened the areas as well. Turned the printer on/off. Still no luck. Open to other ideas.
Something that has worked for some Brother owners to get cartridges recognised.
1. With your MFC powered up, open it up and remove the cartridge you are having a problem with, then close the MFC, leaving it powered up. It should report that there is no cartridge in the machine.
Still with the MFC powered up, open it up and reinsert the ink cartridge, then close the MFC. It should either ask if you have replaced a cartridge or go into its cleaning mode.
Answer “yes” to “have you replaced cartridge?” and it should either “print” or “clean” and then “print”.
how can i change tne pop3 and smtp server on my brother 240
how do i fax face up or face down
THE FONT SIZE ID VERY SMALL. HOW DO I CHANGE THAT?
Mfc420cn – unable to clean- error 46, Please HelP!!
#23 WORKED!!! “No cartridge” problem – I taped between the two round protrusions — over the entire midsection — WORKED!!! Thanks
Just had the dreaded “No Cartridge” message, replaced black and yellow even though they were not empty, still no go.
Found post no 23 and it worked like a charm, then the printer sulked and said magenta was empty so taped that one up as well and away I go.
I had been quite happy with this printer until now but I think when these cartridges run out I will be looking for a different make.
Need to know if there is anyway to disconect or with software stop the printer, MFC-240C Brother, from checking the cartrige levels???
Thanks a lot JQ post #23
I have a MFC 3220C Brother and when you open it the ink is locked to the left and won’t slide over, how do you get it to move so you can take out the cartridges
my MFC 665 cw started with unable to print 50 then I had unplug the machine and I got with unable to print 51. I tried software code, nothing happen. Still unable to print. I had just replaced my inks too.
Any one can help?
Three comments about ink levels, without resorting to tape over the level sensors:
1. Ink refill kits say the best place to drill a small refill hole is in one side of the black handle on top, then cover with tape. The clear cartridge makes it very easy to see the ink fill level.
2. The best answer to reset the ink counters is to remove and reseat all cartridges with power on, close the lid, and answer Yes (1) for each cartridge by color when the Brother 420 printer asks if you replaced the cartridges.
3. For persistent low ink messages when the cartridge is actually full, try the following using Code 01, which I found on the internet-
“By the way I found out details of the maintenance mode for this device after hunting around. This is quite useful, so here it is for anyone that needs it. Anyone getting errors that they can’t get out of (such as shows no ink though ink is there) should try to reinitialize parameters using commands 91 or 01 of the maintenance mode.
Brother Maintenance Mode Commands:
– Quickly press Menu/Set * 2 8 6 4 to enter maintenance mode.
– Display should read maintenance.
– Press one or more of the maintenance mode commands below. After each command display should read re-init for a few moments then redisplay maintenance.
– Press 99 to exit the maintenance mode.
Maintenance mode commands:
01 Full RAM clear (see 91 below for retaining user programming)
02 scanner initialize (feed a white sheet, then a black sheet)
05 white level
09 print test
10 modify soft switches
11 print configuration list
16 panel test
19 CML test
20 signal test
21 tonal test
23 filter RX
54 scan edge
55 scanner area
66 test print memo
75 display drum life (if enabled on laser models)
76 reset drum life counter (laser models)
91 parameter initialize (user programming remains intact)
95 protection
99 Exit maintenance mode”
Code 01 solved my persistent Low Yellow warning when the ink level was full. Good Luck!
I have been on a few repair forums to try to fix my ink problems with my Brother… I liked it UNTIL it stopped printing..and it sounds like a pretty common problem with this model. Now it’s a flashy boat anchor.
the masking tape trick worked great! Filled the cartridges with water so there’d be no dry out problems
do anybody no what it means when the printer has a message unable to print 51 means .I have brothers MFC-44OCN I NEED HELP
My Brother MFC-240 printer won’t print red. Everything’s green. How do I get red back?
Third Brother printer in less then a year and replacing the junk again, bottom of the line printers. The company I work for provides them with the ink. Almost all 83 Brother printers at work have been replaced twice already in less then a year. The 3 printers I had replaced in the past year MFC 665 and one of the lower models all brand new and printed less then 100 pages each before they screwed up. The one year Brother warranty is the biggest joke in the printer industry.
Our company is looking at banding all Brother products from entering all its locations and sub companies around the world as an in house assessment came back showing the company lost to much money due to brother printer problems that did not exist when they were running all HP printers before. The assessment came back of expenses of over $6400 per year in replacements for the low vol brother printers and lost productivity in excess of 10K. Over $16K a year for just 83 printers in lost company resources do to Brother low quality printers.
Junk JUNK JUNK and for the warranty it is the biggest joke as they require that a set of brand new brother printer cartridges of each color be purchased to diagnose the problem. Thus $110 is required to get the printer service just for the ink. The printer is not even worth that thus the warranty is really a joke.
My Brother MFC 440CN completely locked up when it came time to change the black ink cartridge. Been using compatiable since I bought the machine a year ago. Of course, craps out 5 days out of warrenty.
Like may of you, I tried multiple “new” ink cartriges with no success. I cleaned the U shaped sensors, tried blocking with tape as suggested, no success. At the end of my rope, I decided it was time for surgery as explained by kouse 51’s June 26, 2008 post. Grabbed my pliers and pulled off the U Shaped sensor for all 4 ink colors which exposes the two light sensors. Pulled them off and clipped the remaining wires back and guess what, the damn thing works again! Lost the ability to see ink level (always reads full), but I am printing as before with my ink that costs 5 times less than from Brother. When I see the printing colors fade, I’ll know it is time to change a color cartridge.
“No Cartridge” problem. I’ve been struggling with this for a long time now. And I might have found a solution. Leave the ink cartridge access door open (the big one to access the small ones). Leave the individual ink cartridge doors closed. UNPLUG THE COMPUTER. Replug it in, allow it to come on. It should tell you to close the ink door… do so, and now it should accept the cartridges you have in place. It did for me! It’s the only thing that has worked.
nice one 23 nice one nice one nice after a couple of attempts i managed to stop the damn thing saying install cyan and im printing again in under ten mins ha ha thankyou
If you have an ink cartridge that is out. Take electrical tape and place over the end of cartridge where the cartridge slides into slot and you should be able to fool the photo eye to thinking the cartridge is full..this is the side that is closest to the edge not the center of the printer. Hope that works for you!
I keep seeing comments about not being able to print black only…..it’s the same with Epson and Canon printers with single tanks in a shared printhead. If there is no ink, the printhead will overheat, the ink acts as a coolant for the heated printhead. No ink means the printhead would burn out leaving streaks all through your print (if it would print at all). Then you’d be talking about suing Brother for not protecting your printhead. And yes, there will always be some ink left in the cartridge when it says it’s out. Again, it protects the printhead from running dry and burning out.
I have the “no Cartridge”-problem with black, too (Brother MFC 240C). The other colours are low, does that make any difference? Didn´t try to replace those yet. Tried to mask the cartridge like described in post #23, it unfortunately didn´t work. Do I really have to pull out the photosensors, and if, how do I reconnect the wires? Or does anybody have another idea? It is so annoying, bought the printer a little over a year ago … Please help, thanks!
For the built in ink problems, The usual obvious fix is to buy a new catridge, insert, power off machine, then switch back on to reset any sensors. But if the circuitry on the machine itself is faulty it wont fix it.
I used to own an MFC 260C. It had a perfectly good full ink cartridge in it, that was working fine, until…it suddenly did not recognise the cartridge anymore.
I pulled the machine apart and found that 2 of the 4 sensors on the cct board at the back of the cartridge housing were loose. These sensors pass light through the exposed part of the cartridge to see if ink is there. So if these are faulty, you will never clear the “No Cartridge” or “Ink Empty…” or “Near Empty Ink …” messages on the MFC260C and prbably other similar printers in the MFC range.
Why did they fail? Because the soldering on these sensors was poor quality.
I would never buy another Brother machine because of this, also because they design the machine to be totally useless unless all the ink ccartridges are full. Shame on you Brother, and kiss my ass for the $160 pile of junk I bought off you that was only on its second batch of cartridges (ie very little use)
Ok, I solved my “no cartridge”-problem (Brother MFC 240C). Like recommended here (#155) I pulled out the black u-shaped plastic part, which contains or covers (what do I know ;-) ) the ink-sensor. Didn´t find any wires to clip together, so I put the cartridge in, turned the printer on and guess what??? IT WORKES AGAIN, YEAH!! Thanks, guys!! You saved me a lot of money.
Shove tissue paper in there between the little black clips, bada bing!
#23, you’re idea is all kinds of amazing and awesome! You saved me so much money buying ink I never actually use since I mostly print in black anyway.
Thanks #162! I tried everything on this board and then tried your method. It seems to be working again.
Good afternoon everyone. Just experienced for the first time the following error messages: Unable to print 30 and Unable to print 50. It was wonderful to try to get information about these error messages but unfortunate that I needed to either pay $11, $16 or $30 for a quick message from some sites. I next went to sites to get an answer to the error message and found this site. I will try to use some of the information available (thanks to everyone). Since it will be difficult to thank everyone — I thought I could leave the following site for those looking for manuals for Brother MFC 440CN, MFC 665CW and MFC 845CW: web site location: http://www.brother-usa.com/…/UM_MFC_440CN_665CW_845CW_EN_287.PDF
See you soon and thanks again to everyone!
JQ, eternal gratitude for tip #23. You are godlike in your intelligence, figuring out the light sensor thing. I put a label over the ridge and the problem was fixed (had both the “no cartridge” and “magenta near empty” problems). Was able to help print for the emergency art project.
OK OK OK OK #23 is very GOOD!!! Worked for me for 1 year, now NOTHING seems to work, tried masking tape, electrical tape, liquid paper, black marker, and screen keep displaying INK EMPTY, REPLACE INK. Tried #149 also.
Was about to buy another printer when I sayed to myself, What the FU…CK!! This ASS..HOLES in Brother are not going to win me with this one.
So if you are a Tecno Geek, you can dismantle the printer, get to the U shaped optical sensors green board (The ones that measures the Ink Level) and simply pull out the plug on that board and WALAAA!!! After that forget about Low Level Ink message for ever. SCORED!!! Brother=0 Me=1
This solution does not solve “NO CARTRIDGE” message. Only solves “NO INK” “REPLACE INK” and “LOW LEVEL INK”
If you are not a Tecno Geek, take the printer to anyone who can and get the job done for less than 20mins, be sure he do not charge more than $30. Give a try, if you are afraid you ruin the printer, what’s the worry? anyways the printer is useless, garbage!! Not even the Scanner or Fax works…
GOOD LUCK have a nice day!!
Yusef D.
HONDURAS
ABORT ABORT ABORT #168, had to plug sensor board again, printer went little crazy after I unplug it. Still without printer. Will try more options. SORRY
Yusef D.
Wow lots of stuff here, just thought I would throw my two cents in. Brother printers are low cost, ink is usually about $4.50 each (less if you order more online) and my 5840CN has been cranking for over 7 years! It seems like it finally has gone to printer heaven but I never had a singe problem and the only thing that broke was the ADF tray extension (it still worked but would not hold as much.). Im off to get a new Brother. Unfortunately the one that replaced this does not look like it has Linux support but im sure I can shoehorn it in there somehow.
Everytime i print a photo i get these two lines across always in the same spot. I’ve tried everything!! can somebody help me?
Any printer system with this volume of complaints about the same problem, and NO resolution, or attempted resolution by the manufacture, should be ample warning to anyone considering buying a Brother inkjet printer!!! I went thru three MFC 5440’s (with Brother replacing all three) within a year of putting them in operation. The fourth 5440 quit printing colors correctly some time ago, but would still print black, so I’ve been using occasionally for that. To replace the 5440 in the past, when I was in a hurry, I purchased a MFC 5840, which is basically the same machine as the 5440, except with two trays. Guess what! Same ink error messages, same insane ink usage on cleaning cycles, same “no cartridge” message problems. I’ve tried all the tricks written here, and it only got me into “failure to initialize” messages. I’ve got a color lazer printer, so I’m not stuck without a printer. However, it would be nice to have the inkjet for printing internal papers that don’t leave the file. Guess I’ll burn color toner instead. But at least I will get some satisfaction. I’m thinking the two inkjets will make excellent targets. That’s about ALL they are apparently good for!!! Anyone need 15 assorted color and Black ink cartridges??
I’ve read the response as to putting a sticker over the “thin part” on the cartridge to get it to work when the message says “no cartridge. Could you please explain what you are talking about? Is this for the Brother 440NC?
I HAVE A BROTHER MFC420CN CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO SELECT A DIFFERENT DEFAULT EMAIL TO SCAN APPLICATION AND FILE TYPE TO SELECT? I HAVE FIREFOX/MOZILLA AS BROWSER AND AT&T/YAHOO EMAIL. EVERY TIME I TRY TO SCAN FROM THE CONTROL CTR. 2.0 IT GOES TO OUTLOOK.I NEED TO KNOW WHAT APPLICATION EMAIL AND WHAT FILE TYPE TO USE.
THANK YOU
GOOD NEW FOR “NO CARTRIDGE” PROBLEM OF MFC 5440CN (and may be others)
This is my token of gratefulness to the creator of this website and to all people asking questions and giving answers on this site; and also to Brother Co. that supplies us with a relatively good-valued (albeit flaky and not well supported after warranty expiration) series of MFC printers. This post is not to hurt the legitimate business model of Brother, as it deserves to earn a fair return from their efforts, but to help a good group of Brother’s customers so that they will not be stranded at the wrong time without their Brother printers that worked well before. Now, what you want to hear first, and more “philosophical” bla, bla, bla, later on.
DETAILS: My trusted MFC-5440CN got trouble with “NO CARTRIDGE” etc.. and no good support from Brother Co. and reasonable and quick service of others. I was able to recognize easily the engineering facts about the masking of the little area of a vertical column of about 1/8″ on each cartridge that reveals the level of ink inside the top of the cartridge to one of four combos of infra-red LED and light-sensor. The trick of masking tape did not work on mine, even with a brand new, genuine Brother’s black cartridge. Fumbling around, after learning how to go into the “MAINTENANCE”?” area, I was able to print out the complete table of WSW01 to WSW52 (Working SWITCHES?)of the 5440 by entering 11 on the keypad. Reading the table line by line it shows obviously the little non-volatile, reprogrammable memory that retains all of the features that the user’s manual shows you how to program the 5440 to do all the things that it offers to do, plus some more things that are not indicated in the user’s manual, but probably made known to the licensed service people. One of these, WSW31 on the 5440 (but probably another WSW number on others), showed what I hoped to alter to see if the “NO CARTRIDGE” and “BLACK INK EMPTY” would go away. However, I did not know right there how to access this WSW31. In a hurry, and after studying the investment value of a replacement of the MFC-5440CN, I went out to get a Brother’s laser MFC-7340 for only $132 at STAPLES. With back-up on hand, I tried one more time to revive the 5440. That’s when I chance upon this great site and tried to learn from everyone involved. Thanks to Ralf at tread 103, I was able to get the correct way to access WSW31 and modified the correct bit (bit 4 beginning with 1 instead of 0, starting from leftmost bit: unusual but convenient for the listings) of that 8-bit word. After the modification, my 5440 began to work like its good old self again.
Here are all the details that anyone of you can follow to, hopefully, revive your 5440 (and may be some other Brother’s, too):
Step1. Remove the power plug of the 5440 from the power socket;
Step2. Press and hold down the button Menu/Set, and carefully (try not to get electrical shock!) plug the power plug of the 5440 into a power socket;
Step3. Wait until all three LEDs marked Fax, Scan, Copy, begin to flash on/off constantly for about 2 seconds, then release Menu/Set button;
Step4. Let 5440 go through its steps, while flashing all the three LEDs, to end up displaying “MAINTENANCE”?”;
Step5. Enter 1 then 0, on the 5440’s keypad. Watch LCD display. It should be WSW00;
Step6. Enter 3 then 1, on the keypad. Watch LCD display. It should be
WSW31 = 11100101 with the digit 1 after the = sign flashing on/off;
Step7. Carefully click once on the button (with the > mark), that is immediately on the right side of the button Menu/Set. Observe that now, the second digit 1 after the = sign begins to flash;
Step8. Carefully repeat Step7 three more times exactly, (if no double-clicks happened), and be sure to observe that the very first digit 0 after the = sign is flashing. This very first digit 0 after the = sign is the single most important bit of the 8-bit WSW31 to be modified correctly. If this fourth digit after the = sign is not flashing but any one else is flashing, then count the position of the flashing digit (1 or 0) beginning as 1 and increasing, with the digit 1 immediately after the = sign. Use the > button to move forward to the right; or the button to move the flashing to the eighth digit, and then click the button Stop/Exit to get back to “MAINTENANCE”?”;
Step11. Carefully remove the power plug of the 5440 from the power socket;
Step12. Wait at least about 10 seconds, then carefully (try not to get electrical shock!) plug the power plug of the 5440 into a power socket, and hopefully you will see the 5440 go through the usual steps and display the date and other usual things on the LCD display and stare askance happily at you. Try to copy a page. If the copying goes through correctly without any complaint, then your 5440 is revived to a better shape from now on.
In a hurry, I have not tried to see whether the complaints about “LOW INK” happens again, but I’m sure about getting rid of the “NO CARTRIDGE” complaint that is specifically inherent with only the black-ink cartridge that comes about with the flaky operation of the firmware and only one micro-switch in the cavity of the black-ink cartridge.
NOTES OF CAUTION: Combining this modification and the masking tape or marker-ink trick, I think that from now on you will be free to enjoy your 5440 with any ink cartridges, including the genuine ones made by Brother, as well as any kind of ink, as long as it would not clog the printing head. You would have to be careful in not letting any of the cartridges run the ink down lower than about 1/4″, visible above the bottom of the cartridge, so that no channel of ink can risk to dry up and may damage that channel (or any other?, you have to find out and balance the risk). If you print only black and if any channel of color dries up and clog that channel without hurting the operation of black printing, you are free from the stopping of your work due to the destructive claims of “NO CARTRIDGE” or “BLACK INK LOW”.
If you get exactly the results you are after from this easy modification, I hope you will find time to go on as many sites as possible to let other periled Brother’s users know and help them be a little happier with their Brother printers. If you do that, you will help minimize the waste of a bunch of good-valued printers, and you will help Brother Co to continue to profit (but may be a little less or may be a little more by lowering the end-user cost of the cartridges just to the right level above the cost of the generic cartridges. Let me know if you get good results. Thanks again.
ALERT! ALERT!
In my last post, Step8 to Step10 should have read as:
Step8. Carefully repeat Step7 three more times exactly, (if no double-clicks happened), and be sure to observe that the very first digit 0 after the = sign is flashing. This very first digit 0 after the = sign is the single most important bit of the 8-bit WSW31 to be modified correctly. If this fourth digit after the = sign is not flashing but any one else is flashing, then count the position of the flashing digit (1 or 0) beginning as 1 and increasing, with the digit 1 immediately after the = sign. Use the > button to move the flashing forward to the right; or the button a number of more times until you see the flashing of the eighth digit, and then click the button Stop/Exit to get back to “MAINTENANCEâ€?â€;
Step11. (As in my last post).
Sorry about the cut-off that happened, probably due to something.
Thanks again.
ALERT! ALERT!
It happened again with my post 176! There is something in the “less-than” sign that cuts off a lot of the following writing.
So, here again, to avoid any wrong instruction steps:
In my last post, Step8 to Step10 should have read as:
Step8. Carefully repeat Step7 three more times exactly, (if no double-clicks happened), and be sure to observe that the very first digit 0 after the = sign is flashing. This very first digit 0 after the = sign is the single most important bit of the 8-bit WSW31 to be modified correctly. If this fourth digit after the = sign is not flashing but any one else is flashing, then count the position of the flashing digit (1 or 0) beginning as 1 and increasing, with the digit 1 immediately after the = sign. Use the > button to move the flashing forward to the right; or the “less than” button to move the flashing backward to the left, until the flashing is on the fourth digit;
Step9. Enter 1 on the 5440 keypad. Observe that now the fourth digit is 1 and the fifth digit is flashing;
Step10. Click on the > button a number of more times until you see the flashing of the eighth digit, and then click the button Stop/Exit to get back to “MAINTENANCEâ€?â€;
Step11. (As in my post 175).
Thanks again.
Well done Tom
One comment – on the MFC-5460CN, after changing the 4th digit to a 1, you have to press “ok” to save it before returning to “MAINTENANCE”.
Solved it for me though – thanks
ADDANDUM to threads 175, 176, and 177
Glad to be of some help Don.
I think each Brother Inkjet printer owner having “No Cartridge” trouble should try the maintenance code 11 (or some other number?) to force the printer to print out the “CONFIGURATION LIST” and go through all the WSW from 01 to probably something over 50 to look for the listing of a line such as, on 5440,
4. BLACK CARTRIDGE EMPTY SENSOR : ON
On 5440, backtracking to the WSW, it read (as originally set before my modification):
WSW31 = 11100101
1. NOT USED
2. REDUCTION LIMIT : OFF
3. NOT USED
4. BLACK CARTRIDGE EMPTY SENSOR : ON
5. D/R CHATTERING : 130MS
6-8. NOT USED
From this listing, it was clear that bit 4 should be modified to 1 in order to turn OFF the “BLACK CARTRIDGE EMPTY SENSOR” to get rid of the trouble that we got on hand.
On the 5440, I chanced upon maintenance code 77 that printed out the report about RTC (Real time clock?), …, DOT COUNT(BK/YL), DOT COUNT(CY/MZ), SENSOR DOT(BK/YL), SENSOR DOT(CY/MZ),…,INK CHANGE(B/Y/V/M),…, TOTAL PAGE COUNT, PURGE/WIPE/FLUSH, etc…
If anyone could advise about using these two print-outs to make our printers better, I’d like to learn some more. Thanks.
I’d like to add one extra finding:
On my MFC-5440CN, after tricking it to work as in threads 175, 176, 177, I lifted the top to look at the level of ink in the Yellow cartridge. After having put back the cartridge correctly and lowered the cover, I got the “No Cartridge” warning again. This is the Aha moment that I wanted. Power off; 10 seconds waiting; power on while holding Menu button down, etc… till “MAINTENANCE”?” appeared. I went into checking whether bit 4 of WSW31 was still 1, meaning “BLACK CARTRIDGE EMPTY SENSOR” = OFF. It was still 1. Power off; 10 seconds waiting; power on without holding anything down; and bingo! My MFC-5440CN began to work again. I checked further: Just raising and lowering the cover without doing anything else would produce “No Cartridge” warning and lock-up. Then, Power off; 10 seconds waiting; power on without holding anything down; and bingo! My MFC-5440CN began to work again. Now we all know a little bit more to treat our work pony nicely for it to work longer for us.
By the way, I thing the trouble with the “less than” or “open bracket” sign on threads 175 and 176 may have come from the fact that it was read in as a HTML bracket
that waited for a “>” sign and would interpret anything within the brackets according to some applicable rule.
Best Regards.
GOOD NEW FOR “NO CARTRIDGE†PROBLEM OF MFC 5440CN (and may be others)
ALSO GÆ D NEW FOR ANYONE WANTING TO USE THE MFC-5440CN AS ONLY BLACK-INK PRINTER
This post is the corrected version of all my posts 175, 176, 177, and 179. At the end of this post you’ll find one more added discovery that may be of good use to many of us.
This is my token of gratefulness to the creator of this website and to all people asking questions and giving answers on this site; and also to Brother Co. that supplies us with a relatively good-valued (albeit flaky and not well supported after warranty expiration) series of MFC printers. This post is not to hurt the legitimate business model of Brother, as the Brother’s people deserve to earn a fair return from their efforts, but to help a good group of Brother’s customers so that they will not be stranded at the wrong time without their Brother printers that worked well before. Now, what you want to hear first, and more “philosophical†bla, bla, bla, later on.
DETAILS: My trusted MFC-5440CN got trouble with “NO CARTRIDGE†etc.. and no good support from Brother Co. and reasonable and quick service of others. I was able to recognize easily the engineering facts about the masking of the little area of a vertical column of about 1/8″ on each cartridge that reveals the level of ink inside the top of the cartridge to one of four combos of infra-red LED and light-sensor. The trick of masking tape did not work on mine, even with a brand new, genuine Brother’s black cartridge. Fumbling around, after learning how to go into the “MAINTENANCE�†area, I was able to print out the complete table of WSW01 to WSW52 (Working SWITCHES?)of the 5440 by entering 11 on the keypad. Reading the table line by line it shows obviously the little non-volatile, reprogrammable memory that retains all of the features that the user’s manual shows you how to program the 5440 to do all the things that it offers to do, plus some more things that are not indicated in the user’s manual, but probably made known to the licensed service people. One of these, WSW31 on the 5440 (but probably another WSW number on others), showed what I hoped to alter to see if the “NO CARTRIDGE†and “BLACK INK EMPTY†would go away. However, I did not know right there how to access this WSW31. In a hurry, and after studying the investment value of a replacement of the MFC-5440CN, I went out to get a Brother’s laser MFC-7340 for only $132 at STAPLES. With back-up on hand, I tried one more time to revive the 5440. That’s when I chance upon this great site and tried to learn from everyone involved. Thanks to Ralf at tread 103, I was able to get the correct way to access WSW31 and modified the correct bit (bit 4 beginning with 1 instead of 0, starting from leftmost bit: unusual but convenient for the listings) of that 8-bit word. After the modification, my 5440 began to work like its good old self again.
Here are all the details that anyone of you can follow to, hopefully, revive your 5440 (and may be some other Brother’s, too):
Step1. Remove the power plug of the 5440 from the power socket; wait for at least 10 seconds;
Step2. Press and hold down the button Menu/Set, and carefully (try not to get electrical shock!) plug the power plug of the 5440 into a power socket;
Step3. Wait until all three LEDs marked Fax, Scan, Copy, begin to flash on/off constantly for about 2 seconds, then release Menu/Set button;
Step4. Let 5440 go through its steps, while flashing all the three LEDs, to end up displaying “MAINTENANCEâ€?â€;
Step5. Enter 1 then 0, on the 5440′s keypad. Watch LCD display. It should be WSW00;
Step6. Enter 3 then 1, on the keypad. Watch LCD display. It should be
WSW31 = 11100101 with the digit 1 after the = sign flashing on/off;
Step7. Carefully click once on the button (with the > mark), that is immediately on the right side of the button Menu/Set. Observe that now, the second digit 1 after the = sign begins to flash;
Step8. Carefully repeat Step7 three more times exactly, and be sure to observe that the very first digit 0 after the = sign is flashing. This very first digit 0 after the = sign is the single most important bit of the 8-bit WSW31 to be modified correctly. If this fourth digit after the = sign is not flashing but any one else is flashing, then count the position of the flashing digit (1 or 0) beginning as position #1 with the digit which is immediately after the = sign. Use the > button to move the flashing forward to the right; or the “less than†button to move the flashing backward to the left, until the flashing is on the fourth digit;
Step9. Enter 1 on the 5440 keypad. Observe that now the fourth digit is 1 and the fifth digit is flashing;
Step10. Click on the Menu/Set button to accept the change, and then click the button Stop/Exit to get back to “MAINTENANCEâ€?â€;
Step11. Carefully remove the power plug of the 5440 from the power socket;
Step12. Wait at least about 10 seconds, then carefully (try not to get electrical shock!) plug the power plug of the 5440 into a power socket, and hopefully you will see the 5440 go through the usual steps and display the date and other usual things on the LCD display and stare askance happily at you. Try to copy a page. If the copying goes through correctly without any complaint, then your 5440 is revived to a better shape from now on.
In a hurry, I have not tried to see whether the complaints about “LOW INK†happens again, but I’m sure about getting rid of the “NO CARTRIDGE†complaint that is specifically inherent with only the black-ink cartridge that comes about with the flaky operation of the firmware and only one micro-switch in the cavity of the black-ink cartridge.
NOTES OF CAUTION: Combining this modification and the masking tape or marker-ink trick, I think that from now on you will be free to enjoy your 5440 with any ink cartridges, including the genuine ones made by Brother, as well as any kind of ink, as long as it would not clog the printing head. You would have to be careful in not letting any of the cartridges run the ink down lower than about 1/4″, visible above the bottom of the cartridge, so that no channel of ink can risk to dry up and may damage that channel (or any other?, you have to find out and balance the risk). If you print only black and if any channel of color dries up and clog that channel without hurting the operation of black printing, you are free from the stopping of your work due to the destructive claims of “NO CARTRIDGE†or “BLACK INK LOWâ€.
If you get exactly the results you are after from this easy modification, I hope you will find time to go on as many sites as possible to let other periled Brother’s users know and help them be a little happier with their Brother printers. If you do that, you will help minimize the waste of a bunch of good-valued printers, and you will help Brother Co to continue to profit (but may be a little less or may be a little more by lowering the end-user cost of the cartridges just to the right level above the cost of the generic cartridges. Let me know if you get good results.
I think each Brother Inkjet printer owner having “No Cartridge†trouble should try the maintenance code 11 (or some other number?) to force the printer to print out the “CONFIGURATION LIST†and go through all the WSW from 01 to probably something over 50 to look for the listing of a line such as, on 5440,
4. BLACK CARTRIDGE EMPTY SENSOR : ON
On 5440, backtracking to the WSW, it read (as originally set before my modification):
WSW31 = 11100101
1. NOT USED
2. REDUCTION LIMIT : OFF
3. NOT USED
4. BLACK CARTRIDGE EMPTY SENSOR : ON
5. D/R CHATTERING : 130MS
6-8. NOT USED
From this listing, it was clear that bit 4 should be modified to 1 in order to turn OFF the “BLACK CARTRIDGE EMPTY SENSOR†to get rid of the trouble that we got on hand.
On the 5440, I chanced upon maintenance code 77 that printed out the report about RTC (Real time clock?), …, DOT COUNT(BK/YL), DOT COUNT(CY/MZ), SENSOR DOT(BK/YL), SENSOR DOT(CY/MZ),…,INK CHANGE(B/Y/V/M),…, TOTAL PAGE COUNT, PURGE/WIPE/FLUSH, etc…
If anyone could advise about using these two print-outs to make our printers better, I’d like to learn some more. Thanks.
I’d like to add two extra findings:
1. On my MFC-5440CN, after tricking it to work as in threads 175, 176, 177, I lifted the top to look at the level of ink in the Yellow cartridge. After having put back the cartridge correctly and lowered the cover, I got the “No Cartridge†warning again. This is the Aha moment that I wanted. Power off; 10 seconds waiting; power on while holding Menu button down, etc… till “MAINTENANCE�†appeared. I went into checking whether bit 4 of WSW31 was still 1, meaning “BLACK CARTRIDGE EMPTY SENSOR†= OFF. It was still 1. Power off; 10 seconds waiting; power on without holding anything down; and bingo! My MFC-5440CN began to work again. I checked further: Just raising and lowering the cover without doing anything else would produce “No Cartridge†warning and lock-up. Then, Power off; 10 seconds waiting; power on without holding anything down; and bingo! My MFC-5440CN began to work again. Now we all know a little bit more to treat our work pony nicely for it to work longer for us.
By the way, I thing the trouble with the “less than†or “open bracket†sign on threads 175 and 176 may have come from the fact that it was read in as a HTML bracket
that waited for a “>†sign and would interpret anything within the brackets according to some applicable rule.
2. Those of you who are desperately needing to print only in black but got bogged down to a screeching stop due to any color ink getting the “Empty” sign, proceed as follows:
StepA. Go through Step1 to Step5 as outline above;
StepB. Enter 4 then 9 on the keypad. Watch LCD display. It should be
WSW49 = 00000000 with the digit 0 after the = sign flashing on/off;
StepC. Using the > button (immediately on the right side of the Menu/Set button) to move the flashing to the very last digit (the 8th) which is on the rightmost position of the 8-bit number;
StepD. Enter 1 on the keypad. Watch LCD display. It should be
WSW49 = 00000001 with the digit immediately after the = sign flashing on/off;
StepE. Click on the Menu/set button to accept the change; the display should go to “MAINTENANCE”?”;
StepF. Enter 9 then 9 on the keypad. Watch LCD display. Wait for a while and you will see your machine display the date and usual thing as when it is healthily working for you.
From now on, even when you try to copy a color page by hitting the Color Start in copying, your machine will copy and print out with only black ink. As long as the black ink does not run out, I believe your machine would continue to print in black, even when one of the color cartridges is “Empty”. When you want to print in full colors again with all the hassles about one of the cartridges running “Empty”, you simply enjoy yourself going through all the StepA to StepF, except at StepD you would enter 0 now instead of 1 as before.
Continue to use your judgment about the level of ink in all the cartridges so that your machine print head will not get clogged easily.
Thanks again and Best Regards.
TO ANYONE HAVING TROUBLE WITH TIP #23:
It sounds like you can just cover the FRONT of the little ridge to get it going but NO NO NO.
In my case (MFC-420CN) you have to cover up ONE SIDE of the little ridge, then it works fine. Masking tape works fine.
In other words PUTTING THE TAPE ON THE FRONT OF THE LITTLE RIDGE DOES NOTHING TO FOOL THE SENSOR. THE TAPE MUST BE PLACED ON ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER OF THE LITTLE RIDGE.
———————–
|____________ | the front is indented/ridge sticks out
ridge-____________| | covering the front is useless
| | cover one of the sides, sort of tricky
———————–
A better look
———————-
|_____________ | Here or (On The Side)
_____________| | <——–(Not Here)
| | Here (On The Side)
———————-
A better look
__________ (Here)(on the side)
__________| <—–(Not On The Front)
(or Here)(on the side)
how can i fix Brother MFC-240C with an error unable to clean code 46?HELP PLS
Given the sensor information i have learnt from on here, i shook my nearly full cartridge to ‘froth’ up the ink to fill the cartridge… and guess what the stupid printer bought it!! (so far!)
Also, another tip… my dad brought one of those ink refill kits from tesco for 5 or 6 pound and filled up his own colours for a snip of the price .. he hasnt got a brother printer but it worked and i am going to try it on mine!
Good luck!
Our BROTHER MFC-665CW shows “Unable to Print 50”. Above this phrase is an exclamation point “!” in a gold circle. We’ve tried everything. Thanks for whatever tips you may have. PS: We’re on our way to buy ANYTHING but a BROTHER.
I also was having trouble with my brother mfc665cw printer not printing, the screen read no cartridge yellow. I did the obvious, turned it off and on, unpugged it, replaced with new brother compatible cartridge , inspected the cartridge slot for any interferance or damage. still didn’t work. went on to this blog went through suggestions. in the end I took a Q tip with rubbing alcohol and “cleaned” the color sensor, I took a bag tie cleaned one end so tip of wire was exposed 1/2 inch and roto-rootered the yellow color port. Not exactly sure why but it worked. good luck
I have mfc 420cn
It is not generating a number error. It is simply stating “unable to clean” and telling me to look at the maintenance section of the users manual. I read the manual. It told me nothing of use. I have take out the cartridges while its on, put them back in, turn it on and off and nothing works. I’ve tried to tell it to clean and it still just says “unable to clean.” Anyone have any ideas?
BROTHER MFC PRINTER ‘NO INK CARTRIDGE’ ERROR MESSAGE FINALLY SOLVED!!!
Post #180 actually worked on my MFC-465CN when all other solutions like the tape trick failed (btw thanks Tom you are a genius). However its wording is a little confusing, so let me see if I can help explain …
The black ink sensor on my printer was the problem behind my ‘No Black Ink Cartridge’ error message – inserting brand new Brother Innobella cartirdges made no difference. Each slot for the four cartridges has a small sensor that shines a light thru a tab on the cartridge housing to monitor the ink level inside. It seems that these sensors are poorly manufactured and are frequently the culprit behind ink error messages including ‘LOW INK’ messages when cartridges are still plenty full.
What post #180 tells you how to do is access the machine’s very basic operating system and turn off the sensor for the black ink cartridge. It’s not clear if this solution will also turn off the sensors for the other colors, but perhaps future posts will clarify. Many Brother models produced around the same time share similar operating systems, so perhaps your model may be like mine and Tom’s.
Most of the steps in Post #180 are pretty clear (be sure to ignore earlier posted versions like #175), but step 8 gets a little confusing. In short, when you follow the steps exactly you will eventually see a code on your screen (WSW31 = 11100101). You need to change the fourth digit in the 8 digit sequence from a 0 to a 1 (so that it reads (WSW31 = 11110101). This will turn off the ink sensor permanently and allow your machine to print again.
Simply press the right arrow button on your keypad (>) to reach it the fourth digit. Each press of the > moves you one digit to the right and causes each digit in the sequence to flash one at a time.
When you get the fourth digit flashing, press 1 on your keypad to replace the existing 0. Then be sure to follow the steps to save the new sequence correctly. If you get confused or mess up, simply press ‘stop’ and unplug the machine to start over.
I suspect that this solution may also work for “Low Ink” error messages since the same sensor is usually the problem. If so, then there’s no need for the tape trick. It’s also not as drastic of a solution as using a needle nose pliers to rip out the sensors as some posts here suggest – and I was desperate enough to try.
However, I also suspect that this solution means you can’t rely upon the machine to tell you when ink is low – or certainly not for the black cartridge at least. And printing on low ink can cause permanent machine damage, so just be sure to pop out your cartridges once in a while and check the levels yourself. By the way, if you decide to refill, look above for a post that suggests using a heated paper clip to melt a hole instead of drilling. That sounds like a smart option may avoid contaminating the ink cartridge with plastic fragments that can clog your machine. Good luck!!!
UPDATE TO POST #189 – USE A PLIERS AND RIP OUT THE INK SENSORS INSTEAD
As I posted in #189, the remedy in Post #180 seemed to solve my “No Cartridge” error message – but oddly, it was only temporary. 2 days later the same problem resurfaced. I unplugged and restarted the printer several times, but no luck clearing the problem like I had been able to do following the steps in Post #180.
With no other viable solutions remaining and my printer unable to function, I decided to take one last irreversible step before tossing the printer in the trash can. I used a pliers to remove the ink sensors altogether. It seems to have worked!
This option should be your last resort only after attempting all other solutions. But if you take this step, be sure to unplug the machine to protect it and you from electric shock. Then use a needle nose (pointy) pliers and gently tug off the black U-shaped sensors inside each ink cartridge compartment. They pop right off and I think they are just coverings, because underneath each I found two small white plastic cubes. I tugged all of those off too and used a wire snips to clip the wires back that had been connected to them. I think removing these little wired components is critical – removing only their black covering didn’t seem to have much benefit in my testing.
When I reinserted the cartridges and restarted the printer I had no error messages of any kind! The printer seems to be working fine (go figure) but I will update here again in a few days just to make sure I wasn’t fooled again. Maybe I will be buying another printer afterall – and if I do, it certainly won’t be a Brother. Hope this helps you.
to JQ #23, and to josh #182
Thanks to both of you.
JQ for finding the solution
josh for adding your diagram.
I ended up wadding up masking tape and placing it in the receded area on both sides. I had tried everything else suggested prior to josh’s diagam. Thanks again.
UPDATE TO POST #190 – REMOVING THE INK SENSORS FINALLY SOLVED THE PROBLEM ONCE AND FOR ALL
It has been two weeks since I used a pliers to remove faulty ink sensors on my Brother MFC-465CN (see Post #190). I am very, very happy to report that I haven’t had a single problem since. No persistent ‘Low Ink’ or ‘No Cartridge’ error messages like I had experienced for weeks before. I am surprised the machine doesn’t even seem to notice the sensors are gone. I definitely recommend this solution after all other attempts fail. If it worked on my printer model it may work on yours too. Good luck!
can anyone help me pls i have a brother mfc 665 printer i just put in new ink and for sum reason it sayn unabel to clean 50 i unpluged everythn i tryed seen if the inks werent put in right restartn my print nuthn so at this point i dont knw wat to do??
BETTER NEWS FOR “NO CARTRIDGE†PROBLEM OF MFC 5440CN (and may be others)
Thanks to Anonymous, at http://www.fixyourprinter.com/forums/inkjet/42054
posted (10/30/06 2:27 PM)
Re: Brother MFC 5440CN error 46 – counter reset,
I’ve found a sure way to access the “Equipment Log” that I was able to print out with code 77 under “Maintenance” mode as I mentioned at my post 180. This access to “Equipment Log” was needed when my MFC-5440CN was helped successfully with my post 180 until a month ago when it claimed again “No Cartridge” and refused to do anything, after full cartridges were in, including Cleaning the Heads or PURGE. Reading through the old “Equipment Log”, I got a hunch that PURGE counter and DOT COUNT may have to be reset to zero.
The surest way to do the two resets is as follows:
1. Unplug your printer;
2. Wait for 10 sec after the “going OFF” beep;
3. Press and maintain button Menu/Set, and carefully plug in the power plug;
4. Wait till all three LEDs flash On/Off repeatedly;
5. Release the ‘Menu/Set’ button, and wait to see “Maintenance” on display;
6. Enter 80 on keypad to access the Display of the Equipment Log;
7. The display begins with something like: 19:10 19:03 OK;
8. Press ‘Black Start’ button repeatedly until display shows DOTK as the heading then followed with a series of digits;
9. Enter 2783 to reset all the DOT counts;
10. Press ‘Stop/Exit’ button to go back to “Maintenance” mode;
11. Enter 80 on keypad to access the Display of the Equipment Log;
12. Press ‘Black Start’ button repeatedly until display shows “PURGE”;
13. Enter 2783 to reset the PURGE count;
14. Press ‘Stop/Exit’ button;
15. Enter 99 to exit “Maintenance” mode.
My MFC-5440CN began right there to go into the mode of displaying the date and other things as usual when it was healthy. If yours does the same, then do a Test Print by pressing the ‘Ink’ button on the group of buttons under ‘Print’ on the front of the printer. Proceed with all other steps for a Test Print as explained in the User Manual of the printer. If any color or black ink misbehaves, tell the printer to clean the appropriate heads. Repeat the cleaning steps if necessary. After a while, hopefully you will see all color patterns printed out correctly.
I’m not sure what will happen to your printer heads if one or more inks run out completely. On mine, a black cartridge ran out completely before the “No cartridge” was realized. After the resetting as done above, the purging/cleaning of the black channel took several times and ran a full cartridge almost empty. That’s fair, as the ink had to fill the tube leading from the cartridge to the head. What is a relief is the fact that the printing head began to work normally after the purge/cleaning, after being filled with air. Filled with air, it may be destroyed as warned by Brother in justifying about maintaining a hefty minimum in the ink cartridges.
Using the remedy of my post 180 and the steps above, my printer now is very happy, secure and prints a perfect Test Print every week.
Good luck and let me know if these steps along with my post 180 help you get out of these new troubles.
I have struggled with two issues since I bought the MFC420CN in 2005. On the plus side this printer has worked very hard and I have made it print hundreds of index cards and card stock too. I had one replacement sent because of a bad fax feed in the first year. My two problems:
1) I have never been able to use a non-OEM cartridge, nor one that I filled myself. They always failed, and then I had no ink feed for a week or so until the system settled down. I tried several after market cartridges and among other observations, they were not identical in form to the originals. For that reason mainly I got refunds on otherwise non-refundable purchases.
2) I have recently (2011) started getting false low readings. However, I have also in 2011 been buying cartridges on eBay for cheap and some were past their sell-by date. Nonetheless, I love the postings here: the only thing that worked for me so far is post #180. What I don’t understand is, what is the protocol for getting into a particular code? How’d folks work out “2783” to get to the purge option, or 1031 to get to WSW31? If I understood that I would be willing to experiment a bit more.
After post 180, on my PC Brother Status Monitor, all color levels are pegged at max – stopping the near empty and empty messages, but the black level is still showing a seemingly normal drop with usage.
Thanks!
JG
I had to use an extra magenta in the blue ink cartridge spot(dumb but had no othe option at midnight) and replaced with magenta blue the next day. But now all blue prints as purple. Will this go away when I buy a new blue ink or will it always print this way now?
My MFC 420CN is showing -“unable to clean” ,see troubleshooting in user manual .My set up manual has nothing to correct this.How do I fix it ?
It was turned off for 4 weeks while traveling
I have a message on my screen ” unable to init” I can’t get it to print. I have purged the counter unplugging and disconnecting, cleaning, checking for paper jams and bits of paper or dust. what next?
My MFC-240C feeds 20 lb. paper fine but will not feed 8.5X11 photo paper at all.Just extends slightly and declares a jam. 4X6 photo paper will print randomly with excellent results but jams at the rear cover most often. I would really like to see the results of 8.5×11 paper if only just once!