I have a Brother Color Laser Printer, 4070, and black spots are now appearing on the left margin. It's new printer, only six weeks old, so I don't think I need to replace the drum or cartridge yet, at least I hope not. What other remedies, short of replacing something, are there for this problem?
Brother e-mailed me back when I e-mailed them about my similar problem. Here is what was said:Printer Customer Service CAMay 6 Brother Customer: Thank you for taking the time to write us in regards to the colored spots print quality issue that you are experiencing with your HL4070CDW. Brother strongly recommends that customers do not use generic drum units and/or toner cartridges, or refill their Brother toner cartridge. Each Brother laser printer is designed to work at pre-set temperatures that are matched exactly to each of our individual toner formulations. Each individual component is designed to work with the other to ensure quality and reliability. Using non-Brother supplies may affect the hardware performance, print quality and machine reliability. The Brotherlimited warranty does not apply to any problem that is caused by the useof unauthorized third party drum units, toner cartridges or toner. If you are experiencing white or color dots/spots on the printed pages, clean the drum unit: 1. Open the MP (Multipurpose) tray by pulling it toward you and lower itgently. 2. Pull out the MP tray support and unfold the flap. 3. Place 3 sheets of regular plain 20 lb paper in the MP tray or the cleaning sheet sent by Brother. 4. On the control panel, press the following keys one by one - OK, GO, OK. The keys strokes should not have any pauses between them. The display should turn an orange color and a zero should appear on the leftside of the display. 5. Press the DOWN arrow key until 31 appears on the display. Press the OK key. 6. Press the GO key. PLEASE WAIT appears on the display. The machine will pull one sheet from the manual feed tray. 7. DRUM CLEANING COMPLETED will appear on the display once the sheet hasbeen pulled through the machine. 8. Press the GO key again to feed the remaining sheets. 9. When the last sheet has been fed through the machine, press the CANCEL key. 10. From the Ready screen, print a test page by pressing the OK key. a. MACHINE INFO will appear on the display. Press the OK key. b. Press the DOWN arrow key until TEST PRINT appears on the display. Press the OK key. c. When the page has printed, press the CANCEL key to return to the ready screen. 11. Check the sample for dots: a. If the dots disappeared, the issue has been solved. Please keep in mind that the type of media, could introduce paper dust or spec#s that could adhere to the drum surface, contaminating it. b. If the dots still remain continue with the next steps. 12. How many dots do you see? a. If you see 3 or 4 dots in a vertical line (every 75mm or 3 inches), continue to STEP 13. b. If you see 7 or 8 dots in a vertical line (every 62.8mm or 2.5 inches), your toner cartridge has an issue, please replace the proper toner cartridge according to the color of the dots, we Brother strongly recommends that customers do not use generic toner cartridges, or refilltheir Brother toner cartridge. The Brother limited warranty does not apply to any problem that is caused by the use of unauthorized third party toner cartridges. Go to Warranty Options. 13. Press down on the front cover release lever and open the front cover by pulling it towards you. 14. Hold the green handle of the drum unit (labeled 1). Lift the drum unit up and then pull it out until it stops. NOTE: If you cannot pull the drum unit out, make sure that the front cover is fully open. 15. Remove the toner cartridge that is causing the dot, by holding the handle of the cartridge and lifting it up and out of the drum unit. Note: We recommend you place the toner cartridge(s) on a clean, flat surface with a piece of disposable paper underneath it in case you accidentally spill or scatter toner. 16. Once you have removed the toner cartridge, check in the open slot where the toner was installed for dots, smudges or paper spec#s on the drum surface cylinder. 17. If you see something out of the ordinary, please try to gently (do not scrub or use wiping motion, because this may damage the drum), cleanthe drum surface with a cotton swab until the dust or paper powder comesoff. You can spin the Drum in question by rotating it, with the gear located on the bottom left side of the drum. Note: The Drum is photosensitive, DO NOT touch it with your finger, and do not clean the drum with any sharp objects, because this may damage the drum. 18. After gently cleaning the Drum surface, reinstall the toner cartridge you removed. 19. Push the drum unit back into the machine until it clicks into place and close the front door. 20. Print a sample page. If the issue continues the printer may need service. If the printer is in warranty, call Brother Customer Service at 1-877-Brother (1-877-276-8437) for warranty options. If the printer is out of warranty, contact a Brother Authorized Service Center for repair by clicking on the link below: http://www.brother-usa.com/service/default.aspx We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. Sincerely, Printer Customer Service Brother International Corporation Your opinion matters to us. Click the link below to take a quick survey regarding our email response. http://www.brother-usa.com/Surveys/Survey.aspx?SID=97 Original Message Follows: ------------------------ Email from Ask Us Customer: ======================================================= Sent: 5/4/2009 11:05:45 PMModel: HL-4070CDW Date of purchase = 02/17/2009 Operating System = Mac OS 10.5 Computer type = Apple Brand & Model = Mac Mini Processor speed = 1.83ghz & 2.5gb RAM Connection configuration = (Selected) Network Print Driver = Brother HL-4070CDW series CIUPS Description of issue = My Brother HL-4070CDW is still very new and I've done a few printouts with it. I am noticing color spots on the left. Seems to just be blue. I did a color calibration from the printer's menu, but didn't seem to fix the problem. I posted on fixya.com over here: http://www.fixya.com/support/t2060775-color_spots_left_margin_when_printing_hl Seems someone else is having the same problem too, but with black spots on the left: http://www.fixya.com/support/t2128778-black_spots_appearing_left_margin_page Lastly, here are pictures of the problem: http://twitpic.com/4knub http://twitpic.com/4knr7 Alarm Lights = My Brother HL-4070CDW is still very new and I've done a few printouts with it. I am noticing color spots on the left. Seems to just be blue. I did a color calibration from the printer's menu, but didn't seem to fix the problem. I posted on fixya.com over here: http://www.fixya.com/support/t2060775-color_spots_left_margin_when_printing_hl Seems someone else is having the same problem too, but with black spots on the left: http://www.fixya.com/support/t2128778-black_spots_appearing_left_margin_page Lastly, here are pictures of the problem: http://twitpic.com/4knub http://twitpic.com/4knr7 Date of purchase = 02/17/2009 from Brother USA site
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I think I have the exact same problem, but with the color blue - you seem to have the color with black spots. My Brother HL-4070CDW printer is very new too - ordered on 2/17/09, I didn't get around to finally setting it up until a few weeks ago.
Here's pics of my problem:
http://twitpic.com/4knr7
http://twitpic.com/4knub
I posted about my problem too on fixya.com over here http://www.fixya.com/support/t2060775-co... and got some advice from rulds2008
who said the following:
"Replace the cartridge if that dont do it its the write head fouled up
with ink or just plain died all togeather, dried ink can cause this to
happen check and see if you can clean it out with 70 percent isp.
alcohal if the issue still does not resolve its new printer time."
My next step is to e-mail Brother
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