My Brother MFC-415W recently stopped printing one color (the other 2 colors and black still work fine). I tried running the normal Clean operation from the front panel several times, but it didn't improve things. I then called Brother tech support, who ran me through the Power Purge procedure. This didn't improve things either. I was told that since the printer is out of warranty, the only option is to take it to a service centre, which will charge $60 just to look at the printer. I reset the purge counter just for the heck of it, but that made no difference either. I have a feeling that there is just a clogged ink line or print head, but don't know how to verify this theory or to repair it. Any suggestions for the next step I should take would be much appreciated.
SOURCE: Brother MFC 5840 won't print red. ink is full. printer head clean
If the regular cleaning does not work, you can try the power purge. Perform it by doing the following:
If it doesn't work, you'd probably need chemicals to clean the ink tubes. But, this power purge should work.
SOURCE: MFC-790CW; will not print the black color..
You probably have a plugged print head or the black ink feed is plugged.
Depending on how bad it is you may find it easier or even cheaper to replace the printer.
If this is a ink caused problem you stand a chance of fixing it if you are patient but you might go through half an ink cartridge to get it working, If it is stubborn it can take 20 or 30 cleaning cycles before you see any black. You can try using household vinegar (dissolves the dried ink) on a qtip or lint free paper towel to try to clean the print head. To do this you remove the ink cartridge and very gently rub the towel with the vinegar on the print head. This might require you to move the print head to one side so you can see the actual print area (where the ink comes out). Keep doing this until the towel starts to come clean ie not as much ink coming off. Then run a few print cycles and if this works your printer will print as good as the first day you had it.
The next stage would require filling a old clean ink cartridge with vinegar and running cleaning cycles. Usually can be pretty messy and you should rethink buying a new printer but will really clean things out.
It is also possible that the print head has picked up clay or paper lint from the paper and this has hardened like a cement. That means replacement.
SOURCE: BROTHER MFC-210 PRINTING IN BLACK INK POOR QUALITY
Try cleaning the black printer heads several times in a row, at least 5 times then print a black document with best quality setting.
Press the ink button, then down to select select cleaning and then press menu/set and menu/set again to select black.
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The day after I did the power purge procedure, the missing colour suddenly started working again. Maybe sometimes it takes a while for the effects of the purge to become apparent. Anyway, the problem is apparently solved.
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