Plastic ribbon has fallen from my printer

I had this same problem and none of the printer services (clean printhead, align printer, calibrate linefeed) fixed the problem. After trying every solution that I found on the internet with no success I was able to fix the problem by cleaning two critical parts of the printer.
1. Turn off the printer and open it as though you are going to change the printheads.
2. Towards the back of the printer you will see a thin clear plastic ribbon that has very small black lines on it. Very, very, very gently clean this ribbon. I used a lint free cloth and some glass cleaner. Spray the cleaner on the cloth and slide the cloth against both sides of the ribbon. Do not pull on the ribbon. This ribbon is used to tell the printhead how far it has moved from side to side.
3. Next locate the silver bar that runs across the back of the printer. This bar is used to feed the paper through the printer as it is printing a document. On the left side of the bar you will see some plastic guides that hold the bar in place. On the outside of the plastic guides you should see a clear plastic disc made of the same material as the ribbon above. This disc also has very small black lines on it. Again very, very, very gently clean this plastic disc. This disk is used to tell the printheads how far it has travelled down the page. This is the one that was causing the problem. The dust or dried ink or whatever was on the disc was causing the printer to incorrectly calibrate the linefeed and was causing the white lines to appear on my documents.
4. Use the "calibrate linefeed" function of the printer services to recalibrate the linefeed and the white lines will hopefully be gone.

Usually, error code 5100 means some kind of obstruction in the print path, maybe something that had fallen inside the printer, the gears being jammed by something that got loose inside the printer, or ink on the clear plastic encoder/timing strip (a plastic strip about 1/4" in width that you can see running from side to side and connects to the print head).

Clean the plastic strip with alcohol , check if there is nothing blocking the head carriage set (sometimes kids play and hide toys, pens, coins, inside printers, VCRs or any other devices that have "doors"...).

Hope this info may help you!

Hi There,

I highly recommend you call Brother and get a list of certified repair techs for your locale and have them come and do the repair. Sanity in printing matters.

Regards,

Marcus

You should be able to reconnect the ribbon. There should be a plastic piece that you push back away from where it connects. Re-insert the ribbon and then push the plastic piece into the connection. This plastic piece holds the connection tight. If it will not stay in after trying this, replace the ribbon. You can get one at www.partselect.com for $9.30 + shipping. Good luck

I had the exact same issue with mine! I didn't manage to fix it, but I know exactly what the issue is. If you open the printer, you'll find a black rectangular box above where the film fits inside the printer. This black box is connected to the board above it, and is supposed to press down against the film, and then against the paper for it to print properly. There is a little bar above the rectangular box, and there should be two plastic pieces on both ends of this bar. The bar is also connected to the gears, and when the gears move the bar, the two plastic pieces coming off of the bar push the black box down. When I looked at mine, only one of the plastic pieces was doing its job; the other one was broken, and was sliding on the bar. Tried some super glue, wouldn't work. I suggest tossing it out like I did, unless it's still under warranty or you want to try fixing the plastic piece so the printer head gets pressed down all the way.

Google your printer, try pcappliancerepair.com. This item goes from one side of your printer to the other, passing through the cartridges holder. Look for the places it attaches. You may have to move the cartridge holder to the center to install the plastic.

The problem is most likely a broken plastic lever on the end of the shaft that moves the print head. The plastic lever is keyed to the shaft by a flat on the shaft. The plastic has a tendency to split at the edge of the flat, resulting in the lever slipping on the shaft. This in turn results in one side of the print head not contacting the paper with sufficient pressure. The other end of the shaft has a thick plastic sector gear which is much less likely to break.

I fixed mine by making a clamp from a metal spacer (made from split tube about 1/8 inch long) and force fitting it over the part of the plastic lever that fits on the metal shaft (on the end towards the inside of the unit). There is just enough clearance to do this without hitting the print head frame.

To remove the plastic lever, first remove two screws from back of unit, then pull up on top of unit, unplug two ribbon cables from circuit board and remove top. Then unplug two remaining ribbon cables from circuit board, and three screws holding circuit board. Lift circuit board and fan/fan-holder as one piece. Finally, disengage tab on plastic retainer on end of metal shaft, rotate tab straight up and lift shaft up and to the side (may require a little wiggling). The plastic lever slides off the metal shaft.

Please adjust paper size in printer properties.

The problem is most likely a broken plastic lever on the end of the shaft that moves the print head. The plastic lever is keyed to the shaft by a flat on the shaft. The plastic has a tendency to split at the edge of the flat, resulting in the lever slipping on the shaft. This in turn results in one side of the print head not contacting the paper with sufficient pressure. The other end of the shaft has a thick plastic sector gear which is much less likely to break.

I fixed mine by making a clamp from a metal spacer (made from split tube about 1/8 inch long) and force fitting it over the part of the plastic lever that fits on the metal shaft (on the end towards the inside of the unit). There is just enough clearance to do this without hitting the print head frame.

To remove the plastic lever, first remove two screws from back of unit, then pull up on top of unit, unplug two ribbon cables from circuit board and remove top. Then unplug two remaining ribbon cables from circuit board, and three screws holding circuit board. Lift circuit board and fan/fan-holder as one piece. Finally, disengage tab on plastic retainer on end of metal shaft, rotate tab straight up and lift shaft up and to the side (may require a little wiggling). The plastic lever slides off the metal shaft.

If the boundary between the blank half and the printed half is a sharp line, a wire to the print head may be broken or disconnected. If the boundary is irregular (wanders up and down an 1/8 inch or so), the problem is most likely a broken plastic lever on the end of the shaft that moves the print head. The plastic lever is keyed to the shaft by a flat on the shaft. The plastic has a tendency to split at the edge of the flat, resulting in the lever slipping on the shaft. This in turn results in one side of the print head not contacting the paper with sufficient pressure. The other end of the shaft has a thick plastic sector gear which is much less likely to break.

I fixed mine by making a clamp from a metal spacer (made from split tube about 1/8 inch long) and force fitting it over the part of the plastic lever that fits on the metal shaft (on the end towards the inside of the unit). There is just enough clearance to do this without hitting the print head frame.

To remove the plastic lever, first remove two screws from back of unit, then pull up on top of unit, unplug two ribbon cables from circuit board and remove top. Then unplug two remaining ribbon cables from circuit board, and three screws holding circuit board. Lift circuit board and fan/fan-holder as one piece. Finally, disengage tab on plastic retainer on end of metal shaft, rotate tab straight up and lift shaft up and to the side (may require a little wiggling). The plastic lever slides off the metal shaft.