Printer Troubleshooting Guide

This knowledge base article is intended to provide tips and tricks that will help the user deal with printer problems.

Printer Jams

Typical jams occur in the following areas:

• Feed Rollers
• Toner cartridge
• Fuser

To fix a jam occurring in the feed roller or paper tray area:

1. If the rollers are shiny/smooth, replace the rollers.
2. If the rollers are dirty, try cleaning them.  If that does not help, replace the rollers.
3. Check to make sure the paper tray is set to the correct setting.  If it is set to the wrong size, that can cause jams, because the paper is either too loose or too tight in the tray.

To fix a jam occurring around the toner cartridge area:

1.  If the print job is stopping at the toner, or just before or after it, try replacing the toner.
2.  Try replacing the transfer roller, that is normally located directly under the toner.

To fix a jam occurring in the fuser area:

1.  Remove the fuser and check to see if the rollers in the fuser are damaged.  If they are, replace the fuser.
2.  If the rollers are not damaged, rotate the rollers in the fuser to see if they move freely.  If they do not, replace the fuser.
3.  If you are receiving a fuser error on the display on the printer, replace the fuser.
4.  If the printer is never moving past the "Processing" state, the fuser could possibly not be heating up correctly.  Try replacing the fuser.

Paper Defects

Typical paper defects occur in the following areas: 

• Feed Rollers
• Toner cartridge
• Fuser
• Drum (if the printer has a separate drum unit, like the Brother printers do)

To determine what area the paper defect is occuring:

1. Print a test page to observe the defect. Based on what you see, you can often guess where the problem is.
2. Check the rollers on the toner cartridge and the fuser.  If you see defects on either one, try the suggestions below.
   • Rub the defect on the page with your finger. If it rubs off, it is most likely in the fuser area. If it doesn't rub off, it could be the toner or the fuser, or perhaps the transfer roller.
   • If you see a defect that repeats on the page at a regular interval, you can consult a defect ruler for that particular printer and figure out where the defect is coming from. Measure the interval between the defects in millimeters, and consult the defect ruler.  You can find the defect ruler for a particular printer by googling it.
3.  If a certain color is not printing out well, try replacing that color cartridge.

To fix defects coming from the feed rollers:

1. Try cleaning the feed rollers. 
2. If that doesn't help, replace the feed rollers.

To fix defects coming from the toner:

1. Check the area around the toner. If you see a lot of toner around the toner cartridge, try vacuuming/cleaning the area around the toner.   If that doesn't help, try some of the other suggestions below.  However, if you notice that the toner cartrige is leaking, replace the toner.
2. Rotate the roller on the toner, looking for defects.  If you find one, try cleaning it off with a dry, static-free towel.  If that doesn't help, replace the toner.   
3. The transfer roller could be the problem. Try replacing it and see if the defect disappears.
4.  If a particular color is causing the defect, try replacing the color that corresponds to the defect. This would include the black toner cartridge as well.

Note: Sometimes, the defect is not obvious on the roller, but there is a problem with the roller.  There could be some dead cells on the roller, etc.  that are causing the defect.  Using the defect ruler may help you pinpoint that the problem is with the toner roller.  If you are certain the defect is coming from the toner, but you can't see it on the roller, try replacing the toner and see if that fixes the problem or not.

To fix defects coming from the fuser:

1. Check the rollers on the fuser.  If you find a defect, try cleaning the rollers with a dry,static-free towel.  If that doesn't help, replace the fuser.
2. If the toner is not adhering to the page properly, it could be the fuser.  Try replacing the fuser to see if that helps.   The transfer roller also could be the problem, if replacing the fuser doesn't fix this.

To fix defects coming from the drum:

1. Check the roller on the drum. If you find a defect, try cleaning the roller with a dry, static-free towel. 
2. If that doesn't help, replace the drum.

Common error messages:

Printer is generating a banner page for each print job

      1. Find the printer IP address and open up the web interface for the printer in a web browser

      2. Sign in to the Admin account on the printer.  Password is most likely "voyager" or 'Voyager1"

      3.  Go to the Network tab, and then the Advanced tab.

      4.  Set LPD Banner Page to Disabled.  Hit Apply, and that should fix this issue of a banner page being printed on each print job.

"Maintenance kit low" or "Maintenance kit very low" error

1.  Submit a ticket to Tech Services to have the maintenance kit replaced on the printer.   This can be a low-priority ticket, as the printer will still function while this error is displayed.

"Supply memory error"

1.  Re-seat the toner cartridge.   If that does not fix the issue, replace the toner cartridge.   Submit a ticket to Tech Services if the issue is still unresolved after re-seating or replacing the toner.

"Fuser error"

1.  Submit a ticket to Tech Services to have this printer serviced.   The fuser will most likely need to be replaced, but Tech Services can determine that.

"Replace toner collection unit" or "Toner collection unit almost full"

1.  The toner collection unit on the color printer is nearing end-of-life.   Submit a ticket to Tech Services to have them order a new toner collection unit for this printer.  The printer should still function despite this error, but a new toner collection unit will need to be ordered and installed.

"Replace Drum" or similar drum error

For the most part, this error applies to Brother printers on campus.