Improving the print quality. Brother HL 5370DW, HL-5370DW/ HL-5370DWT, HL-5350DN, HL-5340D, 5370DW, 5340D, HL-5370DWT - B/W Laser Printer, HL-5370DW, HL-5370DW/HL-5370DWT

Troubleshooting

Improving the print quality

If you have a print quality problem, print a test page first (see Print a test page on page 85). If the printout

looks good, the problem is probably not the printer. Check the interface cable or try the printer on another computer.

This section gives information on the following topics.

7

Examples of poor print quality

Faint

Recommendation

„ Check the printer’s environment. Conditions such as humidity, high

temperatures, and so on, may cause this print fault. See Positioning the printer on page 5.

„ If the whole page is too light, Toner Save Mode may be on. Turn off Toner Save

Mode in the printer Properties tab of the driver.

„

Put in a new toner cartridge. See Replacing the toner cartridge on page 95.

„

Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum unit on page 102.

„ You may clear the problem by wiping the scanner window with a soft cloth. See

Cleaning the inside of the printer on page 108.

„

Make sure that you use paper that meets our specifications. See About paper on page 6.

„ Check the printer’s environment. Conditions such as high temperatures and high

humidity can increase the amount of background shading. See Positioning the

printer on page 5.

„

Put in a new toner cartridge. See Replacing the toner cartridge on page 95.

„

Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum unit on page 102.

Gray background

„ Make sure that you use paper that meets our specifications. Rough-surfaced

paper or thick print media may cause this problem. See About paper on page 6.

„ Make sure that the media type setting in the driver matches the type of paper you

are using. See About paper on page 6.

„

Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum unit on page 102.

„ The fuser unit may be contaminated. Call Brother Customer Service.

Ghost

„ Make sure that you use paper that meets our specifications. Rough-surfaced

paper may cause the problem. See About paper on page 6.

„

The drum unit may be damaged. Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum

unit on page 102.

„ The fuser unit may be contaminated. Call Brother Customer Service.

7

Toner specks

129

Troubleshooting

Examples of poor print quality

Recommendation

Hollow print

„

Make sure that you use paper that meets our specifications. See About paper on page 6.

„ Choose Thick Paper mode in the printer driver, or use thinner paper than what you are now using.

„ Check the printer’s environment. Conditions such as high humidity can cause

hollow print. See Positioning the printer on page 5.

„

The drum unit may be damaged. Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum

unit on page 102.

„ Clean the primary corona wire inside the drum unit by sliding the blue tab. Be sure

to return the blue tab to the home position (a). See Cleaning the corona wire on page 113.

„

The drum unit may be damaged. Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum

unit on page 102.

„ The fuser unit may be contaminated. Call Brother Customer Service.

All black

White lines across the page

„ Make sure that you use paper that meets our specifications. A rough surfaced paper or thick print media can cause problems.

„ Make sure that you choose the proper media type in the printer driver.

„ The problem may disappear by itself. Print multiple pages to clear this problem, especially if the printer has not been used for a long time.

„

The drum unit may be damaged. Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum

unit on page 102.

„ Clean the inside of the printer and the primary corona wire in the drum unit. See

Cleaning the inside of the printer on page 108 and Cleaning the corona wires on page 113.

„

The drum unit may be damaged. Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum

unit on page 102.

7

Lines across the page

„ Check the printer's environment. Conditions such as high humidity and high

temperatures may cause this print quality problem. (See Positioning the printer on page 5.)

„ If the problem is not solved after printing a few pages, put in a new drum unit.

(See Replacing the drum unit on page 102.)

White lines, bands or ribbing across the page

130

Troubleshooting

Examples of poor print quality

Recommendation

„ If the problem is not solved after printing a few pages, the drum unit may have glue from a label stuck on the OPC drum surface.

Clean the drum unit as follows:

1) Put the print sample in front of the drum unit, and find the exact position of the poor print.

7

White Spots on black text and graphics at 94 mm

(3.7 in.) intervals

2) Turn the drum unit gear by hand while looking at the surface of the OPC drum (1).

7

Black Spots at 94 mm

(3.7 in.) intervals

1

3) When you have found the mark on the drum that matches the print sample, wipe the surface of the OPC drum with a dry cotton swab until the dust or glue on the surface comes off.

IMPORTANT

DO NOT clean the surface of the photosensitive drum with a sharp object.

„

The drum unit may be damaged. Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum

unit on page 102.

131

Troubleshooting

Examples of poor print quality

Recommendation

Black toner marks across the page

Black lines down the page

Printed pages have toner stains down the page.

„

The drum unit may be damaged. Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum

unit on page 102.

„ The toner cartridge may be damaged. Put in a new toner cartridge. See

Replacing the toner cartridge on page 95.

„

Make sure that you use paper that meets our specifications. See About paper on page 6.

„ If you use label sheets for laser printers, the glue from the sheets may sometimes

stick to the OPC drum surface. Clean the drum unit. See Clean the drum unit as

follows: on page 131.

„ Do not use paper that has clips or staples because they will scratch the surface of the drum.

„ If the unpacked drum unit is in direct sunlight or room light, the unit may be damaged.

„ Clean the primary corona wire inside the drum unit by sliding the blue tab. See

Cleaning the corona wire on page 113.

„ Make sure the primary corona wire cleaner is at the home position (a).

„

The drum unit may be damaged. Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum

unit on page 102.

„ The toner cartridge may be damaged. Put in a new toner cartridge. See

Replacing the toner cartridge on page 95.

„ The fuser unit may be smudged. Call your dealer or Brother Customer Service.

White lines down the page

Page skewed

„ Make sure that a torn piece of paper is not inside the printer covering the scanner window.

„

Wipe the scanner window with a soft cloth. See Cleaning the inside of the printer on page 108.

„ The toner cartridge may be damaged. Put in a new toner cartridge. See

Replacing the toner cartridge on page 95.

„

The drum unit may be damaged. Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum

unit on page 102.

„ Make sure that the paper or other print media is loaded properly in the paper tray and that the guides are not too tight or too loose against the paper stack.

„

Set the paper guides correctly. See Printing on plain paper, bond paper or

transparencies from Tray 1, 2 or 3 on page 11.

„

If you are using the multi-purpose tray, see Printing on plain paper, bond paper

or transparencies from the MP tray on page 16.

„

The paper tray may be too full. See Printing on plain paper, bond paper or

transparencies from Tray 1, 2 or 3 on page 11.

„

Check the paper type and quality. See About paper on page 6.

7

132

Troubleshooting

Examples of poor print quality

Recommendation

„ Check the paper type and quality. High temperatures and high humidity will cause

paper to curl. See About paper on page 6.

„ If you do not use the printer often, the paper may have been in the paper tray too long. Turn over the stack of paper in the paper tray. Also, fan the paper stack and then rotate the paper 180° in the paper tray.

Curled or wavy

„

Make sure that the paper is loaded properly. See Printing on plain paper, bond

paper or transparencies from Tray 1, 2 or 3 on page 11.

„

Check the paper type and quality. See About paper on page 6.

„ Turn over the stack of paper in the tray or try rotating the paper 180° in the input tray.

Wrinkles or creases

„ Make sure that the envelope levers inside the back cover is pulled down when you print the envelope.

7

Envelope Creases

Note

When you have finished printing, open the back cover and reset the two blue levers back to their original position.

133

Troubleshooting

Examples of poor print quality

Recommendation

„ Open the back cover and make sure that the two blue levers on the left and right hand sides are in the up position.

Poor Fixing

„ Choose Improve Toner Fixing mode in the printer driver. See Improve Print

Output in Advanced tab on page 39 (For Windows

®

printer driver), Advanced

options on page 51 (For BR-Script printer driver for Windows

®

) or Print Settings on page 58 (For Macintosh). If this selection does not provide enough

improvement, select Thicker Paper in Media Type settings.

7

134

Troubleshooting

Examples of poor print quality

Recommendation

„ Lift up the Face-down Output Tray Support Flap 2 (Support Flap 2) (1).

1

Curled

„ Choose Reduce Paper Curl mode in the printer driver. See Improve Print

Output in Advanced tab on page 39 (For Windows

®

printer driver), Advanced

options on page 51 (For BR-Script printer driver for Windows

®

) or Print Settings on page 58 (For Macintosh).

„ Turn the paper over in the paper tray, and print again. (Excluding Letterhead paper) If the problem remains, switch the Anti-Curl Lever as follows:

1) Open the back cover.

7

2) Lift the lever (1) and slide the lever (2) in the direction of the arrow.

2

1

135