Brother HL-2040 black spot

I have a Brother HL-2040 laser printer. It has begun printing a black
spot at the center of the page every 75mm, starting 70mm from the top.

Before that, for some time it had a white spot at the center of the page
every 75mm, starting 8mm from the top.

Can I fix this by cleaning?

"E Z Peaces" <> wrote in message
news:hdcm9a$kr4$...

> I have a Brother HL-2040 laser printer. It has begun printing a black
> spot at the center of the page every 75mm, starting 70mm from the top.
>
> Before that, for some time it had a white spot at the center of the page
> every 75mm, starting 8mm from the top.
>
> Can I fix this by cleaning?

Well, cleaning costs almost nothing while a DR 350
drum will probably cost you more than $100. But
peace of mind is always worth N dollars.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Tony wrote:
> E Z Peaces <> wrote:
>> I have a Brother HL-2040 laser printer. It has begun printing a black
>> spot at the center of the page every 75mm, starting 70mm from the top.
>>
>> Before that, for some time it had a white spot at the center of the page
>> every 75mm, starting 8mm from the top.
>>
>> Can I fix this by cleaning?
>
> This looks like the exposure drum (part of the drum unit)
> The circumferences of the rollers nearest to 75mm are as follows
>
> Exposure Drum 75.3 mm
>
> Heat Roller 78.5 mm
> Pressure Roller 78.5 mm
>
> The last two are part of the fuser but if you have measured accurately the drum
> is at fault and it is most unlikely that you will fix it by cleaning. A new
> drum unit is required.
> If you look at the drum with the toner cartridge removed from it you will
> probably be able to see a blemish on it in the appropriate position, you may
> need to rotate the drum to see it.
>
> You can get a printout of the life that should be left in the drum by pressing
> the GO button 3 times within 2 seconds.
>
>
>
> Tony
>

Thanks. It the printout says it's 94% full after 828 pages.

I did what I should have done long ago. I created a gray page to test.
Besides the black spot, it has several white spots at the center and
about the same place on the circumference. The spacing is very close to
75mm. On three prints, the first dot appeared at different distances
from the top of the page.

I've discovered where the user's guide tells what to do about white or
black spots every 75mm. Clean the drum with a dry q-tip. That seems to
have made the white spots slightly smaller. On one drum revolution,
there was no black spot, so I think the black is toner one of the spots
can pick up from the cleaning roller.

How about a solvent for my q-tip? I have contact cleaner that's not
supposed to harm plastics or leave residue. It's Hexane, ethanol,
aliphatic hydrocarbons, and propane.

My guess is the print drum is either damaged in that area or has an area
that is coated with something that can be gently removed.

The lack of printing of that area indicates the drum photosensitive area
is either damaged or had something covering it, or had the area lose its
photo conductive surface there. It could be a bit from an adhesive label
or other source got on it. It could be that it flaked or bubbled, or
got abraded. Over time, the area begins to pick up toner or not clean
properly (there is a rubber wiper that cleans the drum with each
rotation to remove excess toner) but if the are has become rough and is
always picking up toner now, or is not getting wiped clean now, or some
toner melted or stuck onto it, or it got contaminated with adhesive or
grease and is now picking up toner, it may leave a black spot where it
before left a white area.

You need to look at the drum and see if you can gently clean the area of
whatever has disturbed the surface. You can gently buff it with a very
soft cloth dry or very slightly dampened with water. Be gentle because
scratches will permanently damage the drum, and keep the drum out of
direct light, only expose it to low room lighting for short periods of time.

Art





If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

E Z Peaces wrote:
> I have a Brother HL-2040 laser printer. It has begun printing a black
> spot at the center of the page every 75mm, starting 70mm from the top.
>
> Before that, for some time it had a white spot at the center of the page
> every 75mm, starting 8mm from the top.
>
> Can I fix this by cleaning?

DO NOT use that cleaner, it will probably dissolve or damage the surface
of the drum.

Test using either a bit of water or test an area where it will not show
on the print and try some isopropyl alcohol. The drum surface can be
dissolved with a number of solvents and several of the ones you mention
will probably damage it.

Art


If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

E Z Peaces wrote:
> Tony wrote:
>> E Z Peaces <> wrote:
>>> I have a Brother HL-2040 laser printer. It has begun printing a
>>> black spot at the center of the page every 75mm, starting 70mm from
>>> the top.
>>>
>>> Before that, for some time it had a white spot at the center of the
>>> page every 75mm, starting 8mm from the top.
>>>
>>> Can I fix this by cleaning?
>>
>> This looks like the exposure drum (part of the drum unit)
>> The circumferences of the rollers nearest to 75mm are as follows
>>
>> Exposure Drum 75.3 mm
>>
>> Heat Roller 78.5 mm
>> Pressure Roller 78.5 mm
>>
>> The last two are part of the fuser but if you have measured accurately
>> the drum is at fault and it is most unlikely that you will fix it by
>> cleaning. A new drum unit is required.
>> If you look at the drum with the toner cartridge removed from it you
>> will probably be able to see a blemish on it in the appropriate
>> position, you may need to rotate the drum to see it.
>>
>> You can get a printout of the life that should be left in the drum by
>> pressing the GO button 3 times within 2 seconds.
>>
>>
>>
>> Tony
>>
>
> Thanks. It the printout says it's 94% full after 828 pages.
>
> I did what I should have done long ago. I created a gray page to test.
> Besides the black spot, it has several white spots at the center and
> about the same place on the circumference. The spacing is very close to
> 75mm. On three prints, the first dot appeared at different distances
> from the top of the page.
>
> I've discovered where the user's guide tells what to do about white or
> black spots every 75mm. Clean the drum with a dry q-tip. That seems to
> have made the white spots slightly smaller. On one drum revolution,
> there was no black spot, so I think the black is toner one of the spots
> can pick up from the cleaning roller.
>
> How about a solvent for my q-tip? I have contact cleaner that's not
> supposed to harm plastics or leave residue. It's Hexane, ethanol,
> aliphatic hydrocarbons, and propane.

I cannot suggest you use that cleaner again. It may well cause further
clouding. It has likely disrupted the photo conductive surface. Again,
try gently cleaning with isopropyl alcohol at best.

Art

If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

E Z Peaces wrote:
> Tony wrote:
>> E Z Peaces <> wrote:
>>> Tony wrote:
>>>> E Z Peaces <> wrote:
>>>>> I have a Brother HL-2040 laser printer. It has begun printing a
>>>>> black spot at the center of the page every 75mm, starting 70mm from
>>>>> the top.
>>>>>
>>>>> Before that, for some time it had a white spot at the center of the
>>>>> page every 75mm, starting 8mm from the top.
>>>>>
>>>>> Can I fix this by cleaning?
>>>> This looks like the exposure drum (part of the drum unit)
>>>> The circumferences of the rollers nearest to 75mm are as follows
>>>>
>>>> Exposure Drum 75.3 mm
>>>>
>>>> Heat Roller 78.5 mm
>>>> Pressure Roller 78.5 mm
>>>>
>>>> The last two are part of the fuser but if you have measured
>>>> accurately the drum is at fault and it is most unlikely that you
>>>> will fix it by cleaning. A new drum unit is required.
>>>> If you look at the drum with the toner cartridge removed from it you
>>>> will probably be able to see a blemish on it in the appropriate
>>>> position, you may need to rotate the drum to see it.
>>>>
>>>> You can get a printout of the life that should be left in the drum
>>>> by pressing the GO button 3 times within 2 seconds.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Tony
>>>>
>>> Thanks. It the printout says it's 94% full after 828 pages.
>>>
>>> I did what I should have done long ago. I created a gray page to
>>> test. Besides the black spot, it has several white spots at the
>>> center and about the same place on the circumference. The spacing is
>>> very close to 75mm. On three prints, the first dot appeared at
>>> different distances from the top of the page.
>>> I've discovered where the user's guide tells what to do about white
>>> or black spots every 75mm. Clean the drum with a dry q-tip. That
>>> seems to have made the white spots slightly smaller. On one drum
>>> revolution, there was no black spot, so I think the black is toner
>>> one of the spots can pick up from the cleaning roller.
>>>
>>> How about a solvent for my q-tip? I have contact cleaner that's not
>>> supposed to harm plastics or leave residue. It's Hexane, ethanol,
>>> aliphatic hydrocarbons, and propane.
>>
>>
>> Isopropyl Alcohol is best, leaves no residue.
>> The first dot will always be at different distances from the top of
>> the page because there is no vertical timing constraint.
>> Be cautious about cleaning the entire drum because it needs to be
>> lubricated (by toner after initial installation), and be careful to
>> not expose it to light for very long.
>> Good luck
>> Tony
>>
> Thanks. Last night I went ahead with the contact cleaner. The defects
> looked like scratches, but the solvent removed them. When I print a
> gray sheet, I see faint "clouds" around where the worst two white spots
> were. I wonder if they come from a slight residue from the spots.
>
> I see a similar variation in shade in horizontal bands. I think I've
> seen it on grayscale photos since the printer was new.
>
> I wonder what material the spots were and how it got there.
>
> Good advice has been hard to find. The user's guide said only not to
> use something sharp. Some sites warned not to use rubbing alcohol. One
> site said to use 90% propanol because the regular stuff (70%) leaves
> residue. I think that's false.
>
> I wondered how I could clean the drum without light. On one forum,
> somebody who had fixed them professionally said he had experimented and
> found that leaving one on a window sill in the sun would harm it, but he
> hadn't seen damage from interior lighting.

Arthur Entlich wrote:
> I cannot suggest you use that cleaner again. It may well cause further
> clouding. It has likely disrupted the photo conductive surface. Again,
> try gently cleaning with isopropyl alcohol at best.
>
> Art
>
The clouding is gone now.

Arthur Entlich wrote:
> DO NOT use that cleaner, it will probably dissolve or damage the surface
> of the drum.
>
> Test using either a bit of water or test an area where it will not show
> on the print and try some isopropyl alcohol. The drum surface can be
> dissolved with a number of solvents and several of the ones you mention
> will probably damage it.
>
> Art
As propane is a propellant, I mentioned only three solvents. Which
several will probably damage it?

Arthur Entlich wrote:
> DO NOT use that cleaner, it will probably dissolve or damage the surface
> of the drum.
>
> Test using either a bit of water or test an area where it will not show
> on the print and try some isopropyl alcohol. The drum surface can be
> dissolved with a number of solvents and several of the ones you mention
> will probably damage it.

As far as I can tell, contact cleaner worked fine. The cloudy paleness
appeared on my gray print not wherever I'd used the solvent, but only
around where the two worst deposits had been. That's why I thought it
was residue, and now it has cleared up.

Is water safe? I considered it before using the contact cleaner. One
reason I didn't try isopropyl alcohol is that it contains water.

I haven't figured out where the deposits came from. Besides plain
paper, I have printed an occasional lick-to-seal envelope, but it seems
I printed my last envelope long before the defect appeared.

When I print my gray page in the toner-saver mode, there's a pale
vertical stripe about 6mm wide down the middle of the page. I wonder if
all HL-2040s do that. All but two of my deposits were in that area.

Tony wrote:
> E Z Peaces <> wrote:
>> Arthur Entlich wrote:
>>> DO NOT use that cleaner, it will probably dissolve or damage the surface
>>> of the drum.
>>>
>>> Test using either a bit of water or test an area where it will not show
>>> on the print and try some isopropyl alcohol. The drum surface can be
>>> dissolved with a number of solvents and several of the ones you mention
>>> will probably damage it.
>> As far as I can tell, contact cleaner worked fine. The cloudy paleness
>> appeared on my gray print not wherever I'd used the solvent, but only
>> around where the two worst deposits had been. That's why I thought it
>> was residue, and now it has cleared up.
>>
>> Is water safe? I considered it before using the contact cleaner. One
>> reason I didn't try isopropyl alcohol is that it contains water.
>>
>> I haven't figured out where the deposits came from. Besides plain
>> paper, I have printed an occasional lick-to-seal envelope, but it seems
>> I printed my last envelope long before the defect appeared.
>>
>> When I print my gray page in the toner-saver mode, there's a pale
>> vertical stripe about 6mm wide down the middle of the page. I wonder if
>> all HL-2040s do that. All but two of my deposits were in that area.
>
> In a different post you mentioned that the drum was more than 90%. The status
> printout for some printers can be confusing, are you sure it is more than 90%
> full or empty??
> One way to check is to look at the page count, IIRC the page count per drum for
> this printer is 12,000 after which it will ask you to replace the drum.

The page count was 828. I've had the printer about 1300 days. No
expense except fairly cheap paper, no mess, and very little trouble: I'm
doing much better than I've done with inkjets.

> Traces of water will not hurt.

Thanks. If I'd known that, I would have tried water first.

My only problem now is an unevenness of gray, a sort of horizontal
streaking. I think I observed it when the printer was new. It wouldn't
matter unless I wanted to print the nicest possible grayscale pictures.

Somewhere I've read in some situations it helps to wipe the whole drum,
I think with alcohol. Would that be harmful with alcohol? With water?

> If the drum unit is nearing end of life, pale stripes are quite likely to show
> on a gray page but will probably not show up with normal printing.


> The deposits could have come from anywhere, I have seen a dead moth stuck to a
> drum. I assume you used envelopes that are rated for use with a laser printer,
> if not it is essentail that you do, normal emvelopes can melt onto the fuser
> resulting in a dead printer (at this end of the range).
> Tony
>
Thanks. For many years I printed envelopes on an Apple Laserwriter from
the 1980s. I don't remember anything about laser printers on the
envelope boxes. It worked fine.

It didn't work so well with my HL-2040 because envelopes tended to stick
shut. I don't think I've tried any since the printer was new. Maybe
I'd have better luck with envelopes made for laser printing.