My multi-function Brother DCP-540CN announced error 46, meaning it could not clean it’s print head anymore. Somewhere on the web, I found the following procedure (french) :
- Allumer la machine.
- Appuyer, successivement, sur ‘Menu’ , ‘Marche Mono’ , et appuyer 4 fois sur la flèche du haut en moins de 5 secondes, pour entre dans le mode maintenance.
- Avec les touches haut (▲) ou bas (▼), faire afficher “80″ et valider avec “Menu/confirme”
- Appuyer sur la touche ‘Marche Mono’ plusieurs fois jusqu’au compteur de purge.
- Pour remettre le compteur à “00000″ , il faut entrer la valeur “2783″ : afficher successivement les chiffres 2,7,8 et 3 avec les touches (▲) ou (▼) et en validant par la touche ‘Confirme’ à chaque fois.
- Pour quitter, touche ‘Arrêt/Sortie’.
- Entrer les chiffres 9, 9 avec les flèches pour sortir du mode maintenance.
Then, I had to replace the ink absorber box, which goes by the part number LP5186001. I asked Brother and they sent me one within 2 days. I don’t know its price yet, I haven’t got any bill so far.
Dismounting the DCP-540CN is hard. Many screws, plastic clips and cables to disconnect. I broke a few plastics clips, mainly because Brother doesn’t publish any service manual.
The disassembled printer with the new and old ink absorbers.
Long story short, I managed to replace the ink absorber box (while getting a lot of ink on the table, ground, my T-shirt and my hands).
And the most amazing : it still print (even if my T-shirt goes to the waste basket).
Comments 4
Dear Sir: Thank you for your June 30, 2010 posting. I have a MFC240C which I was able to get printing again after resetting the purge counter, but I have repeatively read I must replace the ink absorber box. I have looked at probably 100 web sites with no good instructions on how to do it. Yours is the only one to show a picure, but it is not detailed enough for the regular guy to follow. Perhaps you should consider working up some detailed instructions and making them available for a nonimal fee. I predict you will have hundreds of requests. As you know Brother is of no help for this “home” repair. Thank you, William Rawls
Posted 23 Feb 2011 at 4:25 ¶Thanks William for your comment. As I wrote in my post, dismounting the DCP-540CN is hard, and I can’t pretend I have got the right procedure, mainly due to all these plastic clips that manufacturers are using in their industrial designs.
Posted 23 Feb 2011 at 20:46 ¶Hi Sailor, thanks again for the help you gave me concerning my Brother MFC240C printer. I took the bull by the horns and attempted entry into the printer. After destroying many plastic clips I gave up and decided on a more direct approach. I reasoned where the ink absorber box may be, took a Dremel highspeed tool and cut a 3 x 3 inch hole through the top of the case. Bingo! It worked.
Posted 28 Feb 2011 at 3:03 ¶The absorber was just below the hole. I replaced the saturated padding with heavily embossed paper towelling, sealed the opening with clear tape so I could monitor what was going on. My printer now works like new!!!!
Do you think that this voids my warrenty? Thanks again very much.
You blue water sailors really help us MacGregor X-26 lake sailors all the time. William R.
I’m happy to know your printer works again, but I’m quite certain you have voided your warranty
Posted 28 Feb 2011 at 8:09 ¶Post a Comment