Cleaning Laser Printer Drum

[M.H.]

I have a Brother HL-1440 laser printer, and I've noticed three thin
vertical bands of toner on the drum. Can I safely wipe down the drum
with a dust free cloth to remove the toner and any other containments?
Thanks.

 

[William R. Walsh]

Hi!

I have a Brother HL-1440 laser printer, and I've noticed three thin
vertical bands of toner on the drum. Can I safely wipe down the drum
with a dust free cloth to remove the toner and any other containments?
Thanks.

I would tend to say "yes", as I had to do this on an HP LaserJet III toner
cartridge. I used a very soft rag to clean the excess toner away from the
drum and the cartridge was fine from that point onward. Try not to touch the
drum with your skin...if you have to, wash your hands first. Don't expose
the drum to bright light or leave it out of the printer for more than a few
minutes.

Most of the time the toner cartridge or toner carrying assembly has some
means by which to pick unused toner off the drum...there is either a rubber
wiper or possibly a magnet inside the cartridge that should clean the toner
off. It is also worth nothing that if you found an image on the drum after a
paper jam, that should clear itself after the next normal print run.

If the banding comes back, you've got an internal problem on the toner
cartridge. Either the magnet has fallen away or the rubber cleaning roller
is not making contact. Both problems could be fixable, although taking apart
the toner cartridge to do it is likely to be messy or downright impossible
without destroying the cartridge.

If you should decide to take the cartridge apart, don't inhale any toner,
clean spills up with cold water and wear clothes you don't really care
about. Having an area where you can make a mess is a good idea. Be extremely
cautious of using a vacuum cleaner to collect spilled toner. I've heard that
if you pick up enough of it, you might cause a dust explosion due to the
rushing toner causing a static electricity discharge in the vacuum.

William

 

[M.H.]

I would tend to say "yes", as I had to do this on an HP LaserJet III toner
cartridge. I used a very soft rag to clean the excess toner away from the
drum and the cartridge was fine from that point onward. Try not to touch the
drum with your skin...if you have to, wash your hands first. Don't expose
the drum to bright light or leave it out of the printer for more than a few
minutes.

Most of the time the toner cartridge or toner carrying assembly has some
means by which to pick unused toner off the drum...there is either a rubber
wiper or possibly a magnet inside the cartridge that should clean the toner
off. It is also worth nothing that if you found an image on the drum after a
paper jam, that should clear itself after the next normal print run.

If the banding comes back, you've got an internal problem on the toner
cartridge. Either the magnet has fallen away or the rubber cleaning roller
is not making contact. Both problems could be fixable, although taking apart
the toner cartridge to do it is likely to be messy or downright impossible
without destroying the cartridge.

If you should decide to take the cartridge apart, don't inhale any toner,
clean spills up with cold water and wear clothes you don't really care
about. Having an area where you can make a mess is a good idea. Be extremely
cautious of using a vacuum cleaner to collect spilled toner. I've heard that
if you pick up enough of it, you might cause a dust explosion due to the
rushing toner causing a static electricity discharge in the vacuum.

William

I've wiped down the drum, and noticed some scratches in it. It's not
used that much, so go figure. I'm now getting equidistant smudgy bands
of toner on printouts, and the vertical bands are still there.

 

[Tony]

I've wiped down the drum, and noticed some scratches in it. It's not
used that much, so go figure. I'm now getting equidistant smudgy bands
of toner on printouts, and the vertical bands are still there.

If the scratches correspond to the vertical bands then the drum cannot be
restored, although I have heard that there is some drum rejuvenator available
but have no idea whether it is any good. Are the bands the same distance apart
as the circumference of the drum, if so a new drum will fix those also?
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[jasee]

If the scratches correspond to the vertical bands then the drum
cannot be restored, although I have heard that there is some drum
rejuvenator available but have no idea whether it is any good. Are
the bands the same distance apart as the circumference of the drum,
if so a new drum will fix those also?

When you cleaning the drum, in what direction did you turn it? Turning it
the wrong way can ruin the doctor blades. If you replace the drum, you
should replace the doctor blades.

 

[M.H.]

When you cleaning the drum, in what direction did you turn it? Turning it
the wrong way can ruin the doctor blades. If you replace the drum, you
should replace the doctor blades.

How do I know which direction to turn it in? Where are the doctor blades?

 

[Tony]

When you cleaning the drum, in what direction did you turn it? Turning it
the wrong way can ruin the doctor blades. If you replace the drum, you
should replace the doctor blades.

This drum unit does not have a doctor blade or a cleaner blade as such. It is a
Brother unit with separate drum unit and toner cartridge. If anybody wishes to
replace the drum rather than the complete drum unit the only other thing they
may have to replace is the drum gear and the small gear at the end of the
roller that is in the drum unit and only then if the existing gears do not
match the gear on the new drum (some are helical and some are not).
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[Tony]

How do I know which direction to turn it in? Where are the doctor blades?

See my reply to Jasee, there are no blades in this drum unit.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[jasee]

See my reply to Jasee, there are no blades in this drum unit.

Sorry, I may well be wrong, I've been looking for a view of the drum unit,
is there one anywhere?

 

[Tony]

Sorry, I may well be wrong, I've been looking for a view of the drum unit,
is there one anywhere?

Not a very good one but see http://www.vitaleks.lv/images/Brother/dr6000.jpg
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[jasee]

Not a very good one but see
http://www.vitaleks.lv/images/Brother/dr6000.jpg Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

Thanks, doesn't really show enough, I'm familiar with photocopiers which
have completely seperate toners and drums (as very old lasers used to) but
they usually seem to all have doctor blades on the drums

 

[Tony]

Thanks, doesn't really show enough, I'm familiar with photocopiers which
have completely seperate toners and drums (as very old lasers used to) but
they usually seem to all have doctor blades on the drums

Most, I think all, HP monochrome (Canon engines) lasers have integrated drums
and toners. The Doctor blade in these ensures the magnetic sleeve has the right
amount of toner on it and the drum is cleaned by a Wiper blade (using Canon
terminology) and deposited in the waste toner hopper. Brother lasers use
seperate units and the waste toner is deposited back into the the main toner
hopper unlike Canon engines, this causes the gray background on Brother lasers
when the toner is very low.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[medoutreach]

I just recently refilled my laser toner on my HP1020.
Some of the toner went onto the drum and now when I print there is a
greyish hue to the whole paper. It seems as though there's still stuff
on the drum.
How Do I clean the drum?
Is there a program or something I can do on the computer to clean it?
Thanks
Jeff

 

[M.H.]

How Do I clean the drum?
Is there a program or something I can do on the computer to clean it?

No, there is no program. The best thing to do would be to very
carefully wipe the drum down with a lint-free cloth.

 

[Tony]

You cannot do this from the PC.
If the drum has toner on it that does not wipe off during printing then there
are two possibilities.
1. The drum is failing and the toner is stuck to it (happens with age).
2. There is a problem in the other half of the cartridge, either the wiper
blade has failed or the waste hopper is overflowing.
Is this the first time the cartridge has been refilled? Can you see the toner
on the drum?
If you wipe the drum with a lint free cloth you risk removing the lubricant
that is on the drum, if you are careful it should be OK. If it wipes off and
then the problem returns then see 2 above. These cartridges have very small
waste hoppers and to refill them succesfully it is desirable to empty the waste
hopper. Also, they will not withstand more than one refill without other parts
nedding replacement (Drums fail first). As always keep the drum away from light
as much as possible.

I just recently refilled my laser toner on my HP1020.
Some of the toner went onto the drum and now when I print there is a
greyish hue to the whole paper. It seems as though there's still stuff
on the drum.
How Do I clean the drum?
Is there a program or something I can do on the computer to clean it?
Thanks
Jeff

Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Is this occurred rather suddenly after the refill, and it has not
resolved after a couple of page through, this is likely not a matter of
cleaning the drum, but more so use of a wrong toner formulation (wring
type or size of grains, etc.)

Most laser printers have a wiper blade that cleans excess toner off the
drum with each revolution of the drum. Spilled toner would be removed
and dumped into a waste bottle or recycled, depending upon the machine
in question. However, if too fine a toner, a toner with the wrong
electrostatic characteristics was used, that may cause it to stick too
well to the drum, for instances.

Sometimes you can program the printer to run extra cleaning revolutions
per page to clean it better. Also, if the drum was exposed too much
light during refilling, that can damage the drum, usually making it less
sensitive.

Art