Brother Hl 5380dn User Manual

							Troubleshooting
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7
 To avoid print quality problems, DO NOT touch the shaded parts shown in the illustrations.
 
dPut the toner cartridge back into the drum unit until you hear it lock into place. If you put the cartridge in 
properly, the blue lock lever will lift automatically.
eClose the front cover.
 
						

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7
Improving the print quality7
If you have a print quality problem, print a test page first (see Menu table on page 89). 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.
Examples of poor print 
qualityRecommendation
Faint„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 108.
„Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum unit on page 114.
„You may clear the problem by wiping the scanner window with a soft cloth. See 
Cleaning the inside of the printer on page 120.
Gray background„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 108.
„Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum unit on page 114.
Ghost„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 114.
„The fuser unit may be contaminated. Call Brother Customer Service.
Toner specks„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 114.
„The fuser unit may be contaminated. Call Brother Customer Service.
 
						

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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 114.
All black„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 125.
„The drum unit may be damaged. Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum 
unit on page 114.
„The fuser unit may be contaminated. Call Brother Customer Service.
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 114.
Lines across the page„Clean the inside of the printer and the primary corona wire in the drum unit. See 
Cleaning the inside of the printer on page 120 and Cleaning the corona wires on 
page 125.
„The drum unit may be damaged. Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum 
unit on page 114.
White lines, bands or ribbing 
across the page„Check the printers 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 114.)
Examples of poor print 
qualityRecommendation
 
						

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7
White Spots on black text 
and graphics at 94 mm 
(3.7 in.) intervals
Black Spots at 94 mm 
(3.7 in.) intervals„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:
7
1) Put the print sample in front of the drum unit, and find the exact position of the 
poor print.
2) Turn the drum unit gear by hand while looking at the surface of the OPC 
drum (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 114.
Examples of poor print 
qualityRecommendation
1
 
						

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7
Black toner marks across the 
page„The drum unit may be damaged. Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum 
unit on page 114.
„The toner cartridge may be damaged. Put in a new toner cartridge. See 
Replacing the toner cartridge on page 108.
„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 144.
„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.
Black lines down the page
Printed pages have toner stains 
down the page.„Clean the primary corona wire inside the drum unit by sliding the blue tab. See 
Cleaning the corona wire on page 125.
„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 114.
„The toner cartridge may be damaged. Put in a new toner cartridge. See 
Replacing the toner cartridge on page 108.
„The fuser unit may be smudged. Call your dealer or Brother Customer Service.
White lines down the page„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 120.
„The toner cartridge may be damaged. Put in a new toner cartridge. See 
Replacing the toner cartridge on page 108.
„The drum unit may be damaged. Put in a new drum unit. See Replacing the drum 
unit on page 114.
Page skewed„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.
Examples of poor print 
qualityRecommendation
 
						

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Curled or wavy„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.
Wrinkles or creases„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.
Envelope Creases„Make sure that the envelope levers inside the back cover is pulled down when 
you print the envelope.
Note When you have finished printing, open the back cover and reset the two blue levers 
back to their original position.
 
Examples of poor print 
qualityRecommendation
 
						

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Poor Fixing„Open the back cover and make sure that the two blue levers on the left and right 
hand sides are in the up position.
„Choose Improve Toner Fixing mode in the printer driver. See Improve Print 
Output in Advanced tab on page 40 (For Windows
® printer driver), Advanced 
options on page 52 (For BR-Script printer driver for Windows
®) or Print Settings 
on page 61 (For Macintosh). If this selection does not provide enough 
improvement, select Thicker Paper in Media Type settings.
Examples of poor print 
qualityRecommendation
 
						

							
Troubleshooting148
7
Curled „
Lift up the Face-down Output Tray Support Flap 2 (Support Flap 2) (1).
„ Choose  Reduce Paper Curl  mode in the printer driver. See  Improve Print 
Output  in Advanced tab  on page 40 (For Windows
® printer driver),  Advanced 
options  on page 52 (For BR-Script printer driver for Windows
®) or Print Settings  
on page 61 (For Macintosh).
„ Turn the paper over in the paper tray, and print again (excluding Letterhead 
paper). If the problem remains, slid e the Anti-Curl Switch as follows:
1) Open the back cover.
2) With one hand, use the tab (1) to lift  the roller assembly, then use your other 
hand to slide the Anti-Curl Switch (2) in the direction of the arrow.
3) Close the back cover.
Examples of poor print  qualityRecommendation
1
2
1
 
						

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Solving print problems7
ProblemRecommendation
The printer prints unexpectedly 
or it prints garbage data.„Make sure that the printer cable is not too long. We recommend that you use a 
parallel or USB cable that is no longer than 2 meters (6.5 feet).
„Make sure that the printer cable is not damaged or broken.
„If you are using an interface-switching device, remove it. Connect your computer 
directly to your printer, and then try again.
„Make sure that you have chosen the correct printer driver with ‘Set as Default 
Printer’.
„Make sure that the printer is not connected to the same port that is also 
connected to a storage device or scanner. Take away all other devices and 
connect the port only to the printer.
„Turn off the Status Monitor.
The printer cannot print full 
pages of a document. An error 
message MEMORY FULL 
appears.„Press Go to print the remaining data in the printer memory. Cancel the print job 
if you want to delete the remaining data in the printer memory. (See Buttons on 
page 79.)
„Reduce the complexity of your document or cut the print resolution.
„Add more memory. (See Installing extra memory on page 103.)
The printer cannot print full 
pages of a document. An error 
message PRINT OVERRUN 
appears.„Press Go to print the remaining data in the printer memory. Cancel the print job 
if you want to delete the remaining data in the printer memory. See Buttons on 
page 79.
„Reduce the complexity of your document or cut the print resolution.
„Add more memory. See Installing extra memory on page 103.
„Set page protection to Auto by using the supplied Windows
® driver or control 
panel.
„Change the following settings in the supplied Windows
® driver and try again. The 
best combination of these settings will vary depending on your document:
„Graphics
1
„TrueType Mode1
„Use Printer TrueType® Fonts
1Choose the Basic tab, choose Manual in Print Settings, and then click Manual Settings....
The headers or footers appear 
when the document displays on 
the screen but they do not show 
up when it is printed.„Adjust the top and bottom margins of your document. 
 
						

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7
Network problems 7
For problems concerning using your printer on a Network, see the Network User’s Guide on the CD-ROM we 
have supplied. Click Documentation on the menu screen.
The Network User’s Guide in HTML format will be installed automatically when you install the driver. Click the 
Start button, All Programs
1, your printer, and then User’s Guide.
You can also view the manuals in PDF format by accessing the Brother Solutions Center 
(http://solutions.brother.com/
).
1Programs for Windows® 2000 users
Other problems7
For Macintosh with USB7
ProblemRecommendation
The printer cannot print. The 
‘There was an error writing to 
LPT1: (or BRUSB) for the 
printer’ error message is 
displayed on your computer.„Make sure that the printer cable is not damaged or broken. 
„If you have an interface-switching device, make sure that you chose the correct 
printer.
ProblemRecommendation
The printer does not appear in 
Printer Setup Utility (Mac OS 
X 10.3 and 10.4) or Print & Fax 
in System Preferences (Mac 
OS X10.5).„Make sure that the printer is turned on.
„Make sure that the USB interface cable is connected directly to the Macintosh.
„Make sure the printer driver is installed correctly.
Unable to print from the 
application.„Make sure that the supplied Macintosh printer driver is installed and that it is 
chosen with Printer Setup Utility (Mac OS X 10.3 and 10.4) or Print & Fax in 
System Preferences.