Question Brother 5470DW printer error message

[jennywren1420]

My laser printer, Brother 5470DW, was printing just fine, then I got a very sudden error message saying, "Jam Inside." But there is no jam, not even a shred of paper in the printer. Removing the cable and putting it back worked once, but now nothing works. I've followed every lead, but now I'm almost ready to give up. I have two toner cartrides (one brand-new) left, and I love the printer, so I'm considering getting the same one again, to use until I've used up the toner and for as long as the replacement will work. There are some used ones on eBay and one seller-refurbished one, which is much more expensive but much less so than what is shown new at Amazon. (I hate Amazon, anyway, and another refurbished one (more modestly priced but no returns). There also are some used ones that claim to be in fine working order, but most of those are "no returns." Any suggestions? I'd love to keep the one I have, but I've run out of ideas.

One last thing: The newer Brother printer that supposedly is the replacement for my model is much cheaper and seems not to work with the more advanced versions of the Mac OS. I'm using OS 10.12 and intend to go up to 10.14 ASAP, so I don't know whether going to the Brother 6200 makes any sense. I'm very willing to get a different printer when I trade in my Apple laptop, but I'm not ready to do that yet.

I know this is more than one question, but all the parts are closely related. Can you advise me? Thanks so much.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I would be surprised if the printer didn't work fine with newer versions of OS X. I am running 10.15 and still use my old 3040CN weekly.

The USB printer drivers Brother provides may be outdated and incompatible (wouldn't surprise me, really), but if you plug the printers ethernet cable (wifi never seems to work well for me, but that should be an option too) into your router and configure it as a network device your laptop(s) should be able to print to it ok. macOS includes some third party BR-script drivers that work well enough. (Although the spec sheet says the 5470DW also supports postscript, which is even more widely supported by generic drivers.)

The jam could be a few things. It's not uncommon for jammed paper to tear - there could be a very small piece of paper in the way somewhere. It's also possible that one of the sensors responsible for detecting jams was damaged or is dirty. Either way, I'd turn off the printer, remove the printer covers, take out the drum, toner cartridge, etc., blow compressed air all over everything, double or triple check for any scraps of paper, hole punch debris, hair, etc., and then gently wiggle any levers of jiggly bits you see before putting it all back together.

While you're in there, give any rubber bits (pickup rollers, etc.) a wipe with an alcohol swab, and order replacements for any rollers that seem dried out or the rubber looks rough. The 5470 was only released in 2016 so I'd be surprised if that's an issue, but it never hurts to check, and if you run enough paper through them, they can wear out quickly enough.

As far as buying a new used machine to use up your toner stockpile, there's nothing wrong with that. I'd check craigslist and eBay too. Brother's spec page for the toner cartridges will tell you what other machines the toner is compatible with, so even if a 5470DW eludes you, you might find a good deal on a 5440D (if you don't need wireless) or one of the 8xxx series multifunction devices.

 

[jennywren1420]

I would be surprised if the printer didn't work fine with newer versions of OS X. I am running 10.15 and still use my old 3040CN weekly.

The USB printer drivers Brother provides may be outdated and incompatible (wouldn't surprise me, really), but if you plug the printers ethernet cable (wifi never seems to work well for me, but that should be an option too) into your router and configure it as a network device your laptop(s) should be able to print to it ok. macOS includes some third party BR-script drivers that work well enough. (Although the spec sheet says the 5470DW also supports postscript, which is even more widely supported by generic drivers.)

The jam could be a few things. It's not uncommon for jammed paper to tear - there could be a very small piece of paper in the way somewhere. It's also possible that one of the sensors responsible for detecting jams was damaged or is dirty. Either way, I'd turn off the printer, remove the printer covers, take out the drum, toner cartridge, etc., blow compressed air all over everything, double or triple check for any scraps of paper, hole punch debris, hair, etc., and then gently wiggle any levers of jiggly bits you see before putting it all back together.

While you're in there, give any rubber bits (pickup rollers, etc.) a wipe with an alcohol swab, and order replacements for any rollers that seem dried out or the rubber looks rough. The 5470 was only released in 2016 so I'd be surprised if that's an issue, but it never hurts to check, and if you run enough paper through them, they can wear out quickly enough.

As far as buying a new used machine to use up your toner stockpile, there's nothing wrong with that. I'd check craigslist and eBay too. Brother's spec page for the toner cartridges will tell you what other machines the toner is compatible with, so even if a 5470DW eludes you, you might find a good deal on a 5440D (if you don't need wireless) or one of the 8xxx series multifunction devices.

Thanks for the informative reply, Dave. I did all those things many times, and even updated the Brother printer driver, but no go. I did notice, when I was gently cleaning the rubber rollers inside the printer, that a corner of one of the clear plastic thingys that partly cover the roller is bent, ever so slightly upward, I wonder whether the printer is reading that as a scrap of paper.

If I knew how to warm that plastic shield and get it down, I'd do that, but I am concerned about trying without knowing what I'm doing. It might distort the rubber on that roller (which looks fine) or do some other harm.

I have indeed looked at eBay, and there are several promising-sounding examples of my printer model. The one I like the sound of the best, however (a reconstituted one that was new and used for only ninety days), costs a hundred dollars or more than others, but almost all of those others, which are used, don't accept returns, even of printers that go belly-up or have other serious flaws. I think I'll go check out Craigslist, but I might just try to bargain a little with the person selling the expensive printer. He's from an office equipment firm that's going out of business, and that sounds pretty good to me.

Thanks again for your time and effort