Drop of butter in New laser Printer / HELP!!

[Danella]

We have a new Brother 1440 Laser printer.

The other day, I accidently had a little butter on my finger, when I loaded some paper into it. Now, it has a spot apparently on the drum or cartridge, and when it prints, every few inches it doesn't print solid. It is just a small flaw, but doesn't yield the professional results we intend to have from our printer.

Does anyone have any ideas or somple solutions that may resolve this problem, or any ideas on just how severe this damage is? Will it eventually wear off?

any help appreciated,
Thanks in advance,
Dan

 

[gsaldivar]

I'd probably just RMA the cartridge.

You can try to clean the roller in the cartridge with alcohol or something, but you might end up doing more harm than good.

 

[Danella]

Hmmm,

Thanks for the quick response, maybe not exactly what I was hoping to hear, but an honest response. Are you talking the toner cartridge or the drum unit?? If it is just the toner cartridge, that isn't quite so bad.

Thanks again,

 

[Mark R]

Sadly, there is no realistic way to clean a laser drum - even opening the door and exposing the drum to daylight can damage it further. It needs a new drum.

 

[gsaldivar]

If the drum you referred to is inside of the printer itself - I would then recommend RMA'ing the printer if it is still under warranty. These drums are extremely sensitive to any chemicals, so beware if you are thinking of doing the cleaning yourself - you stand a chance of trashing the printer.

If the printer is out of warranty, I would first try a strong (90%) isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol to get rid of the butter.

 

[WarCon]

They sell cleaning sheets for laser printers. Not sure if it will tackle butter, but it may be worth a try.

 

[telstar1]

Just blow on it ... that used to work for Nintendo cartridges.

 

[dexmanone]

Add salt and popcorn

 

[JustinLerner]

<< I'd probably just RMA the cartridge.

You can try to clean the roller in the cartridge with alcohol or something, but you might end up doing more harm than good. >>



-----STOP!!!! You will completely ruin the drum with alcohol. Don't ever use ANY alcohol on the drum of any printer/copier (selenium excluded).

Hey you goofed it up, you should try to fix it if you can. (If you are honest you will do what's right.)

This is what you do.
If you can see the spot on the drum (separate the drum from its toner cartridge if you can't) then get a soft, clean cotton tee-shirt that you don't need anymore and that doesn't have any screen printing (it must be clean and without any rough areas on it.) Using the shirt, softly rub off all the grease from the spot on the drum. Repeat the process a few times with clean areas on the tee-shirt, or until the greasy spot on the drum appears dry. Then find some Q-tips with cotton heads and softly, gently rub all over the areas previously cleaned off with the tee-shirt. (Gently: a bit more pressure than you would need to squash a small spider, or about the same pressure than the weight of your mouse and ball exerts on a mouse pad.)

After you have done the above and the area is all cleaned on the drum, follow the next instructions. Next, using other clean areas on the tee shirt, slightly dampen a spot on tee shirt (slightly: about 4-6 drops of water on the tee shirt). Let the water diffuse throughout the tee shirt surrounding areas and squeeze the shirt together to dissipate the water. (Water desensitizes the drum also, but not nearly as significantly as alcohol, which actually destroys the organic surface.) Then use the damp area to go back over the area that you previously cleaned. The objective here is to get the remainder of the grease (that you can't see) off the drum. Then go back to the previous paragraph and repeat this process with other dry, clean areas on the shirt and Q-tips to dry the drum. (All with light pressure whenever touching the drum with cotton or any substance.) NEVER touch the drum surface with any part of your hand at any time. Only touch the black plastic gears, chassis, or other parts, NEVER the colored drum surface with your hands or arms or any skin (skin oils produce the same effects.)

Now when you print, it should take anywhere from 1/2 to 2 dozen prints before the drum prints ok.

WARNING: All of this must be gentle and completed while hiding under your bed or in the closet. :\
JK, but you do need to do this is a dimmly lit area, since this will take a some time to do very gently. (Treat the drum gently like you should treat the optical lense on a camera to prevent scratching.) Where-ever you do this, don't do it near any daylight or bright flourescent and UV light, this will decrease the life of your drum, because the cartridges have an ORGANIC electrostatic, light sensitive surface.

 

[Danella]

Wow,

now there is a detailed answer. I appreciate everyones help on this, I really want to save the drum if possible. I can try cleaning that if possible, and if that works, I will celebrate with some popcorn as suggested by another...

I will wait until evening to try it.

I ran about 10 sheets through printing a picture of a full page of black. The damage is not as noticable if I don't use the toner saver setting, and it almost looks like a drop of water on a water painting, complete with a little run. If the spot were not so consistent in shape, I would try another toner cartridge in it, and in fact, I may try this anyway.

I graciously Thank everyone who has taken a little time to suggest solutions here, as we all know, printer parts aren't cheap, even at todays prices. I can still build a computer cheaper than to replace a printer 😀

Hey you goofed it up, you should try to fix it if you can. (If you are honest you will do what's right.)
Sometimes I'm too honest - Bought a set of snow ski's, boots & bindings, ski pants & the rest of the setup. I got home and discovered they didn't charge me $250 for some of the equiptment, I went back and paid for the merchandise they left out. That will make some readers sick, but if I can't have it honestly, I will go without.

Thanks again all
Dan