The ‘Unable to Clean: Machine Error 46′ message prevents you from printing on your Brother inkjet printer. It is especially frustrating when you realise there no reason why you can’t carry on printing other than this message. Continue reading to find out what makes me say this and how you can rid yourself of this error.
This guide will deal specifically with Brother inkjet printers that have a number pad on the front of the printer. If you printer has a touchscreen as well as a numerical pad please see here. If however your printer does not have a number pad at all, the guide found here should be of use.
What is Error 46?
‘Error 46: Unable to Clean’ indicates that your Brother printer believes the ink absorber in the base of your printer is saturated with ink and any further printing could cause ink to overflow. How full this waste ink tank is has been estimated by monitoring how many pages your Brother printer has produced and how many manual/automatic cleans have performed. Sadly this is not a particularly accurate method of measuring how full an ink absorber is and the majority of the time your printer could prints hundreds of pages before there was any danger of any ink escaping. However getting the waste ink tank changed and resetting the counter can be an expensive procedure if you get a service centre to do it on your behalf. In many cases owners of Brother inkjet printers report the cost of the procedure outweighs the value of their printer.
With this in mind we suggest resetting the purge counter of your Brother printer using the method described below and continuing to use it until waste ink begins to overflow inside/outside the printer. This ensures you get the most out of your printer and can avoid replacing it until it becomes necessary to do so. I do however recommend you protect any surfaces around the printer should you decide to reset the purge counter to save any surfaces becoming stained with printer ink.
What printers will this reset work with?
This reset procedure should be compatible with almost any Brother inkjet printer with a numerical keypad on the printer itself (and not touchscreen panel) and has been tested on every current compatible printer at our disposal. You can find a full list of compatible printers below:
Brother MFC-210C, MFC-215C, MFC-3240C, MFC-3340CN, MFC-3342C, MFC-410CN, MFC-420CN, MFC-425CN, MFC-5440CN, MFC-5840CN, MFC-620CN, MFC-640CN, MFC-640CW, MFC-820CW, MFC-235C, MFC-260C, MFC-240C, MFC-3360C, MFC-440CN, MFC-465CN, MFC-5460CN, MFC-5860CN, MFC-660CN, MFC-665CW, MFC-680CN, MFC-845CW, MFC-885CW, MFC-250C, MFC-255CW, MFC-295CN, MFC-297C, MFC-490CW, MFC-5490CN, MFC-5890CN, MFC-5895CW, MFC-6490CW, MFC-790CW, MFC-990CW, MFC-J615W, MFC-J220, MFC-J265W, MFC-J410, MFC-J415W, MFC-J430W, MFC-J5910DW, MFC-J625DW, MFC-J6510DW, MFC-J6710D, MFC-J6710DW, MFC-J6910DW, MFC-J825DW
If you have a printer with a numerical pad not covered above and find the purge counter reset works for you then please let us know so we can update our list.
Video Guide
Purge Counter Reset Instructions
Please note that some of the terms used below to describe buttons may change from one printer to another. For example:
- START may be down as MENU or SET on your printer or be a green button
- STOP may be referred to as EXIT or a red button
Before you begin the reset procedure your Brother inkjet printer needs to be in maintenance mode, but depending upon the model of your printer the method of doing this will vary. For most modern Brother printers please try the following:
- With the printer turned on and ready to print remove the power cable from the printer (or turn the printer off if you have a fixed power cable).
- Hold down MENU/SET/START and re-insert the power cable/turn it back on.
- Keep the button held down until the screen reads MAINTENANCE.
If your screen does not now say MAINTENANCE it will need to be put into maintenance mode using one of the two methods below:
- Printers with a built-in Fax: Hold down MENU/SET/START and quickly press * 2 8 6 4.
- Printers WITHOUT a Fax: Hold down Menu/Set and the Black Start key before pressing the UP arrow four times.
Now your printer should say MAINTENANCE on the screen and you are ready to begin the process of actually resetting the purge counter.
- Type in 80 using the numerical keypad.
- Use the DOWN key to locate the purge counter. eg. PURGE0060025
- Use the number pad to enter 2783 (this should zero the numbers after PURGE).
- Press STOP/EXIT to return to the first stage of maintenance mode.
- Press 9 and 9 to exit maintenance mode.
Your purge counter is now reset and you can now resume printing as normal. If however this has not cleared the error message I advise going through this guide again following the instructions to the letter. If the error persists please let us know.
I hope you have found this guide useful. If however you have anything to add or any further questions please don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments.
498 comments
Brother
October 4, 2012 at 10:54 pm (UTC 0)
This is absolutely fantastic, thank you very much! My Brother MFC 640-CW is working again.
alf
October 29, 2013 at 2:23 pm (UTC 0)
Hello brother I have the same machine and have tried but when it comes to pressing 9 and 9 at the end it returns to Machine Error 46 what did ypou do help please
Faraj
October 13, 2012 at 4:15 am (UTC 0)
Wow!! Matthew!!! You are definitely a life-saver!! This fix worked, thanks to you!! My brother MFC 425 CN is working fine. Wish you and your website all success! In the meanwhile, do you offer printer products so that we can support you in some kind of way?
billy chew
November 8, 2012 at 3:11 pm (UTC 0)
unable to get my j414w into maintenance mode.
RefreshCarts
November 8, 2012 at 3:45 pm (UTC 0)
I am unfamiliar with this particular model of Brother printer. Could you please confirm for me your exact model number?
ammando
August 23, 2014 at 8:55 pm (UTC 0)
hey i have a bother 4610dw printer with the error 46 message on its fully touch no buttons only power button every thing els is touch how can i reset the purge counter on this printer any help u can give me would be greatly appreciated
radzmi
November 10, 2012 at 8:05 am (UTC 0)
my model is mfc j220 brother printer and ink absorber is full, how do i clean this and where i find
Keith
November 15, 2012 at 1:33 pm (UTC 0)
Excellent instructions. Mt MFC820CW is printing again. Thank you – I appreciate all your effort in putting this page up.
vic
December 1, 2012 at 9:37 am (UTC 0)
Thank you for this advice.
Can you post on how to change the waste ink tank in Model MFC6490Cw.
Thx.
Vic
Karlo Tejada
December 5, 2012 at 1:25 am (UTC 0)
hi! how about unable to init.48? had you encountered that? i cant find any solution to that problem. tnx!
RefreshCarts
December 5, 2012 at 4:01 pm (UTC 0)
Looking around online it seems this relates to the print head cable or circuit board being defective. This can apparently be resolved by cleaning the encoder strip with a lint free cloth or replacing the relevant parts. However this level of technical expertise is beyond me sadly.
hardeep
December 9, 2012 at 3:43 am (UTC 0)
Hey, I have MFC 240c and I manage to re-set the purge but I can't print. Could you please help
Thx.
HB
RefreshCarts
December 12, 2012 at 9:41 am (UTC 0)
Are you getting any error codes or messages stating the reason why you cannot print?
Scott
March 23, 2013 at 10:09 pm (UTC 0)
replace yellow, replace magenta (but I already did)
jmh
December 14, 2012 at 10:05 pm (UTC 0)
You are BEUATIFUL!
Thank you – how the hell would I have known how to do that – was about to junk but had all these carrtridges I had not used!
Saved me money, saved the environment.
Rock on, friends.
joy
December 17, 2012 at 6:02 am (UTC 0)
thanks for the help!, my printer is now working. 🙂
jun lim
December 17, 2012 at 4:09 pm (UTC 0)
thanks a lot you are indeed heaven sent. you have just extended the life of printer. your instruction was super clear and so easy to follow that i got it on one try. a million thanks again.
GalsGirl
December 18, 2012 at 3:49 pm (UTC 0)
Ok on my printer the screen and buttons are blinking and wont stop even if after we unpluged it and pluged it back in it was still do it. I dont know what to do is there a way i could reset it?
RefreshCarts
December 18, 2012 at 4:42 pm (UTC 0)
Strange. Is the printer blinking "Error 46" or "Unable to Clean"?
Ryan Zach
December 20, 2012 at 6:33 pm (UTC 0)
I was able to go in and reset the counter but the Unable to Clean error is still there. I have the MFC640CW.
Thanks,
TD Jenx
January 2, 2013 at 5:30 pm (UTC 0)
Wow…your site saved me a 10 mile trip and $35 to have my Brother MFC210c purge reset! Thanks for the tutorial.
Regards,
TD Jenx
Joey E.
January 9, 2013 at 6:26 am (UTC 0)
Sir,
how about error 44 on my printer Brother MPJ220 .
Any guide or solution?
Thanks.
Judy C
January 9, 2013 at 5:24 pm (UTC 0)
I I have a brother MFC 420 CN and I don't know what buttons to push to get it to go to maintainance mode. I have several "start buttons" , a green- color start, a black start, and a menu/set under the large chrome arrow button. I tried all ways and failed. I'd appreciate the help. Thanks
Jason B
July 8, 2013 at 1:16 am (UTC 0)
I too have the 420CN and have tried the method mentioned above with all three options (Black Start, Color Start, Menu/Set) as well as holding down the Menu/Set and pressing *2864 and I have only managed to go from the message when the printer powers on from "Unable to Clean | See troubleshooting…" to Error 46 with the printer mode buttons blinking. Any suggestions? I just bought a set of new cartridges and would hate to have to trash them.
imperial donix
January 11, 2013 at 5:55 pm (UTC 0)
Absolutely fabulous thank you – saved the day
Dx
russell
January 13, 2013 at 1:39 am (UTC 0)
thanks for the tutorial. you saved my P1000.00 to have my bother mfc j220 purge reset… have a nice day..
Juan Luis
January 16, 2013 at 7:45 pm (UTC 0)
My mfc-490cw don´t print i have black ink but the page don´t print…why? thanks you.
RefreshCarts
January 17, 2013 at 9:45 am (UTC 0)
Sounds as if the black portion of the printhead is blocked, dried or unable to function mechanically. I would recommend doing some headcleans from the printer to try and clear any blockages and pull through some ink. If however ink comes through and then drops out quickely when printing it is likely that the printheadhas a mechanical problem and I would recommend calling Brother or a printer technician.
umar
January 17, 2013 at 2:42 am (UTC 0)
i have a brother MFC-J615W and ink absorber is full how to reset it. thanx bfore.
fathi
January 19, 2013 at 10:20 am (UTC 0)
erreur 48
Mark
January 21, 2013 at 7:03 am (UTC 0)
Hi, I have gone through the procedure twice and I am sure the purge counter is reset but the message is still "unable to clean see troubleshooting and routine maintenance chapter in user's guide". My machine is a MFC-640CW. Any further ideas please?
juvy baradillo
January 22, 2013 at 3:11 pm (UTC 0)
my brother mfc-j220 printer model had a troubleshooting about ink absorber full, could you help me and fix this???
Stejo
January 23, 2013 at 10:45 am (UTC 0)
Thank you,Thank you, Thank you very much for your help. I just love the internet.
imra aryati
January 25, 2013 at 2:39 am (UTC 0)
Hi, Thank you very much for your tutorial. I cannot get it right the first time on my MFC-J415W but then I try the MENU button instead of GREEN START button and now I can print again.
ken
January 25, 2013 at 5:07 pm (UTC 0)
I have a MFC-J515W with the message unable to printF4 and have reset the purge counter to 0 as per your guide but the message is still their? can you help me?
fathi
January 26, 2013 at 9:09 pm (UTC 0)
mfc5890cn erreur 48
Arom
January 30, 2013 at 7:21 pm (UTC 0)
Hi there,
Thank you for the instructions to clear error code 46. It was fine & cleared it. However each time I send something to print it comes back as a blan page. Any idea why this might be? The machine is Borther MFC820CW. Thanks!
Mike
January 31, 2013 at 3:27 pm (UTC 0)
Yes, I have the same problem. Brother J415W – "MACHINE ERROR 4F", cleaned the purge counter and also the error, but it comes again and it didn't print.
Any help?
Albe
February 2, 2013 at 12:28 am (UTC 0)
worked great on my mfc210c —-thanks
Gleen Tamparong
February 5, 2013 at 6:13 am (UTC 0)
tanx… it really helps me…….
lemmor
February 6, 2013 at 2:02 pm (UTC 0)
Your an angel.. it works..
Gagan
February 17, 2013 at 7:27 am (UTC 0)
Wow!!! Matthew you are awesome, Thank you so much. Error INK ABSORBER FULL is gone from My brother DCP-J125
janusz
February 17, 2013 at 11:23 pm (UTC 0)
It worked fine for my mfc820c – up and printing again. Thanks!
NegrosPortal
February 22, 2013 at 1:22 am (UTC 0)
Thank you very much. It saves me $35 for your post to fix my printer. Thank you.
paininthebrother
February 22, 2013 at 3:47 am (UTC 0)
Hi, I have a J265w and it won't work for me I get " Unable to print 4f " on mine please help thanks.
edgar corpuz
February 23, 2013 at 6:28 am (UTC 0)
thank you very much ….it helps me a lot have a good day
roberto
February 27, 2013 at 11:19 am (UTC 0)
Dear Matthew, we have a MFC-6510DW that asks for new cartridges, but there's ink left in the tanks.
I don't know if there's just one counter for all. Does your procedure work on the ink counter?
Thanks moltissimo
Roberto
RefreshCarts
February 27, 2013 at 12:00 pm (UTC 0)
Sadly the ink level estimates for Brother printers cannot be reset. Due to the way Brother printers estimate ink levels there will always be a little ink left over to stop the cartridge running out prematurely. In my experience throwing a little ink away when the printer believes that cartridge is empty is preferable to the damage that can be caused to a printhead that is sucking air into it thinking the cartridge is still full anyway.
roberto
February 27, 2013 at 1:46 pm (UTC 0)
Ok, thanks. But there’s more than a little ink left, evironmentally speaking this is a waste of resources.
Ciao
mari
March 1, 2013 at 2:39 pm (UTC 0)
its not working on my brother printer mpc 195cn.. please help
RefreshCarts
March 1, 2013 at 3:31 pm (UTC 0)
I am unfamiliar with this model. Could you please confirm for me the exact model of the printer from the front of the machine?
Norvin
March 2, 2013 at 5:39 am (UTC 0)
HI! Thanks so much! it saves me trouble of bringing the printer to the shop. Great post! You helped a lot of people.
I have a question though. What happens to the physical ink absorber? Will it overflow? Thank you again sir!
RefreshCarts
March 7, 2013 at 9:36 am (UTC 0)
Thanks. The ink absorber will eventually overflow if left unchanged, but in most instances you will get hundreds of extra pages out of the machine before this occurs. I have known people to site down with a machine, take it apart and physically change the sponge. Most people however will just protect the surface under the printer and continue to print until they notice the overflow.
Herbert
March 5, 2013 at 3:19 am (UTC 0)
Nice! U r great bro!
Logan
March 6, 2013 at 9:47 pm (UTC 0)
Thanks for you help. I have a brother mfc420cn. unplug method didn't work so I tried the next one. When I get to the step to enter *2864 it wont register 8 and 6, only 2 and 4. Any help would be great.
Thanks,
Logan
Jason B
July 8, 2013 at 1:22 am (UTC 0)
Just tried something someone else said on the next page for my 420CN. I held down the Menu/Set and when the Error 446 came up with blinking lights typed in 80. It showed MAINTENANCE as soon as I hit 8 but typed 80 anyway…and then I was able to arrow down to PURGE.
Lori
November 9, 2013 at 11:13 am (UTC 0)
Thank you, Jason!! This piece of advice was a lifesaver. Worked for me.
keith b
November 29, 2013 at 6:34 pm (UTC 0)
bingo – many thanks Jason – had tried all the options above with my MFC620CN but without success – your solution worked
Angela
April 10, 2014 at 2:08 am (UTC 0)
Thank you Jason, holding the menu/set button is what worked. I held that in on my Brother MFC 420 CN, and maintenance popped up right away. I then went on with the rest of your instructions, and it’s working great.
Toby
May 29, 2014 at 3:54 am (UTC 0)
Thank you good sir…I own an MFC240c…and this 'fix' finally worked…after a frustrating hour or so trying out other possible approaches…so nice to have this kind of help available…thanks again from Canada!
Andrew
June 12, 2014 at 8:15 am (UTC 0)
Hi Jason and Mathew. I have a mfc-235c. I tried Jasons method. After typing in code 80 I spotted the word maintenance for 1/2 a second. The screen then brings up head volt and after 10secs settles with a value 05. It wont let me scroll or do anything other then exit. Have you got any ideas? This is doing my noodle in.
Aleezah
March 7, 2013 at 3:10 am (UTC 0)
Thank you so much Matthew. You are a money saver and a life saver. This worked fantastic!
Argentfemme
March 7, 2013 at 9:50 pm (UTC 0)
Hi Matthew, The message that I was getting is "Unable to clean 50." I am assuming that I have to clean the head of the printer. Please, advice how to get to the Maintenance mode that I could not. I followed your instructions from the video and the ones up above to clean my Brother MFC 440 NC to no avail.
Delilah
March 18, 2013 at 5:10 pm (UTC 0)
Thank you so much Matthew!! Your steps worked great on my Brother MFC-465CN!!
jon
March 20, 2013 at 3:41 pm (UTC 0)
I am not sure how I got there but I did eventually and clear "Error 46" Thank you
Scott
March 23, 2013 at 10:15 pm (UTC 0)
Brother MFC-295CN gives error message…CANNOT PRINT… replace Y Ink, replace M ink….. but I already did replace them both.
ad
March 24, 2013 at 11:21 pm (UTC 0)
is there a way to get rid of message “print unable” err 44
mary ann
April 2, 2013 at 3:22 am (UTC 0)
Hi Matthew thank you very much for tutorial my printer is MFC-J220 its working back again thans alot.! more power
N.Young
April 4, 2013 at 8:22 am (UTC 0)
PERFECT INSTRUCTIONS. MFC-820-CW not working again as good as new.
Many thanks.
Fernando
April 4, 2013 at 11:49 pm (UTC 0)
Tank you is perfect for brother MFC-j220 greetings from México
Monteview
April 7, 2013 at 1:35 pm (UTC 0)
Perfect. Working! Thanks!
andrew
April 11, 2013 at 7:59 am (UTC 0)
Hi,
I've done this, but i still don't get any ink on my paper when printing?
RefreshCarts
April 11, 2013 at 12:55 pm (UTC 0)
If no ink is being printed this would indicate a blocked printhead rather than a purge counter that needs resetting. I would recommend running several cleaning cycles from your printer or printer software to hopefully start to pull fresh ink through. If you see no improvement after 1-3 cleans it is likely that the printhead is irreversibly blocked or has failed mechanically.
Rahul Jalan
April 12, 2013 at 6:52 am (UTC 0)
Thank you !! Worked like a charm on MFC J415W
kat
April 13, 2013 at 3:08 am (UTC 0)
thanks! this tutorial helped me a lot !:)
Queenmist
April 16, 2013 at 12:09 am (UTC 0)
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! – My "Unable to Clean" error message is gone!
Bramz
April 25, 2013 at 2:20 am (UTC 0)
Thanks for info
Nine-nine
April 29, 2013 at 6:08 am (UTC 0)
Very good, thanks
Martin Kent
May 1, 2013 at 8:13 pm (UTC 0)
Genius, thank you so much
virgilio generalo
May 7, 2013 at 11:29 am (UTC 0)
thank you so much…you are our savior,,,,,,God will bless you more…..love yah ….
Mark
May 12, 2013 at 3:33 pm (UTC 0)
Thank you this worked on my MFC 6490CW
Terry M
May 12, 2013 at 8:11 pm (UTC 0)
MFC-425CN Many thanks – worked fine, but having started printer whilst holding down MENU button, now fault code 46 shows with lights flashing, not showing maintenance. *2864 wouldnt enter, so just tried 80 & got into maintenance mode no problem.
Mike
May 13, 2013 at 9:55 am (UTC 0)
Hi there,
I've followed your instructions on a DCP-J315W to clear "Unable to Print4F" message but it will not clear. Have tried this about six times with no luck. Any ideas?
kishor tavale
May 14, 2013 at 12:31 pm (UTC 0)
You are the great person and thank you very much to help me and all of us. you save my time and money………… You have great knowledge …………………………………… Thanks Once again, If you have such tips regarding brother please give
Guest
May 15, 2013 at 9:13 am (UTC 0)
Thank you so much for this! Just as a note for other people with the Brother MFC-240C Model: To enter maintenance mode, you hold down the menu button rather than the green start button. Anyway, thank you once again!
Carlos Menat
May 24, 2013 at 5:05 am (UTC 0)
My Brother J615W Printer at last was enable to print. PURGE was terrific. Thanks so much my friend. You are a great person.
Muhammed Ismail
May 25, 2013 at 2:06 pm (UTC 0)
Hello,
I have an MFC 665cw and it has the “unable to clean 46” error. Please help. The printer is not in the list u have.
RefreshCarts
May 28, 2013 at 1:43 pm (UTC 0)
This guide should be just fine for the MFC-665CW. Hope it works for you.
lakelover
May 31, 2013 at 8:59 pm (UTC 0)
Absolute magic. My printer (MFC-620CN) was in the car ready to go to the tip, when I found your instuctions. It took about 9 trys as the *2846 would not work but eventually got there using just *2 Could not find a replacement printer that fit my space so am really thrilled and hate throwing things away.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.
ESA
June 5, 2013 at 4:42 am (UTC 0)
AFTER DOING THE ABOVE PROCEDURE I RECEIVED…MACHINE ERROR4F. ANY ADVICE? TQVM
@SuzanneHazelton
June 5, 2013 at 9:38 am (UTC 0)
Thank you – got it working!
jeromebird
June 7, 2013 at 6:00 am (UTC 0)
my mfc-j220 ink absorber is full was fixed…thank you
merlinda
June 21, 2013 at 4:18 am (UTC 0)
hi sir jerome 🙂 can you share? how? pls.
Alan Andrews
June 8, 2013 at 8:03 am (UTC 0)
Brother MFC790CW with touch screen. Cannot get into maintenance mode – tried both methods – also tried using touch screen. Another problem is Machine language is PORTUGUESE how can I change it to English – Brother could not help. Any ideas. Thanks Alan
vickie
August 6, 2013 at 1:56 am (UTC 0)
hi i am vickie i have a mfc-790cw brother i had changes my ink the it said unable to cleand 46 my printer pluge is made on i cant unpluge it from the printer so how do i get it to maintenance
Angela
June 8, 2013 at 2:30 pm (UTC 0)
Hi, thank you very much for this tutorial! It saved me from having to buy a new printer and I am very, very grateful. Thank you thank you!!! I have a MFc-5440CN and I had to play around with your alternative instructions above, but I got it to work.
Thanks a million!!!
midape
August 20, 2013 at 9:27 pm (UTC 0)
Dear Angela,
What did you do differently? I have a MFC-5460CN and couldn't get it started printing after successfully getting into mtn mode and doing the purge counter reset. Still not printing…any shared experiences you think might help?
Mike
Christopher Crook
June 14, 2013 at 8:30 am (UTC 0)
Hi Matthew. I was impressed with your guidance above however I don't seem to be able to get it to work with my Brother MFC240C. I have just changed the heads on the printer and have had to run clean several times to get the ink flowing. The next thing I was about to do was to set up the alignment when error 46 came up. So I tried your directions, I saw the Maintenance word flash up as I held the Menu Key, in my case as I powered up, but then the message "Machine Error 46" shows in the display. No matter what I do it doesn't seem to want to go in order for me to reset the purge counter. Sorry for the Pun, But if you have encountered this problem before, can you tell me if there is a way out. The four lights on the panel are flashing as if in Maintenance mode. I have followed your proceedure several times now with out result, so Please, Please. If you can help I would be most grateful. Thanks in anticipation. Chris
Yuliana
June 16, 2013 at 6:44 pm (UTC 0)
I tried this step by step 2 times and this didn’t clear the error. Please help!
Yuli
June 23, 2013 at 11:32 pm (UTC 0)
this isn't working for me……..please help
Elmar
June 24, 2013 at 4:14 pm (UTC 0)
Thank you very much! My brother mfc215c works again. The only thing was to get it in maintenance. I used the menu button instead of the start button and entered '7' for maintenance. That got it in maintenance mode. After following your steps the counter was reset and I was printing again. Oh, the error was not a waiste. When I opened the printer I found the box for the waste ink to be full. I took the absorbing material out and replaced it with tampons (large;-).
Now it will last another 6 jears I hope…
mary
June 25, 2013 at 3:09 pm (UTC 0)
06/25/2013
MANY THANXXXXX……………….you Saved The Day / YEAR….etc!
Very much appreciated!!! I'm PRINTING again !!
Chris
June 30, 2013 at 5:04 pm (UTC 0)
What am I doing wrong? I have a MFC-J410W. I've been getting the unable to print 4F message, and was able to clear it the first time by unplugging. Printed a couple pages and got it again. I was able to get into the maintenance area (FINALLY, because this was the first tutorial I could find that actually showed it the best) and the PURGE counter now shows 00000, but after that step it then pops up with the Unable To Print 4F, and when I exit the maintenance area, it is still on there. Now when I go into the maintenance area, it shows 00000 for the purge count, but it still continues to show the error. How do I fix?
RefreshCarts
July 3, 2013 at 11:25 am (UTC 0)
Sadly the "Unable to Print 4F" is a very different problem to the "Unable to Clean 46" error and this guide will not resolve it. In my experience 4F generally relates to a printhead or related mechanical issue and resetting the purge counter will not help.
I am not aware of any quick fix for this error and can only advise getting in touch with a printer engineer or Brother themselves.
Cathy
July 12, 2013 at 3:57 pm (UTC 0)
Hi, I have gone through the procedure twice and I see the purge counter is reset to zero but the message is still "unable to clean see troubleshooting and routine maintenance chapter in user's guide Print Unable 46". My machine is a MFC-3360c
Any ideas? thanks
Ready Teddy
July 13, 2013 at 8:33 pm (UTC 0)
do you have a fix when on MFC J 825 dw say replace ink but ink is full on two year old unit will not do any function. did hear a brother brabded ink that was contaminated and confused machine??
CRIS
July 19, 2013 at 8:27 am (UTC 0)
hey it worked for my Brother MFC-J220, THANKS..
Chandra
July 24, 2013 at 5:27 am (UTC 0)
hi Matthew. i am glad to find u. i have problems with my MFC-J625DW printer. the yellow colour is not coming. so photo printing is not good. can u help me please.
RefreshCarts
July 24, 2013 at 8:14 am (UTC 0)
Print quality issues with this machine are likely to be caused by a blocked or even defective portion of the printhead. In this instance I would recommend running 1-3 cleaning cycles from your printer to attempt to clear any blockages. If the issue remains or the yellow ink disappears from your prints soon after cleaning this is indicative of a printhead malfunction. Sadly there isn't much you can do in such a case other than getting in touch with a printer technician.
Frederick
July 26, 2013 at 10:55 am (UTC 0)
Thank you Matthew on error 46 I am bit old in the tooth but managed with your guidance thank you
francisco
July 26, 2013 at 5:46 pm (UTC 0)
hello, in-J825DW mfc not let me write 80.
Connect the power cable with the green button pressed, write 2864 but every time I get just 2 maintenance, then write 80 (not displayed) look down arrow but not low (no change to purge). Please could you send a video for this machine to see where my mistake.
kimmi
July 30, 2013 at 9:38 am (UTC 0)
Hi Matthew I have problem about in my printer MFC-J220. When I print some papers there's an error flashing on the small screen of the printer. There its says "unable to clean7A" ? Please help me.
Ray Cherry
August 4, 2013 at 12:41 pm (UTC 0)
Hi,
I have a brother MFC 6510DW and have an error 46 showing on the screen. The machine having an internal fax I tried the method you have described several times with no luck. Have you any further suggestions? Thanks. Ray.
edwin
August 6, 2013 at 3:13 am (UTC 0)
I have MFC 5860CN error massege Unanbel print 51
wat is tha help me please.
Daniel
August 11, 2013 at 1:41 pm (UTC 0)
Hey my Brother MFC 235C dosn´t work. I don´t now how i get Maintenance can you hlp me please?
Thanks a lot!
zaira jaffrey
August 12, 2013 at 9:18 pm (UTC 0)
hi methew, i hv brother mfc j430w, it is giving me an error that it is not detecting "M ink cartridge".i bought new ink cartidge but it still not detecting it, i hv tried too many times to reinstall the ink, but it is not printng, even not doing the head cleaning process. i have got frustrated with all this, kindly help me, i w be thankful to u.
HIMESH
August 13, 2013 at 3:57 am (UTC 0)
HI, I HAVE BROTHER J430W PRINTER IN IT WHEN I HAD A TEST PRINT I FOUND MANY BLOCKS OF CYAN MISSING.I GAVE SO MANY NORMAL CLEANINGS AND POWER CLEANINGS BUT YET PROBLEM IS THERE AND I HAD INK ABSORBER FULL ERROR LATER I HAVE CLEARED INK ABSORBER ERROR AFTER WATCHING YOUR VIDEO BUT CYAN BLOCKS ARE STILL MISSING.
Mimi
August 14, 2013 at 7:51 pm (UTC 0)
Yippee! Worked like a charm for clearing the "unable to clean" message from my ancient MFC 3240C.
midape
August 20, 2013 at 9:25 pm (UTC 0)
Hello Matt, (if you are still there)
I've got my mother's Brother MFC 5460CN, and facing error 50 unable to clean! I have been through maintenance mode twice and reset the purge counter to 0 (it actual went to 00031) and still encounter the same error "Clean Unable 50"
Please help me (my mother is sitting across from me at this moment looking hopeful…;>0)
Craig
August 21, 2013 at 9:48 pm (UTC 0)
Worked with my MFC-420CN. THANK YOU!
Lori
November 9, 2013 at 11:00 am (UTC 0)
Really? I can't get it to work with mine!
adolfgoering
August 24, 2013 at 12:37 am (UTC 0)
hi
i got the error 4f problem on my mfc490cw. entering maintainancemode works fine. i reset the counter like written upside. restart the printer and uups – it doesn't work! after that i reset the variables 'machine_error' und 'pages' – it doesn't work.
any idea what to do now would be nice
RefreshCarts
August 27, 2013 at 1:37 pm (UTC 0)
Error 4F generally indicates a mechanical error within your printer and this guide will not resolve the issue. I would recommend getting in touch with Brother or a printer technician in this instance.
Mikael
August 27, 2013 at 4:31 pm (UTC 0)
I have MFC-620 CN , it say ; Unable to clean.
I tried your reset method but it doesnt work ?
What can I do?
JONAH
August 29, 2013 at 1:30 am (UTC 0)
thanks… it works with my mfc-j220
Jodi
August 29, 2013 at 8:56 am (UTC 0)
Thanks for that. It worked with my MFC-235C. Just had to hold down the Menu button rather than the Start button when plugging in 🙂
Jan Ray
September 2, 2013 at 9:59 am (UTC 0)
thank you for the solution.. my black ink is working now… but i have a problem with the yellow now…. instead of yellow, it prints black…. why is this??? any help
presh purohit
September 24, 2013 at 11:15 am (UTC 0)
my printer black problem help me ?
vintrapz
September 5, 2013 at 12:13 pm (UTC 0)
thank you men, , your the best, the mfc j220 is printing again. , thank you for the advice. . . . 🙂
glensw40
September 10, 2013 at 8:37 am (UTC 0)
Hi, thanks for the 'how to' to get into the maintenance mode on Brother printers and it worked for my MFC 6490CW._However the purge routine has not sorted out my error of 'Unable to Print 4F' I have set the purge count to zero_I have tried a couple of times and will try again later, any other advice
RefreshCarts
September 10, 2013 at 1:45 pm (UTC 0)
Sadly this reset will not work for this error. 4F indicates a mechanical error, usually one with the printhead. As an end user there is not much you can do other than phone Brother/a printer technician unfortunately.
glensw40
September 10, 2013 at 2:15 pm (UTC 0)
thanks for that, looks like a new printer then, seen a couple of 6940cw on ebay but reserve not met at £20 so far so may buy new, what are your thoughts on the Brother MFC J5910dw – some good reports on it but some complaints about paper sticking a lot.
Anita Porter
September 10, 2013 at 12:40 pm (UTC 0)
Thank you I have a Brother MFC-680CN and this worked for me 🙂 Anita Porter
Ewa
September 10, 2013 at 7:33 pm (UTC 0)
Hi Matthew, I've read all posts on this website, but i didn't find answer for my problem. I've MFC 5490 model, and I've tried to get to maintaince menu in many ways (trying to press green start buton or menu button), do You have any idea how to get there in this model?
I would be most grateful if you would look into this matter as soon as possible 🙂 Ewa
Alex
September 13, 2013 at 8:26 am (UTC 0)
Thanx a lot
reby anne
September 16, 2013 at 10:55 am (UTC 0)
thanks… it works on my MFC-J220. i did it on my own..i have saved money for the repair..keep it up
MANUEL LOPEZ
September 24, 2013 at 8:39 pm (UTC 0)
I am having trouble with my MFC-255cw it says black ink not detected but we just installed a new ink cartridge
vhinz bors
October 3, 2013 at 3:04 am (UTC 0)
sir,, MFC J220 brother printer user,, we follow your instructions but still the error "Unable to Clean50" exists..any solutions sir?..your help is really appreciated
RefreshCarts
October 16, 2013 at 9:23 am (UTC 0)
Unable to Clean 50 seems to be caused by an issue with the printer board. Sadly this reset procedure will not fix it. I would recommend contacting Brother or a printer technician.
Christiane alegria
October 28, 2013 at 10:25 am (UTC 0)
I do have same problem with vhinz bors in MFC J220 brother printer, after doing the maintenance 764, the Unable to Clean 50 appeared, why is that? , , I have lots of printing documents to do for my review and i really need a solution now, please help. thank you i'll wait …I'm studying electronics engineering and i'm already in my 5th year so i can do technical works if needed. please ASAP… thank you.
Jika George
October 5, 2013 at 3:59 am (UTC 0)
Thanks Matthew Stevenson,
my Brother printer show Ink Absober Full and I have done what you hav said and its work with my MFC-J415W
You are the man Mat… otherwise I may spent some monies in printer workshop…GBU
Hardev
October 8, 2013 at 11:26 pm (UTC 0)
Hi Matthew, I am having trouble with my MFC-845cw it says black ink empty and sometimes black ink not detected but I have just installed a new ink cartridge
RefreshCarts
October 16, 2013 at 9:12 am (UTC 0)
Your printer shines a laser at a small window in the back of the cartridge and if it hits ink then the printer assumes the cartridge has been changed. If your printer is not detecting a new cartridge is installed then the sensor is most likely to be malfunctioning. It may however be worth colouring in the previously mentioned window on the back of the cartridge with a permanent marker and then reinstalling the cartridge slowly.
Charlee
October 13, 2013 at 12:07 pm (UTC 0)
Hi Mathew, I have the MFC-J6710dw. Tried umpteen times to reset the purge counter but I can only get 2 numbers in then it will say maintenance-2 or maintenance 4. Thats by using the 2 only. When I go to add another number it says, insert card. I know I followed directions correctly. Can you please help me too?
Thanks,
Charlee
Charlee
October 13, 2013 at 1:15 pm (UTC 0)
Hi again Mathew,
Thought Id try once more after re-reading Terry M.’S with a MFC425cn post advising that he tried again using just the 80. Well I only put in the 8 and after that I couldnt even tell you what I did. I just followed your instructions, even messing up once so as i cringed & prayed I wouldnt have to start all over, YIPEE! My fingers did the walkin while followin the rest of your instructions & this ole gal just reset her purge counter. Ive been working on this for 2 freakin days so I cant even tell you how excited I am.
Thank you SO much Mathew for your awesome instructions.
Oh yeah! Also I had to use the menu button, not the start button. That made a huge difference w me trying to get somewhere to begin with. So thanks again Mathew.
Charlee
nalimor
October 15, 2013 at 8:29 am (UTC 0)
thanks bro. the above instruction works well on my Brother MFC J220 full ink absorber trouble. thanks a lot
Gayle
November 5, 2013 at 8:29 am (UTC 0)
Thanks to Mr. Matthew Stevenson for the instruction… I got it and thank you so much for our printer brother MFC – J220 works well again….
Tamara
October 17, 2013 at 6:30 pm (UTC 0)
Hey! Thanks a lot. You have saved me a lot of money!!!!!
james
October 18, 2013 at 1:03 am (UTC 0)
my printer brother mfc j220 unable to init.48
Sarah
October 21, 2013 at 6:29 am (UTC 0)
thank you this saved me buying a new printer
Anthony
October 26, 2013 at 11:06 am (UTC 0)
I tried it on my printer J615W, but the error message 'Unable to print 4F' still exists.
RefreshCarts
October 26, 2013 at 1:41 pm (UTC 0)
Sadly 'Unable to Print 4F' is a very different message to 'Unable to Clean 46'. This reset will not work as 4F is usually a mechanical error.
dave
October 30, 2013 at 10:57 am (UTC 0)
have a brother MFC 5895 CW just come up witha message "unable to print F4"
Help
Two
November 4, 2013 at 11:06 am (UTC 0)
Wow… It Worked with our BROTHER MFC-J220…. Thanks a lot ! it really was a big help…
mattfeato
November 4, 2013 at 7:14 pm (UTC 0)
Good tip! I had a paper jam/could not print error but it went into a seemingly continuous cleaning mode after (and there wasn't any paper jam to begin with).
Either just a sensor bad catch or maybe the waste container was "full." Just at some point now I'll have to get in there an absorb out most of the ink out so it doesn't truly clog up.
(In checking my J410W has printed 11,200 pages on the counter – guessing jams may be also included but this thing is a WORKHORSE)
Stan
November 10, 2013 at 8:27 pm (UTC 0)
Thanks. took care of a large headache with my 465CN.
sandra
November 11, 2013 at 2:14 am (UTC 0)
i already followed all instruction , purge countrer was already zero but i still been having the same error : unable to lnit 48
Steve
November 12, 2013 at 11:29 pm (UTC 0)
My Brother MFC-240C is reporting an Init Unable 48. I have tried the purge counter reset but continue to get the IU48 error. Any words of advise of a mechanical nature. As far as I can tell there are no obstructions, the Ink wells are full but still no printing. the slider scanner within the glass does not slide all the way from left to right, not sure if it is supposed to upon start-up, but I thought I would mention that
maikel
November 14, 2013 at 1:54 pm (UTC 0)
thanks.
Miles
November 21, 2013 at 4:12 am (UTC 0)
Does anyone know how to enter Maintenance Mode on an Brother MFC-J875DW?
Sonia
November 27, 2013 at 5:49 pm (UTC 0)
Hi, I’ve tried the above reset for my brother 465-cn, which worked fine for about two weeks then, the error message appeared again. I followed your instructions and this time the error message changed from 51 to 50. I can’t seem to get rid of the error message at all. Can you please help????
RefreshCarts
November 28, 2013 at 11:12 am (UTC 0)
In my experience error 50 and 51 aren't typically associated with purge counter/ink absorber issues. Is there any text that gives any indication as to the nature of the problem? Does it say 'Unable to Print' or similar?
Sonia
November 28, 2013 at 9:23 pm (UTC 0)
Hi, thanks for the reply. It doesn’t say anything other than “unable to print- error 50”. I’m thinking of throwing out and getting a better one! Seems like it’s not worth all that hassel. Thanks for your help.
RefreshCarts
November 29, 2013 at 12:05 pm (UTC 0)
In all honesty this counter reset shouldn't clear any Unable to Print errors so I am not too surprised. I fear you may have a mechanical issue there which would need proper diagnosis by a technician.
Carlos
November 27, 2013 at 10:16 pm (UTC 0)
HI, nice blog, mi MFC-J410 says Unable to init.RF. I followed instructions to reset purge count, and it worked but at the end after pressing stop button then message came again, even if I press 99 to exit maintanence mode then the problem does not fix. Does anybody help me?, acording to some information I've been noticed about mechanical problems. Any help?
NERMIE
December 7, 2013 at 1:02 pm (UTC 0)
THANK YOU! THANK YOU, VERY HELPFUL MWAH!!!
Ms. Beth
December 10, 2013 at 8:09 am (UTC 0)
Hi Mathew,
I just want to ask you a favor. my bro. mfc-j220 has this message "unable to init. 48" and the ink carriage does not move it stayed on left side. i did the following below hoping to work my printer.
Type in 80 using the numerical keypad.
Use the DOWN key to locate the purge counter. eg. PURGE0060025
Use the number pad to enter 2783 (this should zero the numbers after PURGE).
Press STOP/EXIT to return to the first stage of maintenance mode.
Press 9 and 9 to exit maintenance mode.
but unfortunately its still not. Is there any option i can do? Hope you can help me.
Thanks & best regards
RefreshCarts
December 10, 2013 at 12:25 pm (UTC 0)
Unable to Initialise is a mechanical error and sadly this reset will not clear it. I would recommend getting in touch with Brother or a printer technician.
Walt
December 11, 2013 at 9:36 pm (UTC 0)
Mathew,
Do you have any suggestions for a MFC-790CW with a "Unable to Init. 4F" error code?
Thanks,
RefreshCarts
December 12, 2013 at 9:17 am (UTC 0)
'Unable to Init 4F' is a mechanical error generally relating to the printhead and sadly this reset will not clear it. I would recommend getting in touch with Brother or a printer technician.
Joetta Jones
December 13, 2013 at 6:01 am (UTC 0)
Thank you so much…..this was excellent information!!!! It worked!!!! You are a lifesaver!!!
Jim Dove
December 18, 2013 at 10:37 pm (UTC 0)
THANK YOU!
The procedure worked just fine on my Brother MFC-465-CN. Now I just have to wait for the ink to actually overflow. Wish there was a way to get to the sponge to replace it.
Berta
December 20, 2013 at 11:13 pm (UTC 0)
Ok I tried that several times. It did zero out, but it still gives me the error Unable to Clean 5A. It also weir, cuz before I do that there is an x on the ink cartridge…but once I zero it out it goes away, but then comes back
Zee
December 27, 2013 at 9:22 am (UTC 0)
Hi! I am having a brother printer MFC – J625DW & the error is Print 44. I tried to use the same method since i also saw the purge 02544. Can you help me please… Thank you
jok
December 28, 2013 at 7:54 am (UTC 0)
For BROTHER MFC-J410 the alternative method does not work.
For "power on" method you must hold the small MENU button (located near the big FAX button) while plugging the power cable. Then all works as described above.
Cathy
April 15, 2014 at 7:32 pm (UTC 0)
thank you so much for the info about the menu button
peter
December 28, 2013 at 2:09 pm (UTC 0)
Brother MFC 425 cn
Hi
I cleared the purge counter a couple of months ago but now it shows a "paper jam " which it has not got and and I cannot clear the warning.
The print head is on the right hand side and I can not move it.
Have you got a solution for clearing this.
Pete
ronk1030
December 29, 2013 at 4:39 am (UTC 0)
I have a MFC J615W Brother printer that I just finished resetting the full absorber. Thank You Now tomorrow, I'll be taking it apart to replace the full box with some micro fiber material.
Arthur Thorpe
December 29, 2013 at 11:54 am (UTC 0)
I have a brother MFC-5895CW which is showing a message "unable to print 4F" , I have very limited knowledge with such matters and would appreciate some help please.
Arthur
Arthur Thorpe
December 30, 2013 at 3:29 pm (UTC 0)
Brother MFC-5895CW.
I have tried to get into the purge section by switching off the printer, holding down the Menu button until MAINTENANCE appears, but it then shows, Machine error 4For Busy tone no DET. What is the next suggested step please.
RefreshCarts
December 31, 2013 at 9:24 am (UTC 0)
4F error messages indicate a mechanical error. Sadly this guide will not resolve this. I can only recommend getting in touch with Brother or a printer technician.
Dan
December 30, 2013 at 8:51 pm (UTC 0)
Thanks for the easy-to-follow guide. I managed to reset the purge counter on my parents MFC-440CN, but the error message persists. I guess we're going to have to take in to the shop. Thanks again for the effort, though. I appreciate it. m
RefreshCarts
December 31, 2013 at 9:22 am (UTC 0)
What error message are you getting? 'Unable to Clean: Machine Error 46' should always be cleared by the purge counter reset.
Courtney
January 5, 2014 at 8:40 am (UTC 0)
Hi, I have a MFC-425CN
I tried doing the unplug of power cord which didn’t work then I tried the other two alternatives which didn’t work either…
I cant seem to get to the Maintenance on my printer screen . please help 🙁
Yoka
May 9, 2014 at 6:28 am (UTC 0)
On my 640 it only flashed very briefly. I missed it the first time and did not think I was in maintenande. It did show the error number. I continued the steps and it worked!
gary
January 10, 2014 at 5:00 pm (UTC 0)
I have a Brother MFC J5910DW that is missing all the WiFi menu items and no WiFi on the main screen.
I was once told by Brother I would need a whole firmware refresh. it there a way to push a full firmware file to the printer via a USB connection? Can you look into the printer Bios? or is there a way to factory reset the firmware?
thanks
gary
chel
January 11, 2014 at 8:01 am (UTC 0)
hi. thank you for the advice. I have MFC J-220 Brother printer and the problem is unable to init48 and i tried the procedure that you have given, yet the purge no. has already resetted but unfortunately still the problem exists. Can you please help me?
RefreshCarts
January 14, 2014 at 11:23 am (UTC 0)
'Unable to Init' is a mechanical error generally relating to the printhead and sadly this reset will not clear it. I would recommend getting in touch with Brother or a printer technician.
jorge
January 13, 2014 at 11:03 am (UTC 0)
Thank you! We find the instruction very helpful in resetting our office printer. Thank you very much.
argie
January 14, 2014 at 9:26 am (UTC 0)
thanks bro! worked like a charm on my MFC J220
Zee
January 25, 2014 at 11:22 pm (UTC 0)
My printer is MFC – J625DW . Error 44 has popped out. Can u help me please.. TQ
Craig
January 28, 2014 at 9:03 pm (UTC 0)
I am absolutely thrilled to say that this method worked for my ancient mfc 420cn!
I had to fool around a bit x the pathway to "purge" but I did eventually find it.
Had been on Brother chatline and they had zero advice beyond "unplug" and "repair", I was ready to trash this one.
These items can be thought of as disposable….but it is certainly preferable to avoid a trip to Best Buy.
Am I sounding like a conspiracy theorist or is this some kind of "self-destruct mechanism" for when you hit 47K copies?
Thank you very much!
Judy C
March 10, 2014 at 6:19 pm (UTC 0)
I would like to know how you made it work. My machine never says Maintenance. I have a Menu/set button under the silver 'arrow' button plus 'black start' and 'color start buttons'. I've tried everything, no luck.
cfilipe
January 30, 2014 at 12:46 pm (UTC 0)
Thank you very much. Perfect!
ARTHUR AGUINALDO
February 2, 2014 at 5:04 pm (UTC 0)
Thanks a lot, its fine with my MCF-J220
Andrew
February 4, 2014 at 11:07 pm (UTC 0)
Thank you very much. This worked for my MFC-425CN.
Venus
March 1, 2014 at 5:38 pm (UTC 0)
Hi Matthew,
I followed the “Purge Counter Reset Instructions” for my MFC-J220 (with built-in fax) but I cannot get into Maintenance Mode. I tried Holding down MENU (or START) and re-insert the power cable/turn it back on but it just say “Ink Absorber is Full”. Please help.
John Paul Cua
March 10, 2014 at 9:44 am (UTC 0)
How to Reset ERROR 46 – Brother Printer MFC-J220
– Press Menu, then Mono, then arrow up (^) four times
– now you are entering the MAINTENANCE mode
– select 8 0 and push OK
– 00:00 00:01 OK (the display is showing the time set in your printer)
– now push the arrow up (^) 20 times (or Mono 26 times) until you see PURGE: xxxxx
– Select 2 7 8 3, then push OK
– the purge counter will indicate PURGE: 00000
– Select 9 then OK, then 9 OK again
– will display message Please wait…
Printer were now reset and ready to use.
Jacinta
March 2, 2014 at 10:23 pm (UTC 0)
No luck to get in Maintenance mode with my MFC-685CW any suggestions?
Allen Mackenzie
March 13, 2014 at 9:31 am (UTC 0)
Hi Mathew,
I have a brother MFC-640CW printer fax phone.
I start as you say, hold down menu / set and turn back on and machine error 46, then go to printer fax hold down Menu / set and press 2864 and Procedure RX TE comes up on screen, can not get Maintenance.
In trouble, Allen.
Simon
March 18, 2014 at 1:59 pm (UTC 0)
On a MFC-640CW, hold down menu/set when you push the power connector back in. (Not Start and power). This worked on mine. The menus are not quite the same as described above but the 2Purge" item is in there!. Worked on my MFC-640CW
feikje
March 15, 2014 at 1:36 pm (UTC 0)
i've tried it but i can't make it work (brother mfc-215c) So what i do now..
Phil
March 15, 2014 at 7:09 pm (UTC 0)
THANK YOU SO MUCH. There was NO useful information on this topic until I found your page! Worked perfectly on an MFC-420CN.
joginder
March 20, 2014 at 8:18 am (UTC 0)
sir my brother printer dcp-j125 error 5a or 50 how to soly my problam
Pam
March 25, 2014 at 7:51 pm (UTC 0)
I have a MFC-7360N and can not figure this out to save my life.
RefreshCarts
March 26, 2014 at 10:31 am (UTC 0)
Sadly this guide is not applicable to your printer. The Brother MFC-7360N is a laser printer that takes toner cartridges and as such it has no ink absorber to be reset using this method.
John
March 30, 2014 at 4:49 pm (UTC 0)
I have the MFC210c with the unable to clean error message. After following the brother manual, and not getting it to work, I was ready to get a new printer. Instead I goggled the problem then to YouTube and found your site.
Worked the first time I went thru the instructions!! Thanks so much for listing this info!!!!
RefreshCarts
April 2, 2014 at 4:04 pm (UTC 0)
Fantastic! Glad to hear it John.
Prabhakar
April 11, 2014 at 5:53 am (UTC 0)
Hi sir, I have an mfc – 6490 after doing the purge reset , it started printing but printing is not clear in draft mode kindly guide
julian amar
April 12, 2014 at 6:29 am (UTC 0)
When I Start my machine it give me error 77. I follow these steps
1) Unplug machine.
2) Hold down menu key while plugging in machine.
3) Enter 99 while holding down menu key
4) After it says "PLease wait" hit the stop/exit button to get out of the maintenance mode
After this it gives me error 76.
Step 2
ane-ane ane … please donk … MFC-J6710DW printer has an error now. maintenance already 76. even out reminders machine error 76. gan how do I fix this … thank you.
jayzon del rosario
April 12, 2014 at 10:48 am (UTC 0)
i have brother mfc j220 when i cant type in 2864 cause the time i press 2 and 8 it stop on the sd card menu and cant go on pressing 6 and 4 any more. help please. i badly need to clear unable to init. 48 error.
RefreshCarts
April 16, 2014 at 10:41 am (UTC 0)
I can only recommend trying the alternate method for getting the printer in to maintenance:
" Hold down Menu/Set and the Black Start key before pressing the UP arrow four times."
I do however feel that I should mention this guide is intended for resolving the 'Unable to Clean: Machine Error 46' message specifically and will not resolve the Unable to Initialise 48 error.
Rick
April 20, 2014 at 9:20 am (UTC 0)
Hi Mathew
Thanks for your information, my Brother MFC- 5840 was giving "Unable to clean" error, I followed your purge counter reset but this did not work, so I restet all of the other counters, within the 80 menue, and have now got the printer working
Thanks again. Rick.
Sam
April 27, 2014 at 12:35 pm (UTC 0)
Hi Mat,
Do you know how to reset the waste ink counter on Brother MFC 6720dw?
Yoka
May 9, 2014 at 6:26 am (UTC 0)
Thank you so much. It worked perfectly!!! Such a relief. THANKS!!!
ruel
May 15, 2014 at 11:50 pm (UTC 0)
how can i change language of my mfc6890cn to english,
hanif
May 16, 2014 at 7:21 pm (UTC 0)
Hi Matthew,
I have MFC J6510DW and it cannot detect the yellow ink.
Maintenance mode doesn't work and it shows message "unable to detect"
What should I do…
Thanks
RefreshCarts
May 20, 2014 at 9:00 am (UTC 0)
If your printer cannot detect a cartridge then sadly this reset will not help. I can only recommend replacing the cartridge and contacting Brother if the error persists.
Janet
May 18, 2014 at 4:05 pm (UTC 0)
I have MFC 3240 with a fixed cord but my on/off button does not seem to work so unplugged the machine and I followed the directions up until I got the PURGE0060025 with zero the numbers after PURGE
Then I reentered *2864 but did not get maintenance mode but the error code 46. I then followed the below and it is still saying" unable to clean
4.Press STOP/EXIT to return to the first stage of maintenance mode.
5.Press 9 and 9 to exit maintenance mode.
What am I doing wrong?
Janet
May 27, 2014 at 1:39 pm (UTC 0)
are you able to make any suggestions?
Mogambo
June 9, 2014 at 1:07 pm (UTC 0)
Hi My brother j430 printer does not print well. One of the color (magenta) when i do the the print quality test has lacking. How do i fix this?
RefreshCarts
June 10, 2014 at 9:52 am (UTC 0)
There is not much you can do sadly. If you have not tried already, I can only recommend running some head cleaning cycles from the 'Ink' menu (same area used for the print quality test page).
ChuckRupert
June 26, 2014 at 4:33 pm (UTC 0)
You can also try a factory head purge by entering the following while in MAINTENANCE mode:
enter 76 – it will say "cleaning all" but nothing will happen
enter 3 – it will say "power_p"
press BLACK START (even if you are cleaning a color head)
when done purging, enter 09 to do a test print
If there is improvement, purge again.
If this fails, you have a clogged print head.
Mandy
June 10, 2014 at 11:14 am (UTC 0)
Thank you so much. It works!
HOLLY
June 11, 2014 at 4:39 pm (UTC 0)
WOW – this actually WORKED on my brother MFCJ615W – THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH!
sam
June 27, 2014 at 12:43 am (UTC 0)
how to solve this problem brother MFC-J430w error message for INK ABSORBER NEAR FULL thank you
jhennieh
July 1, 2014 at 6:06 am (UTC 0)
when i hold press the menu button, Then the insert card appears
jhennieh
July 1, 2014 at 6:55 am (UTC 0)
please, disregard my last message i just followed the steps to get PURGE: 00000 but still it doesn't work in my MFC-j220 there is still an error message "unable to init 48" & the print cartridge stays on the right side & doesn't move
RefreshCarts
July 1, 2014 at 9:39 am (UTC 0)
Sadly "Unable to Init 48" or "Machine Error 48" is a very different issue to the one covered here and resetting the purge counter will not resolve it. As far as I am aware these errors relate one of a small selection of components inside the printer needing to be replaced and it may be best to speak to Brother or a printer technician.
jhennieh
July 1, 2014 at 7:12 am (UTC 0)
i just followed the steps to get PURGE: 00000 but still it doesn't work in my MFC-j220 there is still an error message "unable to init 48" & the print cartridge stays on the right side & doesn't move
Chad
July 1, 2014 at 12:15 pm (UTC 0)
I managed to fix my Brother printer with the aid of the instructions above. However
I had to hit one extra button to allow my printer to scroll down to “Purge”.
By persisting in the “Maintenance” mode I stumbled on to a solution.
Thanks for the useful instructions.
Joanne
July 2, 2014 at 12:30 am (UTC 0)
I have an MFC-425CN and have tried the power cord and also the other options but can't seem to get it to maintenance mode? Any suggestions of what I am doing wrong? Thanks Jo
Joanne
July 2, 2014 at 1:17 am (UTC 0)
Please disregard my last message as I have managed to work it out from reading through past comments.
MFC-425CN – to get it into maintenance mode, you only hold down the menu/set button NOT the start key too. After this I just followed the steps and it works perfectly!
Thanks so much, Jo
Richard
July 2, 2014 at 6:50 pm (UTC 0)
I have error 46 on a Brother MFC-440 CN and have tried every combination of your instructions but cannot get it into ‘Maintenance Mode’ . Have you got any suggestions please?
elaine
July 4, 2014 at 4:05 am (UTC 0)
worked beautifully so far. thanks! Brother 210c
George
July 9, 2014 at 7:25 pm (UTC 0)
Reset Instructions error 46 Brother MFC-5840CN
No print
No clears heads
Ink full
mavvy
July 10, 2014 at 6:28 pm (UTC 0)
thank you!
Madhukar Nalawade
July 11, 2014 at 1:45 pm (UTC 0)
how to solve this problem brother MFC-J430w error message for INK ABSORBER NEAR FULL. Help me.
Madhukar Nalawade
July 11, 2014 at 3:21 pm (UTC 0)
Thank you Sir. Even thanking you is not enough. It worked with my MFC-J430W printer. The error was "The Ink Absorber full"
Lucianosilva123
July 14, 2014 at 6:57 pm (UTC 0)
Hi good afternoon I have a functional Fine Brother MFC-J430W is presenting a problem that it is not detecting the Yellow cartridge I put and it does not recognize, can someone help me solve this problem?
RefreshCarts
July 15, 2014 at 9:21 am (UTC 0)
If you have tried several cartridges (to eliminate the chance of it being a dud yellow cartridge) then sadly there is not much else you can do. Your printer uses sensors inside the machine to detect the physical presence of a cartridge and issues of this nature will almost certainly relate to once of these sensors. They are not easily accessible so I can only recommend getting in touch with Brother or a printer technician.
Bob
July 26, 2014 at 8:44 pm (UTC 0)
Dear Luc,
I have the same problem on my MFC-J430W, (With Cyan). It Won't recognize the cartdridge, and as the auther says, these sensor dectors are buried deep. But I (almost) solved the problem by just leaving it in maintenance mode. It prints and scans OK, only the fax receiving doesn't function. (It will receive the fax but win't print it.) To grt to maintenance mode, plug it in while holding the Blacg Start button, then just leave it in that state. Brother has good stuff, but they blew it badly on this model.
Bob
July 27, 2014 at 3:08 pm (UTC 0)
I have the same problem with the Cyan cartridge on the MFC-J430W. I found that the printer can be left in maintenance mode and it will print and scan well. It will receive a fax but not print it. One must only then check the ink cartridges manually. To get to maintenance mode, hold the Black Start button while plugging the printer into the wall socket, wait for "Maintenance" to appear, then walk away.
mccormickld
July 16, 2014 at 2:30 pm (UTC 0)
I have MFC 640cw without touchscreen, with keypad, and non-removable power cord. I cannot get my printer to respond while the screen reads Unable to Clean – User's Guide see troubleshooting and routine maintenance chapter in User Guide. I have a tiny on/off button to the left of the Stop/Exit button. How can I clear this message?
Roy
July 19, 2014 at 2:14 pm (UTC 0)
After a few tries, worked with my MFC820CW – thank you so much!
Al
July 29, 2014 at 3:53 pm (UTC 0)
Hi
I have a Brother MFC-410CN with a fax. I’ve tried to put it into maintenance mode holding down the menu and typing *2864 but ‘Maintenance’ comes up quickly followed by ‘Procedure RX TE’ and it stays on ‘Procedure RX TE’ .
What can do?
Thanks
Al
sanjay bafna
July 31, 2014 at 11:49 am (UTC 0)
Hi,
I have MFC Brother J430W. this doesn't detecting cartridge even changing after also.
Also I put CISS tank,but no detecting.
Please help me.
Tnx & Rgrds,
Sanjay Bafna
Isaac Brown
July 31, 2014 at 5:27 pm (UTC 0)
After a few times, its working fine. Thank you
Matt
August 18, 2014 at 9:43 am (UTC 0)
There are so many Brother printers, but there’s no help for clearing ‘error 46 unable to clean’ for a Brother MFC-820CW. Does anyone know how to fix this, because all methods are not working for my machine?
Choice4
August 23, 2014 at 10:12 pm (UTC 0)
I have MFC 640CW and I got the error message “unable to clean” please check your manual on trouble shooting, but when I checked the manual I could not find an answer. I contacted brother customer service but they could not help.
I then posted this question on an ask web forum and they directed me to this site.
I have tried it and it worked for me thank you.
I plugged it and held menu/set and pressed 80 when maintenance came up then scrolled to purge then pressed ok, then 99 to exit and and mine is now printing
Thank you
Hugo
August 24, 2014 at 1:32 am (UTC 0)
one of my color is not printing correct on my mfc-j430w have clean the heads many time but still happening any ideas?
RefreshCarts
August 26, 2014 at 9:45 am (UTC 0)
Print quality issues with this printer can only really be caused by a blocked or defective printhead. I can only really recommend doing a test page to identify the colour/colours at fault and then persisting with the relevant cleaning cycle.
angie
August 25, 2014 at 9:08 am (UTC 0)
hi sir, i have brother MFC J220 my printer sunddenly wont turn on. i dont know what happen pls.. help me email me what should i do… thanks very much!! godbless
Val Ryan
August 25, 2014 at 2:13 pm (UTC 0)
Matthew you are amazing thank you so much for this it really helped so much. It took several attempts on MFC-640CW and on this machine the button to hold down is Menu/set. I needed to print a special photo today for my daughters birthday tomorrow and all the shops are shut you made my day bless you
RefreshCarts
August 26, 2014 at 9:37 am (UTC 0)
No problem at all. I am glad you found this useful.
Steve
August 27, 2014 at 11:40 am (UTC 0)
My MFC-5440CN reports “nearly empty yellow” despite my changing the cartridge for a full one and doing the ink maintenance and cleaning procedures. Have tried the Purge procedure too but to no avail. The prints are dreadful – the reds patchy (new cartridge too) and the greens are yellow.
Any ideas?
Steve
jzr
August 27, 2014 at 7:18 pm (UTC 0)
Excellent video and web page.
However, these instructions (that I have taken from another internet place some years ago) worked fine for me the first time, but when the same error repeated after some months of usage, now it’s impossible to make it work. The counter is successfully reset to 0 but the error 46 persists. Maybe the ink absorber is really saturated now, supposing that a physical sensor exists? Any hint?
puzmen26
August 30, 2014 at 3:58 pm (UTC 0)
I can guarantee that I have the Purge Counter set to 00000. I exit from the maintenance mode, but the problem persists.
Error on Dashboard: "Clean Unable 4F" (not 46)
My assumption at this point is that there may be a secondary trigger for the Ink Absorber. Any leads?
RefreshCarts
September 1, 2014 at 11:44 am (UTC 0)
4F error messages indicate a mechanical error (usually with the printhead). Sadly this guide will not resolve this. I can only recommend getting in touch with Brother or a printer technician.
Robert Forbes
September 1, 2014 at 7:26 am (UTC 0)
Worked great for me on MFC-640CW with a few common sense "try it anyway" steps. Not all screen prompts the same.
Many thanks
Rob Forbes
Pam
September 10, 2014 at 9:56 pm (UTC 0)
I have the MFC-490CW. I couldn't get the purge screen to come up. Finally, I realized I needed to press '80', then the 'black' start key 30 times to get to Purge. Then, I entered the number '2783', and I had to wait until the counter turned to all zeroes. After that, I was able to clean the ink volumes and the printer began printing.
صلاح نصير
September 10, 2014 at 10:13 pm (UTC 0)
فكيت الطابعة البرازر 220 وقفلتها وعند التشغيل اعطتنى رسالة unable te lnit.50
teresa
September 11, 2014 at 3:55 pm (UTC 0)
I have a printer that has a fixed power cord so I tried to turn it off with the power button as instructed, and it won't turn off at all. It just beeps. Any further suggestions?
Kunal
September 13, 2014 at 4:50 pm (UTC 0)
I have a MFC-465CN and error 46,icant get the purge screen,Please help
Jagraj Singh Gill
November 21, 2014 at 7:47 am (UTC 0)
Step 1. unplug
2. Hold menu key (Not green or black start key)
3. Press 80
4. Find Purge
5. Press 2783
6. now press RED (Stop/Exit) key
7. Last press 99
enjoy
Feed back
MIKE
February 22, 2015 at 6:02 am (UTC 0)
THANK YOU! NOW I'M USING MY PRINTER AGAIN!
wmutenza
September 25, 2014 at 11:09 am (UTC 0)
I can only say, thank you so much.
Richard
October 18, 2014 at 2:05 pm (UTC 0)
I have a mfc-5890cn and after several attempts at this it still has the error code unable to clean 50
RefreshCarts
October 25, 2014 at 12:44 pm (UTC 0)
The steps in this article are not intended to resolve this error sadly. I can only recommend getting in touch with Canon or a printer technician.
Peter
October 19, 2014 at 1:26 am (UTC 0)
Thank you Matthew! Fantastic post. Worked like a charm. The 'purge' message on my particular MFC J265W was slightly different from the one listed in the instructions but I charged ahead with the rest of the instructions and voila! the printer is back in action.
Alan Dingley
October 20, 2014 at 10:24 am (UTC 0)
I have an MFC-465CN and cannot get the maintenance screen, please help.
Alan
Jagraj Singh Gill
November 21, 2014 at 7:59 am (UTC 0)
unplugged and plugged with Hold Menu key
Jagraj Singh Gill
November 21, 2014 at 8:57 am (UTC 0)
unplugged printer
hold menu key (not green or start key)
plugged in
.
.
.
enjoy
zahed
October 24, 2014 at 8:14 am (UTC 0)
i have j615 printer but i cant do master cleaning , can you help me
Nesline
October 25, 2014 at 10:31 pm (UTC 0)
I have a brother 440CN saying "unable to print 50" can someone help please.
Don
October 27, 2014 at 6:36 pm (UTC 0)
Have a MFC-J615W. Once I Found the Purge, these steps worked. Thanks!!!!
DebraO'Dell
October 28, 2014 at 1:31 am (UTC 0)
Woot! Woot! Singing your praises.
My warranty is long since expired & I don't have the funds to purchase another unit.
So, in search of some type of repair I happened upon this page.
I began by exposing the ink absorber, not an easy task, mind you. I then, gently expressed a lot of excess ink, reset the counter w/o issue and I'm printing again.
Amazing use of your talent, kind, sharing & knowledgeable people.
At present I'm in search of a new ink absorber.
Thank you.
DebraO'Dell
October 28, 2014 at 1:32 am (UTC 0)
I neglected to mention, I have an MFC-J625DW
Patrick
November 2, 2014 at 8:57 am (UTC 0)
My Printer MFC 255CW still cannot show the maintenance mode. I tried both steps the reinserting power and the *2864
Please help me. thanks.
Alessandro
November 11, 2014 at 2:28 pm (UTC 0)
Perfect guide for my MFC-J6910DW…Thanks
umesh Tanmane
November 17, 2014 at 6:38 am (UTC 0)
brother printer mfc-290c clean unable 50 please solve
hindi me bataye
Jagraj Singh Gill
November 21, 2014 at 7:55 am (UTC 0)
Sir
I have Brother MFC-465cn Printer
Printer has a massage "Near Empty, Black, Yellow, Cyan, Magenta"
I refiled it
I also reset purge
But Massage not gone
Please help
Tamara
January 12, 2015 at 2:29 pm (UTC 0)
Dear Jagraj, please let me know did you fix your problem, I have same with MFC-260C.
Please help.
Thanks,
Tamara Jovanova
Stan
November 23, 2014 at 1:54 am (UTC 0)
Thanks, not sure how I got there but was able to clear "unable to clean' n being to print again. Used ur method with some orther #s. I spent most of the day cleaning basically to no avail. But I finally saw the absorb pad on right side n tried to dry it in place but not completely. Is this pad a replaceable part n if so from whom? n is it necessary to replace? My printer is about 8+ yrs old MFC 420CN. Thanks again!!!
Stan
kelly A
November 29, 2014 at 3:34 am (UTC 0)
You rock!!, thank you, it work on my mfc420cn.
I have yo hold down MENU/SET and quickly press * 2 8 6 4
Got me in maintenance , then follow the rest of the procedure
Type in 80 using the numerical keypad.
Use the DOWN key to locate the purge counter. eg. PURGE0060025
Use the number pad to enter 2783 (this should zero the numbers after PURGE).
Press STOP/EXIT to return to the first stage of maintenance mode.
Press 9 and 9 to exit maintenance mode.
PKendall
December 9, 2014 at 3:38 pm (UTC 0)
I have brother Mfc 5895CW will not error message unable to int.4F
Any ideas with this message
Elizabeth
December 15, 2014 at 4:04 am (UTC 0)
Good afternoon,
Mr. Matthew, I follow the instruction on youtube but its not working in the first step,
i follow the procedure, Unplug the power cord then press down the start button and re-insert again the power cord, But the problem is the Maintenance did not show on screen? instead the screen reminder Ink absorber is nearfull
Do i really need to replace the ink absorber
Sir what will you suggest ?
Thank you so much
Cobbleted
December 15, 2014 at 3:11 pm (UTC 0)
I have a MFC J5910dw and trying to manually get to Maintenance window using 2864…but keep getting Insert Card. Won't get past that. Is there a link to "cleaning the tank"? This printer is two years old and gets heavy use weekly. Maybe time to replace?
Charlee
December 23, 2014 at 12:24 am (UTC 0)
I learned by error, after attempting to reset my purge all weekend, that on the MFC-J6710DW instead of entering 2783 if you enter 80 it will get you to where your next step is to scroll down to locate the purge. Every step thereafter is the same.
David
December 20, 2014 at 10:59 am (UTC 0)
Thank you, I really appreciated your guide. On my MFC-215C I held down the "MENU SET" button, not the "MONO START" or "COLOUR START" buttons to get screen reading "MAINTENANCE".
tony travers
December 21, 2014 at 2:37 pm (UTC 0)
My MFC-640 had the message "Unable to clean" etc and your method worked. Not the first attempt but maybe that was my fingers.
Thank you Mathew
Tony T
Charlee
December 23, 2014 at 12:50 am (UTC 0)
Hi Mathew, you have helped get me thru resetting my purge counter twice before. Well im on my second printer now. Brother replaced my last one with a refurb as they were unable to fix the problem at the time which had nothing to do with the ink absorber. Well im on my third time needing to reset my purge counter. I was able to reset it but now it immediately popps up ink absorber full or error 46 or 43 i think. It was reset to all zeros. Can you please tell me what to do now? As I said earlier, this will be the 3rd time resetting on this machine.
Thanks,
Charlee
Marty
January 5, 2015 at 2:43 am (UTC 0)
I have a MFC 495CW with 4F error was able to reset to 0000 but still have 4F error?
RefreshCarts
January 10, 2015 at 2:44 pm (UTC 0)
In my experience 4F error messages indicate a mechanical error (usually with the printhead). Sadly this guide will not resolve this. I can only recommend getting in touch with Brother or a printer technician.
bhuwan pathak
January 5, 2015 at 3:00 pm (UTC 0)
THANKS U SO MUCH FOR UR AWSME VIDEO THAT CAN HELP US TO REMOVE THE ERROR FROM OUR PRINTER. NOW I CAN GIVES U A GUARANTEE THAT I CAN RESET MY & OTHERS PRINTERS VERY WELL. THANKS ALOT FROM BOTTOM OF MY HEAR & MY FRIEND…… TC . GOD BLESSS U……………… 🙂
Yvonne
January 8, 2015 at 11:13 pm (UTC 0)
I have a Brother, MFC5890 CN, I followed the instructions, was able to get to maintenance by pressing 2 but could not get it to go any further. Can you help me?
firedup44
January 12, 2015 at 11:43 pm (UTC 0)
I have an MFC 230C. It has a fixed power cord. I can't seem to get it into maintenance mode. Please help
firedup44
January 13, 2015 at 4:25 pm (UTC 0)
I have a brother 230C. I finally managed to clear the purge counter but I am still getting the error message. Any additional suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I really don't want to have to trash this machine
sandesh
January 14, 2015 at 7:18 am (UTC 0)
i can not have a proper solution even then… my printer j430 always have problems of 'full ink absorber' moreover the agency men are not reliable in my area. so please suggest how i can myself empty the ink absorber?
Sharifa
January 15, 2015 at 5:53 am (UTC 0)
I get no error code # , just the 'unable to clean notice'.
Followed the instructions, successfully cleared the purge, but the error persists
MFC-420CN
Any further ideas?
Joeniel
January 19, 2015 at 4:55 am (UTC 0)
Hello,
I will greatly appreciate your help with this.
My MFC 215c model cant print.. I am unable to follow the initial fixing as the monitor of my unit does not display anything.. "its blank". Could you please help me on how to fix this. Thank you so much
Christina
January 22, 2015 at 11:53 am (UTC 0)
I keep getting unable to print 4F any body help please
Tamara
January 28, 2015 at 1:41 am (UTC 0)
This worked for me with an MFC-J270W. I had to hold down the MENU key – it didn't work when I held down the green START key, which I tried first.
william stephens
January 30, 2015 at 6:24 am (UTC 0)
Good day i do have a brother printer mfc-j415w and when it print it show the letter double i tried cleaning still nothing change i want to try your video method but i cannot get it in maintenance mode can you help i dont have a set button i only have menu start black and color thanks
Jeremy
February 1, 2015 at 10:47 am (UTC 0)
Brother mfc-255cw init unable 4f. Problem persist check for jam nothing. I also done the purge.
But the error still coming up. Can u help please. Thanks
Charlie
February 4, 2015 at 4:37 pm (UTC 0)
Thanks for the great video! I have an MFC-5840CN. I was able to reset the Purge Counter to 0000 by following the procedure in the video. However, I am still getting Machine Error46. Is there anything else I can try to get the printer working again?
Ann
February 12, 2015 at 10:35 am (UTC 0)
fantastic. it works. thank you so much:-) saved my day:-)
bobarazzi
February 12, 2015 at 10:58 pm (UTC 0)
Hey thanks, my MFC-580cn keeps running like a champ. You just saved me a trip to best buy. Thank you.
Eric
February 24, 2015 at 5:21 pm (UTC 0)
I have MFC-240C & can not take to maintenance mode ….Please help..trying to purge error 46
joe
February 27, 2015 at 3:17 am (UTC 0)
Good day, By follow your video I manage get #46 message off from my Brother mfc-495cw printer and start functioning again, but although ink catage got ink in them but the copy come out blank. Any suggestions? Thank you. PS. I can't get in to maintenance page with start button but get it work by keep down the menu button.
RefreshCarts
March 3, 2015 at 1:02 pm (UTC 0)
If one or more colours are not printing it is likely that a portion of the printhead has dried. I would recommend doing some cleaning cycles from your printer/printer software to (hopefully) pull through the missing ink.
foogiyah
March 1, 2015 at 4:46 pm (UTC 0)
I have a 5840-CN which is not listed above and this worked. Only thing is when in maintenance mode, screen displays error code and buttons are lit and flashing. Thank you!!!
Cedric
March 1, 2015 at 6:00 pm (UTC 0)
Thanks for your help.
Cedric
guest
March 2, 2015 at 4:04 am (UTC 0)
I have the MFC 420CN, and to get into maintenance mode I had to hold down the menu/set button while plugging it in. After that I started from #1, typing in 80. It worked!
twinks
March 3, 2015 at 4:45 pm (UTC 0)
Mfc j220 did as instructed error ink absorber full purged success. Many thanks.
ian
June 4, 2015 at 2:15 pm (UTC 0)
pls email e how to resolve mfc j220 ink absorber nearly full thnk you.
StephenJohnson
March 3, 2015 at 6:41 pm (UTC 0)
This was VERY helpful.!! Maintenance issue solved as described. I am no IT man but this is how it should work – it was quick, simple, easy.
Lily
March 9, 2015 at 5:50 am (UTC 0)
Hi Matthew, this was really a helpful video, but it didn't work for my Brother MFC 255CW printer. I know the purge is at 0 again, but the printer doesn't work at all. I'm continuously getting the "Unable to Init 4F" issue. What else can I do?
BUMPER
March 19, 2015 at 9:07 pm (UTC 0)
Un grand bravo de France pour ce tuto ! (Well done for this video very helpful). Merci !
Sangaran
March 20, 2015 at 5:56 am (UTC 0)
Have a MFC-J625DW when printing it shows cleaning with cartridge slamming at end and later Unable to clean 76. Trying following the instruction but could not succeed. Any resolution to clear 76 code on screen? Could you help
George
March 20, 2015 at 9:36 pm (UTC 0)
Hello Matthew!! Thankyou verrymuch for this post. My model of Brother is MFC J470DW. Please, can you help me, to reset counter for this model. I can not enter in "mentenance" menu with START or MENU key. Please! Regards, George
MARC
March 28, 2015 at 12:41 am (UTC 0)
MFC-J475DW. Help! I can't get to the maintenance mode.
Osama
April 2, 2015 at 5:22 am (UTC 0)
Hi,
Thank you for the tip. Please, can you provide codes of maintainance clean?
susan
April 20, 2015 at 9:38 pm (UTC 0)
hi I am really thick at this, but have tried everything, looking for days online and trying everything they say and can not get my MFC-215C to go into maintenance mode to even try and fix the can not clean error, and help please
Milan
April 24, 2015 at 6:23 am (UTC 0)
Worked on a Brother MFC-235C printer.
I had some problems entering the maintenance mode – But in the end I succeeded. I did the things described in your instructions and it worked. I hope to print at least 10K more on this printer.
Do you have any instructions about mechanically cleaning the waste ink absorber? I am not affraid to open the printer.
Can one use this procedure more than once? If yes, is this recommendable?
Thanks in advance
cassey
April 24, 2015 at 11:28 am (UTC 0)
Thanks Matthew for this kind sharing .. but i still cant get my printer print on blank ink. All the colour works great.. only the black ink.. i seldom use the printer this is the 2nd time i changed the ink.. any other solution you can assist with ? appreciated that alots. Thanks
Mollie
May 7, 2015 at 7:52 am (UTC 0)
Hi, I have an MFC-257CW printer showing ‘clean unable 46’ and I cannot get it into maintenance mode.. Are you able to help me with this?
Much appreciated, Mollie
Neel
May 21, 2015 at 1:23 pm (UTC 0)
Mattew,
I have MFC 490CW, my alignment has been messed up, I have tried all options, but there is no even match in 600 or 1200 dpi, can I do this in maintenance mode
Let me know
Neel
Nawa Andaru
June 4, 2015 at 11:43 am (UTC 0)
thanks for sharing,,it works to purge,but how to reset copy counter?
neriman
June 6, 2015 at 6:48 am (UTC 0)
My printer model 470DW , l reseted purge counter to 0 , but its not printed and say erorr 46 .please help me .
Pornpan
June 8, 2015 at 5:04 am (UTC 0)
Hi, I have an MFC-5890 CN printer showing ' unablt to clean 46' and I cannot get it into maintenance mode.. Are you able to help me with this?
Thanks in advance
Pornpan
Pornpan
June 8, 2015 at 5:45 am (UTC 0)
Please ignore my previous comment. Now i got it for my MFC 5890 CN, I cannot get into maintenance mode and printer showing 'Machine error 46' i just try to key 80 and then get to 'Maintenance 80' WOW!!!… it worked, thank you for your sharing.
Thank you
Pornpan
Pornpan
June 8, 2015 at 6:00 am (UTC 0)
For my MFC 5890 CN, I cannot get into maintenance mode and printer showing 'Machine error 46' i just try to key 80 and then get to 'Maintenance 80' wow!!!… it worked, thank you for your sharing.
neil
June 11, 2015 at 6:48 am (UTC 0)
cant get my MFC-J6910DW into maintenance mode, please advise
Dwin
June 20, 2015 at 8:19 am (UTC 0)
I got a brother mfc-j220 i cant print because their is an error showing unable to print clean50..pls help me..
Thank you in advance
Naveenkumar
August 20, 2015 at 1:33 pm (UTC 0)
I got a brother mfc-j430 i cant print because their is an error showing unable to print clean50..pls help me..
rommel callad
June 24, 2015 at 9:43 am (UTC 0)
my prenter is mfc-j430w i cant pren bec. my problem is unable to init.43 pls.. help me what cant i do…
mmccss
July 14, 2015 at 6:09 pm (UTC 0)
I tried this with my MFC-250C, purge counter has been reset but it still shows the error message "Init Unable 4F". Is there any other way to fix this? Pls & thank you!
RefreshCarts
July 16, 2015 at 1:21 pm (UTC 0)
Sadly "Unable to Init 4F" is a very different message to the one this process is designed to resolve.
In my experience 4F error messages indicate a mechanical error (usually with the printhead). Sadly this guide will not resolve this. I can only recommend getting in touch with Brother or a printer technician.
tin
July 16, 2015 at 1:42 am (UTC 0)
thanks..this page helped me reset my brother =)
V3R
July 18, 2015 at 12:30 pm (UTC 0)
Hi Mr. Matthew. I have MFC-J430W and MFC-J625DW. Cyan and yellow colors are clogged. I just want to ask how to clean the printer head in MAINTENANCE mode. Thank you 🙂
ByroneShelton
July 18, 2015 at 5:07 pm (UTC 0)
Just reset my MFC-J6710DW and it worked perfectly. This model (USA settings) you use the MENU button to get it into MAINTENANCE MODE. Thank you so much. I worked exactly as described.
JOVANNY
July 22, 2015 at 6:15 pm (UTC 0)
hi , how can i solve my problem the error is unable to print 49 to my brother MFC-J220 PLS help me..
Rom
July 26, 2015 at 11:21 am (UTC 0)
For MFC490CW use menu button. It worked perfectly. Thank you
Jeyro
August 1, 2015 at 10:42 am (UTC 0)
Thank you for the helpful information. PS! For those with an MFC J410, hold down the Menu button. The display will then say "Error 46". Just enter 80 on the numerical keypad and you will get to MAINTENANCE.
nonito caballero
August 4, 2015 at 3:15 pm (UTC 0)
THank you Bro for the instructions .It helps me reset my Brother Printer MFC-J220
Sonu
August 7, 2015 at 1:08 pm (UTC 0)
unable to print 09
Pls Send me solution my email id- allindiaservies@gmail.com
Peter
August 11, 2015 at 9:59 pm (UTC 0)
My MFC-J430W is not detecting the magenta extended cartridge, I have shut down printer, removed all cartridges and I still cannot get rid of the " no ink cartridges" message. Can you help me please?
Peter
August 11, 2015 at 10:01 pm (UTC 0)
Error magenta ink extended cartridge not recognized, model mfc-j430. Please help
GUNTUKA NAVEENKUMAR
August 20, 2015 at 1:30 pm (UTC 0)
hi I am brothers printer mfc-j430w prinet problem unable to prinet 50 error please helping sir requast
Melody
August 20, 2015 at 10:56 pm (UTC 0)
I tried the steps related to error 46 for a MFC-440CN (number key pad) and I can not get the printer into Maintenance Mode.
Do you have any other suggestions. With Thanks. Melody
Revis
October 7, 2015 at 3:29 pm (UTC 0)
I also had difficulty putting my MFC-440CN printer into Maintenance Mode. You have to hold the Menu button down while reconnecting the power, do not let button up until you see "Maintenance" on the screen. Feels to long but it works.
M.J. Mitchell
January 30, 2016 at 11:37 pm (UTC 0)
with machine on, you should show an error. press "stop/exit" and then "menu" then "start" (black one) then "menu" again. "maintenance" will show on screen. enter "80" then using "up/down" scroll to your desired selection.
JUN
August 24, 2015 at 4:04 am (UTC 0)
Hi Matthew,
I have DCP-330C, and I also have a problem, as "unable to clean error 51".
I have successfully reset purge counter to 0000, however, the machine still shows same message.
I still not able to use the printer.
Any suggestion ?
Thank you in advance.
dave
August 27, 2015 at 7:46 pm (UTC 0)
hi
I have brother mfc j 4610dw and it keeps reading INK ABSORBER FULL does anyone know how to rectify or have the maintenance code…..
maumar a.salih
September 2, 2015 at 9:14 am (UTC 0)
i applied the procedure but not working still appeal the same problem machine error 46 indicate in the screen
Bashar
September 2, 2015 at 10:35 pm (UTC 0)
Thanks Millions. it works very well and quick, surprisingly my friend took it to a big computer shop and after so many steps and time wasting said no way this can be fixed.
thanks for your help and easy straightforward steps. keep up and help other.
May Allah bless you.
Jorge
September 26, 2015 at 4:01 pm (UTC 0)
Hey Matthew, Thanks for your help. I have MFC-J435W and reset does not work for it. After I press 8 there is a beep and and after the 3 nothing happens.
Ted Steppe
September 29, 2015 at 11:26 am (UTC 0)
I have a MFC-J825DW with large refillable catridges. The cartridges are not empty but the message window shows out of ink on several. I have tried a reset to no avail. Any suggestions??
xyano
January 24, 2016 at 2:10 am (UTC 0)
Please open/remove the cartridge door sensors at the side of the ink cartridges. Then remove the refillable cartridges 1 by 1 and wait for the printer to tell you to insert ink cartridges. Insert ink cartridges 1 by 1 (take your time). Then put back the door sensor. The printer will ask you if you have replaced the ink cartridges, press yes for both each color.
chris ross
October 2, 2015 at 12:28 am (UTC 0)
I have a Brother J6710DW that refuses to recognise a genuine brother cartridge that is half full, saying that cartridge is empty. To take cartridge out and turn it. Not clear what can be turned as there are no screws or levers. Would appreciate your help as printer is excellent, but now doe snot print.
Dino
October 5, 2015 at 7:35 am (UTC 0)
Hi, i have an MFC-J200 printer showing unable to clean error 46 but i don't know how to reset..
Hari
October 9, 2015 at 6:56 am (UTC 0)
For MFC-465CN this works – most of the later steps are the same as above:
1 Unplug power cord
2 While holding the Menu button down plug in power cord
3 Keep Menu button pressed until 'Machine Error 46' is displayed on LCD
4 Fax, Scan, Copy and Photo Capture lights should flash together
5 Press 80 – After pressing 8, you'll see 'MAINTENANCE 8'. Continue by pressing 0.
6 You'll see something like '09:43 17:29 OK'. This is the first menu entry.
7 Press Down-Arrow key repeatedly. The entry shown in the display will change with each press.
Stop when you see 'PURGE:<number>', eg: 'PURGE:09674'
8 Press 2783
9 The purge counter will be reset to 0
10 Press Stop/Exit to return to 'Machine Error 46'
11 Press 99 to exit maintenance mode
12 Fax, Scan, Copy and Photo Capture lights will stop flashing
13 You should be able to print now
Debbie
October 16, 2015 at 10:44 pm (UTC 0)
Thank you, your instructions worked!
wright45
December 10, 2015 at 6:53 am (UTC 0)
This was VERY helpful, as the instructions above differed a bit. The key was to press "Menu" and not MENU/SET/START for Brother MFC-465CN. Thank you for posting this!!!!!
Terri
February 3, 2016 at 7:28 am (UTC 0)
Thank you! This worked for MFC-255CW
Stan OJ
February 4, 2016 at 10:49 pm (UTC 0)
Thanks really works this was really helpful.
elvia
February 17, 2016 at 4:15 am (UTC 0)
Thank you so much! You just saved me a lot of money on ink. I have an MFC-240C and the above steps worked (not the video steps).
Rosie
September 15, 2016 at 7:03 am (UTC 0)
God bless you Hari for sharing this information with us! It worked for me.
Thank you very much, and Have a wonderful day!
bee
October 21, 2016 at 4:39 am (UTC 0)
thnx it worked for my mfc 240c
Christian
December 23, 2016 at 2:59 am (UTC 0)
DAMN, IT WORKS IN MY PRINTER
A BIG DAY FOR ME
I JUST PASSED A PROJECT
TNX MAN 🙂
Alun Phillips
March 17, 2017 at 11:37 am (UTC 0)
FAB …… Thanks
rsj
September 15, 2017 at 4:52 pm (UTC 0)
thanks. this worked
Phillps
September 26, 2017 at 6:22 am (UTC 0)
THANKS, MFC-240 C That's the only thing that worked for my Brother MFC 240 C, Now have to figure out how to change ink pad.
william
October 19, 2015 at 10:56 am (UTC 0)
Thanks alot for you post
Caren
October 19, 2015 at 4:20 pm (UTC 0)
I have a MFC-290C brother printer. I have a menu and a start button. I held down each one separately , because I didn't know which one, for a long time and it is still scrolling clean unable 46 and maintenance does not come up. I even tried the start, not menu, button down and typed *2864…..nothing. Am I doing something wrong or maybe a different way???
seshu
October 21, 2015 at 7:28 am (UTC 0)
Hi
My brother printer mfc 255cw does not print black ink. Is there anything i can do.
Please help.
Seshu
RefreshCarts
October 22, 2015 at 12:08 pm (UTC 0)
if your printer is going through the motions of printing but putting no black ink to paper, I can only recommend running 1-3 cleaning cycles from your printer/printer software. This will hopefully dislodge any dried ink.
Nic
October 26, 2015 at 1:39 am (UTC 0)
Hi Matthew. We have a Brother MFC-257CW, with an error 46; I've unplugged it and tried starting it with the menu button, the on/off button, even tried the OK button with no success with any of them. Do you have any advice on how I can fix the problem?
Thanks so much.
Nic
October 26, 2015 at 2:36 am (UTC 0)
Hi again Matthew,
I've just read your message to Hari which I should've read before-doh! I did what you said for that model and it worked for my MFC-257CW model too. You're just BRILL! Thanks SO much.
jane
October 26, 2015 at 4:16 pm (UTC 0)
Good Afternoon
i am hoping you can help me. i have a brother MFC-990CW printer/scanner/fax all singing all dancing BUT it would not print with the magenta colour so i cleaned it several times but had done so over a long period and it still was not working.
i have tried for days to turn the system off by unplugging the electric cable and pressing start. This is not working for this machine. No matter what i seem to try it never works, hoping you can help.
Jane
IA3777
October 28, 2015 at 6:42 pm (UTC 0)
Hi,–I have a Brother J265W printer. I replaced all the ink cartridges, since it said they needed it, with new ones and now it will not print anything red. Everything that should be red is coming out green. I'd be grateful for any suggestions.
Thanks
Astuart
November 1, 2015 at 3:55 pm (UTC 0)
MFC-3240C Have followed suggestions but still getting Trouble and Maintenance Manual which does not help
I noticed a 'flush' in the stage looking for purge.
Is this relevant to clean out problem
Regards astuart
cdr-king
November 7, 2015 at 11:39 am (UTC 0)
Good day sir, please need some help to clear paper jam on my brother dcp-j100, using the same methods that you demonstrated above. thank you.
Trish
November 9, 2015 at 6:07 am (UTC 0)
Thank you. Super instructions! Printer working again 🙂
leon
November 12, 2015 at 10:35 pm (UTC 0)
Thank you.
Worked for me also.
Jim
December 7, 2015 at 2:21 pm (UTC 0)
Working with an MFC-J6710dw. I ran through these steps to a tee multiple times. Unfortunately I had no luck. After backing out of maintenance mode, it quickly came back up with the same error "! Unable to Clean 76"
As far as I can tell nothing is obstructing the paper path.
Graeme
December 13, 2015 at 3:34 am (UTC 0)
Does anyone know what the code is for MFC J470DW ?
Tayyab
December 19, 2015 at 12:47 pm (UTC 0)
i have brother mfc 620Cn i was copying and paper jammed i removed it but still the machine says clear the paper jam and it give a very strange loud noise when its head goes to left …plz help me how can i solve it
Kumanan
December 23, 2015 at 8:23 am (UTC 0)
Hi Matthew,
I followed your instructions and it did reset the purge counter to zero. However I eventually need to replace the Ink Absorber tank. Do you have any instruction manual on how to dismantle the MFC-J265W printer, would appreciate this. Thank you for your advise.
Kumanan
KIM STEPHENS
December 29, 2015 at 6:31 pm (UTC 0)
I HAVE A MFC 620CN AND THE MESSAGE SAYS UNABLE TO CLEAN. WHAT CAN I DO?
hani
January 2, 2016 at 6:38 pm (UTC 0)
hi please i have a problem in my printer brother mfc-j825dw
…….ink absorbed full..
please help me
xyano
January 24, 2016 at 1:52 am (UTC 0)
The up and down button is SCAN and COPY button respectively — I used the same procedure as to what the video is showing. BTW Thanks to refreshcartridges.co.uk
Amy
January 5, 2016 at 7:42 pm (UTC 0)
I have a Brother MFC-990CW. LCD Message: "Unable to clean 46". I did try to follow your reset instruction. The screen did not say MAINTENANCE, I tried again to put into maintenance mode holding down START and quick press *2864……. nothing happened. The message came back. Brother does not carry this purge, the store said even they can use similar pad the cost would be $80-90. That's not cost effective. Please let me know any way to reset the printer counter that can print as normal. I don't want to waste the new ink that I've just purchased. Thank you very much.
Anne
January 10, 2016 at 6:02 am (UTC 0)
I have tried the method but when i printed my document it came out blank. What should i do? Thank you.
Miguel Garcia
January 28, 2016 at 11:51 pm (UTC 0)
I have MFC-5895CW
Change new cartridges but the not print no clean
how clean ink sensor
Dre
February 7, 2016 at 8:36 pm (UTC 0)
I have tried this several times for my MFC240C and it does not resolve the issue. Do you have specific instructions for the 240C? Thanks
Gia
February 9, 2016 at 12:17 am (UTC 0)
Thank you so much for the information!!!! I have a MFC-495CW and struggled to find the way into the maintenance mode. I'm not sure I can get back to it without poking around. However, once in I followed steps 1-3:
Type in 80 using the numerical keypad.
Use the DOWN key to locate the purge counter. eg. PURGE0060025
Use the number pad to enter 2783 (this should zero the numbers after PURGE).
Couldn't figure out how to exit the maintenance window so I unplugged the printer and plugged it back in. Once powered up the counter cleared and I can now print. Thanks again.
Jason
February 14, 2016 at 12:12 am (UTC 0)
I have a MFC-490CW. It says "unable to clean 5A" I have gone through the maintenance mode and all of the instructions for error code 46 but it still says the same. Any suggestions??
Rene
March 10, 2016 at 9:10 am (UTC 0)
Find you a solution for 5A error?
Wayne Pettett
February 16, 2016 at 4:29 am (UTC 0)
Hi Matthew I have a MFC295CN and followed your instruction for resetting the ink clean …that worked after a bit of trouble thanks. Now it will only print blue,On a test print I just get red and blue…could I have mucked it up and if so could you please help thanks in advance
Wayne
David
February 17, 2016 at 6:33 am (UTC 0)
have a MFC-J415W says paper jam, cannot clean 35.
Shop check it out says all clear
i have tried maintenance, which allowed to use codes, but what are the codes for this machine
Eamonn Mc Elroy
February 17, 2016 at 8:56 am (UTC 0)
Hi Matthew
Followed all your instructions to achieve the Purge status, this eventually worked when I used the MENU button instead of the START on my BROTHER MFC-665CW I went through the process and ZEROed the Purge value ….hit the STOP/EXIT then the 9 9 but the notification error message 'UNABLE TO CLEAN 4F' still persisted?? Is there any advice you can let me know about or if the 4F is a different situation to deal with, than "MACHINE ERROR 46" ?? Regards
Gan
February 25, 2016 at 4:40 am (UTC 0)
Hi, Need help.
My printer model is MFC-255CM
I press the start button and reconnect the power cable, it's still not able to go to MAINTANANCE.
I try this way as well, still not able to go to MAINTANANCE.
Pls advice.
Thanks
If your screen does not now say MAINTENANCE it will need to be put into maintenance mode using one of the two methods below:
Printers with a built-in Fax: Hold down MENU/SET/START and quickly press * 2 8 6 4.
moshe keren
March 1, 2016 at 5:38 pm (UTC 0)
Hi,
I have tried all methods described on my MFC-J480DW, but none of them worked to bring the printer to maintenance mode.
Do you have the specific procedure for this model? Thank you.
Fred
September 27, 2016 at 12:48 am (UTC 0)
To enter maintenance mode on the MFC-J480DW, with the printer powered on, press the Settings button followed by *2864
The Settings button will have different names according to where you purchased your printer. To help identify the button: It depicts a wrench and a screw driver.
diane
November 25, 2016 at 7:18 am (UTC 0)
Fred – so appreciate your help! I looked everywhere for help on accessing Maintenance on this unit.
Diane
November 25, 2016 at 7:16 am (UTC 0)
Thank you so much – you were the first person who solved this! After that, I was able to access maintenance mode and the fix worked like a charm!
mbithi
March 5, 2016 at 4:35 pm (UTC 0)
I have a Brother MFC J870DW and had an "Absorber full" message. This printer does not have a numerical key pad but some LCD. I managed to fix this problem following these instructions: http://computing-tips.net/fix_brother_j870dw_abso…
Mariusz
March 5, 2016 at 5:40 pm (UTC 0)
Hello,
I have MFC-490CW and this works:
1. When I started the printer this is on the LCD: CZYSZCZ. NIEMOŻL. 46 (it's from polish language – Unable to Clean 46)
2. Press Stop/Exit button to see normal menu when the printer is ready to print (I don't know if this is necessary).
3. Unplug power cord.
4. Hold the Menu button down and plug in power cord (green Start button don't work in my previous try)
5. Keep Menu button pressed until 'Machine Error 46' is displayed on LCD.
6. Some lights on printer should flash together.
7. Press 80.
8. Press Down-Arrow key untill you see PURGE , the display will change with each press.
9. Press 2783. The purge counter will be reset to 0
10. Press Stop/Exit.
11. Press 99.
12. Lights on printer will stop flashing, and printer should restart.
denese
March 24, 2016 at 2:59 pm (UTC 0)
Mariusz
Thanks so much – worked a treat
Dziekuje bardzo
Sarah
May 11, 2016 at 6:56 am (UTC 0)
Thank you I followed your instructions and it worked straight away, have a great day 🙂
Sarah
Claudia
May 25, 2016 at 3:09 pm (UTC 0)
Thank you so much for this clear set of instructions. I have the MFC 420CN and this worked perfectly for me (with the exception of my power cord is hard wired into the back, so I just unplugged the power and repluged in. I watched the other videos out there and could never get it fixed after 2 days of trying. This was a God send! Thanks again!
Canada
June 12, 2016 at 7:51 am (UTC 0)
Thank you Mariusz, God bless!!!!
Ian
June 21, 2016 at 8:32 am (UTC 0)
Brilliant Mariusz. Worked for me.
Tony
August 29, 2016 at 8:50 pm (UTC 0)
worked like a charm…thank you!!!
Hitoshi
September 4, 2016 at 4:07 am (UTC 0)
Thank you sooooooo much my Polish friend. you have saved my printer.
Mariusz
November 18, 2016 at 7:47 pm (UTC 0)
You're welcome! 🙂
name
December 22, 2016 at 1:12 pm (UTC 0)
Thank you, MEnu button works for the machines with a fax bulit-in
Teo
March 16, 2016 at 10:57 pm (UTC 0)
Hello a have problem ,,,l have printer mfc j6710dw this is problem no detect only one color magenta, please help mi
Jhul
March 30, 2016 at 2:32 am (UTC 0)
Hi brother printer mfc-j200 says paper jam…. and ive check it there no paper in there? idk why does this happen after im cleaning for print quality
Joe
April 5, 2016 at 5:08 pm (UTC 0)
I have a MFC-290C brother printer. I have a menu and a start button. I held down each one separately , because I didn't know which one, for a long time and it is still scrolling clean unable 46 and maintenance does not come up. I even tried the start, not menu, button down and typed *2864…..nothing. Am I doing something wrong or maybe a different way???
Eddy
April 8, 2016 at 3:42 pm (UTC 0)
Hello, I did the same with my Samsung MFC-J5910DW with error 76 after paper Jam and no traces of paper left ?
Power off
Hold Start (green) button and power on
wait for "Maintenance"
enter "80" with numeric keypad
then arrow down = green and arrow up = white button
untill purge appears
2783 and red button stop
But this did not solve my probel , but I found a solution elsewhere !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://support.brother-usa.com/ModelDocuments/Tec…
I cleaned the two ribbons , one with small stripes on it and the other ribbon shown in the pdf
there are markers on the ribbon that gives a position and speed signal for the printhead , after I cleaned these very gently and also removed a stripe of ink against the chassis in front of these ribbons , the printer worked again !!!!!!!!!!!
I am so happy , I wanted to share it to the rest of the world who own a Printer that has become useless after error 76
Success 🙂
ronald aycocho
April 13, 2016 at 3:03 am (UTC 0)
it doesn;t work on Brother MFC-J475DW
Dov Kredo
April 30, 2016 at 9:34 am (UTC 0)
Hello,
First of all thank for your help.
I did the purger resetting, twice even, but the "Unable to clean" message remains on thus I am not able to use the printer.
I took out the ink cartridges to see maybe this will make a difference. Not only it did not make any difference.
What's more – it seems like the black cartridge is leaking too easily, thus I thought maybe this clogged the absorber tank…?
I might be able to dismantle the printer, Only I don't know – would I be able to clean the tank, or do I have to replace it?
Thanks again, Dov
Dr Sohail
May 16, 2016 at 8:22 am (UTC 0)
I have an MFC-440CN. Only the following by Revis · 31 weeks ago worked to bring the printer to 'Maintenace mode', but nothing else did:
"I also had difficulty putting my MFC-440CN printer into Maintenance Mode. You have to hold the Menu button down while reconnecting the power, do not let button up until you see "Maintenance" on the screen. Feels to long but it works."
zoheir
June 18, 2016 at 8:55 pm (UTC 0)
hello I have a brother mdc – J6910DW printer I can not get accessed the meneumaintenance for reset
ramil
July 10, 2016 at 2:53 pm (UTC 0)
Try this one method.
1. Unplug power cord.
2. Hold the Menu button down and plug in power cord (green Start button don't work in my previous try)
3. Keep Menu button pressed until 'Machine Error 46' is displayed on LCD.
4. Some lights on printer should flash together.
5. Press 80.
6. Press Down-Arrow key until you see PURGE , the display will change with each press.
7. Press 2783. The purge counter will be reset to 0
8. Press Stop/Exit.
9. Press 99.
10. Lights on printer will stop flashing, and printer should restart.
karen
July 10, 2016 at 1:02 am (UTC 0)
I have an MFC-490CW and have error "Unable to clean error 46" none of the suggestions have gotten me to the maintenance screen??? any help is appreciated….thanks
mayette martinez
July 21, 2016 at 12:57 pm (UTC 0)
hello, gud eve. I have a problem with my Brother MFC-J200. my brother printer has no power, what will I do?
CT2016
July 24, 2016 at 9:28 pm (UTC 0)
fantastic, worked a treat, thank you
heskwith
July 29, 2016 at 7:23 am (UTC 0)
Hello, my Brother DCP-115C with no numerical keypad is showing Unable to Clean, troubleshooting and routine maintenance chapter in User Guide… it does not show 100% OK without movement, as seen in the video.
It still scans perfectly, but will not print or copy. It does not respond to "OK/set", at all. And I don't know how numbers would arrive by using the arrows.
I would appreciate help with this if possible. Thankyou! And by the way, the video is a terrific way to give help.
cheers, H
Jeremy Zeid
July 30, 2016 at 2:58 pm (UTC 0)
Hi Matthew. Worked perfectly on my MFC-j6719dw. Purge counter is now reset to zero. It is an excellent printer and I use it with refillable cartridges. One tip is to always use DYE based ink for the black, especially if you print photos, as pigment ink doesn't get absorbed in the same way, and the black often just wipes off of the surface leaving blank areas.
Excellent site, would like to buy dye based light fast dye based ink. Also would like to get information about replacing the ink absorber pads as eventually they will fill up, either that or of there is a waste bottle system as is available for many Epson printers.
Oldy
July 31, 2016 at 12:56 pm (UTC 0)
Hello Matthew!
I think that everything is ok for you.
I am to be used to reset ink absorder full with these codes but suddenly that doesn't work. After each reset the printer displays ink absorber is full.
Brother mfc-j5520dw
Thank you for your help.
Dave D
August 14, 2016 at 11:50 pm (UTC 0)
Hi — My MFC-J460DW lost the ability to print black. I tried the technique to PURGE, but after the first few steps nothing further worked. I cannot get the printer to go into MAINTENANCE no matter what I do.
Apparently something I did on the first attempt has prevented any further hope for success.
Your instructions here seem quite clear but my first attempt seems to have put up a firewall of defense against further tries.
Please guide me in going back to the beginning, resetting whatever error I made, and let me start again.
Thanks for your needed help.
Keith O
August 21, 2016 at 3:23 pm (UTC 0)
how do you reset the purge system (error 46) on an MFC440CN that does not have a keypad please?
KGANNON
September 29, 2016 at 7:22 pm (UTC 0)
Mathew,
I have a MFC-5890CN printer that I can't get into maintenance mode to clear the error 46. Can you help.
I've tried following your steps to get into Maintenance but it's not working.
SOLOISTA_26
October 9, 2016 at 11:20 am (UTC 0)
how to solve machine error 5a in my MFC-J220?
P-W
November 17, 2016 at 8:46 am (UTC 0)
Works on MFC-5890CN. Thanks!
Sue Tighe
November 17, 2016 at 11:32 am (UTC 0)
Hi Mathew my brother mfc -6490wc printer keeps cleaning before nearly every printing session can you please tell my why?
Thanks Sue
Ira B.
November 22, 2016 at 6:03 am (UTC 0)
I can't thank you enough for this information. It worked perfectly. You have saved me from a nervous breakdown. YOU HAVE MADE MY DAY. THANKIS111111
Hesham
December 1, 2016 at 5:41 am (UTC 0)
hi need help . my printer model t700w is displaying unable to print 35.. what should i do?plss
Shan
December 2, 2016 at 2:50 am (UTC 0)
This is not working with MFC-8910DW
Zahra
December 3, 2016 at 11:06 am (UTC 0)
Hi there,
I have a brother printer with inbuilt fax – I pressed the menu button and it went to maintenance mode – I reset the purge to 0000 but it is still saying Unable to clean 7A?
c5924w
December 13, 2016 at 11:05 pm (UTC 0)
you have a donate button, because that did the trick on mfc-j825dw
press 80 then scroll to purge then 2783
Diana
December 20, 2016 at 11:40 pm (UTC 0)
Thank You Thank You for this article!!
The printer repair place told me to throw my MFC-5860CN away because Brother doesn't make the replacement pads anymore.
This article fixed the problem and now I don't have to throw a perfectly good printer in the dump creating waste and I don't have to spend money buying a new one.
Really appreciate the help!!
Diana
Ray walsh
December 23, 2016 at 2:07 am (UTC 0)
hi guys . I have a brother printer / fax machine. It keeps coming up with a display — paper jam remove rear cover etc . After numerous attempts & checks , there is NO paper jam . The menu tells me of a error code of 50 . Is there a master reset code that i can try , pls
ray.walsh
December 23, 2016 at 2:13 am (UTC 0)
Sorry , i think i forgot to give you the model of the printer / fax — brother MFC 215 C . ( as per previous post )
john
January 7, 2017 at 8:23 pm (UTC 0)
I wish someone new how to get into maint mode or trouble shooting on a brothers mfc j475 dw
D.Man
February 25, 2017 at 9:54 pm (UTC 0)
Thanks mate, found it a bit frustrating getting into maintenance (mfc 640 cw), but once I got there rest purge and all good again.
Jeanine
March 16, 2017 at 8:03 pm (UTC 0)
I have a MFC 465CN with the error Unable to Print 51. I have taken everything I could apart to see if there was any foreign objects/paper. Can not find anything. I did the Purge reset as stated above. I am still coming up with the Unable to Print 51 – do you have any other suggestions/tricks?
RefreshCarts
April 8, 2017 at 12:37 pm (UTC 0)
Sadly error 51 is very different to the issue covered here. Error 51 genuinely indicates a jam or similar and resetting the purge counter will not clear it. Sadly I can only recommend contacting Brother or a printer technician if no jam is evident.
havrest
March 18, 2017 at 10:04 am (UTC 0)
Hello How to the Reset Purge Counter on a Brother MFC-J470DW pls with thanks
steve
March 21, 2017 at 7:59 am (UTC 0)
can someone help me with mfc 790cw cant get it in maintenance mode
Peter
March 25, 2017 at 9:04 am (UTC 0)
Hi I have no way to fir my BROTHER MFC J-480DW – says "UNABLE TO PRINT 48". i TRIED ALL methods to enter maintenance mode with no luck! HELP me
RefreshCarts
April 8, 2017 at 1:12 pm (UTC 0)
Sadly error 48 is very different to the issue covered here. Error 48 indicates a printhead error and resetting the purge counter will not clear it. Sadly I can only recommend contacting Brother or a printer technician.
aravind
March 31, 2017 at 5:00 am (UTC 0)
sir my brother mfc 5910dw printer sayes error 52 need help plz.
Jeremia Kamagie
April 9, 2017 at 11:29 am (UTC 0)
Is it safe to keep doing this even when the absorber is full?
Phillips
September 26, 2017 at 6:26 am (UTC 0)
NO, eventually the absorber will overflow. you have to clean or change the absorber.
Teresa
April 12, 2017 at 7:25 pm (UTC 0)
Thank you! It worked
Teresa
Viorel
May 10, 2017 at 5:50 am (UTC 0)
Hello! I have a printer Brother MFC J6920DW. I have reset absorber error one time and worked , the error has dissapeared but after a month appear again. The error is " MACHINE ERROR 46" . I tred to reset the purge and senpurge , both are 0 , but the error still appear. Can you help me with that? Thank you .
George
May 26, 2017 at 9:08 am (UTC 0)
Hello Matthew, i have a Brother MFC-J480DW unable to print. After *2864, 80, 2783 printer purge counter showing 0000…but it dosesnt work. What can i do?
Bob
May 28, 2017 at 3:06 pm (UTC 0)
Have a MFC J435 w printer unable to clear previous printer job, no matter if sending to print document thru computer, coping a document thru feeder or placing document on the scanner glass.
Majore Tonore
July 25, 2017 at 2:38 pm (UTC 0)
I too have a j435 how did you solve your problem. I can't get into maintenance mode.
WEL
June 2, 2017 at 2:10 am (UTC 0)
pls help me what i doing my brother MFC J220 printer error is "unable to init.4F
Jason Handrick
June 3, 2017 at 6:17 pm (UTC 0)
I have a MFC-465CN and I can only print one copy at a time. I tried your directions but i never get any "maintenance" coming up on LCD. I am confused.
nardir3
June 4, 2017 at 5:59 am (UTC 0)
I have a brother MFC-J6510DW printer.It will not accept the replacement of the yellow ink cartridge.
No problem with replacing any of the others.Have tried with several Yellow cartridges,but no luck.
D'ont want to have to buy a new A3 printer as I have a stock of unused cartridges,and the newer Brother printers don't take LC73 cartridges.Would welcome any suggestions
Andy
June 27, 2017 at 2:00 am (UTC 0)
For my MFC-J410W to get to the maintenance menu I use the "Printers without a Fax" instruction (even though this printer has fax), without powering down, by pressing "Menu" then the "black start" button then the "up" arrow 4 times. Thank you!
Nupur
June 29, 2017 at 4:55 pm (UTC 0)
Hey.. thanks
It worked .
JenFrYrEyesOnly
July 15, 2017 at 11:34 am (UTC 0)
I'd like to know what to use in the MAC J435 WHEN THE INK SPONGE LEFT SIDE came OFF..BROTHER IS USELESS NOT EVEN A HINT TO WHAT TO PUT ON OR USE ON THE INK SPONGE AREA…
IT CAME OF IN PIECES
I TWEETED PICS TO BROTHER. It looks like the window door insulation strips thin with a sticky side…almost like the material of white Mr clean sponges before they are wet..I was cleaning the inside of major ink buildup…..noticed little pieces of white spongy stufff…..so I guess the left side sponge is no longer there….what should I use or try….its a shame that sponge isn't replicable….I could try the thin weather stripping…? The ink lasts longer if way longer….if I tape over the window of the print cartridge with electrical tape….months longer the ink goes……glad I saved my cartridges and yes….when in a pinch tiny eye dropper with a bit of rub alcohol mixed with distilled water eye dropped into the cartridge (hole) makes the cartridges really last a long time…….I was told to keep extra cartridges in the fridge……zip locked…..if someone could let me know about the ink absorbing sponge…and what to stick there as a replacement I'd really appreciate -thank you
James Lethbridge
July 17, 2017 at 2:10 pm (UTC 0)
I have a MFC-235C and it worked for me. Many thanks. Jim
Healingtrumman
July 25, 2017 at 10:00 am (UTC 0)
Thanks!
I have a MFC-260C, first tried the start buttons but it didn't work, then I used the Menu button and it worked perfectly.
Robert
July 25, 2017 at 11:08 pm (UTC 0)
this is Robert James Anderson and I have a brother mfc-265W printer and I need to find out on how to reset the ink absorber on it and I don't know how to do it can you help me?
Mary
July 30, 2017 at 2:24 pm (UTC 0)
Wow Thanks!!! Helped a lot lot lot! 😀
The Joy Factor
August 28, 2017 at 9:20 am (UTC 0)
Thanx that worked !
rupert
September 1, 2017 at 11:38 am (UTC 0)
Rupert asks
I have a MFC-J430W, tried the way with *2864
now he says: Insert Card
what shall I do?
Ed jenn
September 5, 2017 at 4:10 am (UTC 0)
For my MFC-J410W to get to the maintenance menu I too used the “Printers without a Fax” instruction (even though this printer has fax), without powering down, by pressing “Menu” then the “black start” button then the “up” arrow 4 times. It worked for me..thanks..
zach
September 15, 2017 at 12:06 pm (UTC 0)
am zack,mfc-j3520 desplay ink absorber full.have followed the video steps now purge is 0000 but the message is the same,kindly heip.
Flavia Dyer
October 10, 2017 at 5:45 pm (UTC 0)
Hello,
I have an brother MFC J 485dw it reports error unable to print 48 .
I followed your instructions and entered maintenance, what do I do now?
Denora
October 17, 2017 at 8:48 pm (UTC 0)
Hi am trying to get to the maintenance screen but can’t I keep pressing down the menu button and nothing happens I have the mfc-665cw can you please help?
Oscar
October 26, 2017 at 12:35 am (UTC 0)
Thank you excellent contribution. of ten. I saw many websites and did not indicate the first option to enter maintenance mode
Ad de Groot
November 13, 2017 at 2:23 am (UTC 0)
Hello from Thailand
I tryed to get to get my Brother MFC J415w printer in the maintenance mode.
But I failed to do with the above methode.
Any tips?
Kind regards, A. de Groot
M, Nadalin
November 20, 2017 at 6:05 am (UTC 0)
ave a Brother MFC-990CW. LCD Message: “Unable to clean 46”. I did try to follow your reset instruction. The screen did not say MAINTENANCE, I tried again to put into maintenance mode holding down START and quick press *2864……. nothing happened. The message came back. Brother does not carry this purge, the store said even they can use similar pad the cost would be $80-90. That’s not cost effective. Please let me know any way to reset the printer counter that can print as normal. I don’t want to waste the new ink that I’ve just purchased. Thank you very much.
nolberto
December 3, 2017 at 4:20 pm (UTC 0)
i have a MFC-J265 built in fax it doesn’t work the Hold down MENU/SET/START and quickly press * 2 8 6 4.nor the other.
Srobi
December 10, 2017 at 8:50 pm (UTC 0)
Hello. I just followed the procedure for model#MFC-240C and my PURGE already has all zero’s. Please advise further.
Srobi
December 10, 2017 at 9:34 pm (UTC 0)
Nevermind it’s working now. I had to unplug it/reboot the printer ;0)
anto
December 28, 2017 at 4:04 pm (UTC 0)
How to repair scan “unable to scan AF brother MFC J430W
Sharon
February 1, 2018 at 12:21 pm (UTC 0)
Hi there
I have a brother MFC – J3520 A3 printer and have done all the steps but when you press 9 and 9 it restarts and you hear the printer drums turning , the touchpad still says
see: troubleshooting in user guide.
Tried a few time and no different result.
Can you suggest anything?
thanks
Bebilyn filoteo
February 4, 2018 at 9:40 pm (UTC 0)
How to solve ink absorber nearfull in dcp-j100 model?
القوس النشاب
February 6, 2018 at 10:58 pm (UTC 0)
Hello can u help me plz …
I have brother j480 .. i changed the languge for english by using 0001 and i got this messege (please dl rom)… my printer not working now .. how can i fix it plz ?
Lolita M Carr
February 7, 2018 at 1:49 am (UTC 0)
Thank you so much it worked
Eda
February 16, 2018 at 3:12 am (UTC 0)
will it uninstall from my computer if i do this?
RefreshCarts
February 24, 2018 at 12:45 pm (UTC 0)
No, don't worry. This will not affect the software on your computer at all.