Computer Related > Brother printer LC985 Computing Issues
Thread Author: scot22 Replies: 12
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New Wed 4 Jun 14 12:00 
 Brother printer LC985 - scot22
I have a relatively new printer. It will print every colour but black. I've changed the cartridge but no difference. Will not photocopy black either. Any ideas please.
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New Wed 4 Jun 14 12:13 
 Brother printer LC985 - rtj70
Blocked print head because it's not been used for a while? Have you tried clean print head option?

What happens if you print a test page?

- Press Menu.
- Press the up or down arrow key to choose Ink. Press OK.
- Press the up or down arrow key to choose Test Print. Press OK.
- Press the up or down arrow key to choose Print Quality. Press OK.
- Press Colour Start. The machine will print the Print Quality Check Sheet.

Then say no if it does not print right and then choose to start cleaning.
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New Wed 4 Jun 14 18:08 
 Brother printer LC985 - scot22
Thank you for a helpful and clearly set out response. Although it is used regularly I did try the clean print option ( thanks again for details, particularly useful for a novice like me ) Unfortunately still not printing black. Is it possible using compatible inks ( Amazon sourced ) has resulted in a problem ?
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New Wed 4 Jun 14 18:24 
 Brother printer LC985 - No FM2R
I know nothing about the printer, sorry; but one of these links might shed some light, they all seem relevant to your problem.

www.justanswer.com/printers/76kjz-brother-lc985-printer-won-t-print-black-i-ve-changed.html

www.justanswer.com/printers/73xd3-brother-printer-lc985-will-not-print-although-ink-full.html

www.ccs-digital.com/print-head-cleaner.asp?printer=Brother

uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091016112613AAie59c
Last edited by: No FM2R on Wed 4 Jun 14 at 18:25
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New Wed 4 Jun 14 18:53 
 Brother printer LC985 - scot22
Thank you for taking all this trouble to post such a helpful response - I've put justanswer as a favourite site now ! It looks as if I may have a damaged printer head so may need to be looking for new printer, shame.
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New Wed 4 Jun 14 20:15 
 Brother printer LC985 - rtj70
Can the print head(s) be removed from the printer? Maybe still only blocked but the clean procedure has not made a difference?
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New Wed 4 Jun 14 22:15 
 Brother printer LC985 - No FM2R
If you think the printer is a loss, then I would pursue rtj's point and see if you can remove and further clean the print heads - you're hardly going to make it any worse!

And if you do need to buy a new printer, then along with all your functionality requirements do check on the price of new cartridges and how many pages they'll print.

There's many a "cheap" printer that costs a blooming fortune to run!
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New Wed 4 Jun 14 22:52 
 Brother printer LC985 - Dulwich Estate
I had just the same problem with a Brother printer. I ended up printing in dark blue for a while, but got fed up with it. So, after cleaning using the on-board instructions I turned to some outfit that sold a cleaning kit - their name was something like Printhead Hospital (but I'm not sure). It cost around a tenner.

They provided me with a chemical, a tube and a syringe. The instructions were to warm up the fluid as much as possible and try and force it through the head.

After about 3 days of trying I managed to get the fluid to flow through the head but the black ink stubbornly refused. The cleaning company honoured their promise and refunded my money.

I've since bought a new printer.

Anybody want a Brother printer than scans fine but prints and copies beautifully in colour only ??
Last edited by: Dulwich Estate on Wed 4 Jun 14 at 22:53
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New Thu 5 Jun 14 00:31 
 Brother printer LC985 - Stuartli
Used compatible inkjet cartridges in my Epson R300 for some seven years now from either diskdepot.co.uk or 7dayshop and never had a problem (it uses six cartridges)...:-)

However, I do leave the R300 permanently switched on as it saves the otherwise pointless cleaning of the heads every time if it was turned on.

The cartridges, incidentally, cost around a fiver for the six needed and I buy five or six packs to make the most of delivery charges. Black cartridges are usually doubled up as you use them the most.
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New Thu 5 Jun 14 18:31 
 Brother printer LC985 - scot22
Thank you for all this helpful advice, really appreciated. Just balancing cost/ink costs and performance before final order. My printing is nearly all simple text so basic is all I need.
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New Fri 6 Jun 14 18:46 
 Brother printer LC985 - Stevek100
The nozzles are very small and some third party ink mixes with what is in the head and tubes and the resulting mixture is too thick to jet. Think a sort of jelly rather than free flowing ink. Genuine consumables don't generally get this problem.
It's also not good to turn the printer off on a regular basis such as each evening.as that stops the regular maintenance purges the machine does. The standby power consumption is negligible in this mode.
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New Fri 6 Jun 14 23:21 
 Brother printer LC985 - scot22
Thanks. I will now leave printer on standby most evenings. Deep inside don't like leaving things on standby - but don't like blocked heads ! Got an HP deskjet 2540, very good Amazon ratings with I thought reasonable cartridge costs.
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New Sat 7 Jun 14 14:02 
 Brother printer LC985 - Stevek100
Since last year most printers now have soft off switches so the power use in standby is below 0.5watts and there is not need to turn the power off automatically. This is a result of the ErP directive which is about good design and power management.
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