Brother Printer Ink Cartridge Nearly Empty --- After Only 2 Weeks!!!

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Been working for years, guess I got the right vendor.
Granted I send my photos to Walmart to print and rarely print photos at
home. �For color text printing the ink works fine. � Evenprints CD's
fine too.

Why would I buy a printer that could print photos, and then send the
photos to Wal-Mart for printing?
 
The answer to that is never buy another Brother printer. I know because I
have an MFC-5100c at home and another at my small business office. Both have
the same problem with ink cartridges. I've learned I have to use the "ink"
button every few days or the problem starts happening again.

In other words, Brothers is JUNK.

How does using the "Ink" button help? And what problem does this
button solve?
 
I would upgrade the OS to at least W2k if the hardware allows.

In a previous thread, I asked whether I should upgrade to Win XP or to
another Win OS. It was determined that my hardware (RAM, hard-drive
space) was insufficient and that upgrading the hardware would be too
much trouble.
Since a set of ink costs almost as much as a printer I would trash the
Brother and buy a Canon on sale. ?You problems with the system you have
will never cease.

Which problems with the system I have will never cease? Are you saying
that Brother ink cartridges will always be used up quickly?

Some of the other posters have said that only the ink cartridges that
come with the printer are low. So, if I buy new cartridges, these
cartridges should last a long time. Correct?

Also, do I have to buy all 4 Brother cartridges at once? Or can I buy
only the yellow, since that cartridge is the one that is almost empty?

Correct. The new ones will last longer
You can buy the colour cartridges seperately
Blair
 
I have a Brother MFC-215C and never had any problems.
Also, do I have to buy all 4 Brother cartridges at once? Or can I buy
only the yellow, since that cartridge is the one that is almost empty?

Here in New Zealand you can buy each colour separately or a package
containing the 3 colours which is much cheaper. For the black same
proposition except the package contains 2 black cartridges. Up to you.

Your cartridge might have been a faulty one. Phone your supplier explain and
try to change it. Also in this part of the world Brother is very obliging.

Serge
 
I have a Gateway computer with the following: 1) a 1400-MHz Pentium 4
processor, 2) 256 MB of RAM, and 3) 40 GB of hard-drive space.

The computer is running Windows Millennium Edition (ME).

Two and a half weeks ago, I bought a Brother MFC-240C printer. This is
a multifunction device: printer, copier, fax, and scanner.

----------

When I installed the ink cartridges, the machine cleaned the ink tube
system. Then I pressed "Color Start" to test the four colors
corresponding to the cartridges (black, yellow, cyan, and magenta).

The machine printed out the Print Quality Check Sheet. This sheet
showed a square pattern in each color. If all small lines were clear
and visible, I had to press 1 for Yes, and the quality check would be
done. If there were missing small lines, I had to press 2 for No, and
the colors would be cleaned. Then the Check Sheet would be printed
again.

When the Check Sheet was printed the first time, there were no missing
lines, but (in my opinion) some lines were not clear, especially the
yellow lines. So, I pressed 2 for No, and the colors were cleaned, and
the Check Sheet was printed out again. The colors were cleaned four
times before I was satisfied that the small lines were clear and
visible.

After the color test, the rest of the installation was done.

----------

In my regular usage, the first thing I printed out was an HTML page (2
sheets). Since the HTML page was in color, the printed pages were in
color as well. After that, during the next 2 weeks or so, I printed
out or copied about 20 - 25 pages in black and white. Today, I printed
out 4 pages in black and white, and then the printer showed the
following message: "Near Empty Yellow", meaning that the Yellow ink
cartridge was nearly empty.

Now, I will admit that I keep the printer unplugged (from the AC power
supply and from the wall phone jack) if I am not using the printer. I
plug in the printer ONLY if I have to print and/or copy something.
However, the printer is ALWAYS connected to the computer via USB
cable.

Also, sometimes when I printed something, the machine cleaned the
print head before the printing occurred. Page 99 of the user's guide
states the following: "To ensure good print quality, the machine will
regularly clean the print head." The user's guide then explains that,
in addition to the automatic cleaning of the print head, the user can
clean the print head manually (by pressing some buttons). The user's
guide then states the following: "Cleaning the print head consumes
ink. Cleaning too often uses ink unnecessarily."

----------

So, here are my questions:

1) How can the yellow cartridge be nearly empty after only 2.5 weeks?
The colors were cleaned 4 times during the color test, and the print
head was cleaned a few times, but I have printed only 2 color pages.

2) If cleaning the print head consumes ink and if the machine cleans
the print head whenever the machine wants to, then how can I stop the
machine from cleaning itself too much? Is this some scam on the part
of Brother to get me to buy more ink cartridges? Can Brother be sued
for this? Do printers from other brands also clean their print heads
whenever they want to?

3) Do I have a defective printer? Should I get a refund? I bought this
particular printer (Brother MFC-240C) because it was the only printer
a) that was compatible with Windows ME, b) that was relatively
lightweight, and c) that was relatively cheap. So, should I try to
find a different printer? Unfortunately, upgrading my computer to
Windows XP would be too much trouble.
You should be aware that the ink cartridges supplied with the most printers
contain a very minimal amount of ink. This is because the printer is sold
with virtually no profit. All the money is made selling the ink cartridges
which are vastly over priced for what the are. The minimal ink filling of
the supplied cartridges gets you buying the full price cartridges as soon as
possible.

Many printer buyers have found that a set of replacement cartridges can
actually cost more than the printer did, partiularly at the budget end of
the market.
 
The problem is areas of the paper using color become fuzzy. I have no idea
what the "ink" button does other than the printer then works good for
another few days. It's like taking the cartridge(s) out and shaking them a
few times. New cartridges do exactly the same thing. The office printer has
been used for a few years and may need some type of cleaning but the home
computer is only a few months old with minimum usage. They both act the same
way.

Frank

The answer to that is never buy another Brother printer. I know because I
have an MFC-5100c at home and another at my small business office. Both
have
the same problem with ink cartridges. I've learned I have to use the "ink"
button every few days or the problem starts happening again.

In other words, Brothers is JUNK.

How does using the "Ink" button help? And what problem does this
button solve?
 
In a previous thread, I asked whether I should upgrade to Win XP or to
another Win OS. It was determined that my hardware (RAM, hard-drive
space) was insufficient and that upgrading the hardware would be too
much trouble.


Which problems with the system I have will never cease? Are you saying
that Brother ink cartridges will always be used up quickly?

Some of the other posters have said that only the ink cartridges that
come with the printer are low. So, if I buy new cartridges, these
cartridges should last a long time. Correct?

Also, do I have to buy all 4 Brother cartridges at once? Or can I buy
only the yellow, since that cartridge is the one that is almost empty?

I bought a Brother MFC 665CW multi-function wireless and it is true
that they, like many other printer manufacturers, provide STARTER
cartridges.
I don't do a large volume of printing but I was amazed that I got a
year out of the starter cartridges. Makes me wonder if your's is just
a lemon.
You will need to buy the whole set of four replacement cartridges if
you have run out of just one color per the low ink warning on the one
color. If you don't, then you will just have to make extra trips to
your office supplies store.
I have found my model to be very reliable and trouble free and I love
everything wireless.
I use it with a Dell Inspiron E-1505 laptop, 80 GB HD and 1 GB RAM and
XP Home Edition. I have a Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router.
 
Why would I buy a printer that could print photos, and then send the
photos to Wal-Mart for printing?
At the rate you're using ink, Wal-Mart might be cheaper...

Bill
 
Big_Al said:
Been working for years, guess I got the right vendor.
Granted I send my photos to Walmart to print and rarely print photos
at home. For color text printing the ink works fine. Even prints
CD's fine too.
If you had a Canon and used OEM ink you could print them at home with
your choice of high grade paper.
 
[email protected] wrote:

On Jun 23, 10:34�am, measekite <[email protected]> wrote:



I would upgrade the OS to at least W2k if the hardware allows.



In a previous thread, I asked whether I should upgrade to Win XP or to another Win OS. It was determined that my hardware (RAM, hard-drive space) was insufficient and that upgrading the hardware would be too much trouble.

If your hardware cannot run at least XP then you should replace your computer.  Dell has a bunch of them at reduced prices now.






Since a set of ink costs almost as much as a printer I would trash the Brother and buy a Canon on sale. �You problems with the system you have will never cease.



Which problems with the system I have will never cease? Are you saying that Brother ink cartridges will always be used up quickly? Some of the other posters have said that only the ink cartridges that come with the printer are low. So, if I buy new cartridges, these cartridges should last a long time. Correct? Also, do I have to buy all 4 Brother cartridges at once? Or can I buy only the yellow, since that cartridge is the one that is almost empty?

What does the manual say?
 
[email protected] wrote:

On Jun 23, 1:44�pm, Big_Al <[email protected]> wrote:



Been working for years, guess I got the right vendor. Granted I send my photos to Walmart to print and rarely print photos at home. �For color text printing the ink works fine. � Even prints CD's fine too.



Why would I buy a printer that could print photos, and then send the photos to Wal-Mart for printing?

Stop sending them to walmart unless all you take are snapshots and in that case it does not make a difference.
 
I have a canon IP4000 and love it.   Doesn't use ink that much and you
can buy 3rd party cartridges for about $4 per rather than the typical
$12 at Costco.

I went to the Canon website, and I searched for the IP4000.

I found the following links:

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=184&modelid=10239

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=184&modelid=10438

When you guys talk about the Canon IP4000, do you have these two
printers in mind?


These two printers seem to be photo printers. Do they also print paper
documents? They are, however, compatible with Windows ME.

Furthermore, will these two Canon printers also have starter
cartridges? If yes, then is there any point in getting a refund on the
Brother printer and getting a Canon printer?
 
Yep, and this has become something of a racket, with manufacturers
'chipping' carts to cause deliberate failure after a set number of pages.

In any case I would always advise people to steer clear of these
multifunction units. Especially on a low-powered computer as they install
services which run continuously even when the MFU is not being used.

When you think about it:
Who faxes these days? Well, me, but one fax in three months and my modem
does that anyway.
Copying with an inkjet is hideously wasteful. Need to copy? Get a copier!
Scanners cost peanuts.

Color lasers are a lot cheaper than they used to be, and if you want a
PRINTER instead of a box of tricks then that is what I would advise.
 
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