Printer issues Brother DCP-J1100DW

Gusgf · 01 May 2023

Okay I know this is not quite relevant to these forums but I'm unsure where to turn. I've looked at posting on a few printer specific forums but they're as good as dead activity-wise. So I'm hoping for some inspiration here if you will.

We've got a Brother DCP-J1100DW which has been problematic from day one but usable. The problem we are now having (out of warranty) is spreadsheet lines are out of alignment, mirrored & smudged characters (see here) Incidentally I've tried this forums attachment & insert options when creating a post to display the 7.6MB jpg screenshot but both fail on me with no explanation. Hence the link.

I've tried printing different documents and document types
printed from different applications
I've tried a completely different OS all to no avail.

Issue is more prominent when printing a spreadsheet whereas when we print a text document we only get the odd smudged misaligned character. At this point, I can only assume the issue is with the printer itself. The printer automatically receives updates on a regular basis from Brother. Any help would be appreciated.

I must admit of all the years using I.T. the most troublesome and unreliable hardware has turned out to be printers. Any budget models have turned out to be landfill quality and this is why we paid more for this one and still issues almost from day one.

Paul Black · 01 May 2023

NOT relevant for the OP so post removed, sorry.

Gusgf · 01 May 2023

Thanks for replying Paul but I'm not using Excel. I've tried to print from Google Docs and I've tried pasting the values only into a Libreoffice sheet and the same happens. I also get problems with .doc types. Did you read my whole post? The problem is not app or OS specific.

PiKo · 01 May 2023

Printing a test page: also problematic?
Printing first a pdf and then printing the pdf: also problematic?

Gusgf · 01 May 2023

PiKo said:

Printing a test page: also problematic?
Printing first a pdf and then printing the pdf: also problematic?

Yep good call if it's the printer then the test page should be suffering the same issues. I will try this tomorrow.

You lost me on the last bit I'm afraid.

cereberus · 01 May 2023

Assuming it is an inkjet, sounds to me you need to go through printer head cleaning functions and alignment functions, and even possibly need to remove and clean
/ replace printer head. Worth trying cleaning it first

However, do not do this if not sure - you can end needing to replace the printerhead altogether which may cost nearly as much as the printer.

I had similar issues and recently had to remove my printer head and gave it a good clean and new cartridges (old ones were allegedly still 33% full), and all was fine afterwards luckily.

PS it can get very messy cleaning the heads LOL.

Also, using 3rd party ink cartridges can cause such issues.

joeandmarg0 · 01 May 2023

Have you gone through the printer maintenance processes ,for example nozzle cleaning and/or deep cleaning ?
Using refilled ink cartridges can cause the posted symptoms.
As a last resort,remove the cartridges and use a cottonwool bud,dipped in methylated spirits,[denatured alcohol ?[ to gently swab the contacts on the machine..
Put in new cartridges and try a test print.

Gusgf · 14 May 2023

I will give the suggested manual cleaning of print heads a go but I'm not convinced. It's very odd that text documents print absolutely fine but the minute you throw in a spreadsheet alignment is out. Surely if the print heads were the fault everything would be out?

Do you think there could be a bug with how the printer is handling the print codes sent with the print job?

The fault occurs within:
Windows 10 using Brother printer software (which is continually kept up to date)
Linux Mint uses non-proprietary driver provided by the OS (cups I think)
Will try Mac

PiKo · 14 May 2023

Could it be a font issue? The printer does not recognize the font and substitutes another font?
Further, you did not answer my question: what happens when first printing to pfd and then printing the pdf?

Gusgf · 20 May 2023

Okay I did indeed try to clean the print head with alcohol and kitchen towel to no avail. I even made up my own syringe with alcohol to try and flush the print head.

Then I happened upon this video below and it worked a treat so easy. You may need to read the topmost comments but the video is sort of self explanatory. Amazing how all the official videos make no mention of this, actually it's disgusting as they'd rather you landfill one and rush out and buy another printer.

How to fix Brother printer alignment problem - YouTube

Printer issues Brother DCP-J1100DW

Printer aligment issues Brother DCP-J1100DW SOLVED