Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Brother MFC j435w black ink issue

Sep 15, 2013 1:01AM PDT

Hi
I've only had this printer 6 months, and the original black cartridge ran out fairly quickly...I had a bunch of after market cartridges on hand. I put one in and it worked fine for a while but then the black stopped working...I replaced it figuring the cheap ones were as bad as the starter ones...That too didn't work, so I tried another new black cartridge.
That didn't get it going...I've had no luck except for this, IF I set the printer to inkjet/paper mode / photo quality I get a decent dark grey printout....
Whats up with that? The printer doesn't give me any errors....
Is it advisable to suck it up and get an OEM cartridge to see if that works?
The thing never sat alot, it was used what I thought was often enough...

Any ideas???

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Sorry but are you saying
Sep 15, 2013 1:29AM PDT

That you are not using the maker's carts? If so, I worry that if this model has jets separate from the cart, those can get clogged and all savings vanish.
Bob

- Collapse -
Darn ink sources
Sep 15, 2013 11:24PM PDT

This is a problem across any inkjet printer maker models out there. 3rd party inks work or don't, its as simple as that and the quality will vary from one supplier to the next, brand wise. Whatever success you had with prior inks you don't with this model because you used that same ink carts on others. Since, this has happened in a short period, try to use warranty and got from there, if not then use OEM ink as that is the only recourse you got to save the printer.

FYI- I tend to buy ink carts from office supply centers rather than online because I know the source and local returns if needed. I never shop for the cheapest when it comes to inks, because there is a "quality" difference, IMHO. Further, I have repaired so many inkjet printers and find the longest running ones tend to use OEM supplied ink. Yeap, it's more expensive but no headaches of upkeep, they just work. IMHO, if you used OEM for a long period and then swap over to a "refill" ink cart, the ink from past use can leave a minor build-up and the make-up of OEM ink will be mixed with refilled ink carts to continue operations. Since yours is such a short period the tolerances are high and/or no old ink residue to mix with may have come into play. That's a guess at this point but it worth mentioning.

tada -----Willy Happy

- Collapse -
I read though all the online manuals
Sep 17, 2013 2:25PM PDT
- Collapse -
fixed
Oct 3, 2013 11:06AM PDT

Well, if your searching this, you've got a similar problem to me.
I fixed it.
I don't know how.
Here's the time line:

Bought printer and cheap amazon ink carts.
Factory black cart went low, installed new generic cart, seemed to work.
Not long after, black failed again, installed new cart - NOTHING...
Figuring it was the cheap cart I tried another - NOTHING. no black. Test page was only 3 colors, no
no black text or alignment blocks.

I tried many many cleanings and a couple other things I found out Deep in the menu system. Secret things I had to use odd button pushes to find.
NOTHING...

So a few weeks have passed, I figured I would buy a new Brother brand cart or even a new printer.....

Here's the thing, we got a second hand me down computer and I decided to wirelessly hook it the printer....
Windows didnt have the exact model, so I waited 10 minutes for an updated list to DL. It had the MFC J435W in it.
I installed it and hit 'print test page' ...
I was floored it worked. Floored even more when I tried to print some forms and documents from the primary downstairs computer. EVEN the factory test page is perfect...

ONE: I fixed it somehow with the driver download or something.
TWO: after sitting for weeks with fresh ink it magically loosened up....

I find it odd that it worked right after the new computer went looking for drivers...

Perhaps this is a driver problem??????

- Collapse -
Fixed, then NOT fixed. again
Oct 19, 2013 11:57PM PDT

Problem returned

Not a driver
Some kind of ink problem.
Purchased an OEM Brother cartridge. Didnt fix it.

I cleaned it a couple times, THEN I did the Exhaust AND power purge for the affected color (black)

Now it seems to work....Was it the cheap cartridge? Did the OEM partridge help? Maybe, since I had
done the cleaning, exhausting, and power purging before to no avail....

Tony
http://www.brother-usa.com/FAQs/Solution.aspx?FAQID=200000033369#.UmPgixAlgfc

- Collapse -
Lots of TLC required - clean the print heads
Dec 7, 2015 10:21PM PST

I have discovered that these printers need a lot of TLC. They require the print head cleaning when ink begins to lose it's intensity on the paper. Once the cleaning process is completed, (usually several cleaning cycles required), the printer works like new. It seems that the black ink gives the most problems, as compared to color.

Here is a link to cleaning instruction on this generation of Brother printers on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3vR-qDgfjo

Best wishes!