MFC 3220C

Archived from groups: comp.periphs.printers (More info?)

Hi,
4 mnths back I bought Brother's 3220c MFC. I might have printed
probably 200 - 300 pages. It says "Ink Empty Black" and "Ink Empty
Magenta". But the manual says the catridge comes for about 500 pages.
I observed the machine automatically cleaning the head(which wastes
some ink it seems) twice or thrice a day. How do I set it not to clean
the head automatically?
Also when I was looking online for catridge I see many "compatible
brand catridge" which are about $5 compared to $20 for Brother's
catridge. Does any body has experience with these compatible brands?
Do you advise to use these?

Are these compatible catridges availble only online OR can get from
STAPLES etc too?

Thanks a lot in advance...

-- Ravi

Archived from groups: comp.periphs.printers (More info?)

Ravi,

Did you get an answer to your question?

I have a MFC-3220C that said the 4 ink cartriges are empty. I
replaced the black cartirige but it still won't print, not even black
and white copies. Does it require 4 cartriges that are not empty to
print? (even if you aren't using color)

Tony B

ravipb@yahoo.com (RV) wrote in message news:<9080cc27.0405011131.cdea5ad@posting.google.com>...
> Hi,
> 4 mnths back I bought Brother's 3220c MFC. I might have printed
> probably 200 - 300 pages. It says "Ink Empty Black" and "Ink Empty
> Magenta". But the manual says the catridge comes for about 500 pages.
> I observed the machine automatically cleaning the head(which wastes
> some ink it seems) twice or thrice a day. How do I set it not to clean
> the head automatically?
> Also when I was looking online for catridge I see many "compatible
> brand catridge" which are about $5 compared to $20 for Brother's
> catridge. Does any body has experience with these compatible brands?
> Do you advise to use these?
>
> Are these compatible catridges availble only online OR can get from
> STAPLES etc too?
>
> Thanks a lot in advance...
>
> -- Ravi

Archived from groups: comp.periphs.printers (More info?)

Tony,
I was talking to the Brother customer service and they said we need to
have all catridges FULL even for taking Black and white copies.



tigerb@yahoo.com (Tiger Bee) wrote in message news:<3bd83a56.0405200534.55761dec@posting.google.com>...
> Ravi,
>
> Did you get an answer to your question?
>
> I have a MFC-3220C that said the 4 ink cartriges are empty. I
> replaced the black cartirige but it still won't print, not even black
> and white copies. Does it require 4 cartriges that are not empty to
> print? (even if you aren't using color)
>
> Tony B
>
> ravipb@yahoo.com (RV) wrote in message news:<9080cc27.0405011131.cdea5ad@posting.google.com>...
> > Hi,
> > 4 mnths back I bought Brother's 3220c MFC. I might have printed
> > probably 200 - 300 pages. It says "Ink Empty Black" and "Ink Empty
> > Magenta". But the manual says the catridge comes for about 500 pages.
> > I observed the machine automatically cleaning the head(which wastes
> > some ink it seems) twice or thrice a day. How do I set it not to clean
> > the head automatically?
> > Also when I was looking online for catridge I see many "compatible
> > brand catridge" which are about $5 compared to $20 for Brother's
> > catridge. Does any body has experience with these compatible brands?
> > Do you advise to use these?
> >
> > Are these compatible catridges availble only online OR can get from
> > STAPLES etc too?
> >
> > Thanks a lot in advance...
> >
> > -- Ravi

the usual obvious fix is to buy a new (full catridge), insert, power off machine. then switch back on.

However, I had an MFC 260C. It had a perfectly good full ink catridge in it, that was working fine, until...it suddenly did not recognise the cartridge anymore.

I pulled the machine apart and found that 2 of the 4 sensors on the cct board at the back of the cartridge housing were loose. These sensors pass light through the exposed part of the cartridge to see if ink is there. So if these are faulty, you will never clear the "No Cartridge" or "Ink Empty..." or "Near EMpty Ink ..." messages.

Why did they fail? Because the soldering on these sensors was poor quality.

I would never buy another Brother machine because of this, also because they design the machine to be totally useless unless all the ink cartridges are full. Shame on you Brother, and kiss my ass for the $160 pile of junk I bought off you that was only on its second batch of cartridges (ie very little use)