How to Fix Brother Printer Not Printing Black Issue – [ 8 Methods]

Brother printers are highly regarded for their quality printing and scanning performance. But it’s also common to encounter issues with them. You may often find your Brother printer not printing black. It can happen because of using generic ink cartridges, not removing breather tape on the cartridge, and CISS fitted on the printer. Irrespective of the cause, you will find some effective troubleshooting for the issue in this article.

1. Fix paper jam

If there’s a paper jam problem, it can cause Brother printer not printing issues.

• Use the finger holes present on your Brother printer to raise its scanner so it moves into the open position.
• Inspect the right and left-hand corners for bits of paper.
• Also, look below the printhead.
• You can move the printhead from one side to another and remove any debris that may be stuck.
• Use a flashlight to look inside the machine and ensure that no paper scraps go unnoticed.
• After that, close the scanner cover.
• Use the same finger holds on both sides of the machine to close the cover.

2. Swap generic cartridges for original ones

Often, those people who use generic cartridges complain, ‘My Brother printer is not printing.’ Brother printers have their own cartridges, which work perfectly with their printer models. But people generally use generic cartridges because they are more easily available.

However, the ink viscosity in these cartridges is different from Brother inks. It leads to various problems in printing. So if you are using generic ink cartridges and face problems in printing, it’s time to switch to authentic Brother cartridges.

3. Find the affected colors and do an initial purge

If you find yourself asking why my Brother printer is not printing correctly, try printing a PQCS. It is a Print Quality Check Sheet.

• On the ‘Control Panel‘ hit the ‘Settings’ option.
• Now, using the arrows, choose ‘General Setup.’
• After that, press ‘OK.’
• Use the arrow keys again to choose ‘Maintenance.’
• Press ‘OK‘ after that.
• Now, select ‘PrintQuality‘ and hit ‘OK.’
• Select this option again and press ‘OK.’
• The PQCS will print.
• Review the quality of the four color blocks on it.
• If there are missing dotted lines, choose ‘No‘ followed by ‘Stop/Exit.’
• Now, do an initial purge.
• If your printer display shows the ‘Ink Low’ message, install a genuine Brother high-yield cartridge. It will complete the purge for every affected color.
• If you still find Brother printer not printing, hit ‘Settings‘ followed by ‘Black Start‘ and then ‘Settings‘ again.
• On the ‘Control Panel‘ hit 7, 6, and 4.
• Now, the status message of ‘Ink Low’ won’t display.

4. Check if the printer is linked to the correct port

If your Brother printer still needs to be fixed, check that it is connected to the right port.

• On your PC, hit the ‘Start‘ button.
• Head to ‘Settings‘ and tap ‘Devices.’
• Here, choose ‘Printers & Scanners.’
• After that, select ‘Devices and printers.’
• From the list of devices, choose the printer you are using.
• Right-click on that printer.
• A drop-down will appear. Select ‘Properties.’
• Below it, select ‘Change Properties.’
• Next, select ‘Ports.’
• Now, tap the port having your Brother printer’s name.
• Tap ‘Apply.’
• Now, see if your Brother printer can print black.

5. Inspect the purge seals

Purge seals are two mesh-lined openings that have real rubber seals surrounding them. They press up against the printer’s bottom surface when it is in the resting position. The smaller seal is for the black cartridge, and the bigger one is for the colors.

You can identify the purge pump assemblies by first examining the purge pump seals. They shouldn’t be distorted as they will only hinder the vacuum seal from occurring. It thus reduces the vacuum pressure amount that the pump can put on the ink system. After that, use a suitable cleaning fluid to clean the seals and the pump.

6. Clean the clogged nozzles

Your Brother printer’s print quality will remain good till the device is automatically cleaning the printhead. But if you find a Brother printer not printing black, you can do the cleaning manually.

• If the control panel of your machine has an INK key, press it.
• If it doesn’t have it, hit the ‘MENU‘ KEY.
• Choose the ‘UP‘ or ‘DOWN‘ arrow key to choose ink.
• Hit ‘OK.’
• Employ the ‘UP‘ or ‘DOWN‘ arrow keys to choose ‘COLOR BLACK‘ OR ‘ALL‘ according to whatever you wish to clean.
• Now hit ‘OK.’
• If you have a touchscreen Brother printer, press the ‘INK‘ key followed by ‘Cleaning.’
• Choose ‘COLOR BLACK‘ OR ‘ALL‘ as whatever you wish to clean.

7. Examine the printer status

You must also ensure that your Brother printer is in the ready state. If it isn’t, you will find Brother printer is not printing.

• Examine the printer status.
• Set it as ready.
• Next, see how many printing requests you have.
• Hover your cursor over the Brother printer icon.
• You’ll notice options such as ‘Offline, ‘Use a printer,’ and ‘Paused‘ as per the printer status.
• Find if there are documents in the print queue.
• If you find documents, right-click on your printer and cancel these printing jobs.
• Now, see if the status of your Brother printer is offline.
• If it is so, right-tap on the Brother printer icon.
• Now, remove the check from the ‘Use printer offline‘ option.
• When your printer comes back online, it will print optimally.

8. Reinstall the Brother printer

• To reinstall the printer, first, remove it.
• Hit the ‘Start‘ button and head to ‘Control Panel.
• Navigate to ‘Printers and Scanners.’
• Choose your printer and click ‘Remove device.’
• Head to ‘Settings.’
• Navigate to ‘Printers and scanners‘ in the ‘Devices’ section.
• Choose ‘Add a printer or scanner‘ below ‘Printers and scanners.’
• Choose your printer from the list and tap ‘Add device.’

Final Thoughts

Now, you won’t find your Brother printer not printing optimally after using these fixes. Try all of them to find the cause. If you need any more assistance with printer fixing errors, talk to a Brother printer Support expert.

Related Resources: 

• The Complete Brother Printer Troubleshooting for Common Errors
• Brother Printer Driver Is Unavailable? Here are the Fixes
• Brother Printer in Error State Issue [Fixed in 4 Ways]