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I have a Brother model MFC 490CW color printer than has three color ink and one black ink cartridge.

I've replaced the black ink cartridge, but I still get no black ink being printed, the three color inks are printing correctly. What

could be going wrong and how might I fix this? The printer had been idle for about nine months, could there be some kind of clogging? The printer's clean utility did not help.

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3 Answers

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It is common for the ink to dry out. This is especially an issue if not turned off properly. The fact that the colour works indicates it probably was properly shut off. Sometimes one or two cleaning cycles will unclog the print head. More is a waste. As @KCotreau points out there are some ways to address this. I believe the printer has the print head in the cartridge so not likley a print head failure.

Is it possible you have a bad cartridge? Is it a new OEM or a remanufactured or third-party unit?

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+1 back at you. – KCotreau Jul 15 '11 at 15:48
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Printer head is not in cartridges for these printers. The cartridge was a new OEM, but was one year after purchase, but in very well sealed container. – WilliamKF Jul 15 '11 at 16:46
Many cartridges will have an expiry date. I know HP and Epson do. I almost bought some Epson ink that was expired by almost a year. If a separate print head there may be other cleaning steps suggested by the manufacturer. – Dave M Jul 15 '11 at 17:09
Some brother printers (including the MFC420CN and the MFC490CN) have a separate ink well and print head. There is what looks like vinyl tubing connecting the two. It is very possible that there is a solid deposit (read clog) in this line. – Tremmors Jul 15 '11 at 23:51
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up vote 2 down vote

Yes, you have clogging. That can happen when the ink sits there and dries out. In most cases, you just lose a cartridge, but in this case, yours in in the printer. Here are some links that you can follow to help you try to fix it.

http://www.tripinsurancestore.com/blog/how-to-clean-clogged-inkjet-printheads/ (I like the idea of putting alcohol in your old cartridge to run through the system)

http://www.spike.com/video-clips/72hl01/how-to-fix-a-clogged-ink-jet-printer (searching youtube for "fix clogged inkjet printer" returns more people fixing their printers).

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+1 One caution. Most have a reservoir to catch excess ink. If the alcohol overflows this, you will have a mess. – Dave M Jul 15 '11 at 15:45
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To get the machine into maintenance mode for a super cleaning:

Press 'menu' key
Press 'start black' copy key
Press 'arrow-up' key quickly 4 times
Machine should be in maintenance mode (all lights will flash). If not, repeat above steps.
Press 7-6-4 keys in succession for power clean and (or start-black-copy) (You can also, before pressing 4 key, use left arrow keys to select an individual color or black instead of all.)
When finished press 7-6-3 keys in succession for power purge then start black copy, (You can also, before pressing 3 key, use left arrow keys to select an individual color or black instead of all.)
Printer will do an ink purge
Leave maintenance mode by pressing 9-9 keys.

However, for me, black remains clogged.

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