Brother Printer leaving roller marks on copies since update to Tahoe

Robajohnson1950 wrote:

From your feedback, it appears that I may have a poorly performing black toner cartridge. The cartridge is only a few weeks old, and the cost was near $100.00 on Amazon. I will use this cartridge up and then determine if a replacement cartridge resolves the issue. I do use Brother original equipment, so I know a secondary supplier is not the issue.

More than likely if the issue started shortly after installing a new toner cartridge, then the toner cartridge is most likely at fault.

Put your old black toner cartridge in to compare. As long as it has enough toner to print a faint image...it may be enough to give you your answer. Be sure to gently "shake" the toner a bit to spread out the wee bit of remaining toner.....I guess gently tilt it side to side, and forward & back a wee bit since if you move it too much you may find toner falling out of it. Do this while holding the toner cartridge over a trash can. Even if there isn't enough black toner.....if the printer will still print a page using just the color toner, then you may still get your answer.

You can also use the Brother support article I linked before to measure the distance between the repeating marks to determine which roller is likely causing the issue. IIRC, the support article mentioned those measurements (perhaps not explicitly, but the icon on the left column seemed to have distance measurements).

Open the printer & remove the toner cartridge....do you see any blotches of toner on the paper path within the printer? If so, that indicates the toner is leaking. Usually more of an issue with third party toner.

Remove the new toner cartridge.....pull back the spring bar to reveal the photoconductor (usually a green or blueish roller). The photoconductor roller should be clean with no residual images or toner. Do NOT touch the photoconductor or you will damage it. Also, limit the toner cartridge & photoconductor's exposure to light or you will ruin it (the photoconductor is sensitive to light).

You can also print a job, then open the printer door as the page is halfway through (very tough these days due to how fast they print). Look at the paper. Do you see the defects? If so, then you know the issue occurred very early on....most likely the result of the toner cartridge. Be very careful removing the now jammed paper & be extremely careful of the toner on the paper because it is still in powered form since it has not yet been melted & fused to the paper. It is very messy & will stain cloths & carpets as well as your hands.

FYI, even if the toner cartridge is a Brother OEM one, how it was stored by the seller & its age can impact how it works. And of course, there are many resellers on the Amazon Marketplace (and other sites) where they may be selling used, refilled, or even counterfeit products. Always something to keep in mind.

Robajohnson1950 wrote:

It's unusual that printing from a computer or device leaves no roller mark, but making a copy does.

Now that is a very critical detail. Making copies on the scanner itself and not printing a page from Tahoe. These are two totally different things.

The lines are probably from the scanning process. If it is a flat bed scanner, then clean the glass. If it is the scanner where paper is pulled through a roller, then check the user manual on how to access & clean that scanner. This is no longer a toner cartridge issue or a macOS issue.

Roll marks are usually a hardware issue most often caused by the photoconductor roller (near the front) or the Fuser rollers (laser printer near the exit) or possibly the Exit Rollers (for an inkjet model....perhaps the ink has not dried sufficiently by the time it goes through the exit rollers). Seems yours is a laser printer. With a color laser printer, some models may have a belt or drum involved as well.

Sometimes a photoconductor is a separate replaceable item, while other times the photoconductor is part of the Toner Cartridge. From a quick read of the Brother support manual, it seems the photoconductor is integrated into each Toner Cartridge.

A good test to determine if a printed page's defect is caused by the printer or the computer is to print a test or demo page from the printer itself. Many printers have a method to print such a page using the menu or buttons on the printer itself. If not, then you can try printing a configuration test page from the physical interface on the printer itself. If the defect shows up this way, then there is a hardware issue with the printer itself. If there is no defect, then you need to focus on the document/photo itself or the software being used to print the document/photo.

Here is a Brother support article for troubleshooting printing defects:

https://support.brother.com/g/s/id/htmldoc/mfc/cv_dcpl3520cdw/use/html/GUID-DCA1EA11-C79E-412D-97A0-807883A092B9_1.html?c=us&lang=en&prod=mfcl3780cdw_us_as&broug=in

However, if someone from Brother saw a picture of the issue, then they have more information than you provided to us. How about printing a page that does not contain any sensitive or personal information & post a picture of it here?

I am assuming here that you are printing something you created and it was not scanned? Is it a text document or a photo? There is always a possibility that the software you are using to print the document or photo is introducing some recurring defect while processing the print job. Have you tried printing the item using another app?

You might try the following: remove the toner cartridge from the printer, and shake it front to back several times. Reinstall making sure it's firmly seated in its slot and see if the problem persists.

Note: this also helps when the cartridge is low on toner and begins to print spottingly. Shaking it that way redistributes the toner giving the cartridge some more life.

Robajohnson1950 wrote:

I have a Brother MFC-L3780CDW color printer/fax/copier that is two years old. Everything was operating as it should until I upgraded my MAC to Tahoe. The printer works fine but all of the copies, black and white and color, leaves what appears to be a roller mark on the right side of the paper.

I texted with Brother Customer Service and even with an example of the issue, said my color setting on the machine needed to be adjusted.

They were clueless to the real issue and were of no support.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

"machine" (?)

I would Contact Brothers support...if in doubt search the developers website or contact their: Support/Help/FAQ/Known issues/compatibility/updates…

Contact a third-party vendor - Apple Support

Contact a third-party vendor - Apple Support

Hard to believe "roller marks "coming off the printer would be a macOS related(?)

If you think this is a mac issue:

If it is listed as AirPrint printer, delete the existing printer, and add it again, select AirPrint.

> System Settings> Printers & Scanners,

Add a printer to your printer list so you can use it on Mac

Add a printer to your printer list so you can use it on Mac - Apple Support

Connect an AirPrint printer to a Wi-Fi network - Apple Support.

Connect an AirPrint printer to a Wi-Fi network - Apple Support

about AirPrint

About AirPrint - Apple Support

Solve printing problems on Mac

Solve printing problems on Mac - Apple Support

Manage printers and print jobs with Print Center on Mac

Manage printers and print jobs - Apple Support

The likelihood that this has anything at all to do with the version of macOS you're running is pretty much zero.