Question about cleaning a laser printer fuser roller?
Question about cleaning a laser printer fuser roller?
Everything I’ve read indicates the heated fuser roller is hard and the pressure roller is rubber. The lower roller on my Brother MFC -L2700DW appears brown with a glossy finish, which I thought was the heated roller. The upper roller seems gray rubber, so I assumed it was the pressure roller. The manual lists the upper roller as the heated one, but I didn’t test it to confirm.
I cleaned both rollers thoroughly using alcohol and a microfiber cloth. However, several black marks remain on the upper roller that won’t remove, possibly causing faint smudges during printing. Could the upper roller be a heated rubber one?
How can I eliminate these black marks without harming the roller?
Refer to the troubleshooting and maintenance guide for detailed guidance.
Follow the recommended cleaning methods carefully.
Avoid using volatile liquids or ammonia-based products.
Never apply isopropyl alcohol to the control panel.
Adhere strictly to the manufacturer’s instructions to protect your investment.
I've looked at the Brother User Guide & could not find anything about cleaning the fuser rollers. Apparently Brother doesn't want people going into the back of the machine to clean them.
I do have a Brother service manual I had downloaded long time ago. Using that along with some YouTube videos it turns out the upper roller is the heated fuser roller. One video shows how to clean the rollers, which is what I previously did when thinking the lower one was the heated one. It's difficult to see the upper roller in the video so it looks like they're cleaning the lower one. In reality you're cleaning both because the microfiber cloth comes in contact with both.
When I did the cleaning a few weeks ago the printer still left faint smudges on white paper. A few days ago I printed on a sheet of paper with a preprinted color border & it left a lot of smudges. So it was back to cleaning the fuser again. And it left faint smudges just like it did before. I thought about buying a new fuser roller but first fed 5 sheets of plain paper through the printer & that seemed to clean up the roller. Maybe running the sheets one after the other got the fuser temperature hot enough to get at least some of the offending toner melted off of it.
Here's the link to cleaning the fuser roller.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgMUFoznR5Y
The fuser rollers are not meant for cleaning. They are included in the routine upkeep and should be replaced once a certain number of pages have been processed. The details are clearly stated in the manual.
I know this situation, but what happens if the fuser rollers become dirty before the replacement limit is reached? I might take the printer to a Brother service center for repair or cleaning. However, it would likely be more expensive than purchasing a new printer. It seems Brother probably expects customers to spend money regardless of the choice.
Cleaning the rollers could also pose some risks.
When following the proper procedures as outlined in the manual, cleaning won't be necessary between replacements. However, this approach might result in additional complications. A poorly executed task could lead to the need for roller replacement and potentially other interior components being replaced, which would incur extra costs.