Printer LED mystery

Needing a printer

While living in the virtual reality I help my environment to save valuable resources. One of them is avoiding the use of paper whenever possible. But, unfortunately there are some rare situations where somethings needs to get printed out and signed – contracts for example.

And the winner is

Some years ago, I decided to afford me a printer to exactly match such requirements. A good device with a reasonable price and performance ratio for my needs is the Brother HL-2040 series. It is a black and white laser printer with economic power and toner saving working on Windows and Mac.

When something is really needed

As Murhphy’s law confirms, the printer will stop it’s work when really needed. And exactly that happened. I did not use it for about two months and the first print job ended with paper jam, so the second did, too. After that all four LEDs started flashing and no printing was possible.

If you have a similar problem, then these two tips may help you out, because this is not mentioned in the FAQ and the official technical support did not know!

Solution

Tip 1:

Remove paper jams with the device still powered on. DO NOT POWER OFF! Open all paper trays and toner lid, then close. The motors will begin turning and the printer will be ready, again. Maybe it is required to press the GO button.

Tip 2:

This printer does not have a text display, just LEDs. Turn the power off, hold the GO button, power on, still hold GO for eight seconds. Release and press again. If the ready indicator is green, try a print. If the LEDs are all flashing again, do this Tip 2 instruction again and power off the device instead of printing. IMPORTANT: Let the power off for some hours, not only seconds or minutes! Turn on the next day, and voila.