How To Clean The Drum Of A Brother Printer

Regular maintenance is necessary to keep your printers in tip top condition. Your Brother MFC-9340CDW all-in-one color laser printer is no different and it's also important to know what parts of the printer need attention; may it be as mundane as cleaning the flatbed glass in keeping the scanner clean or replacing an essential part such as the drum and toner assembly. Some not so commonly known parts such as the corona wire, also needs attention in order to keep the printing crisp and neat. Cleaning the corona wire regularly ensures a long service life.

Corona Wire – What It Is and How It Works

A corona wire is a very fine wire made from tungsten as base material. It is in the toner cartridge. It is charged with static electricity that draws the toner off the drum on to the paper. When the corona wire is charged, it gives the drum a positive static charge then the drum transfers the charge to the paper that in turn attracts the toner to the paper. The printer emits a laser beam across the surface to discharge specific or certain points while the drum rotates. The laser then etches the letters and images to be printed as a pattern from the corona wire.

Cleaning the Corona Wire

Cleaning of the corona wire is necessary before you replace toner cartridge of your Brother MFC-9340CDW . Make sure that the printer has cooled down before any attempt of cleaning. Below are the following steps:

Open the top cover completely open. The top cover will lock in place and does not require any support. If you fail to do so when removing and installing the drum and toner assembly may cause severe damage to the machine.
Remove the drum and toner assembly out from the printer.
Place the drum and toner assembly on top of a disposable cloth or paper underneath to avoid toner mess.

The corona wire tab is located on the left side of the assembly. Clean the corona wire by sliding the tab back and forth from left to right several times . 10-15 times will do.
You can repeat the fourth process a few more times. After cleaning the wires, place the corona wire tab back to its original position on the left. If you fail to do so will result a printed vertical line down on your printed paper.
Return the drum and toner assembly back to your printer. Ensure that the assembly is placed on the correct color label.
If necessary, repeat steps 1-6 with the rest of the toners.
Close the top cover of your printer.

In case the steps above don't work, a professional cleaning may be required by a qualified personnel or replacement of the corona wire may be needed. The wires are located inside the drum that is quite inaccessible by the casual user and attempting to clean them without prior knowledge or training can cause damage. In keeping your Brother MFC-9340CDW working well, it's better to err in the side of caution.