How many power cycles does it take for the cleaning program to fill up an absorber pad?

[David Nisson]

Hello,

I just bought a Brother MFC-J985DW all-in-one. So far I have quite enjoyed using it, but I like to read through manuals of products, including troubleshooting sections, within the first few days of purchasing them so that I can get to know how to use the features of the machine for when I want to use them, and to minimize how long it takes me to troubleshoot problems when they arise. I was looking at the troubleshooting entry for the message "Ink Absorber Pad Full" and buried in there is a statement that "frequently powering the machine on and off will cause numerous cleaning cycles since the machine automatically cleans upon power up".

I found the italicized statement a little disturbing. I do not leave machines powered on overnight while I'm sleeping, owing to the possibility of a fire starting while I'm asleep and not there to put it out. I bought this printer for its advertised high page yields and ink economy. Automatically running a cleaning cycle every single day when I turn it on seems like not only an unnecessary waste of ink, but a needless burden on the absorber pad that could cause it to fill up more quickly and require servicing. The number of cleaning cycles the absorber pad can handle is not stated anywhere in the manual, and there is no recommendation as to how frequently the machine should be powered on and off. I always leave the machine plugged in, avoiding that reason for cleaning, but I would like to see if anyone knows how many power cycles it takes to fill up the absorber pad because of this automatic cleaning program. I do not want to have to take the machine in for service, especially if it's not covered under warranty.

 

[sabretooth02]

Well have no idea how many cleaning cycles it takes. However it is always best to leave the printer on and just let it go into sleep mode. Brother printers will automatically perform a head cleaning when it needs it, even if the unit is power off but still plugged in. All inkjet manufacturers recommend their printers stay plugged in so as not to have these excessive cleaning cycles.

 

[David Nisson]

Thanks for your advice. It doesn't make sense to me, though, that a printer should keep track of the time and perform maintenance while powered off but plugged in, and perform cleaning cycles when the power button is used to turn it on. It seems to me that the only reason for performing a cleaning cycle whenever the printer is powered is if the printer cannot keep track of the time when it is not powered. But, since this printer still keeps track of maintenance when it is powered off but plugged in, it seems to me that also performing a maintenance cycle when the power button is used is a waste of ink.

Fire safety officials generally advise not leaving machines powered on unsupervised, while printer experts often advise leaving printers powered on constantly. It seems like the responsible thing to do would be for printer manufacturers to design their printers so that people can do what is best for fire safety without additional maintenance costs for their printer.

 

[sabretooth02]

>But, since this printer still keeps track of maintenance when it is powered off but plugged in, it seems to me that also performing a maintenance cycle when the power button is used is a waste of ink.

It probably knows how long it has been since powered on and done a cleaning cycle. I've had my brother wake up at 1 pm about once every 2 weeks or so and do a short cleaning cycle.

As far as safety officials... make sure you unplug your TV because it is always on. So is your cable box, fridge, freezer, clocks and just about everything.