Brother 'Drum Error': corona wire and drum unit fix

What causes it

• Toner dust and paper fibres on the primary corona wire
• The green cleaning tab left part way along instead of in its home position
• The drum unit not fully seated in the machine
• Toner spilled inside the drum frame after a cartridge leak
• On colour models, a drum unit not detected or fitted in the wrong slot

How to fix it, in order

Work down the list and stop when the printer recovers. The steps are ordered from most likely and least invasive to last resort.

1. Clean the corona wire with the green tab

   Open the front cover and pull out the drum and toner assembly. On the top of the drum unit is a green tab. Slide it fully from left to right and back again five or six times, firmly and without rushing. Finish with the tab returned to its home position at the far left, where it clicks. Leaving it anywhere else causes vertical streaks on every page.

2. Reseat the assembly properly

   Push the drum and toner assembly back into the machine level, until it stops with a firm seat, then close the front cover until it latches. An assembly that is slightly proud does not make proper contact with the high-voltage terminals, which is read as a charging fault and reported as Drum Error.

3. Wipe the electrical contacts

   With the assembly out, look at the metal contacts on the side of the drum frame and the matching contacts inside the machine. Wipe both with a dry lint-free cloth to remove toner dust. Do not use liquid, and never touch the green drum surface itself, since fingerprints there transfer straight onto printed pages.

4. Check for a toner spill inside the drum frame

   Look inside the drum unit for loose toner. If a cartridge has leaked, wipe the frame carefully with a dry cloth, keeping well away from the green drum roller. Loose toner accumulating around the corona wire will keep bringing the error back within days if you do not deal with it.

5. On colour models, check each drum in turn

   Colour Brother lasers have four drum units in a drawer that pulls out at the front. Pull the drawer out fully and check each unit is seated in its correct colour position and pushed down until it locks. The colour label on each drum must match the label on the drawer slot.

6. Restart and print a test page

   Close everything, switch the machine off and on with the power button, and print a test page from Menu, then Printer, then Print Options, then Test Print. Look for vertical white or dark lines running the length of the page, which indicate the corona wire needs another clean or the drum surface is damaged.

7. Consider drum age if the error keeps returning

   Brother drum units are rated in the region of 12,000 to 15,000 pages on the mono L2000 range. If the machine has done that kind of volume and cleaning does not clear the error for long, the drum itself is worn and a new DR-series unit is the answer, which is a straightforward user replacement.

Frequently asked questions