Brother 'Drum !': the corona wire cleaning prompt explained

What causes it

• Normal accumulation of toner dust and paper fibres on the corona wire
• The green cleaning tab left out of its home position after a previous clean
• Heavy printing on recycled or dusty paper
• A leaking toner cartridge shedding loose toner into the drum frame
• The drum unit approaching the end of its rated life

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. Take out the drum and toner assembly

   Open the front cover and let the machine cool for a few minutes if it has been printing, since parts near the fuser get hot. Pull the drum unit and toner cartridge out together, holding them level, and set them on a sheet of newspaper away from bright light. Do not leave the drum exposed to daylight for more than a few minutes.

2. Slide the green tab several times

   Find the green tab on the top of the drum unit. Slide it firmly from the far left to the far right and back, five or six times, so the small pad inside runs the full length of the corona wire. Do not rush it, since a quick flick does not clean the whole wire.

3. Return the tab to its home position

   Finish by sliding the tab all the way back to the left until it clicks into its home marking. This step matters more than people expect: a tab left mid-travel blocks part of the corona wire and produces a distinct vertical stripe down every printed page.

4. Wipe out loose toner

   Look inside the drum frame and around the wire channel for loose toner and paper dust, and wipe it away with a dry lint-free cloth. Keep well clear of the green photosensitive roller. If there is a lot of loose toner, check whether the toner cartridge is leaking and replace it if so.

5. Refit and close the cover

   Slide the assembly back into the machine level until it seats firmly, then close the front cover until it latches. The message normally clears as soon as the cover closes, since the machine rechecks the drum condition at that moment.

6. Print a test page and look for stripes

   Print a test page and examine it for vertical white lines, which indicate a section of the corona wire is still dirty, or repeating marks down the page, which indicate damage to the drum surface. Repeat the cleaning if you see white lines; repeating marks mean the drum needs replacing.

7. Note how quickly it returns

   If Drum ! comes back within a few hundred pages of a proper clean, the drum unit is nearing the end of its useful life or the environment is unusually dusty. A DR-series drum is a user-fitted part and replacing it is straightforward.

Frequently asked questions