Brother 'Jam Duplex': double-sided printing jam fix

What causes it

• Paper curling after the first pass through the fuser
• The duplex tray not pushed fully home
• Paper too light or too heavy for double-sided printing
• A fragment left from a previous jam inside the duplex path
• Worn duplex rollers on a machine that does heavy double-sided volume

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. Pull the duplex tray out from the rear

   Switch the machine off and let it cool for a few minutes. At the back or underneath, find the duplex tray and pull it straight out. Look inside it and into the opening it came from with a torch. Remove any sheet you find, pulling in the direction of travel with both hands.

2. Open the rear cover and check the fuser exit

   Open the rear cover and look at the area just past the fuser, where the sheet is turned for its second pass. Wait until it is cool before reaching in. Remove any jammed sheet slowly, and check for a strip of paper wrapped around a roller, which is easy to miss and causes immediate repeat jams.

3. Lift the machine and check underneath

   On many Brother lasers the duplex path runs under the main tray. With the machine off, pull the main tray out and look up into the base of the machine with a torch. Sheets that stall here are invisible from every other angle, which is why people often think they have cleared a jam that is still present.

4. Refit the duplex tray properly

   Slide the duplex tray back in until it seats with a firm stop, level and square. A duplex tray sitting a centimetre proud leaves the return path open and guarantees another jam on the next double-sided job. Check it sits flush with the back of the machine.

5. Check the paper is suitable for duplex

   Brother lasers generally want 60 to 105gsm for automatic duplex printing. Heavier card and very light paper will jam on the second pass even when they feed fine single-sided. Use standard 80gsm office paper for double-sided work and reserve heavier stock for single-sided jobs.

6. Confirm the duplex paper size setting

   Duplex on Brother lasers is normally supported for A4 and Letter only. Check the driver settings and the tray setting on the panel, and make sure the tray's rear guide is set to the paper length, since the machine uses that to time the turnaround.

7. Test with a two-page duplex job

   Print a two-page double-sided document on fresh paper from the middle of a ream. Watch the sheet go through both passes. A clean run means the fix has held; a repeat jam at the same point suggests worn duplex rollers or a fragment you have not found yet.

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