Brother HL-2400C

A big colour laser printer using four toner-developers in a stack facing onto an OPC belt which in turn transfers images onto a drum. This printer is old, launching in November 1997. At the time they were regarded as something of a price breakthrough with a $3499 price tag. The competition was similarly sized machine like the HP CLJ 4500 which used a carousel mechanism.

The printer doesn't use a toner carousel like the CLJ 4500, instead it builds the image onto an intermediate transfer drum. Building the image on the drum also makes the printer rather slow - just 4 pages per minute producing colour documents. It does use big cartridges with a life of 10,000 pages black and 6,000 pages colour so that might compensate.

There is a CN version of the printer which has a network card and a CE version.

Some parts for this printer are still available in UK distribution in 2012

Control:

Control Panel in Brother's old style on the top left of the printer:

LCD: 16 character by 2 lines

LEDs for: Ready, On Line and Data.

8 Buttons: Select button, Form Feed / Feeder button, Alarm LED, Mode / Emulation button, Font / Economy button, ^ / Test button, Continue / Shift button, Set / Copy button v / Reset button.

The printer can be powered up in Video Controller or Engine Controller mode.

Duty Cycle:

Brother don't give duty cycle figures. They often do give MTBF and MTTR but not in this case.

The printer transfers images first onto an OPC belt and then colour images are built on a drum. Colour printing is at a quarter the speed of mono print.

Monochrome mode:16 page/minute (A4/Letter-size)

Full colour mode: 4 page/minute (A4/Letter-size)

Warm-up: Max. 3 minute at 20C (68F)

First print:

  • Monochrome mode: 19 seconds or less
  • Full colour mode: 30 seconds or less

When loading A4/Letter-size paper by face down print delivery from standard upper cassette feed.

Fax Abilities:

As with several of Brother's older printers there is a fax function using a external fax modem.

300 x 300 dots per inch (Normal)

600 x 600 dots per inch (Fine)

The resolution can be enhanced to 2400 dpi class by using the HRC(High Resolution Control) and CAPT (Colour Advanced Photoscale Technology) features.

Paper Handling:

A4 paper path with the option for a special US-legal sized cassette.

Manual Feed:

No MP tray or manual feed slot is provided. However there is a manual feed command and when it is given the printer will show T1 MANUAL FEED ****SIZE - put the paper in tray 1 and the machine will print as though from an MP tray.

Standard Media Cassette:

Plain paper from 105 mm x 220 mm (4.1" x 8.7") to 216 mm x 297 mm (8.5" x 11.7")

Standard cut sheet : Letter, A4, B5(ISO), B5(JIS), Executive, OHP film : 50 Envelope: COM 10, DL

Media Weight: 60 to 160 gsm (16 to 43 lbs)

Overhead projector (OHP) films (up to 50 sheets can be loaded)

There is an optional legal cassette .

Processor:

MB86832 100 (SPARC architecture CPU Made by Fujitsu)

Memory:

Memory is used as a receive buffer and work area for the CPU primarily to build the raster image of the page.

16MB Base Memory. Network Model 32MB.

SIMM (Single-Inline-Memory-Module) allows memory extension by up to 96MB. 3 SIMM sockets are available.

Expandable up to 112Mbytes with SIMMs

The following type of SIMM can be installed into any of the 3 slots.

  • Appearance: 72-pin
  • Memory type: Fast page or EDO (automatic selection)
  • Access time: less than 80nsec.
  • Parity: either Parity or Non-parity can be used
  • Memory capacity: 1MB, 2MB, 4MB, 8MB, 16MB, 32MB

Card Slots:

  • 2 card slots: PCMCIA Type I, II
  • 1 card slot: PCMCIA Type III
  • Compatible for Flash Memory or HDD cards

Interface:

Automatic interface selection between the bi-directional parallel, RS-232C serial and MIO interface.

Network:

The HL-2400CN has a network interface installed in the MIO slot.

Emulation: Automatic emulation selection

  • HP Colour Printer (PCL5C) including HP LaserJet 4+ (PCL5e) and HP
  • LaserJet 5 (PCL6 monochrome)
  • BR-Script Level 2 (Adobe PostScript Level 2 compatible)
  • HP-GL
  • EPSON FX-850
  • IBM Proprinter XL

Resident Printer Fonts:

  • HP PCL, EPSON FX-850, and IBM Proprinter XL modes, 66 scalable fonts and 12 bitmapped fonts.
  • BR-Script Level 2 mode, 66 scalable fonts

System-Compatibility:

This printer is from the age of Windows 95 and 98. Given the emulation of PCL 5 and PostScript Level 2 it should work with most systems.

The CUPS print system has an entry specifically for the HL-2400CeN offering Postscript. (although the driver recommended is for the HL-1200 which is mono).

Power:

US and Rest of World Models:

U.S.A. and Canada: AC 120V, 50/60Hz

Europe and Australia: AC 220 to 240V, 50/60Hz

Power Consumption:

Printing: 450W or less

Standing by: 150W or less

Sleep: 25W or less

Dimensions:

500 x 490 x 388 mm (19.7 x 19.3 x 15.3 inches)

500 x 490 x 493 mm (19.7 x 19.3 x 19.4 inches)

with the optional lower tray unit fitted

Weight:

Approx. 32kg (70.5lbs.)

Approx. 36kg (79.4lbs.)

with the optional lower tray unit and toner cartridges fitted

Moving this printer needs at least two people.

Acoustic Noise:

Printing: 55dB A or less

Standing by: 48dB A or less

Consumables:

TN01C TN01M TN01Y TN01BK

The printer uses four toner-developer cartridges:

TN01C HL-2400C Cyan Toner Cartridge - TN01C

TN01M HL-2400C Magenta Toner Cartridge - TN01M

TN01Y HL-2400C Yellow Toner Cartridge - TN01Y

TN01BK HL-2400C Black Toner Cartridge - TN01BK

The toner cartridges in this printer are big and quite inexpensive for their 10,000 page lives and that might encourage users to go with the machine despite the high cost of some of OPC Belt, Fuser and 120K kit. Its an old machine and resolution wouldn't be considered good by today's standards, but for marketing material it can still produce colourful material.

WT1CL Waste Toner Cartridge

Drum:

There is an image transfer drum which is changed as part of the "120K" maintenance procedure - see below. The surface can periodically cleaned with a clean but damp cloth then allowed to dry. The drum should not be touched with fingers or cleaned with solvents. (Never use household cleaners on any laser-printer parts, ammonia will destroy photoconductor materials)

OPC Belt:

In this printer the OPC belt is used to get the image from each of a set of toner-developers.

OP1CL HL-2400C OPC Belt Cartridge. Yield up to 50,000 pages or 12 months whichever comes first - OP-1CL

The printer will give the message "LJ READY 001P T1 REPLACE OPC BELT".

The transfer belt may need periodic cleaning with a dry or damp cotton cloth, it should be wiped dry before it is used and should not be exposed to direct light for more than 2 minutes. The corona wire may need cleaning with the brush supplied in the printer.

Fuser:

The fuser in a laser printer adheres toner powder to the page using pressure and heat. A problem for the fuser is to avoid toner sticking to the rollers, which is done using a non-stick material and in some cases a thin layer of fuser oil. Colour printers are particularly difficult because there is usually a lot more toner on the page.

The non stick material ultimately wears out and the fuser needs replacing. The fuser in the HL-2400C has a rather short life of 40,000 prints.

The printer will give the message "LJ READY 001P T1 REPLACE FUSER"

Fuser numbers are given as:

  • UH3470001 US
  • UH3471001 EC and UK 220 Volt fuser

The manual suggests fusers can be ordered as the "40K" Kit - however that does not seem to be available in distribution.

  • UH3508001 US
  • UH3509001 EC 40K Kit.

The printer will give the message "FUSER OIL LOW", "23 OIL EMPTY", "REPLACE FCR" "24 CHANGE FCR" means change the fuser cleaner. The fuser cleaner is a separate kit CR-1CL.

  • FO1CL HL-2400C Fuser Cleaning Kit -1x Oil and Roller FO1CL
  • CR1CL HL-2400C Fuser Cleaning Roller CR1CL

These are still listed by UK distributors - although they may not have immediate stock


Maintenance Kit:

The printer will give the message"LJ READY 001P T1 REPLACE 120K KIT"

  • UH3510001 The 120K kit including the transfer roller, paper discharger unit, drum cleaner, ozone filter paper feed roller separator pad and transfer drum can be ordered as UH3510001

Parts are

UH3480001 Transfer Roller, transfers toner from the transfer drum to the page (120,000 prints)

UH3481001 Paper Discharger Unit, separates paper from the transfer drum (120,000 prints)

UH3483001 Drum Cleaner, Cleans residual toner from the transfer drum (120,000 prints)

UH3485001 Paper Feed Roller Together with the separator pad picks up paper (120,000 prints)

UH3486001 Separator Pad (120,000 prints)

UH3484001 Transfer Drum forms the image ready for transfer to paper (300K images 120k prints

UH1945001 Ozone Filter, Replace every 12 months. The printer gives the message "REPLACE FILTER"

Spares:

The spares list below are those that seem to have been used or are present in UK distribution in March 2010. Given the age of the printer it would not be a surprise if the manufacturer were to discontinue spares.

UH3510001, HL2400C 120K Maintenance Kit

UH1943001, Developer Drive Unit

UH1945001, Ozone Filter

UH1949001, Belt Sensor

UH3456001, Operator Panel Pcb

UH3458001, Outer Front Cover

UH3462001, Paper Exit Roller

UH3485001, Paper Feed Roller

UH3498001, Transfer Solenoid

UK3900001, Control Pcb (HL2400)

Whats-In-The-Box:

The printer came with a standard cassette, user's guide printer driver disks oil bottle, oil syringe, fuser cleaner, four cartridges, an OPC belt and a power cord.

Warranty:

These printers are long out of any manufacturer warranty.

Services:

We offer service in North East England. In the unlikely event you want to put one of these on contract anywhere in the UK phone to discuss it.

Copyright G & J Huskinson & MindMachine Associates Ltd 2013, 2015. Some pictures derived from Brother User and Service guides. These technical pages do not constitute an offer for sale; just our knowledge at the time of writing. See the catalog. Sales pages on this Web site use cookies to store user information. We also use Google Analytics to track site usage patterns.