Brother Original Toners


Fuser and Drum



Spares








Brother HL-5000 Series

Model Number HL-50.

Laser Printer HL-5030, 5040, 5050 and HL-5070N

A4 / US-letter mono laser printers with a speed up to 17 pages per minute, native resolution of 600 dpi but enhanced resolution up to 2400x600dpi for photographs. Memory is limited at 8MB but on the 5040 and above it can be expanded.

This series of printers was launched in 2003. It succeeded in the market and was replaced in 2004 by the very similar HL-5100 series

These printers use a separate toner cartridge and photoconductive drum. Cartridges have a life of 3,500 pages or 6,500 pages and the drum has a life of 20,000 pages. The drum needs to be changed when the "drum" light comes on although the user can still continue printing until they find print quality has declined.

Printers in this family are:

DCP-8020, DCP-8025D, DCP-8025DN, HL-1650, HL-1670N, HL-1850, HL-1870N, HL-5040, HL-5050, HL-5070N, MFC-8420, MFC-8820D and MFC-8820DN.

Control:

4 LEDs and 2 Buttons.

The printer normally indicates Paper, Toner and Drum errors by lighting the appropriate lights.

The HL-5070 comes with BRAdmin Professional software. BRAdmin Professional is a Windows only utility for managing your Brother network enabled printers that are running under Windows 95/98/Me, Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000/XP.

It allows easy configuration and status check of network printers.

Web BRAdmin:

The Web BRAdmin software is designed to manage all LAN/WAN Brother network connected devices.By installing the Web BRAdmin server software on a computer running IIS, Administrators with a Web browser can connect to the Web BRAdmin server, which then communicates with the device itself. Unlike the BRAdmin Professional software - which is designed for Windows systems only - the Web BRAdmin server software can be accessed from any client computer with a web browser that supports Java.

As usually happens where a printer just has lights on the control panel the printer gives maintenance messages through obscure combinations of lit and flashing light. Information on interpreting them is scattered through the User and Service manuals. Chapter 7 of the service manual gives some hardware errors.

Hardware Errors:

If all the LEDs flash and "service" is red that indicates a service call of some kind is needed (see section 5.3 of the Service Manual). The service manual recommends power down, taking any expansion RAM out, then power up and see if the error is still present. Press "Go" and "Job Cancel" and if it still persists the problems are:

  • Status Red and Toner lit Yellow = Fixing unit failure (fuser)
  • Status Red and Drum lit Yellow = Laser unit failure (scanner)
  • Status Red and Paper lit Yellow = Main motor failure
  • Status Yellow and Toner lit Yellow = Main PCB failure (formatter)
  • Status Yellow and Drum lit Yellow = Engine PCB failure (DC Controller)
  • Status Yellow and Paper lit Yellow = DIMM failure (Expansion memory)

Duty Cycle:

Brother don't seem to give duty cycle figures, such figures are often misleading anyway.

In the Service Manual they say:

The meantime between failure (MTBF and the meantime to repair (MTTR) for this printer are as follows;

MTBF: Up to 4,000 hours

MTTR: Average 30 minutes except the periodical maintenance parts (the Paper Feeding Kit)and the printer control boards whose MTTR is average 10 minutes.

Up to 17 ppm when printing on Letter size paper

Up to 16 ppm when printing on A4 size paper

Time to first print less than 12 seconds.

Scanner Abilities:

The HL-50 engine is also used as a multifunction printer

True 600x 600 dpi using microfine toner

Resolution can be set as follows: 300 dpi 600 dpi HQ 1200 (For HL-5040, HL-5050 and HL-5070N)

Paper Handling:

A4 / Letter width

Media Types: - Select the correct media type from the printer driver. Plain paper, Bond paper, Thick Paper, Thicker Paper, Transparencies, Labels - use the thicker paper setting, Envelopes, Envelopes Thin, Envelope Thick. Card stock - use the thicker paper setting.

Recommended Papers: Xerox Premier 80 gsm, Xerox Business 80 gsm, Modo DATACOPY 80 gsm, IGEPA X-Press 80, Xerox Recycled Supreme, Transparency: 3M CG3300, Labels: Avery laser label L7163

Tray 1:

A manual feed tray (1 sheet feed) for HL-5030 and HL-5040 - Width: 69.8 to 220mm (2.75 to 8.66 in.). Length: 116 to 406.4 mm (4.57 to 16 in.) Single sheet. Weights 60 to 161 g/m2 (16 to 43 lb)

Multi-purpose tray (MP tray) for HL-5050 and HL-5070N - Width: 69.8 to 220mm (2.75 to 8.66 in.). Length: 116 to 406.4 mm (4.57 to 16 in.) 50 sheets. (75 g/m2 or 20 lb)

Tray 2:

Optional lower tray unit For HL-5040, HL-5050 and HL-5070N A4, Letter, Legal, B5 (ISO), Executive, A5 -250 sheets (75 g/m2 or 20 lb)

Face Down:

150 Sheet face-down output on top of the printer

Face Up:

HL-5030 and HL-5040 take one sheet face-up on the rear printer flap.

HL-5050 and HL-5070N take 25 sheets face-up on the rear printer flap.

Duplex:

Manual Duplex only. The HL5100 series introduced automatic duplexing.

Processor:

Fujitsu SPARClite 133MHz

Memory:

Base Memory: L-5030 - 4M HL-5040 - 8MB HL-5050, HL-5070N - 16MB

The HL-5030 is a GDI printer, it has just 4MB of RAM and no expansion options.

The User Guide says:

For HL-5040

This printer has 8 MB of standard memory and a slot for optional additional memory. The memory can be expanded up to a total of 136MB by installing a commercially available DIMM (Dual In-line Memory Module).

For HL-5050 and HL-5070N

These printers have 16 MB of standard memory and a slot for optional additional memory. The memory can be expanded up to a total of 144 MB by installing a commercially available DIMM (Dual In-line Memory Module).

Type : 100 pin and 32 bit output

CAS Latency: 2 or 3

Clock Frequency: 66MHz or more

Capacity: 16, 32, 64 Mbyte or 128 Mbyte

Height: 35 mm (1.4 inches) or less

Parity: NONE

DRAM Type: SDRAM 4 Bank

Interface:

HL-5030: Hi-Speed USB 2.0 HL-5040 and HL-5050 IEEE 1284 Parallel and Hi-Speed USB 2.0*3 HL-5070N: IEEE 1284, Parallel, Hi-Speed USB 2.0, 10/100 BaseTX

Network:

Optional network connection for the HL-5040, HL-5050 and HL-5070: 10/100BaseTX (NC-2010P and NC-2100P)

Network Protocols:

Briefly: TCP/IP, AppleTalk, IPX/SPX, DLC/LLC

Protocols:TCP/IP (RARP, BOOTP, DHCP, APIPA, NetBIOS, WINS, SSDP,Rendezvous, LPR/LPD, Port9100, POP3/SMTP, SMB, IPP, FTP,TELNET, SNMP, HTTP, TFTP), Netware IPX/SPX (Bindey and NDS), Appletalk, DLC/LLC.

Management: Web Based Management (HTTPD) BRAdmin Professional (using TCP/IP protocol or IPX/SPX) SNMP, MIB II as well as Brother private MIB TELNET command console Web BRAdmin

Firmware update: Flash ROM based for Network module Can be upgraded using TFTP/FTP Can be upgraded using IPX/SPX

Easy upgrade using Brother BRAdmin Professional Utility Network Reset. With no control panel the printer defaults to getting an IP address by APIPA or DHCP. If the printer has a permanent setting that needs to be changed it can be reset to factory defaults. Printers may have a small test switch next to the network port. Holding this switch for up to 20 seconds will reset the print server.

The HL-5030 is a Windows GDI Printer. The HL-5040 has PCL6. The HL-5050 and HL-5070N have automatic language selection between emulations of EPSON (default): HP LaserJet, BR-Script 3, EPSON FX-850 IBM: HP LaserJet, BR-Script 3, IBM ProPrinter XL Fonts: PCL6: 49 scalable fonts, 12 bimap fonts, 11 bar codes Bar Codes are: Code39, Interleaved 2 of 5, EAN-8, EAN-13, UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-128, Codabar, FIM(US-PostNet), ISBN, Code128

System Compatability:

The HL-5030 is a Windows GDI Printer The HL-5040 is a PCL6 printer. Windows machines and many Linux machines will connect The HL-5050 and HL-5070N provide Bothers BR-Script 3 PostScript emulation, most systems support this.

Power:

U.S.A. and Canada:AC 110 to 120V, 50 Hz/60 Hz

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

Power Consumption:

The printers have a standby mode where they are immediately ready for use and a sleep mode where they will take a few seconds to warm up and print.

Printing: Less than 460 W

Standby: Less than 75 W

Sleep: Less than 5 W

The HL-5070N uses 6W. There are several reports on the web of people experiencing problems with UPSs when using these printers.Generally a laser printer should not be plugged into a UPS with less than 1500KVA rating because printers draw a very high momentary power for the fuser heater.

However some people suggest problems even when the printer is NOT plugged into the UPS. That suggests the printer power supply might be generating interference in some situations.

Dimension:

Dimensions (W D H)

HL-5030, HL-5040: 382 383 252 mm (15.0 15.1 9.9 in.)

HL-5050, HL-5070N: 382 401 252 mm (15.0 15.8 9.9 in.)

When the lower tray is installed, the total height (printer + lower tray) will be 353mm.

Weight:

HL-5030/5040: Approx. 10.5 kg (Included Toner and Drum) Approx. 9.1 kg (Excluded Toner and Drum)

HL-5050/5070N: Approx. 11.5 kg (Included Toner and Drum) Approx. 10.1 kg (Excluded Toner and Drum)

Acoustic Noise:

Noise level:

Printing 50 dB

Standby Less than 30 dB

Consumables:

The printer uses: toners with a life of 3,300 or 6,500 pages drums with a life of 18,500 to 20,000 pages and beyond pickup rollers with a life of 50,000 pages fusers with a life of 80,000 pages.If these parts are replaced and the electrical contacts are kept clean the printer can have a very long life.

TN530 / TN560 Toner cartridges with a separate drum for economy.

TN-530 - Standard Toner Cartridge Yields 3,300 pages @ 5% coverage

TN-560 - High-Yield Toner Cartridge Yields 6,500 pages @ 5% coverage



Drum and DeveloperDrum:

The drum and developer unit is separate from the toner cartridges and has a life about 3 times as long as the long-life toners - 20,000 pages. The printer will indicate that the drum is exhausted by lighting the "Drum" warning. The printer can still be used but at some point printing will degrade and then the normal action is to replace the unit. (It can be cleaned and re-used but the job is messy and doesn't always work).

This HL-5000 series drum uses a corona wire which may become contaminated with dust from time to time. The user slides a blue tab back and forth a couple of times to clean the wire. Return the blue tab to it's home position or there will be a vertical mark down the page.

Drum and Developer

DR500 Drum

Replacing the drum involves taking the toner-drum assembly out of the printer and then unlocking the toner from the drum using the blue lever.

After replacing the drum unit the drum counter needs to be reset. Instructions for doing this come with the new drum but briefly:Put the drum unit with the toner installed in the printer. With the printer turned on and the front cover open the Status LED is red. Press and hold the "Go" button until all 4 LEDS are lit, now release the Go button.Close the front cover Make sure the Drum LED has now turned off.

Fuser:

The fuser is at the rear of the printer; Brother call it a fixing unit. This sub-assembly uses heat and pressure to make toner powder sticky and adhere it to the page. The fuser has a heated roller which is a metal tube coated with non stick material such as Teflon; down the centre of this tube there is a halogen lamp to provide the heat.

The heated tube has to be as non-stick as possible, otherwise part melted toner will stick to it and reappear as a shadow print on the page - called "offsetting". The roller loses it's qualities over time; Brother suggest a life of 80,000 pages. Other possible faults are a failure of the halogen lamp (vibration, power surge) and ultimately the plastic bearings and cogs of the fuser will degenerate. Engineers differ in how they deal with a failed fuser. At one time it was common to buy the parts and repair the fuser itself and Brother give information on how to do this in section 3.13 of the service manual. Most people just buy a replacement fuser.

To get at the fuser the rear drop-down tray and cover needs to be removed. The fuser itself is a long black assembly with power wires at one side and the thermistor wires at the other. Turn the printer power off, unplug it,and leave it for ten minutes before handling the fuser. The power wires carry mains voltage and could give an electric shock. The fuser itself is hot in operation and could scald anyone handling it.Unplug the wires and there are two screws holding the fuser in place.

Fuser

LM2216001 Fixing Unit (230V) 80,000 pages (Service manual gives LJ7898001)

Fuser

LM2215001 Fixing Unit (115V) 80,000 pages (Service manual gives LJ7897001)

Maintenance Kit:

Periodic maintenance is covered in chapter 5 of the service manual. There is no explicit "maintenance kit". If the fixing-unit and paper feed rollers must both be replaced buy them as items.

LJ7920001 Paper Feeding Kit; Pad holder ZL2 / Paper pick-up roller assembly ZL2 50,000 pages

Spares:

Instructions for replacing parts of the MP unit are in section 3.12 of the Service Manual. The main paper feed is covered in chapter 5 section 3.20.

LM2050001 Pickup Roller

LJ7920001 Kit - Feed Roller Assembly and Pad

LJ7555001 Multipurpose Pad

Whats-In-the-Box:

Printer, Drum UnitAssembly(with Toner Cartridge included), Quick Setup Guide, CD-ROM, AC Power Cord. ;No interface cable is provided; in this case there's an excuse because the printer has parallel and USB ports and the HL-5070N has a network port.

Warranty:

These printers are beyond warranty age.

Service:

We provide service in North East England only


Options and Accessories:

Lower Tray Unit LT-5000,

DIMM

HL-5030 No options available

HL-5040 Ethernet as option, lower tray as option, base memory 8MB, extra memory to 136MB using a DIMM

HL-5050 Ethernet as option, lower tray as option, base memory 16MB, extra memory to 144MB using a DIMM