Brother HL-2170W makes squeaking noise while printing or starting up

noise laser-printer

15,018

Solution 1

I'm not very hopeful, but did you try the easy solutions? Going to your computer's printer settings and asking it to perform a cleaning. For my printer, there's an option to clean those rollers, or something.

If this doesn't work, well... You seem confident enough to actually play with the device. Do your best to reach the rollers in question. And then, what causes squeaking noises? If there's nothing weird around the roller and all screws look like they're where they should be, it might be in need of oil or such. Give it some lubrificant (carefully! you wouldn't want to soil your prints) where the mechanical contact is, if it looks like that's where the noise comes from.

In any case, I think it's just in need of maintenance. If you can't find the issue yourself, you could just bring it to a store where they have technicians, and they could thoroughly "revive" your printer from A to Z. Shouldn't be too expensive.

Solution 2

I have a Brother DCP-7030 (about 10 years old) and it's been making squealing noises for the last few years but has been getting progressively louder so I decided to take a chance and see if I could fix it... and guess what? I did!! And the solution was SO easy!! I took the toner cartridge out and turned it on and it still made noise so I knew it was something in the printer chassis. After turning the printer off, I opened the rear door to see if I could pinpoint where the noise was coming from when I turned it back on. I isolated the noise to the gears on the right side of the rear door (at the end of the paper rollers). Luckily they swing down so you can lube them easily. I sprayed some dry graphite lube on the gears in question and voila! the noise is gone... I ran a print test and it all works great! I hope this works for you too!

15,018

Author by

bwDraco

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Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

bwDraco almost 2 years

My Brother HL-2170W printer makes a squeaking noise when it is printing or when the print engine is starting up, such as when waking up from sleep or after closing the front cover. As far as I can tell, the squeaking noise has nothing to do with the toner or drum, but appears to be in the paper feed rollers, as the noise isn't made when the print engine starts up without the paper cassette inserted. There are no print-quality problems, so the only problem is the squeaking noise.

The printer is well out of warranty, and I'm willing to perform simple disassembly, but only as long as the risk of damage is minimal—I do not want to buy another printer. What should I do?
- Llamanerds over 11 years
  
  Have you checked fixya.com? They have lots and lots of printer tips and suggestions.
bwDraco over 11 years

I've tried it. I'm very hesitant to use any aerosol or oil, though, since this is a fire hazard.
Ariane over 11 years

Fire hazard? Uhm, to make fire, don't you need sparks or something? oo' Anyway, if you're not confident, might be best to bring it to a technician.
bwDraco over 11 years

There are warnings on the printer saying not to use aerosols because of a fire hazard. From my understanding, the fine particles of the aerosol combined with the heat of the fuser can cause a fire.
Ariane over 11 years

I believe you. But I'm still surprised. Anyway, yush. I think you should bring it to a technician.
bwDraco over 11 years

Well, this is not worth it for a sub-$100 printer. Since this isn't causing paper jams or other problems, I'll just deal with it...
Ariane over 11 years

@DragonLoad I'm sorry I couldn't help you further. But I'm still a little surprised at how you were going to disassemble the printer while not considering it worth it to bring it to a technician. Aaah, manual people. For me, disassembly is far, far, far behind bringing it to a tech in the "worth it" list. Hehe.
Sun over 9 years

This is a common issue. I have the same problem. I attribute it to Brother using cheap parts. Their products work, but never top quality material. When the roller is exposed to the air, the materials break down causing the squeaky noise. I don't recommend oiling or lubricating the roller. That could actually cause the rollers to break down faster. The lubricants are typically designed for metal on metal, not rubberized parts.
suspectus almost 9 years

Does anyone have any expert comment explaining this phenomena?
fixer1234 over 7 years

@suspectus, just stumbled across this. The only effect I can imagine would be an extremely long, light duty extension cord that dropped the voltage too much. But I don't see how even that would cause squeaking. Still two out of two... This may be one of those strange things that costs nothing to try just to see if it works, even if there isn't an obvious reason why it should if it does.
fixer1234 over 7 years

Just for clarification, you want to lubricate the mechanical parts that drive or support the rollers, like bearings and gears. not the roller surfaces. Be careful not to get any on the roller surfaces or the printer may not work correctly.
suspectus over 7 years

@fixer1234 Your reply made me think of loose or damaged connection in the extension board, or in the extension board plug. That could affect the voltage reaching the device.