Updated 14/08/2017
Does this sound familiar? You press print and walk over to your Brother printer only to see an error message on the LCD screen; Unable to clean: Brother Machine error 46 or just ‘Error 46’.
You won’t believe how common this is, in fact the Error code 46 affects the majority, if not all Brother inkjet printers and there is a fix that you can try yourself to get your trusty printer working again before it takes a swan dive through the window.
We’re going to teach you what you need to know to fix your Brother printer by changing the settings and without having to replace anything.
Here’s what you’ll learn from this post:
- What causes Brother Machine Error 46 on my printer?
- What is an ink absorber / why does my printer need it?
- What is a purge counter & how do I reset it?
- How to reset and clear the Brother Machine Error 46 on your printer
What causes Brother Machine Error 46?
According to the Brother support website, Error 46 on a Brother printer is displayed when something called the ‘ink absorber pad’ is full and needs to be replaced (don’t worry, you won’t need to replace anything when trying our fix).
This is an essential part of the printer and there’s a very good reason for having a correctly functioning ink absorber pad, but it’s a lot simpler than you might think.
What’s more, the error code is often triggered when the ink absorber isn’t full, which is why there is a simple way to clear out the error and get your printer up and running again.
What is an ink absorber pad / why does my printer need it?
The ink absorber, also common in Canon printers, is simply a small sponge pad, and its purpose is to collect excess or spilled ink that builds up during printing. The pad also collects any excess ink that might be spilled when a cleaning process is run (a printer often cleans itself before or after a print cycle and this uses a large amount of ink).
If your ink absorber is full, you will firstly see excess ink on your prints. The absorber can be replaced, but will need to be done by a brother printer technician and will likely cost more than the printer is worth. Ouch!
The ink absorber pad can be found in the bottom of the printer and without it, it’s likely that your printer would eventually leak ink and stain your desk or carpet in no time without one.
Why does my printer think the ink absorber is full if it isn’t?
Once an ink absorber has been used many times it can become saturated with ink, but because there is no easy way for software to determine how saturated the sponge is, instead it roughly calculates based on the number of cleans and print cycles that the printer has performed and often as a precaution, over estimates and gives the error message before the sponge is full.
What is a purge counter & how do I reset it?
As the printer effectively counts the number of print and clean cycles, this is done by something called the purge counter. The purge counter can be reset using the menu system on your printer via the LCD panel.
How to reset and clear the Brother Machine Error 46 on your printer
Firstly before we start, check if your printer is in warranty (you will get a 1 year warranty when you buy your printer), if your warranty is still valid then always contact Brother support first of all who should fix your printer for you. Don’t attempt the following fix unless your printer is out of warranty.
To fix and clear the Error 46 message, follow these simple instructions. There are 2 different processes for those Brother printers that have a number pad like a phone (ones that can Fax), and for those that just have buttons.
Part 1 – Put the printer into Maintenance mode:
- Unplug the power cord from the side of the printer.
- Hold down either the Menu, Set or Start button (you only need to hold one which is normally the menu button, but if you don’t have a menu button, then try the Set button, grey Start button or the down arrow).
- Keeping the button pressed down, plug the power cord back in and hold the button until you see a maintenance mode message (or ‘Error 46’ as Glenn pointed out in the comments) on the screen.
- Your printer screen should now read ‘Maintenance’.
Part 2 – Resetting the Purge counter
There are different ways to reset the counter on printers that have a number keypad, compared to those that just have arrows. Here’s how to reset on each…
A – For printers with a number key pad:
- Type 80 on the keypad to open the options up.
- Use the down arrow key to scroll through the options until you see Purge followed by a number (this is the clean cycle count)
- Enter 2783 and the number next to the word PURGE should set to zero
- Press stop or exit to get back to the maintenance mode menu.
- Type 99 to exit and restart the printer.
B – For printers without number buttons (they can’t fax):
- Once in maintenance mode, follow the same instructions above but instead of setting the numbers with the key pad, use the up and down arrows to scroll through the numbers…Scroll to 8 – press OK (or Set), then scroll to 0 and press OK (or Set).
- Then scroll through the options until you see the word Purge with a count next to it.
- Using the OK button again, enter the numbers 2,7,8,3. And the purge counter will set to 00000.
Hey Presto! This should reset the purge counter back to zero and stop the Printer Error code 46 from appearing again, at least for a good while! Who knew you could do this?? Mind well and truly blown! 🙂
If you’re looking for solutions to other Brother Error codes, you can find what they mean on the Brother Support Website.
Did this help? Let us know in the comments or if you need more advice or are struggling, let me know and I’ll do my best to get back to you!
About Stuart DeavallStu is the Digital Marketing Manager at TonerGiant.co.uk and is a big fan of gadgets, technology, and being creative!
Saved my life! Error 46 came up on the same day as I had a presentation to prepare & needed colour printouts.
Only heart stop was that “Error 46” appeared instead of “Maintenance” after plugging in but all your instructions still worked fine.
Keep up the good work.
Hi Glenn,
that’s fantastic, I’m glad I could help. Thanks for the note, I’ll change the content to let everyone know about the maintenance message.
Stu
Brilliant your a life saver ( of the printer as the window was looking good)
It’s work ! Fantastic. Thank you sir for helping me out from ‘Error 46 ‘on my printer Brother MFC-295CN
Rokiah, you are welcome! 🙂
Works a treat! Thanks so much
Love it! Thanks!
Worked very well, thanks.
My MFC-440 CN printer seems to do a cleaning cycle very often, can you advise if this can be addressed or does the printer have another problem?
Hi Terry, the cleaning cycle is normally triggered each time the printer is switched on and off so the only way to reduce is to keep it in standby mode although some newer printers with larger ink tanks / print heads do automatically clean on a regular basis but I don’t think it can be changed. If yours is over cleaning it’s likely a separate issue that you’d need to speak to Brother about.
i did reset the purge counter, now its back in 0. but the machine error 46 still in display. what should i do?
If you still have the error 46 on a purge counter set to 0 then the ink absorber pad is too saturated with ink and unfortunately it would cost more to replace than get a new printer!
thanks so much it worked perfectly
Marvelous advice and fix. Even someone as hopeless as me with computers and devices managed to clear the error fault in a couple of minutes. Thank you very much.
Getting to maintenance mode by reconnecting the power cable worked where digital methods suggested by other sites had failed. Many thanks for the clear instructions, printer rescued – for a while anyway!
Brilliant saved the day, how ever had to amend the instructions somewhat for the DCP 150C but got there in the end.
Blimey! Thanks so much! Was trying to print in a panic, and the printer so nearly got that swallow dive out the window! Sorted now! Appreciate you sharing this quick-fix so simply. 🙂
Glad to help! 🙂
Pushing the menu button on MFC 5895CW does not bring it into Maintenance Mode. Tried other buttons, but nothing works. Any suggestions?
You would need to hold the menu button down as the printer is plugged back in. It’s either menu, set or start button.
Omg! It worked! Thank you so much! It was so helpful! 🙂
Thanks Stewart owe you a large drink if we ever meet until then you have my gratitude
You’re welcome Ian, I’ll send you my address if you like! 😉 Stu
HI, Thankyou so much. This fix worked. My Brother is a DCP-350C so the fix was a little different and involved the mono colour button. Not sure how I got to the correct place but I eventually did. Followed your instructions as far as they took me and then played around. Thankyou Thankyou.
Tested Solution . Thank you very much
This did not work for me. I have set purge to 0000 but the photo capture light and ! Is still flashing.
Hi Nikole,
it sounds like you may have a different type of issue than the Machine error 46. What is your printer model?
Stu
Hi there!! Thank you for the info, it worked!! The only thing was that I’ve a DCP-350c, (without the keypad), and when you get to the part that it should say ‘purge’ you have to *hold down* the ‘ok’ key whilst using the up and down buttons to find ‘purge’ from there it’s smooth sailing!! Cheers mate!!
Worked like a charm. Many thanks.
My printer doesn’t unplug from the actual printer so I tried from the power cord to the electrical outlet. It didn’t work. Any suggestions? It’s probably a 2009 or so. This came up when I didn’t add Brother ink. I used a generic brand. Hasn’t worked since.
Hi there, with the older printer models this fix won’t work. Unfortunately I’m not sure how to help. Printers life span should be around 5 years maximum so it’s likely your printer might be at the end of it’s life. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!
Do you have a fix on my Brother MFC-J3530. It won’t eneter to Maintenance. after pressing *2864 it will show Machine Err 4600. please Help!
Hi there, unfortunately I can’t find any information on machine error 4600 but it will be a different error to ‘error 46’ and so the same fix won’t work. The best advice I can give is to contact Brother as they will be able to advise what the error code means.
UNFORTUNATELY I DO NOT HAVE A BROTHER MODEL AS YOU SO ADEQUATELY EXPLAINED BUT A DCP-J4120DW WHICH DOES NOT SHOW ANYTHING EXCEPT THAT THE ABSORBER PAD IS FULL.
CAN YOU HELP WITH THIS AS I HAVE A CHURCH MAGAZINE DUE THIS WEEK END BUT IT LOOKS UNLIKELY THAT I SHALL BE ABLER TO COMPLETE THE NUMBER OF MAGAZINES REQUIRED.
Hi there, unfortunately I’m not sure if the is a way of resetting the counter for your printer model without the arrow / number keys.
Hi I took the power out on my brother mfc j220 to clear the ink absorber error but when I replaced the power the printer is not comming on
What can I do? is the printer broken now?
Hi there, unplugging the power cord is definitely not something that would break the printer. Try to push the power cord as far in to the printer as possible, it may not be inserted fully.
I did everything and reset the purge counter to zero, but the 46 came back on and I can not do anything with my printer. Any sugestions.?
Hi Gary,
if the problem is still there after resetting the purge counter then the ink absorber pad is full. Usually these instructions will work as the counter fills before the pad is full but if it is full then this won’t work. The only way to fix is for a Brother technician to replace the absorber pad.
Stu
I tried about 4 sites yesterday giving me instructions on how to Purge when you get a Code 46. All were confusing and didn’t solve my problem. I have a MFC-240C that is at least 10 years old and from what I was reading I was ready to head to Office Depot to buy a new printer. Then I read your blog and decided to try once more. Bingo!!! It took the up key instead of the down key and took me a while to realize I had to put in the purge count; but it’s back working now just fine. Still trying to figure out how to change the pad, but at least I bought some time.
Thanks for great instructions…
Can you help me I have a brother dcp135c with error 46 I’ve tried your instruction but it not working cannot seem to get purge on it I be very grateful if you can help me I’m not that technical at 770 years of age?
yours Mr Terence Shephard
Hi Terrence, thank you for your comment.
All you need to do is unplug your Brother printer from the socket. Hold down the menu button displayed in this picture:
then as you are holding the button down, plug your printer back in and keep holding the button until the menu goes into maintenance mode.
If this doesn’t work, try to hold down the down arrow button instead which is the bottom of the long button under the menu button.
Let me know how you get on.
Stu
i did reset the purge counter, now its back in 00000. but the machine error 46 still in display. what should i do? My Unit is Brother DCP-J100
Hi there, if you still have the error code then it’s likely that the ink absorber pad is full. This workaround only normally works when the message appears and the absorber pad isn’t actually full. You would need to contact Brother support for a fix but the fix would likely cost more than buying a new printer.
Hi Stuart –
Your reset procedure worked fine on my MFC-665cw,but unfortunately its problem is a clogged black printhead, and I’ve tried every solvent in my shop short of hydrochloric and/or sulfuric acic [kidding there], so have ordered a new one with hopes I can still reassemble unit after tearing it apart.
However, this note is about the ink pad:
NOT difficult to remove – just surround area with some absorbant pads plus soap and water, and grab your friendly Xacto knife, and pad come up/off quite easily. Wash in soapy water solution, and if necessary use a bit rubber cement / cyanoacrylate to reseat it.
Definitely NO Stink’in Factory Tech needed.
Thnx – – –
My MFC-J885DW does not have the buttons necessary to perform what you’re suggesting… I can get to maintenance in other ways, but there’s no number options anywhere. What would you suggest?
Hi there, here are some instructions on how to enter maintenance mode with your MFC-J885DW printer, oince you are in maintenance mode the rest of the instructions should be the same. Entering Maintenance mode on a Brother MFC-J885DW printer.