Hi,

I have a Brother MFC-5840 CN (printer/scanner/copier/fax) that will not turn on. We had a lightning storm recently that resulted in the cable splitter needing to be replaced in order to get phone and internet service back. Cable television continued to be working.

The printer went off but was making a clicking noise from the back that progressively was getting faster and faster so we unplugged it. When we plug it in (the outlet is funtional) it will not turn on when the on/off button is pressed. After several minutes, it starts to make the same noise. There is no connection in the back of the printer to remove the power cord to try and replug it in from there.
I am wondering if lightning killed it! Any thoughts to try?

Hi,
If you are absolutely positive that the socket and the cable are working fine, the lightning caused excess voltage and fried the Power-Supply-Unit. (elecrical part inside the device). Replacing it might fix the problem but it is possible that several other parts connected to the PSU are also damaged. You should bring it to a bench, maybe they have spare-parts for testing. (Don't ask them to fix it no matter what, or you'll get a bill you won't beleve... ).

The only thing you can do yourself is opening the device and check if the fuses are okay. Fuses are small glass-pipes (half an inch) with metal on both ends. There is a very thin metal wire inside the glass, if the wire is burned (not visible any more, melted, interrupted, or the glass semms dirty from inside) the fuse is defective and hopefully avoided further damage to the device. You can get a new fuse for some cents in any electronics shop. Replacing it might fix the device. You should only do that if you have some experience with electrical devices.

Thanks NairobiPOD... went ahead and just bought a new one... :)

They are so cheap now, it seems the ink is more expensive in the long run. Glad you are up and running again.

Yeah, that's most likely the best thing you could have done!
In fact these days it seems they sell the devices with a loss, and make the money with supplies!

Damn, how frustrating. I honestly bought this at Goodwill. I saw it there with $15.00 on the price tag and laughed- "what would they put an empty, broken POS like that out here for!?"

I plugged it in, grabbed a couple sheets of paper and damn if it didn't make a copy... HHmmmm.. That says a. there's at least some Ink- later a test showed that all cartridges have ink, and the scanner worked.

A scanner- a fast and big scanner- is what I'm seeking, so I didn't care about the bottom end... The other day, while configuring the LAN and WAN, hooking it up usb and all, and THEN TRYING TO ADD MEMORY TO IT, it went dead- ca boom- nothing... Nothing I do will make it peek...

200 pounds of junk, when yesterday it was going to be my company's new best friend forever...

Mv

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