Brother laser and inkjet printers
MFC-J4335DW print quality: check nozzles, align after transport
For the US Brother MFC-J4335DW, a faint or streaked color and a blurred or faded image point to different checks. Brother’s US online manual says to print its four-color Print Quality Check sheet when lines or text are missing; the printed pattern decides whether cleaning is needed. For blurred or faded output after the machine has been transported, Brother instead directs owners to print the quality check first and then adjust print alignment.
The MFC-J4335DW procedure is not the DCP-J572DW sequence: this model starts quality checks and cleaning from its Ink button. Its manual offers Black only, Color only or All, followed by Normal, Strong or Strongest. Brother says cleaning consumes ink, and its Special cleaning method uses the most power and ink. The documented trigger is “several times” without improvement; Brother does not set a numeric count on this page.
Print and read the four-color check sheet
Press Ink, use the arrow keys to select Impr. PrintQuality, select that entry again, and press OK. Press the right-arrow control to print. Inspect the four color blocks. When the LCD asks about quality, choose No if every line is clear; choose Yes if lines are missing. Select the numbered pattern, 1–4, that most closely matches each color result and press OK. Brother then asks whether cleaning is needed.
This printed check is the reference for the next operation. A normal pattern means do not clean; a failed block identifies whether black, one or more color channels, or all colors need attention. Preserve it for comparison after cleaning rather than using a photo or document with mixed paper and image variables.
Clean only the affected ink channels
Press Ink, choose Print Head Cleaning and select Black only, Color only (cyan, magenta and yellow), or All. Choose Normal, Strong or Strongest, then press the right-arrow control to start. The machine cleans the head. Brother notes that this uses ink and that too-frequent cleaning uses ink unnecessarily, so make the color and strength choice from the failed pattern.
When the cycle finishes, run the Print Quality Check again from the Ink menu and compare the same color blocks. If the missing lines improve, stop when the pattern is restored. If the pattern still fails after cleaning several times, Brother says to consider Special cleaning. The manual deliberately says several times rather than a fixed count; do not invent a “three cleanings” threshold.
Use Special cleaning only after repeated normal cleaning
The MFC-J4335DW Special cleaning method requires a large amount of ink. Brother’s exact panel sequence is: press Ink, select Print Head Cleaning, then press Settings and OK simultaneously. The machine starts the cleaning. The manual says to use this method only if normal cleaning has been performed several times without print-quality improvement. It provides no duration or numeric limit for “several times,” so do not promise a fixed cycle time or count.
Do not touch the printhead; Brother warns contact can permanently damage it and may affect its warranty. After Special cleaning, print another check sheet. If gaps remain, retain the pattern and contact Brother support rather than repeating the highest-consumption method on a normal pattern.
Choose alignment for blur after transport
Brother distinguishes missing lines from blurred or faded text. If the MFC-J4335DW was transported and text now looks blurred or crooked, complete a print-quality check first. From Ink, choose Impr. PrintQuality, then Alignment. After the confirmation, choose Auto or Manual. Auto prints an alignment sheet and adjusts by scanning it; Manual asks the owner to enter information from the sheet. Load the paper size requested by the LCD and follow its prompts.
Do not clean repeatedly when the nozzle pattern is complete but text remains blurred after transport. Alignment corrects print placement; head cleaning addresses missing nozzle lines. If neither procedure fixes the output, give Brother the model MFC-J4335DW, check sheet, alignment result and whether the defect occurs on copies and computer jobs.
Stop at the owner-maintenance boundary
Brother recommends using the machine’s Power On/Off control rather than frequently unplugging it or leaving it unplugged for long periods; the support article says standby power permits periodic, less frequent printhead cleaning. Keep the printer powered as the owner manual directs. Do not touch or manually wipe the printhead.
If a check sheet remains poor after normal and Special cleaning, or if the LCD shows an error, stop and use the MFC-J4335DW support page. Provide the color block that failed, selected cleaning strength and whether alignment was attempted. This gives support model-specific evidence without guessing at a hardware failure or repeating ink-consuming routines.