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SteelBlueTJ

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 2, 2012
445
67
USA
I have Brother MFC-8220 Laser fax/printer. When I click print, it takes 30 seconds for the printer to start. I don't understand why it does this. Is it a driver issue? Printer is hard wired and not wireless. I'm running a Late-2013 iMac w/ Catalina. Most recent driver is installed, but the driver itself hasn't been updated since 2014. Thanks for any help.
 
Does it act like that with every computer? It could just be the warmup time of the printer. Both my laser printers take a while to get going. Although subsequent prints while it is still warmed up take a lot less time to get going.
 
If you are doing your first print of the day, or you have sleep settings, there is always a short delay while the fuser comes up to operating temperature. Sending a print command starts the printer, but there will always be a short delay while the fuser heats up.
It's one of the differences between the laser printer, and inkjets, which don't need to delay printing while some part of the printer heats up. That needs time.
 
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Thanks but It’s a good 30 seconds until it even starts to make the warm up sounds. I click print and the printer display lights up but no sounds. 30 seconds later it starts with the warm up sounds then it finally prints.
 
So, what you are saying is that the printer responds almost immediately (lights up), but then needs warm up time before it actually prints?
Not a software or driver problem - more than likely just a long warm up.
How long have you had this Brother printer?
Has the startup always been the same?
If you have only recently seen this slowdown, then the printer may need some maintenance...
When did you last replace the drum, for example?
If drum replacement doesn't help, then the printer may simply be at the end of its useful life, and you should consider replacing the printer. They don't last forever.
 
Mine -- also a Brother -- does something similar. I've never timed it, but it does take moment until the printer wakes up then the fans go as the fuser heats up, then some mechanical noise, then begins to feed the paper.

I will also say that Brother printers don't seem to have the fastest processors in them. They do seem to take a few moments to process the page before it prints. The longer the print job, the longer it seems to take. Not minutes, mind you, but definitely tens of seconds.
 
Mine -- also a Brother -- does something similar. I've never timed it, but it does take moment until the printer wakes up then the fans go as the fuser heats up, then some mechanical noise, then begins to feed the paper.

I will also say that Brother printers don't seem to have the fastest processors in them. They do seem to take a few moments to process the page before it prints. The longer the print job, the longer it seems to take. Not minutes, mind you, but definitely tens of seconds.

Try printing certain PDF's or photo's with an HP Laserjet. Those can sometimes take a few minutes to get going. My Brother is similar with the lighting up, spin up, &c. But never takes more than 30 seconds to get going. Put the wrong file to a Laserjet and you may be waiting five minutes to start and thirty seconds to a minute between pages.

That's just a Mac problem. Windows has PCL and PS HP laserjet drivers. While the Mac only has one type. I forget which but it can be very slow with certain document types. Windows gets the same problem if you choose the wrong driver.

I thought it was just because my HP is old. But I've experienced much newer models of Laserjet on other people's Macs. They have the same issue. That's partly why I went with Brother for color laser printing. It gets going much faster on those troublesome files. My only issue with the Brother. Even though I have everything set to black and white by default. It still eats through color toner.
 
Oddly enough, this happens to me too. My brother printer takes forever to initialize. I have an hp color jet printer that I use for color since my brother is black and white and the hp takes a couple seconds. Even for the first print of the day..
 
... I have an hp color jet printer that I use for color since my brother is black and white and the hp takes a couple seconds. Even for the first print of the day..
Of course. Ink jets don't need to warm up before printing, just a short power up. That's one advantage for inkjets over laser printers.
 
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