What Ink Does the Brother MFC-J1365DW Use?

Quick answer: The Brother MFC-J1365DW uses four individual LC504 cartridges, or LC504XL for high yield. This is an INKvestment model, so the yields are far higher than a typical home all-in-one: standard LC504 Black is ~600 pages and each color ~500, while LC504XL Black reaches ~1,500 pages and each color ~1,000.

Brother MFC-J1365DW Ink Cartridges at a Glance

The Brother MFC-J1365DW takes four individual cartridges. The same LC504 / LC504XL family also fits the Brother MFC-J1355DW.

There is no LC504XXL. The family runs standard and XL only.

Save on LC504 / LC504XL

Castle Ink does not currently stock LC504 cartridges, so there is nothing for us to sell you here — and we would rather say that plainly than pad the guide out. This is a newer family and we add lines as supply becomes reliable, so it is worth checking back. In the meantime you can find LC504 cartridges on Amazon — as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Everything above is the information you need to buy the right cartridge wherever you buy it.

How to Replace Ink in the Brother MFC-J1365DW

1. Leave the printer switched on. Open the ink cartridge cover on the front of the machine — the carriage does not need to move on this design, because Brother mounts the cartridges in a fixed bay.
2. Press the lock release lever for the cartridge you are changing and let it pop forward, then pull it straight out.
3. Unwrap the new cartridge and remove the orange protective cap. Do not touch the black chip contacts or the ink port.
4. Slide the new cartridge in following the arrow on the label — each color is keyed so it will only fit its own slot — and push firmly until the lever clicks.
5. Close the cover. The printer primes the line automatically; on a first install after running dry this can take a couple of minutes and is normal.
6. Print a test page from the control panel to confirm all four colors are laying down evenly before you send a real job.

Troubleshooting Tips

"Cannot Detect" or "Unable to Detect Ink": Power the printer off, remove the cartridge, and wipe the chip contacts with a dry lint-free cloth. Reseat until the lever clicks audibly — a cartridge that is in but not latched is the most common cause of this message. If it persists across every slot, the problem is the machine's contact block rather than the ink.

Blank pages or a missing color: Run Print Quality Check from the Ink menu, then Cleaning on any color that shows gaps. Two cleaning cycles is the sensible limit; if a channel is still missing after that, the blockage is in the head and needs a different approach.

Prints look faded straight after a cartridge change: Brother primes the line automatically but a long dry spell can leave air in it. Print ten pages of ordinary text and re-check — most cases clear themselves.

Ink levels look wrong: Brother's gauge is an estimate based on drop counts, not a measurement of what is left in the cartridge. Treat "low" as a prompt to order, not a reason to stop printing.

Official Brother MFC-J1365DW Resources

• Brother support home for your model
• Brother genuine supplies finder

Bottom Line

The Brother MFC-J1365DW is well served by the LC504 family, and the high-yield tier is where the cost per page actually falls. Buy the largest tier your printer supports, keep the model number written down somewhere you can find it, and ink stops being something you think about.

Written and reviewed by William Elward — Founder of Castle Ink, 20+ years in the printer & imaging supplies industry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does using compatible LC504 cartridges void my Brother MFC-J1365DW warranty?
No. Under the U.S. Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, a manufacturer cannot void your printer warranty solely because you use compatible or remanufactured cartridges. If a specific cartridge causes damage, that damage is not covered — but the rest of the warranty stands.

How are these page yields measured?
To the ISO/IEC standard for the cartridge type, at 5% page coverage on plain paper. That is a deliberately modest amount of coverage, so heavy graphics, photos or dense tables will always yield fewer pages than the rating. The numbers are useful for comparing cartridges against each other, not for predicting your exact month.

What does "INKvestment" actually mean on this printer?
It is Brother's name for a design that carries a lot more ink per cartridge and holds a reserve inside the machine, so you replace cartridges far less often than on a conventional inkjet. It does not mean refillable tanks — you still install cartridges, they just last much longer. At ~1,500 black pages, an LC504XL does roughly the work of seven standard LC401 cartridges.

Is this the same as an INKvestment Tank printer?
Not quite. Brother uses "INKvestment" and "INKvestment Tank" for different generations, and the MFC-J1365DW is the former. The practical difference is cartridge capacity and how much reserve the machine holds; both still use cartridges rather than bottles.

Shop Compatible Ink at Castle Ink

Find the right cartridge for the Brother MFC-J1365DW and every other printer we cover on the Find Ink by Printer page, or work through a fault at our printer troubleshooting center.

Buy the Brother MFC-J1365DW on Amazon: Brother MFC-J1365DW on Amazon — as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

See also: printer says ink cartridge not recognized | faded or streaky prints | printer printing the wrong colors