HP 1320 LaserJet printer prints too light

  • Thread starter Thread starter Geluso
  • Start date Start date
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Geluso

I bought a HP LaserJet 1320 printer less than three weeks ago. The
problem I'm having with it is that it is printing much lighter than
it should be.

I THINK the problem is that the printer is in EconoMode for the
toner. Can anyone please tell me whether the 1320 is in EconoMode
by default?

If the printer is in EconoMode by default then my next question is:
how do I get it out of this mode WITHOUT using a driver made for
Windows? Let me explain my special situation... Because I have
cerebral palsy, it would be extremely difficult for me to use a
mouse. Consequently, I work in DOS, which I love.

Therefore, as I see it, the only way I have to get the printer out
of EconoMode (if EconoMode is the problem) is for me to issue the
proper PCL or PJL command(s) to the printer. (I would have no
trouble doing this, because I am proficient in writing computer
software in QuickBasic.) My problem is: I can't find the proper
commands to get my 1320 out of EconoMode. The tech support guy at
Hewlett Packard couldn't help me with this.

So, to sum up, I'd like to know: 1. if you think my light print
problem is cause by EconoMode, and 2. if EconoMode is the problem,
what are the PCL or PJL command(s) that would get the printer out of
this mode.

Your help in this matter would be VERY, VERY much appreciated.

Bill Geluso
 
Geluso said:
I bought a HP LaserJet 1320 printer less than three weeks ago. The
problem I'm having with it is that it is printing much lighter than
it should be.

I THINK the problem is that the printer is in EconoMode for the
toner. Can anyone please tell me whether the 1320 is in EconoMode
by default?

If the printer is in EconoMode by default then my next question is:
how do I get it out of this mode WITHOUT using a driver made for
Windows? Let me explain my special situation... Because I have
cerebral palsy, it would be extremely difficult for me to use a
mouse. Consequently, I work in DOS, which I love.

Therefore, as I see it, the only way I have to get the printer out
of EconoMode (if EconoMode is the problem) is for me to issue the
proper PCL or PJL command(s) to the printer. (I would have no
trouble doing this, because I am proficient in writing computer
software in QuickBasic.) My problem is: I can't find the proper
commands to get my 1320 out of EconoMode. The tech support guy at
Hewlett Packard couldn't help me with this.

So, to sum up, I'd like to know: 1. if you think my light print
problem is cause by EconoMode, and 2. if EconoMode is the problem,
what are the PCL or PJL command(s) that would get the printer out of
this mode.

Your help in this matter would be VERY, VERY much appreciated.

Bill Geluso
Click to expand...

Bill
Firstly I doubt that economode is set by default, but maybe the printer is in
economode for some reason.
Secondly I would normally expect the problem to be the toner cartridge but
assuming you have checked this my suggestions are as follows.
1. Run two internal prints from the printer.
a. By pressing the green "go" button briefly.
b. By holding the green "go" button for 5 seconds.
The first print should give you an indication of the print quality, if it
is good then the printer itself is probably behaving normally.
The second print will tell you exactly how the printer is set up. This
includes whether economode is on or off and what print density it is set for
(default is 3, range is 1-5).
2. If economode is on or the print density is lower than 3 the easiest way to
fix this is to do a cold reset on the printer as follows.
Important note: This will reset the printer to factory defaults, the only
setting that is critical is the jetdirect setting. Since you stated that your
printer is a 1320 and that you are running DOS I am assuming that it does not
have an "n" (for network) suffix eg 1320n. If I am right in this assumption you
can ignore the jetdirect comments above, if it is a network printer the second
printout from 1a should provide the jetdirect information which you may need to
keep for future reference.
Cold Reset Procedure:-
a. Turn the printer power off
b. Press and "hold" the green "go" button whilst turning the printer on.
c. Continue to hold the go button for at least 5 seconds and until the amber
attention light turns on (triangle with ! in the middle), this should occur
before 15 seconds elapses.
d. Release the go button.
Factory defaults should now be reset and you can check using 1a whether any
changes occurred.

If the original 1a printout was poor (light) and a cold reset has not fixed the
problem and you have replaced the toner cartridge then I suspect the printer
needs service, hopefully it is under warranty.

Please report back, if you would like the PJL technical reference guide which
covers all the commands I will e-mail it to you, please advise. I am not
skilled at talking to printers from DOS but it sounds like you know what you
are doing.
Good luck
Tony
 
Tony said:
Geluso <[email protected]> wrote:
>I bought a HP LaserJet 1320 printer less than three weeks ago. The
>problem I'm having with it is that it is printing much lighter than
>it should be.
>
>I THINK the problem is that the printer is in EconoMode for the
>toner. Can anyone please tell me whether the 1320 is in EconoMode
>by default?
>
>If the printer is in EconoMode by default then my next question is:
>how do I get it out of this mode WITHOUT using a driver made for
>Windows? Let me explain my special situation... Because I have
>cerebral palsy, it would be extremely difficult for me to use a
>mouse. Consequently, I work in DOS, which I love.
>
>Therefore, as I see it, the only way I have to get the printer out
>of EconoMode (if EconoMode is the problem) is for me to issue the
>proper PCL or PJL command(s) to the printer. (I would have no
>trouble doing this, because I am proficient in writing computer
>software in QuickBasic.) My problem is: I can't find the proper
>commands to get my 1320 out of EconoMode. The tech support guy at
>Hewlett Packard couldn't help me with this.
>
>So, to sum up, I'd like to know: 1. if you think my light print
>problem is cause by EconoMode, and 2. if EconoMode is the problem,
>what are the PCL or PJL command(s) that would get the printer out of
>this mode.
>
>Your help in this matter would be VERY, VERY much appreciated.
>
>Bill Geluso

Bill
Firstly I doubt that economode is set by default, but maybe the printer is in
economode for some reason.
Secondly I would normally expect the problem to be the toner cartridge but
assuming you have checked this my suggestions are as follows.
1. Run two internal prints from the printer.
a. By pressing the green "go" button briefly.
b. By holding the green "go" button for 5 seconds.
The first print should give you an indication of the print quality, if it
is good then the printer itself is probably behaving normally.
The second print will tell you exactly how the printer is set up. This
includes whether economode is on or off and what print density it is set for
(default is 3, range is 1-5).
2. If economode is on or the print density is lower than 3 the easiest way to
fix this is to do a cold reset on the printer as follows.
Important note: This will reset the printer to factory defaults, the only
setting that is critical is the jetdirect setting. Since you stated that your
printer is a 1320 and that you are running DOS I am assuming that it does not
have an "n" (for network) suffix eg 1320n. If I am right in this assumption you
can ignore the jetdirect comments above, if it is a network printer the second
printout from 1a should provide the jetdirect information which you may need to
keep for future reference.
Cold Reset Procedure:-
a. Turn the printer power off
b. Press and "hold" the green "go" button whilst turning the printer on.
c. Continue to hold the go button for at least 5 seconds and until the amber
attention light turns on (triangle with ! in the middle), this should occur
before 15 seconds elapses.
d. Release the go button.
Factory defaults should now be reset and you can check using 1a whether any
changes occurred.

If the original 1a printout was poor (light) and a cold reset has not fixed the
problem and you have replaced the toner cartridge then I suspect the printer
needs service, hopefully it is under warranty.

Please report back, if you would like the PJL technical reference guide which
covers all the commands I will e-mail it to you, please advise. I am not
skilled at talking to printers from DOS but it sounds like you know what you
are doing.
Good luck
Tony
Click to expand...

Tony,

Your instructions were very useful.

Thank you very much. It worked with 1320n for me. I dont know how but the econo mode was set to ON and I was not able to figure out how to disable it. In case, if I want to only disable Econo mode without restting the printer to factory defaults, how can I do that ? Also if I want to change the density value from 3 to 5, how can I change it ?
 
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