HP laserjet 4L... Black smudge when printing.... Why?

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Al Kondo

My HP laserjet 4L has been printing with a broad black smudge on the
entire left portion of each page. The smudge is about 1" wide and is
at the far left hand of the page. What is causing this?

Al Kondo
 
On Thu, 13 Nov 2003 20:59:07 GMT, in comp.periphs.printers,
My HP laserjet 4L has been printing with a broad black smudge on the
entire left portion of each page. The smudge is about 1" wide and is
at the far left hand of the page. What is causing this?
Click to expand...

Could be one of a number of things.

When does the mark appear on the paper? Before or after the fuser?

If before, does it still appear if you obstruct the laser aperture with
paper while printing? (Should get a blank sheet).

Is the mark sharpley defined or "blurred" at the edges?

Answers to the above will help point the cause to the fuser, drum,
laser/mirror assembly, electronics etc.

Dave
 
In answer to the questions posed by Dave regarding my problem with my
HP 4L, I have run into another problem which has reduced my
capapbility to further diagnose the problem. I appear to have a
roller problem as well since the paper will no longer feed. It gets
caught in the initial portion of the feeding from the paper tray. I
have tried cleaning the roller but to no avail.

I should mention that the black smudge has blurred edges and not
sharply defined. Also, I am not sure when the mark appeared...
before or after the fuser. I am still learning about the printer so
I will need further instruction on how this can be determined (that
is, after I get the paper feeding once again into the printer).
Please offer any thoughts.

Thanks, Al Kondo




When does the mark appear on the paper? Before or after the fuser?

If before, does it still appear if you obstruct the laser aperture
with
paper while printing? (Should get a blank sheet).

Is the mark sharpley defined or "blurred" at the edges?

Answers to the above will help point the cause to the fuser, drum,
laser/mirror assembly, electronics etc.
 
On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 14:09:49 GMT, in comp.periphs.printers,
In answer to the questions posed by Dave regarding my problem with my
HP 4L, I have run into another problem which has reduced my
capapbility to further diagnose the problem. I appear to have a
roller problem as well since the paper will no longer feed. It gets
caught in the initial portion of the feeding from the paper tray. I
have tried cleaning the roller but to no avail.
Click to expand...

It's probably a bit of paper from a previous jam stuck in the feed
assembly. Remove the tonar cart and look below it on the left. There's a
feed mech. there.

Also look at the Front Oblique Roller. That's on the left just above the
paper. Too much build up of paper dust there can cause repaeted jams
I should mention that the black smudge has blurred edges and not
sharply defined.
Click to expand...

That almost certainly eliminates the electronics and RAM. It probably
eliminates the laser/lens assembly. It could still be a bad tonar cart or
fuser.
Also, I am not sure when the mark appeared...
before or after the fuser. I am still learning about the printer so
I will need further instruction on how this can be determined (that
is, after I get the paper feeding once again into the printer).
Click to expand...

Easest way to check is to pull ther manual feed tray open and use that to
print from. Send a job or do a self test (press button for 2 seconds) and
then open the printer top cover as soon as the tail-end of the paper goes
in. Lift out the tonar cart and you can then check if the mark is on the
paper before it's reached the fuser. If it has appeared, you can also
check the OpC drom on the tonar car. Carefully open the flap which
protects it and see if the remaining imnage on the main shiny green drum
also has the mark on it. You can also check the foam transfer roller
(under the paper path, directly under tonar cart) Check for "banding" in
line with the mark on the paper. It could be a previous owner had a
sticky label come off and wrap round it.
Please offer any thoughts.
Click to expand...

Good luck
 
Dave, As you suggested in your message below, I fed paper throught
the manual feed tray and did a self test. I stopped the paper right
after the tail end of the paper went into the machine. The paper had
the smudges (before it hit the fuser) and were matched by a similar
mark on the drum of the toner cartridge. I guess that means that the
problem lies in the toner cartridge itself. If so, please confirm.
Thanks for your help.

Al Kondo




*******************************************************************************

Easest way to check is to pull ther manual feed tray open and use that
to print from. Send a job or do a self test (press button for 2
seconds) and then open the printer top cover as soon as the tail-end
of the paper goes in. Lift out the tonar cart and you can then check
if the mark is on the paper before it's reached the fuser. If it has
appeared, you can also check the OpC drom on the tonar car. Carefully
open the flap which protects it and see if the remaining imnage on the
main shiny green drum also has the mark on it. You can also check the
foam transfer roller (under the paper path, directly under tonar cart)
Check for "banding" in line with the mark on the paper. It could be a
previous owner had a sticky label come off and wrap round it.
 
On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 17:05:46 GMT, in comp.periphs.printers,
Dave, As you suggested in your message below, I fed paper throught
the manual feed tray and did a self test. I stopped the paper right
after the tail end of the paper went into the machine. The paper had
the smudges (before it hit the fuser) and were matched by a similar
mark on the drum of the toner cartridge. I guess that means that the
problem lies in the toner cartridge itself. If so, please confirm.
Click to expand...

Yep, it's most likely the drum. It could be that the drum is not being
cleaned properly as it rotates so you geta build up on that area of the
drum.

A good way to check this is to open the top cover and place a sheet of
paper between the tonar cart./drum and the top cover. This stops the
laser from drawing on the drum surface.

Print another page and see if the mark is on the paper. The rest of tha
page should be blank since the laser beam was blocked.

If the mark is there then it's most lilely the drum, although it *could*
be the transfer roller.

If the mark is not there, then it's most likely dust/dirt on the laser
aperture/lens assembly/mirror.

Dave
 
Dave said:
On Thu, 13 Nov 2003 20:59:07 GMT, in comp.periphs.printers,


Could be one of a number of things.

When does the mark appear on the paper? Before or after the fuser?

If before, does it still appear if you obstruct the laser aperture with
paper while printing? (Should get a blank sheet).

Is the mark sharpley defined or "blurred" at the edges?

Answers to the above will help point the cause to the fuser, drum,
laser/mirror assembly, electronics etc.

Dave
Click to expand...
I have a similar problem, but the entire A4 sheet is covered with a grey smudge. When I remove the cartridge the green coloured roller is dirty. I have pulled back the plastic cover and wiped it, but as soon as I print again it smudges. Any help will be appreciated!
 
Here is what the smudge looks like
 

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