Dell 3100cn printer prints badly on envelopes and labels

[resonator80]

I have a Dell 3100cn color printer which works fine on plain paper.

However, when I try to print envelopes (which I put through the mpf)
it prints the address at the right location and then a faint but
definite image of the address a few inches to the left of the real
address. This makes the envelope unusable.

Second, I have tried to print Avery 6267 return address labels with
fairly disastrous results. I prepared the table of labels which work
OK on plain paper. However, on the Avery labels, many faint copies of
my address are also printed and overlap the real addresses.

It doesn't seem to matter whether the paper comes from the lower tray
or from the mpf.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Bill Edelstein
Baltimore

 

[John Smith]

Saw this Dell in Wal-Mart when I was buying the Canon MP520. Don't know much
about the Dell, but I'm sure the MP520 is trouble free like all other Canon
no matter what I print. Return the Dell if you still can. I also print
shipping labels and envelops daily, too much troubles with a $200 HP. My
son's $50 Canon never any problem for years, so I switched my main printer
to Canon. No way back.

 

[Tony]

I have a Dell 3100cn color printer which works fine on plain paper.

However, when I try to print envelopes (which I put through the mpf)
it prints the address at the right location and then a faint but
definite image of the address a few inches to the left of the real
address. This makes the envelope unusable.

Second, I have tried to print Avery 6267 return address labels with
fairly disastrous results. I prepared the table of labels which work
OK on plain paper. However, on the Avery labels, many faint copies of
my address are also printed and overlap the real addresses.

It doesn't seem to matter whether the paper comes from the lower tray
or from the mpf.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Bill Edelstein
Baltimore

Bill
I don't know this printer at all but some questions spring to mind.
Are the "ghosts" always black or some other colour or are they always true to
the original colour. In other words if the correct print is red are the ghosts
also red?
Are the envelopes fed with the short edge entering the printer? If so, exactly
how far apart are the ghosts (from the start of the correct print to the start
of the first ghost)?
The same question for the label sheet - what is the distance (vertical using
letter size paper) between the start of the correct print and the start of the
first ghost of that printed word?
There is a possible answer to this, many laser printers operate at different
fuser temperatures depending on the paper type. So it is possible to have
correct operation with plain paper but not with special stock like labels and
envelopes.
The answers to these questions will help in diagnosing the problem.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[resonator80]

Bill
I don't know this printer at all but some questions spring to mind.
Are the "ghosts" always black or some other colour or are they always true to
the original colour. In other words if the correct print is red are the ghosts
also red?
Are the envelopes fed with the short edge entering the printer? If so, exactly
how far apart are the ghosts (from the start of the correct print to the start
of the first ghost)?
The same question for the label sheet - what is the distance (vertical using
letter size paper) between the start of the correct print and the start of the
first ghost of that printed word?
There is a possible answer to this, many laser printers operate at different
fuser temperatures depending on the paper type. So it is possible to have
correct operation with plain paper but not with special stock like labels and
envelopes.
The answers to these questions will help in diagnosing the problem.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

Tony,

For envelopes, the real address is black and the ghost is also black.
The ghost is displaced 3-1/2 inches to the left of the real address.

Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a way to specify heavy paper
etc. I think you are probably right about different temperatures.

Thanks,
Bill Edelstein
Baltimore, MD

 

[Boskey]

For envelopes, the real address is black and the ghost is also black.
The ghost is displaced 3-1/2 inches to the left of the real address.

Since you are feeding along the short edge, is it possible the drum size is
3.5 inches diameter? My guess is that for what reason the toner wiper isn't
working properly and allowing too much toner to remain and shows up as a
faint address approximately one revolution of the drum later.

 

[Tony]

Tony,

For envelopes, the real address is black and the ghost is also black.
The ghost is displaced 3-1/2 inches to the left of the real address.

Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a way to specify heavy paper
etc. I think you are probably right about different temperatures.

Thanks,
Bill Edelstein
Baltimore, MD

Bill
The distance of 3-1/2 inches just about confirms my suspicion that this is a
fuser problem and one that varies according to different temperatures applied
to different media.
The pressure roller in the fuser will produce defects at a distance of 94.42mm
(3.7 inches) if it is at fault. This printer uses the same internal engine as
the Epson c1100 colour laser printer. In many cases it is impossible to adjust
the fuser temperature, the printer does this automatically according to the
media that you specify (ie envelopes as opposed to plain paper). Some printers
allow the adjustment of temperature through the printer driver. If you are
using Windows XP the Postscript driver allows setting of paper type (Printing
Preferences, Paper/Output, Paper type). You could load this driver and printing
on Plain Paper, Letter size but set the paper type to Envelope. Now print a
page, this will be on plain paper, but paper type set to envelope; this has the
effect of setting the fuser temperature to envelope. Do you still get the
ghost? If so the fuser is almost certainly the issue especially if the ghost is
not there when you set the paper type to "Use Printer Settings".The driver is
available at http://tinyurl.com/33h5jo and you will have to use the Add Printer
wizard and then select the postscript .inf file that you extract when you run
the downloaded file.

Also you can use the troubleshooting wizard at http://tinyurl.com/yuolrx
and follow the steps, when you get to a certain point one of questions will be
"There is a residual or ghosted image on the page". Check this selection and
continue with the wizard.

Finally make sure you have the latest drivers and firmware installed, go to
http://tinyurl.com/2bm75o
select your OS at left.

If this is the fuser I hope the printer is in warranty!
Good luck.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[Tony]

Since you are feeding along the short edge, is it possible the drum size is
3.5 inches diameter? My guess is that for what reason the toner wiper isn't
working properly and allowing too much toner to remain and shows up as a
faint address approximately one revolution of the drum later.

The drum circumference is much more than 3.5 inches in this printer, nearly 6
inches in fact.
BTW, diameter of the drum is approx 1.8 inches giving a circumference of approx
5.9 inches this would result in defects about 5.9 inches apart.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[resonator80]

Bill
The distance of 3-1/2 inches just about confirms my suspicion that this is a
fuser problem and one that varies according to different temperatures applied
to different media.
The pressure roller in the fuser will produce defects at a distance of 94.42mm
(3.7 inches) if it is at fault. This printer uses the same internal engine as
the Epson c1100 colour laser printer. In many cases it is impossible to adjust
the fuser temperature, the printer does this automatically according to the
media that you specify (ie envelopes as opposed to plain paper). Some printers
allow the adjustment of temperature through the printer driver. If you are
using Windows XP the Postscript driver allows setting of paper type (Printing
Preferences, Paper/Output, Paper type). You could load this driver and printing
on Plain Paper, Letter size but set the paper type to Envelope. Now print a
page, this will be on plain paper, but paper type set to envelope; this has the
effect of setting the fuser temperature to envelope. Do you still get the
ghost? If so the fuser is almost certainly the issue especially if the ghost is
not there when you set the paper type to "Use Printer Settings".The driver is
available athttp://tinyurl.com/33h5joand you will have to use the Add Printer
wizard and then select the postscript .inf file that you extract when you run
the downloaded file.

Also you can use the troubleshooting wizard athttp://tinyurl.com/yuolrx
and follow the steps, when you get to a certain point one of questions will be
"There is a residual or ghosted image on the page". Check this selection and
continue with the wizard.

Finally make sure you have the latest drivers and firmware installed, go tohttp://tinyurl.com/2bm75o
select your OS at left.

If this is the fuser I hope the printer is in warranty!
Good luck.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

Tony,

Thank you very much for all your helpful suggestions.

Unfortunately, they did not quite solve the problem. I upgraded the
firmware and the driver, but the poor printing and ghost image
persist. I think the problem may be the envelopes--they are
inexpensive (Staples) old-fashioned lick and seal.

Here is a small puzzle. When I try to set the paper type (under
printer Properties) to "envelope," the printer refuses to draw the
envelope through the mpf input. Instead, it says 'Load MPF/024-969"
indicating some kind of error. When I take the envelope out and put it
back, it temporarily looks OK, but then reverts to the above error
message.

In any case, I am losing patience and at this point am just going to
give up printing addresses on envelopes. (I don't do this too much,
anyway.) If I really want such a label, I will just print the address
on an 8-1/2 X 11 sheet, cut it out and paste it on the envelope.

Another complaint I have about my Dell 3100cn printer is that it is
not precise enough. I have tried to print return address labels using
the Avery 5267 1/2 X 1-3/4" labels. The printer does OK for about the
top half, and then the addresses begin to go beyond the bottom of the
labels or they go crooked.

The printer is OK for most of my uses, i.e. printing out documents,
and it even does OK with color, so I will continue to use it. I would
not recommend it to others at this point, however.

Thanks again for your help.

Bill Edelstein
Baltimore, MD