HP LJ 2200 Blank Pages Problem

[Bob Kos]

Hi All:

I recently picked up a used HP LJ 2200 printer. It seems to be a nice
machine with regards to size, duplex, USB, etc, etc. However - This machine
has a serious problem that I need help with. It prints completely blank
pages. It appears as if the toner cartridge is empty. In fact, I removed
the cartridge from the machine and it is brand new. The seal was still
intact!! I removed the sealing film, but still no print from either Win XP
printer test or the machine's self test print. It moves paper just fine,
but absolutely no toner is put on the paper. I have cycled several dozen
pages thgrough with zero results.

There are no flashing LEDs or any other indication that there are any
problems.

Any thoughts on what the problem might be? All help welcomed and
appreciated.

 

[Tony]

Hi All:

I recently picked up a used HP LJ 2200 printer. It seems to be a nice
machine with regards to size, duplex, USB, etc, etc. However - This machine
has a serious problem that I need help with. It prints completely blank
pages. It appears as if the toner cartridge is empty. In fact, I removed
the cartridge from the machine and it is brand new. The seal was still
intact!! I removed the sealing film, but still no print from either Win XP
printer test or the machine's self test print. It moves paper just fine,
but absolutely no toner is put on the paper. I have cycled several dozen
pages thgrough with zero results.

There are no flashing LEDs or any other indication that there are any
problems.

Any thoughts on what the problem might be? All help welcomed and
appreciated.

Several possibilities but first of all you need to carefully look at the toner
cartridge. Hold it as if you are going to put it in the printer, look at the
top near the left hand side, there should be a plastic tab about one inch from
the left and about 1/2 inch high almost triangular. This opens the scanner door
when you put the cartridge into the printer, if this broken (seen a few of
those) or even slightly bent (should be dead vertical) the scanner door will
not open and you will print blank pages. The printer does not check to see if
the door is open.
Check that first.
Tony

 

[Bob Kos]

Several possibilities but first of all you need to carefully look at the toner
cartridge. Hold it as if you are going to put it in the printer, look at the
top near the left hand side, there should be a plastic tab about one inch from
the left and about 1/2 inch high almost triangular. This opens the scanner door
when you put the cartridge into the printer, if this broken (seen a few of
those) or even slightly bent (should be dead vertical) the scanner door will
not open and you will print blank pages. The printer does not check to see if
the door is open.
Check that first.
Tony

Hi Tony:

Thanks for your reply. I have checked the toner cartridge as you have
suggested above. It looks fine. I went one step further by pulling the
upper cover off and removing the cover from the laser housing. I then
inserted the cartridge and watched for movement of the metal door. It
swings 90 degrees and allows a seemingly clear path from the lense to the
prism at the front of the laser housing.

You mention that there are several possible problems that may cause the
problem I'm having. Can you offer any other suggestions?

I appreciate your help.

 

[Tony]

Hi Tony:

Thanks for your reply. I have checked the toner cartridge as you have
suggested above. It looks fine. I went one step further by pulling the
upper cover off and removing the cover from the laser housing. I then
inserted the cartridge and watched for movement of the metal door. It
swings 90 degrees and allows a seemingly clear path from the lense to the
prism at the front of the laser housing.

You mention that there are several possible problems that may cause the
problem I'm having. Can you offer any other suggestions?

I appreciate your help.

Pity, that was the easiest possibility.
The service manual suggests the following: with some additional information I
have added.

White or missing image

No toner is available for print. Remove sealing tape or replace the
toner cartridge.

Defective laser shutter. Check that the laser shutter operates
freely when the toner cartridge is installed.

Toner cartridge guide damaged, improperly
positioned, or missing. Make sure the guide is installed
properly above the toner cartridge.

No transfer roller voltage. Without transfer roller voltage, toner
cannot be attracted from the surface of the drum to the print media.
Perform the half self test functional check to check
all other electrophotographic processes.

Perform Half self test functional check.
Put a sheet of paper on the manual feed and push the button on the printer for
a self test. When the paper is about 3/4 of the way into the printer, open the
top cover to stop the printer. Remove the toner and push back the flap on the
toner cartridge and see if there is an image on the toner drum. If there is,
your isssue is probably the transfer roller which sits below the toner
cartridge. If no image your issue is the toner cartridge, laser/scanner
assembly to include the shutter as mention above or cable going to it, or high
voltage issue either the contacts or the main board. Replace the transfer
roller if necessary.

No developing bias. Clean the high-voltage power supply
contacts. With no developing bias charge, toner is not attracted to the
drum. Replace the power supply.

No drum ground path. With no ground path, the drum cannot
discharge. The negative charge on the drum repels toner, and leaves a white
page with bubble print. Check the drum ground spring and
reconnect it, if necessary. Replace the power supply PCB.

Defective laser scanner cable assembly. Low-level signals exchanged between
the laser/scanner assembly and theengine controller PCB might be
affecting laser output. Replace thelaser/scanner cable assembly.

I suggest you do the half test first, this will show if the scanner is OK, if
the drum has an image on it the scanner is working and the transfer roller is a
possibility.
Tony

 

[Tony]

Hi Tony:

Thanks for your reply. I have checked the toner cartridge as you have
suggested above. It looks fine. I went one step further by pulling the
upper cover off and removing the cover from the laser housing. I then
inserted the cartridge and watched for movement of the metal door. It
swings 90 degrees and allows a seemingly clear path from the lense to the
prism at the front of the laser housing.

You mention that there are several possible problems that may cause the
problem I'm having. Can you offer any other suggestions?

I appreciate your help.

You could download the service manual from
http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/reference/manuals/public/hp you will need to
register first for free before you can doenload the manual.
Tony

 

[Bob Kos]

Pity, that was the easiest possibility.
The service manual suggests the following: with some additional information I
have added.

White or missing image

No toner is available for print. Remove sealing tape or replace the
toner cartridge.

Defective laser shutter. Check that the laser shutter operates
freely when the toner cartridge is installed.

Toner cartridge guide damaged, improperly
positioned, or missing. Make sure the guide is installed
properly above the toner cartridge.

No transfer roller voltage. Without transfer roller voltage, toner
cannot be attracted from the surface of the drum to the print media.
Perform the half self test functional check to check
all other electrophotographic processes.

Perform Half self test functional check.
Put a sheet of paper on the manual feed and push the button on the printer for
a self test. When the paper is about 3/4 of the way into the printer, open the
top cover to stop the printer. Remove the toner and push back the flap on the
toner cartridge and see if there is an image on the toner drum. If there is,
your isssue is probably the transfer roller which sits below the toner
cartridge. If no image your issue is the toner cartridge, laser/scanner
assembly to include the shutter as mention above or cable going to it, or high
voltage issue either the contacts or the main board. Replace the transfer
roller if necessary.

No developing bias. Clean the high-voltage power supply
contacts. With no developing bias charge, toner is not attracted to the
drum. Replace the power supply.

No drum ground path. With no ground path, the drum cannot
discharge. The negative charge on the drum repels toner, and leaves a white
page with bubble print. Check the drum ground spring and
reconnect it, if necessary. Replace the power supply PCB.

Defective laser scanner cable assembly. Low-level signals exchanged between
the laser/scanner assembly and theengine controller PCB might be
affecting laser output. Replace thelaser/scanner cable assembly.

I suggest you do the half test first, this will show if the scanner is OK, if
the drum has an image on it the scanner is working and the transfer roller is a
possibility.
Tony

Hi Tony:

I have followed your recommendations above. i have the manual and have
carefully followed the procedures outlined. The half page test leaves a
completely clean drum. I checked for the ground at the drum. It was
questionable, so I disassembled and cleaned the contacvt. Still nothing. I
checked for cleanliness at the high voltage springs. Looks nice. I tested
for voltage at the springs during a test print. There is about 600V AC. I
don't know what it's supposed to be. The fact that it is above 0 is a good
indication me thinks. I'm starting to think that the problem lies with the
laser assy ( scanner? ). I am wondering - should I be able to see reflected
laser light on the drum if I remove the top cover and run a test page? I
can see the top of the drum with the cover removed. I have run the page
while watching the drum. I don't see any light being reflected despite
turning all the lights off. Is this normal?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Tony]

Bob
Replies are in the text

I have followed your recommendations above. i have the manual and have
carefully followed the procedures outlined. The half page test leaves a
completely clean drum.

If there is no image on the drum then it is either -
The Cartridge itself (unusual but not unheard of, if there are internal
electrical contact failures).
Laser Scanner
Power supply or contacts to the cartridge

The problem cannot be Transfer roller, or anything after that in the paper path
(ie it cannot be the fuser).

I checked for the ground at the drum. It was

questionable, so I disassembled and cleaned the contacvt. Still nothing. I
checked for cleanliness at the high voltage springs. Looks nice. I tested
for voltage at the springs during a test print. There is about 600V AC. I
don't know what it's supposed to be. The fact that it is above 0 is a good
indication me thinks. I'm starting to think that the problem lies with the
laser assy ( scanner? ). I am wondering - should I be able to see reflected
laser light on the drum if I remove the top cover and run a test page?
I can see the top of the drum with the cover removed. I have run the page
while watching the drum. I don't see any light being reflected despite
turning all the lights off. Is this normal?

Frankly I don't know, I have never tried it but I suspect that it would be
difficult to see, I have never notices any light being visible when working on
printers with covers off (BTW with the covers off you generally get black or
near black pages printed due to the covers not keeping ambient light away from
the engine).

Thanks again for your help.

To recap
The laser shutter is open and there is no image on the drum so I would check
that all of the connectors to the scanner and main board are well seated
(unplug and replug them).
If you can borrow a cartridge I would try swapping it out to see if it is the
cartridge.
If none of that works then I guess it is most likely the scanner and if not it
is the power supply.

One last thought, have you run an engine test (see the manual, I think you have
to remove the formatter to get at the button on this printer but I am not too
sure). I think the engine test will fail based on what you have eliminated.

Tony

 

[Bob Kos]

One last thought, have you run an engine test (see the manual, I think you have
to remove the formatter to get at the button on this printer but I am not too
sure). I think the engine test will fail based on what you have eliminated.

Tony

I have found the engine test button and run it. Here's a new twist. The
engine test produced very faint horizontal lines on the page. At first I
didn't see them, but upon close examination they are there. According to
the manual, that's exactly what's supposed to happen, only in a darker print
I suppose. For kicks I ran another standard test print. I can now see
barely visible hints of the HP logo and other bold graphics on the page.
These were not visible before. Since I've been recycling the same stack of
paper through this machine, I double checked myself. The previously printed
pages are truly blank. Now if I run a test print, there is the slightest
ghost of a print. Most of the image is invisible, but there's enough there
to encourage me to press on. I'm begining to think that I really do have a
dud cartridge. At least I'm hopeful that's the case and will be my next
move.

Thanks for your input and information. I'll follow up in a few days or a
week once I can obtain a suitable test cartridge.

On that note - Does anybody have a loaner or near dead cartridge I could use
to troubleshoot this printer? It uses a C4096A Cartridge. If so, please
e-mail me - bobkos at earthlink dot net .

As a secondary question - Has anybody ever taken HP up on their lifetime
cartridge warranty? Do they actually honor it or is it marketing rhetoric?
The cartridge I have IS new genuine HP.