Laser Printer Problem

[Gabriele]

Lately my laser printer has started to give me problems. It prints
correctly at the right and left borders but it doesn't print anything
at the center. The print fades away toward the centre to come back
after a while, leaving a column of clean paper. I'm wondering if this
is a mechinical problem (damage, or such) or simply the toner is
finishing.

Thank

 

[Grinder]

Lately my laser printer has started to give me problems. It prints
correctly at the right and left borders but it doesn't print anything
at the center. The print fades away toward the centre to come back
after a while, leaving a column of clean paper. I'm wondering if this
is a mechinical problem (damage, or such) or simply the toner is
finishing.

Do you have any sense of how much toner is left? Has it been a long
time/a lot of pages since you had a toner refill?

Have you tried shaking the cartridge to redistribute the toner? That
will sometimes give you a bit more mileage.

 

[Paul]

Lately my laser printer has started to give me problems. It prints
correctly at the right and left borders but it doesn't print anything
at the center. The print fades away toward the centre to come back
after a while, leaving a column of clean paper. I'm wondering if this
is a mechinical problem (damage, or such) or simply the toner is
finishing.

Thank

How a laser printer works, is described here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_printer

There is toner. But there is also an electrostatic surface, and
light is used to control it. The optical surface can be in the
form of a drum or plastic wide belt. And in some cases, that optical
surface is part of the cartridge. In other cases, the drum or
belt is a separate part.

The laser printer will also have a fuser step, where the toner
is affixed to the paper with heat.

So there could be more than one reason for faulty printing.
The belt can be scratched, rollers can be dirty or worn, and
there can be more than one source of problems. Even the way
you correct paper jams, can have an effect on the life of
the components in the laser printer.

Paul

 

[GT]

This is not typical of a mechanical problem.

As Grinder suggested, try rocking the toner cartridge side
to side a few times, keeping it fairly parallel to the
ground.

And don't do it near your clothes or over a carpet that you like!!