Frequently Asked Questions
Are your products guaranteed?
Are your products guaranteed?
Yes. We offer a 1 year warranty from date of purchase. The only recourse is replacement of the defective cartridge.
Troubleshooting
Paper Jams
Some or all of the printing on the page is faded
Ghosting
Toner smears or does not stay on the paper
Dirty PCR (primary charge roller
Scratched Drum
Chipped Drum
Light Damaged Drum
Bad Wiper Blade
Weak Doctor Blade Spring
Package leaked while in shipment
Paper Jams
Among the most common problems with any make of printer are paper jams.
- A printer will jam for any number of reasons. It’s dirty, the wrong paper type is being used, or the rollers on the printer that feed the paper through its pathway are worn down.
- While cleaning the printer periodically and using the correct paper type are easy fixes, roller replacement can be a difficult job depending on the model of HP printer.
- For some HP printers, the rollers are easily accessible, but you'll need to completely tear down other models to remove the rollers.
- Regardless of the cause, when removing a paper jam, always pull the paper in the direction of the paper path, because pulling it backwards can severely damage the printer.
- Certain HP printers are more susceptible to paper jams than others.
- In our experience, any printer that holds the paper vertically and then pulls it down through the printer invariably ends up having paper jam problems.
- These models aren't designed for heavy use, but many organizations make use of them on individual systems and should be aware of this flaw.
Some or all of the printing on the page is faded
A faded print image is normally the result of one of three conditions: The printer is getting low on toner, the print density is set too low, or Economode printing is turned on.
For the last two settings, a printer self-test (typically a separate button on the printer) will show what the current settings are.
If Economode is on, and users are complaining about how light the print is, turn it off and/or set the print density higher.
If the toner is low, simply removing the cartridge and shaking it to redistribute the toner more evenly can temporarily resolve the problem until you can replace the cartridge.
Ghosting
Ghosting is a condition where the image prints properly, but a much lighter copy of the image also prints elsewhere. This can be due to a problem with the power outlet that is supplying power to the printer.
Check the power outlet by plugging in a different printer to see if the same results occur. Ghosting can also be caused when consumable printer parts (such as the drum or imaging kit) are near the end of their life.
All of the consumable parts in a printer are rated for a certain number of pages. Once a printer gets near that magic number, you'll need to replace those parts to eliminate ghosting.
Toner smears or does not stay on the paper
If words and images come off the paper when a hand is run across them, there are a few possible problems.
First, the fuser assembly may be damaged or at the end of its life. The solution is to replace the fuser assembly.
Repairing a fuser assembly is generally not recommended because the fuser is considered a consumable printer part and not worth the time or effort to fix.
Second, the toner cartridge may be defective and letting too much toner out at one time.
In a black-and-white laser printer, the solution is to replace the toner cartridge. In a color laser printer, only replace the cartridge that is exhibiting the problem.
Third, some toner may have spilled in the printer. If so, you'll need to clean it out.
Dirty PCR (primary charge roller)
A dirty PCR, which is located inside the printer, will cause vertical gray streaks down the test page or create a gray background on the entire page.
Scratched Drum
This condition is indicated by a very thin, perfectly straight line that runs from the top to the bottom of the test page.
Chipped Drum
A chipped drum will make a dot or series of dots that repeat three times per page. Any drum defects will repeat three times per page based on the drum circumference of 5.2”.
Light Damaged Drum
This condition will show up as a shaded area on the test print that normally should be white. Again, this will repeat three times per page.
Bad Wiper Blade
A bad wiper blade will make either a gray line approximately 1/8” thick or shading across the entire page. In either case, there will be a film of toner on the drum surface.
Weak Doctor Blade Spring
This will usually show as shaded areas on one or both sides of the page.
Machine Error Codes
32 Unsupported Print Cartridges
50.4
79
80 Scheduled Maintenance
88 Toner Low
200-280
Test Print
Font Sample
Changing the Printer Density
Changing the Printer Resolution
32 Unsupported Print Cartridges
(Wrong chip, encoder wheel combination or bad chip).
If this code appears immediately upon cartridge installation, there is either a bad contact or the chip is bad. If the machine cycles and then the message appears, the wrong encoder wheel is installed. In the T632 machines, this message will also show if the extra high yield cartridge is not installed.
50.4
A 50.4 message on some of the newer HP LaserJet printers indicates a problem with the power supply. If the printer is connected to a UPS, disconnect it, or disconnect it from a power strip and plug it directly into a wall outlet.
A laser printer should never be plugged into a UPS, because the UPS can be damaged by the surges of power required by a printer to keep the fuser assembly warm.
If that doesn’t work, make sure that all of the components in the printer are seated properly.
79
A 79 error can be the result of a problem with the network print server that services the printer. When troubleshooting a 79 error, first open the Printer folder from the Start menu on the Print server to make sure there are no jobs pending.
A 79 error can also indicate a failure of a printer add-on component, such as an MIO (modular input/output) card or a RAM (random access memory) module.
All add-ons should be removed and then added back to the printer one by one to determine which module may be at fault.
80 Scheduled Maintenance
The code appears when 300,000 pages have been printed.
88 Toner Low:
Add toner.
200-280
Indicates various paper jams.
Taking Test Print
Font Sample
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Press the “MENU” key until “Utilities Menu” is displayed.
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Press “SELECT.”
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Press the “MENU” key until “Print Fonts” is displayed.
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Press “SELECT.”
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Select either the PCL fonts or the Postscript fonts.
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Press “SELECT.”
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The Print Menu page contains the printer page count, toner level, cartridge serial number, cartridge size, whether it’s Prebate or not, and the cartridge type (Normal, MICR, or Label).
Changing the Printer Density:
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Press the “MENU” key until “Quality Menu” is displayed.
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Press “SELECT.”
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Press the “MENU” key until “Toner Darkness” is displayed.
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Press “SELECT.”
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Choose a number between 1 and 10. “8” is the default setting
Changing the Printer Resolution:
Note: The options available are 300, 600, 1200 Image Q, and 1200 dpi (dots per inch). The 1200 Image Q is for bitmapped pictures. The printer’s default is 600 dpi (dots per inch).
