HP Print Quality

Black Lines
1. Defective Toner Cartridge. Replace toner cartridge.
2. Dirty fuser entrance guides. Clean the guides.
3. Defective Fuser Assembly.  Replace Fuser Assembly.
  

Blank Pages
1. No toner in cartridge. Replace toner cartridge.
2. Defective laser shutter. Check laser shutter for free operation.
3. No transfer roller voltage. Replace transfer roller.
4. No developing bias. Replace engine board.
5. Defective laser scanner. Replace laser scanner assembly.  

Black Page
1. Defective primary charge roller.  Replace cartridge.
2. HVPS contacts are dirty.  Clean inside printer (all contacts).
3. Laser drive circuitry is damaged.  Replace engine control board followed by the formatter if needed.

Drop Outs
1. Paper may be to smooth.  Check the paper type and quality
2. Operating environment out of specifications.  Make sure it meets specification
3. Wrong density setting.  From Print quality menu on the control panel, adjust density setting. Make sure Economode is off.
  

Bubble Print
1. No drum ground path.  Replace engine controller board.
  

Dirt on Back
1. Dirt inside of printer. Print at least 10 pages to see if the problem goes away. Print a cleaning page. Identify and clean the contaminated part according to the repetitive defect ruler. If contamination cannot be removed, replace the contaminated part.
2. Check for toner leaks.
3. Print media does not meet printer specifications or is stored improperly.  Replace print media.
  

Creases
1. Wrong tray.  Print from a different tray.
2. Wrong output tray for media type.  Print to a different output bin (top or rear output bin).
3. Obstruction in paper path.  Check the paper path for labels or paper debris.

Curls
1. Paper does not meet specifications for printer.  Check paper.
2. Printers environment is out of specification.  Check environment
3. Wrong output bin.  Print to a different output bin.
4. Wrong fuser setting for paper.  From the paper handling menu change fuser mode setting or change paper type in the driver.

Distorted Image
1. Poor connection of cables to the engine controller board and or
scanner.  Reseat the cables connected to the engine controller board and scanner.
2. Defective scanner.  Replace scanner.
3. Defective engine board.  Replace engine board. 
  

Gray Background
1. Faulty toner cartridge.  Replace the toner cartridge.
2. Print media does not meet printer specifications or is stored improperly.  Replace the paper.
3. Wrong toner density setting.  From the print-quality menu on the control panel, adjust the toner density setting. Make sure EconoMode is off.

Loose Toner
1. Dirt in the printer.  Print a few more pages to see if the problem corrects itself.  Clean the inside of the printer or use the printers cleaning page.
2. Defective fuser.  Replace the fuser
3. Paper might be too smooth.  Check the paper (or other print media) type and quality.
4. Toner cartridge is defective.  Replace the toner cartridge.
5. Wrong fuser setting for paper type.  From the paper-handling menu on the control panel, change the fuser mode setting or choose another paper type from the printer driver.
  

Skew
1. Print media is not loaded correctly or trays are not adjusted properly.  Make sure print media is loaded correctly and that the guides fit properly against the media stack.
2. Registration assembly and/or scanner assembly are improperly installed.  Be sure that the registration assembly and scanner assembly are installed correctly.
  

Toner Specks
1. Defective toner cartridge.  Replace toner cartridge.
2. Dirt in printer.  Clean inside printer or use the printers cleaning page.

Vertical White Lines
1. Lack of toner or faulty toner cartridge.  Replace the cartridge.
2. Defective fuser.  Replace the fuser assembly.
3. Dirt in the laser path.  Clean the laser path.

Toner Smear
1. Dirt in the printer.  Print a few more pages to see if the problem corrects itself.  Clean the inside of the printer or use the printers cleaning page.
2. Defective toner cartridge.  Replace the toner cartridge.
3. Fusing Assembly is defective.  Replace the Fusing Assembly.
4. Paper might be too smooth.  Check the paper (or other print media) type and quality.
5. Wrong fuser setting for paper type.  From the paper-handling menu on the control panel, change the fuser mode setting or choose another paper type from the printer driver.
  

 Horizontal Smudges
1. Paper-path contamination or damage. See the Repetitive defect ruler.
2. Check the toner cartridge and replace it, if necessary.
3. Check the fuser and replace it, if necessary.

  

Light print, Dark Print, or Fade
1. Defective engine controller board or high voltage power supply. Replace the engine controller board and/or high voltage power supply.
2. Defective laser/scanner. Replace the laser scanner.
3. Poor contact to the engine controller board. Ensure that the drum ground spring is connected to the engine controller board correctly. Clean the contacts if they are contaminated. If the problem remains after cleaning, or parts are damaged or deformed, replace them. Replace the engine controller board, if necessary.
4. Toner cartridge is low. Replace the toner cartridge.
5. Transfer roller is defective. Replace the transfer roller.
6. Wrong toner density setting. From the print-quality menu on the control panel, adjust the toner density setting. Make sure EconoMode is off.

Fading Print
1. Wrong toner density setting From the print-quality menu on the control panel, adjust the toner density setting.  Make sure EconoMode is off.
2. Toner supply is low.  Replace cartridge.
3. Transfer roller is defective.  Replace transfer roller.
4. Print media does not meet printer specifications or is stored improperly.  Replace the paper.
5. Defective scanner.  Replace scanner.
6. Defective engine controller board.  Replace engine controller board.
  

Blank Spots
1. Dirty or deformed transfer roller. Replace the transfer roller
2. Defective toner cartridge. Replace the toner cartridge

© 2005 Hewlett-Packard