Hi awakephd
sorry, I thought he said that both cartridges showed the same problem.......if that was not true, please accept my apology.
I will re-read what was posted again.
regards
Andy
PS Great name you have!!!
----------------------------------
Andy,
I hate to disagree with someone who has such an excellent name, but I am 99% sure it is the light-sensitive drum that is contained in the HP toner cartridge, especially since Brian reported above that the second cartridge did not show this stripe.
Note -- you are right the the problem is not the ∗toner∗, but rather it is the drum in the toner cartridge that is at fault. I have seen this problem again and again when the drum begins to go bad. On printers with separate toner and separate drum, that is very bad news, because the drum often costs more than a new printer. On HP's, however, you replace the drum every time you replace the toner cartridge. The problem you can run into with a low-cost recycled cartridge is that they only replace the toner. That's fine if the drum is still good, but doesn't help at all if the drum has gone bad.
FWIW, I am pretty sure the HP 4050 is a true laser printer, not LED or LCD.
Regards,
Andy Wakefield
--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Andrew Mathison" <andrewdavid.mathison@...> wrote:
>
> Dear Brian Lalor
>
> the stripe is most likely to be something wrong with the printer. Its MOST unlikely to come from any toner cartridge, let alone 2 of them
> Probably it uses LEDs to discharge the drum before printing, or its the LEDs for printing (I don't know exactly what technology is used on this printer) that are defective in that area, or a paper wreck left a piece of paper in the path or the LEDs are really dirty from toner and the light is blocked (thats a very long shot!!)......if it was a scanning laser printer, then it could be a piece of paper torn off and blocking as well....
>
> regards
>
> Andy
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> On Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:46:46 -0500, kabowers@... wrote:
>
> > When you are ready to print, look at print quality under printer
> > properties; set for best quality, highest resolution, etc. All sorts
> > of things may be hidden under "advanced" settings.
> >
> > The kind of paper selected in printer setup may also make a difference
> > in toner density.
> >
> > It might also help to stir up the toner. Remove the toner cartridge
> > and, while holding it horizontally, roll it back and forth along the long
> > axis.
> > Then rock the ends up and down a few times. Then maybe shake it gently
> > end-to-end.
>
> Thanks for the info, everyone. I'll do a little more experimenting before
> giving up on the printer, but I'm going to hedge my bet and pick up an HP
> P1006 from Staples on the way home and return it if I can get mine working.
> I've got two off-brand cartridges, both of which seem to exhibit the same
> quarter-inch-wide stripe down the left third of the page and generally thin
> toner density, even with all of the settings properly set up for max
> density. The stripe makes me think that there's something else that needs
> maintenance, ∗on top∗ of needing a good toner cartridge (probably an
> official HP one). Just a replacement cartridge for this printer is north
> of $50 on eBay, which I would gladly do if I thought that was all I needed.
>
> Live and learn. This printer's still got plenty of life left in it, I
> think, just not for PCBs!
>
> --
> Brian Lalor
> blalor@...
>
>
>
>
>
> Greetings from
>
> Andy Mathison
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
Greetings from
Andy Mathison
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]