Homebrew PCBs

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]