HP Laserjet fuser replacement, or something else...

[Apostolos]

Hey all,
Today i 've noticed that the prints on my 1600 come out a bit grey, on the white parts of the paper.
What i mean is: imagine a print that has some text and a smal picture. They pretty much cover about 20-25% of the paper surface. The remaining unprinted areas should have stayed white, but instead there seems to be a gray shadow like someone spray painted faintly from a distance. It gives a cool effect actually, but i dont want it!

My first thoughts are that the fuser unit is near the end of its life. It has been almost 8 years of fair use after all. But something tells me that i shouldn't be hasty to go a buy a fuser kit for such an old printer without checking with you guys first. Maybe it's something simpler.

Any thoughts?

 

[The Hat]

The only thing I could suggest to you is to clean the corona wire with the little plastic cleaning strip on top, and if that doesn’t clear it then the end may well be in sight for the drum..

 

[Apostolos]

I've searched the service manual for the word "corona wire" (to see exactly were it is) and have not found it. Is it possible that it is described with another word?

If not, could you describe to me where i can find it?

 

[The Hat]

Here is a Pic of the corona wire position;

click to enlarge.
you probably know it as another word !

This may also be helpful to you ..

 

[lowell374]

Hey all,
Today i 've noticed that the prints on my 1600 come out a bit grey, on the white parts of the paper.

Any thoughts?

 

[lowell374]

How long has is been since the printer has been given a good cleaning? I've used HP toner based printers for decades. They all put toner all over the inside of the printer, including fuser drum cleaning felts, and will thus, over time, start to create "dirty" prints. Of course, having a new/clean toner cart. with a clean corona wire is also part of creating clean copy.

 

[Apostolos]

Ok...i can't find anything that even resembles a corona wire!
Does anyone know specifically where is it located for the laserjet 1600?

How long has is been since the printer has been given a good cleaning? I've used HP toner based printers for decades. They all put toner all over the inside of the printer, including fuser drum cleaning felts, and will thus, over time, start to create "dirty" prints. Of course, having a new/clean toner cart. with a clean corona wire is also part of creating clean copy.

I clean it inside with a cloth, to remove toner residues. Should i do something more?

 

[Łukasz]

Ok...i can't find anything that even resembles a corona wire!
Does anyone know specifically where is it located for the laserjet 1600?

Cause there is no spoon corona wire (as long as it is HP ColorLaserJet 1600).

Instead, there are primary charging rollers in every toner cartridge.

Scan of problematic print would be very useful to tell something more.

Ł.

 

[Apostolos]

Cause there is no spoon corona wire (as long as it is HP ColorLaserJet 1600).

Instead, there are primary charging rollers in every toner cartridge.

Scan of problematic print would be very useful to tell something more.

Ł.

That's what i thought too! But i did a check on both the printer and the toners, just in case.
Scan of problematic print...hmmm...
I have some cleaning pages that i took from the printer. Let me see if i can scan them . I'm afraid that in a scan the problem will not be visible. Just give me a sec.

 

[Apostolos]

I enhanced it , and cropped it, so that you can see. Note that this is not what i see. I see grey fainted spots, like watermarks. In order to understand better what i see, remove the black spots, and think that the grey areas around them, cover all the page like waves.