Vertical smudge on page with Canon laser printer (only when printingfrom black cart)

myfathersson wrote:
Thanks for that Yianni, your posting makes things clearer for me as well!!

I couldnt see the problem all that easily on the photo and said that it wasnt
particularly clear on my posted photo but on your annotated version, when I
click to magnify by a factor of about ten or twenty, smudges start to appear
all down the vertical line on the page, with the emphasis being only slightly
marked at the 22mm marks.

I have thrown away the yellow cart and a new one is arriving in a day or so.
So presumably I can clean the lens if I can find it. Finding the fuser and
cleaning that may well be slightly more of a problem.

I don't want to introduce any new concepts but I wonder if it can be relevant
that since a short while before the problem started, the printer has been
emitting curious whistling noises, as if something needs oiling. Is there any
lubrication to anything inside this unit please? When it started, I took out
all carts and the drum and there was quite a lot of toner of all colours
(except black??) all over the lower part of the unit.Probably not all that much
more than should be expected for a unit 4-5 years old which has never been
cleaned. I cleaned a lot of it off, being careful not to spread while cleaning.

There is no lubrication required on any modern laser printer. Rarely, a scanner
motor will fail causing a squealing moise which gets worse until finally it
fails with an error message but I doubt that is it. The noise could be one of
the cartridges and that is probably nothing to be concerned about. If the
problem does turn out to be the fuser they are extremely difficult to clean and
very easy to damage. Cleaning them usually requires a special toner cleaning
solution and very gentle and patient application. Hopefully installing the new
yellow toner will provide more information.
Tony

I couldnt see the problem all that easily on the photo and said that it wasnt
particularly clear on my posted photo but on your annotated version, when I
click to magnify by a factor of about ten or twenty, smudges start to appear
all down the vertical line on the page, with the emphasis being only slightly
marked at the 22mm marks.

I have thrown away the yellow cart and a new one is arriving in a day or so.
So presumably I can clean the lens if I can find it. *Finding the fuser and
cleaning that may well be slightly more of a problem.

I don't want to introduce any new concepts but I wonder if it can be relevant
that since a short while before the problem started, the printer has been
emitting curious whistling noises, as if something needs oiling. * Is there any
lubrication to anything inside this unit please? When it started, I took out
all carts and the drum and there was quite a lot of toner of all colours
(except black??) all over the lower part of the unit.Probably not all that much
more than should be expected for a unit 4-5 years old which has never been
cleaned. I cleaned a lot of it off, being careful not to spread while cleaning.

There is no lubrication required on any modern laser printer. Rarely, a scanner
motor will fail causing a squealing moise which gets worse until finally it
fails with an error message but I doubt that is it. The noise could be one of
the cartridges and that is probably nothing to be concerned about. If the
problem does turn out to be the fuser they are extremely difficult to clean and
very easy to damage. Cleaning them usually requires a special toner cleaning
solution and very gentle and patient application. Hopefully installing the new
yellow toner will provide more information.
Tony

Well the 'new' cartridge has arrived and the printer has moved from
CHANGE K CART back to to CHECK K CART! Interestingly the yellow
covering to the roller wasn't perfectly even? I am wondering whether
this is something which ill iron itself out. The cartridge arrived
open and with no pull-out strip though the orange plastic cover
looked undisturbed.

I couldn't find the lens to clean for the laser: It doesn't seem to be
under or anywhere near the drum but I suppose it has to be and must be
under some cover. The printer now works again and the line of smudges
is (in initial testing) even more marked than before. As it only
happens on black, I suppose I can assume it must be something to do
with the black cartridge or isn't it that easy?

(I should add that all of my last 4-5 black cartridges have been re-
manufactured. The yellow one is Canon, although the chip is black
rather than green:Or are all Canon Y chips black?)

myfathersson wrote:

I couldnt see the problem all that easily on the photo and said that it
wasnt
particularly clear on my posted photo but on your annotated version, when I
click to magnify by a factor of about ten or twenty, smudges start to appear
all down the vertical line on the page, with the emphasis being only
slightly
marked at the 22mm marks.

I have thrown away the yellow cart and a new one is arriving in a day or so.
So presumably I can clean the lens if I can find it. *Finding the fuser and
cleaning that may well be slightly more of a problem.

I don't want to introduce any new concepts but I wonder if it can be
relevant
that since a short while before the problem started, the printer has been
emitting curious whistling noises, as if something needs oiling. * Is there
any
lubrication to anything inside this unit please? When it started, I took out
all carts and the drum and there was quite a lot of toner of all colours
(except black??) all over the lower part of the unit.Probably not all that
much
more than should be expected for a unit 4-5 years old which has never been
cleaned. I cleaned a lot of it off, being careful not to spread while
cleaning.

There is no lubrication required on any modern laser printer. Rarely, a
scanner
motor will fail causing a squealing moise which gets worse until finally it
fails with an error message but I doubt that is it. The noise could be one of
the cartridges and that is probably nothing to be concerned about. If the
problem does turn out to be the fuser they are extremely difficult to clean
and
very easy to damage. Cleaning them usually requires a special toner cleaning
solution and very gentle and patient application. Hopefully installing the
new
yellow toner will provide more information.
Tony

Well the 'new' cartridge has arrived and the printer has moved from
CHANGE K CART back to to CHECK K CART! Interestingly the yellow
covering to the roller wasn't perfectly even? I am wondering whether
this is something which ill iron itself out. The cartridge arrived
open and with no pull-out strip though the orange plastic cover
looked undisturbed.

I couldn't find the lens to clean for the laser: It doesn't seem to be
under or anywhere near the drum but I suppose it has to be and must be
under some cover. The printer now works again and the line of smudges
is (in initial testing) even more marked than before. As it only
happens on black, I suppose I can assume it must be something to do
with the black cartridge or isn't it that easy?

(I should add that all of my last 4-5 black cartridges have been re-
manufactured. The yellow one is Canon, although the chip is black
rather than green:Or are all Canon Y chips black?)

Check K Cart means it is getting low. As mentioned earlier I don't know this
printer but normally there would be a pull-out strip in a new cartridge direct
from the manufacturer.
The laser lens may well be under a cover, one that is moved out of the way when
the drum unit is installed, there is usually a little catch that can be
defeated with a screwdriver or similar.
My guess, and it is only a guess, is that a new K cartridge may fix the problem
since the printer indicates the K toner is getting low. Canon chip colours vary
from model to model so far as I am aware.
Maybe the time has come to buy a Canon K cartridge? I am not opposed to
remanufactured carts but sometimes the OEM cart is a good way to prove a point.
Tony

"Tony" lizandtony at orcon dot net dot nz wrote in message
news
Check K Cart means it is getting low. As mentioned earlier I don't know
this
printer but normally there would be a pull-out strip in a new cartridge
direct
from the manufacturer.
The laser lens may well be under a cover, one that is moved out of the way
when
the drum unit is installed, there is usually a little catch that can be
defeated with a screwdriver or similar.
My guess, and it is only a guess, is that a new K cartridge may fix the
problem
since the printer indicates the K toner is getting low. Canon chip colours
vary
from model to model so far as I am aware.
Maybe the time has come to buy a Canon K cartridge? I am not opposed to
remanufactured carts but sometimes the OEM cart is a good way to prove a
point.
Tony

Now I understand which printer is. The cartridges are these
http://www.surplustoner.com/sage/ima...ems/238424.jpg .
Engine: Minolta 1600. Same with Minolta 2400, 2500. Type carousel, which
spreads toner in all over the inside of the printer. So, most possible there
is toner onto the laser cover.

Remove all toners, then remove the drum, imaging unit, photo conductor or
whatever Canon names it. Clean the printer from the toner. Most possible you
would solve the problem. I don't know where the laser cover is. If you wish,
use a very light torch or something similar and search for a small
semitransparent plastic, usually about 10x3 cm (4x1 inch). In normal light
it seems not transparent.

The printer now works again and the line of smudges
is (in initial testing) even more marked than before. As it only
happens on black, I suppose I can assume it must be something to do
with the black cartridge or isn't it that easy?

What about the printer? Have you found anything?

On Thursday, February 14, 2013 6:58:48 PM UTC-5, Yianni wrote:

What about the printer? Have you found anything?


What about the printer? Have you found anything?

I know it has been a while but this printer really IS erratic. It has been working reasonably well but I haven't trusted it. It can do single pages and even multiple pages. It seemed to be working but today and for no apparent reason, while I was printing a 24 page document, suddenly it stopped at about page 20 and had a long think about what it was doing. Then it printed the rest. But when I came to check those last pages, annoyingly an old problem reared it ugly head. Page 21 printed the top left third and mysteriously got a blue color wrong, printing it in pink.

THAT printing the top left third of the page was a problem I had had a year or so ago and no one at Canon seemed to be able to pin it down. Then suddenly one of their tech support people said that this was a classic known software problem arising out of using a USB hub between the printer and the computer. Never mind the fact that the hub had been working for years with no problems. Suddenly this printer will only work if I plug the printer straight into the computer. And there we lay until the smudge problem started. Now as far as I can see, the smudge problem has gone away and this printing only the left side of the page has come back!