Really light printing on LaserJet 1200

[vulogiccl]

My trusty LaserJet 1200 started exhibiting the telltale signs of an emptying toner cartridge several weeks ago, but I kept using it for non-important stuff. During this time, I also upgraded the PCs here from Windows XP to Windows 7 and the server from SBS 2003 to SBS 2011. I didn't think twice about the computer upgrades, especially not as affecting the printer. The printer output got lighter and choppier until I finally replaced the toner cartridge this morning.

The output is no longer choppy, but it is still way too light. I’ve checked (and shaken) the cartridge, run the printer through two cleaning cycles, and verified that there is nothing obviously amiss with the paper path. The troubleshooting instructions in the printer manual mention adjusting the toner density and making sure EconoMode is not affecting print quality. And here is where I’m beginning to wonder about the PC upgrades.

The computers are running some universal HP print driver that assigns all sorts of options to the printer that it doesn’t have (i.e. a dozen paper trays, job storage options). But the options the Windows XP driver had to adjust print quality (i.e. the EconoMode option) are missing from this driver. How do I check toner density and EconoMode settings when all I have left are Windows Vista, Windows 7 and SBS 2011 machines?

And what does the “print all text in black” option do on a black laser printer? It’s off, by the way …

Thanks
CL

[Daniel_L]

The product you have seems to be a commercial printer. For the best chance at finding a solution I would suggest posting in the forum for HP Business Support!

You may find the Commercial Laserjet board here.
http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Printers-LaserJet/bd-p/bsc-413

You can find the article related to this product here:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Home.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=18972&prodSeriesI...

Hope this helps!

[Parkdoc2]

I've spend about 4 hours trying to solve this same problem.  So far the only thing that has helped slightly is to under Printer Properties - Preferences - Printer Features - Print All Text as Black:  Make sure this is enabled.  It makes a small difference, but it seems like the printer is still printing in economy mode.  I have tried changing all 7 Print Processors, downloading a variety of new drivers and am still striking out.

[reszerved]

I too had this problem with a 1200 moving to Win10.  I think I have finally fixed it.

First - confirm Economode is "on".  Hold down the Go button (next to the two leds) for more than five but less than 15 sec.  Printer will print a selt test page that lists settings near the bottom.  In my case Economode setting was "on", and as you know but it seems HP are too thick to understand there is no option in the Windows 10 Universal print driver to toggle this setting.

The fix was to reset the printer.  Unplug the printer cable, turn the power off.  Now hold down the Go button and turn power on.  Keep the Go button pressed for more than 5 less than 15 sec then release.  Go button will soon light up green for a few sec then go out - printer is reset.

Make the printer print another self test page - a nice dark page appeared for me with Economode "off".

I plugged back in PC and printed a test page - yay it printed dark!  Let's hope it stays that way!

Hope this helps anyone with the same issue as it appears HP won't.

[RobertF2]

I had eactly this problem for a long time, but this was exactly the reason (Econo Mode = on) , and the steps to reset the printer fixed it!   BTW - I didn't unplug the printer cable, and it still worked fine.

I messed up on the first try (didn't hold the Go button down for at least 5 seconds on power restart), but once I got that right, the reset worked perfectly.