Poor print quality with a shadow printed on left side of the page.

[Mjsmsuk]

Hi

My printer suffers from poor print quality.  It prints a shadow on the page on the left hand side of the paper only.  For example if I print a test page, the black characters and colour blocks at the top of the page are repeated as a shadow image lower down the page.  Oddly this only happens on the left hand side of the A4 page.  The right hand is normal with no shadow.

[Valsimot]

Measure the distance between two repeating marks, and if it's around 58mm then you have a defective fuser.

[Mjsmsuk]

Hi Valsimot 

I suspect you are correct about a defective fuser.  Here is a picture of the test print page. The distance between repeating marks in larger though?  It is 190mm. Does that make any difference on what the issue is?

Best wishes

Mark

[Valsimot]

190mm is too large a distance to be a fuser, it's probably a transfer belt.

[Mjsmsuk]

Thanks - I'll investigate further. Do you suggest I replace or try to clean?

[Mjsmsuk]

Hi.  Before I commit to buying replacement parts I am still trying to diagnose with certainty what the issue is. The left hand side of the paper prints lighter with a fine yellow band. This is as well as the ghosting at 190mm intervals.  I have observed there is a foam roller at the back of the unit - Part number JC61-04947A.  This roller is coated with a band of mainly yellow toner. I've included a photo.  What is the purpose of this roller?  Is the roller itself faulty with this band of toner or is there some other component that is faulty that is causing this yellow band or the non-removal of toner from it?

[Mjsmsuk]

[Mjsmsuk]

Hi Valsimot

Today I tried taking out the transfer belt, opening it up and was surprised by the amount of toner that had built up inside it.  I cleaned it all up reassembled it and tried again.  It made absolutely no different to my printing issue. I am beginning to think the issue isn't with the transfer belt? Anyone with more Knowledge care to comment?

[Mjsmsuk · Accepted solution]

Today I solved this issue by replacing the HP120A imaging drum.  So the fault doesn't appear to be the transfer belt or the fuser.