one of 4 colors is ghosting

[jkswash]

My Laser Jet Pro is ghosting just with the black ink, not the colors. I have Ventura 13.5.2. Seems like it can't be the paper or the humidity if it's only one color. The ghosting seems to be inconsistent, one time yes, next sheet no. Given a large print that is partly black and partly green letters, the black ghosts 5.5 cm below the actual print. Surely a cartridge with 30% toner left shouldn't need replacing?

[A_Gayathri]

Hi @jkswash,

Welcome to the HP Support Community

I understand you are facing a print quality issue with your HP Color LaserJet Pro M252dw Not to worry I will help you to get a resolution to resolve the issue.

To assist better:

• Are you using genuine HP ink cartridges?
• Does the copy print out the same way? 
• What's the application you are trying to print from? 
• Have you tried printing from a different application or device? 

While you respond to that, let's print a Print Quality Diagnostic page -Post the Print Quality Diagnostic page here so we can help you further.

Let's perform a power drain: 

• With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the rear of the printer and also unplug the power cord from the wall outlet.
• Remove the USB cable, if present.
• Wait for 2-3 minutes, press and hold the power button on your printer for about 30 seconds to remove any additional charge.
• Now plug back the power cable straight to a wall outlet without any surge protector or an extension cord (This is important) and then plug back the power cord to the printer.
• Turn on the printer and wait till the warm-up period finishes and the printer is idle

Update the printer firmware 

• Click here to download and install the latest printer firmware from your product
• Click here to know different methods of updating the printer firmware. 

HP Color LaserJet Pro M252, M274, M277 Printers - Fixing Poor Print Quality

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

[jkswash]

Hello!

• Yes , I'm using HP cartridges purchased at Staples. I'm trying to print from Apple M1 iMac, Ventura 13.5.2. The document is a pdf saved from Adobe Illustrator, transferred from my Macbook Air laptop.

• I've discovered that if I print only one page about every 15-30 minutes it doesn't, or barely, ghosts. I'm trying to print on Staples card stock 199 g/m2. I set it for 200 gm cover matte. The ghosting, measuring baseline to baseline, is 5.6 cm apart and typically only the lower part of the page. It get's worse with repeated printings not spaced out by a long wait. The black cartridge is at 20% now.

• I switched to my Macbook Air, Mojave 10.14.6 and printed first the original Adobe Illustrator document. Multiple printings came out clear. Then I tried printing the .pdf version from the laptop, which also came out clear. 

I'll post this much, and then try to add photos.

[jkswash]

Sample document with ghosting

[jkswash]

I have done the power drain, then updated the firmware even though the menu says it is up to date. The firmware version listed at present is 2019-11-10.

Having done all this, I then printed two documents successfully, after which the next four had ghosting as usual. Maybe I'll just have to print from the laptop!

[A_Gayathri]

@jkswash,

Thank you for your response, I really appreciate your efforts. As the issue still persists, I'm sending out a private message to assist you with the next course of action. 

Please check your Private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Community profile Next, to your profile Name, you should see a little blue envelope, please click on it or simply click on this link.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

[jkswash]

What is the cost for out of warranty service, please?