M277DW Makes A Muffled "Ker-Plunk" Noise On Startup And Prior To Printing --- Is This Normal?!

[Ignotum]

Does anybody else here have an M277DW? 

...If so, does it make a strange noise on powering up and before printing? 

(A sort-of muffled "der-dump", as though there's empty space inside through which a door is swinging and banging twice against something.) 

It doesn't sound at all good, and I'm concerned that it is damaging the printer. 

I've searched the forum here and found this similar post, but despite the fact that it's marked "Solved", it actually offers no solution. 

Or is it just the normal sound this printer makes?! 

[Repairatrooper]

It could be either the fuser pressure release cycling which moves the rollers apart to make jam removal easier and reduces pressure on fuser when not printing to avoid flat spots or it could also be the ITB alienation component cycling. If you can post a video it might be obvious what it is. Color laser printers are not silent by any means.

[Ignotum]

Hi, @Repairatrooper. 

Thank you for your reply, and my apologies for the delay in getting back to you. 

Here is a video of the machine in operation and the noise that it makes. 

Is that "banging door" sound normal for a laser printer? 

[Ignotum]

"It could be either the fuser pressure release cycling which moves the rollers apart to make jam removal easier and reduces pressure on fuser when not printing to avoid flat spots or it could also be the ITB alienation component cycling. If you can post a video it might be obvious what it is."

Here's a video (as posted in my reply above): the noise comes out quite clearly on it. As you can hear, it sounds like a door swinging/banging inside the printer, even though there's nothing that I can see which would swing and bang (there isn't room inside it for anything to swing). 

Any ideas what that is?   

"Color laser printers are not silent by any means."

Is  noise like that in the video normal, though?!  I'd be very surprised! 

[Repairatrooper]

No that noise would not be in the normal realm of acceptable. Almost sounds like something in the pickup assembly but noises are hard to trace from a video. Can you tell if it is coming from one side or another, does it do this if you startup without the paper tray installed? 

[Ignotum]

Thanks for the reply, @repairatrooper.  

"No that noise would not be in the normal realm of acceptable."

Yes, it makes quite a bang, doesn't it?!  It actually knocks the toner out of one of the cartridges all over the ITB: I must then clean up the ITB in order to get a decent quality printout.  (If I do this, print quality is generally fine --- until the next page is printed and it goes bang again!) 

"Almost sounds like something in the pickup assembly but noises are hard to trace from a video. Can you tell if it is coming from one side or another, does it do this if you startup without the paper tray installed?"

The sound seems to be coming more or less from the middle of the printer. 

And yes, it also makes the same noise if I start it without the paper tray installed. 

You mentioned that it might be the intermediate transfer belt: I've noticed that it wobbles a bit at the front.  I have uploaded a video here.  (You can also see where the bang --- or whatever is causing it --- has left toner on the ITB.) 

Is the transfer belt usually slightly loose like this, or is it supposed to be fixed down fast?