Smudges along left hand side of printouts

MarkTeo1986 · ‎07-21-2020

Hi,

Lately we've been getting smudges along the left-hand side of most printed pages - I've tried running the print head cleaner several times to no real avail.

It only seems to do this when the page contains something along the left hand side (i.e. text or imagery will be smeared and repeated upwards) - it's usually okay on blank pages or pages where there's nothing on the left hand side of the page.

Are there any parts of the printer in particular we should try and clean, or anything we should buy (i.e. cleaning sheets) to help remedy this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Repairatrooper · ‎07-21-2020

Repetitive defects down the side are usually caused by one of two things:

1. A defective drum unit in a cartridge. If the smudge is a single colour then the corresponding colour cartridge would be the likely cause.

2. A damaged hot roller in the fuser will cause defects. Either the film is damaged or something is stuck to it and it causes toner to be lifted off and redeposited down the page. You can look for a repetitive defect chart which will give you the spacing of defects and by measuring your defects it will tell you what component is damaged.

You. can post a sample here as that may provide more insight into your issue.

If you find the information provided useful or solves your problems, help other users find the solution easier by marking my post as an accepted solution. Clicking "yes" on "was this reply helpful" also increases the chances that this solution will help others.
I am a volunteer, offering my knowledge to support fellow users, I do not work for HP nor speak for HP.

MarkTeo1986 · ‎07-21-2020

Hi, please find an example attached - unfortunately it's not an overly clear case of it here as it seems to vary somewhat both at random and depending on the document.

As you can see, there are traces of the leftmost text ghosting upwards along the left edge of the page.

Repairatrooper · ‎07-21-2020

If you get a better sample can you post back please. What you are seeing there could be as minor as not selecting the correct paper type to ensure that proper bonding occurs or could be an issue with the fuser.

If you find the information provided useful or solves your problems, help other users find the solution easier by marking my post as an accepted solution. Clicking "yes" on "was this reply helpful" also increases the chances that this solution will help others.
I am a volunteer, offering my knowledge to support fellow users, I do not work for HP nor speak for HP.

MarkTeo1986 · ‎07-22-2020

Hi, I've managed to get a better example of it;

Do you have any idea what might be causing this and how we can fix it? As I mentioned, I've tried running the print head clean/align tools several times to no avail.

Drivee · ‎07-22-2020

Look that you need to replace transfer belt.

I am not HP emplye.
Say thanks by clicking the Kudos thumb up in the post.
I am a volunteer, offering my knowledge to support fellow users, I do not work for HP nor speak for HP.
If my post resolve your problem please mark it as an Accepted Solution

MarkTeo1986 · ‎07-22-2020

Having a look inside it, there does seem to be quite a lot of stray toner powder built up - the issue does now seem to be getting a bit worse as it gets moved around.

Is there anything we can use/ do to clean this?

Create an account on the HP Community to personalize your profile and ask a question