One color toner (magenta) is raelly weak but it's 60% full

[isj4]

My Color Laserjet M254mw suddenly prints with a very weak magenta. The cartridge is 60% full. The other toners print fine. The built-in "demo page" shows the same fault, so it's not a driver problem.

The toner cartridges are the original ones that came with the printer.

I have taken out the magenta cartridge and shaken it (in case the 60% indication as wrong), but it didn't change anything. Print a cleaning page didn't change anything.

The printer has not received any firmware updates (it's worked fine for 3 years so no need).

I suspect the cartridge suddenly developed a fault, but I see some similar unanswered questions on this forum where the magenta suddenly stops working.

So is it a faulty cartridge, or is there a bug in the printer firmware?

[Gaya1239]

Hi @isj4,

Welcome to the HP Support Community

I understand you are facing an issue with your HP Color LaserJet Pro M254nw . Not to worry I will help you to get a resolution to resolve the issue.

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 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 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 printer firmware.
• click here to Fix poor print quality on HP Color LaserJet Pro M254 printers

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!

[isj4]

Thank you for your suggestions.

Results:

• Power-cycled twice, including draining with "on" button: No change.
• Updated firmware from 20171210 to 20220414: No change.
• Did "restore defaults": No change.

So it is unlikely to be a firmware problem, but instead a physical problem with the magenta toner cartridge. I just find it really odd that it suddenly developed that fault. I'll order a new magenta toner cartridge and see if that helps.

[Gaya1239]

Hi @isj4,

Welcome to the HP Support Community

I understand you are facing an issue with your Hp Product. Not to worry I will help you to get a resolution to resolve the issue.

 I'm sending a private message to assist you with the next 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.

I 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!
 

[isj4]

Hi Gaya1239,

I don't seem to have received any private messages here. Are you sure you sent me one?

Regards,

  Ivan

[Gaya1239]

Hi @isj4,

Welcome to the HP Support Community

I understand you are facing an issue with your Hp Product. Not to worry I will help you to get a resolution to resolve the issue.

 I'm sending a private message to assist you with the next 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. please check now 

I 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!
 

[isj4]

I investigated the support options and found that the cheapest one was more expensive than an off-brand toner cartridge. So I bought a new magenta toner cartridge and tried it: Same result. So the error is in the printer itself.

I can see that for some older models there are instructions on how to narrow down what the error might be by eg. taping over the HV connection point for the charge roller. Is similar useful support pages available for this model printer+cartridge?