HP LaserJet 2605DN making stripes on the paper?

[Per Hansson]

I bought a HP color LaserJet 2605DN many years ago.
It developed a problem with the toner though, it made stripes on the paper
I replaced all toners but this time used aftermarket, they worked for a while but now again got the stripes on the paper.
Anyone got some ideas, is the toner causing this or something else?

[srhofmann]

Re: HP LaserJet 2605DN making stripes on the paper?

Dumb as this sounds have you just tried shaking the cartridge?

If that doesn't work here's some lite reading for you.....

[llonen]

Re: HP LaserJet 2605DN making stripes on the paper?

Not sure if you ever solved this, and or to people that may be experiencing similar print output, but if you look at the toner transfer belt the black wide belt towards the bottom of the image you will see a similar outline. The belt appears from the photo quite badly worn and would need replacement. An expensive undertaking.

[momaka]

Re: HP LaserJet 2605DN making stripes on the paper?

Not sure if you ever solved this, and or to people that may be experiencing similar print output, but if you look at the toner transfer belt the black wide belt towards the bottom of the image you will see a similar outline. The belt appears from the photo quite badly worn and would need replacement. An expensive undertaking.

Does this apply for all printers that have a problem with printing stripes on the paper? In my case, I have LaserJet 1100 (oldschool, I know) and also a Brother HL1440. Both of them started printing these stripes, though with the Brother, they always seems to appear at equally spaced intervals(?). Moreover, when not using the printer for a long time, the first page or two always print out looking okay, but it's the pages that follow afterwards that have the stripes.

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack the thread with my printers, but I just wonder if that's the same issue or not. And if it is, what's the best way to fix it? - Replace toner? Fuser? Whole printer? (lol)

[stj]

Re: HP LaserJet 2605DN making stripes on the paper?

any old laser,
clean the mirrors, clean the spinning optical drum that scatters the beam, clean the optics.
dust on these parts causes fading / blurring of the print.

then clean the drum(s) with a dry tissue and wash any foam rollers under cold water.
that will help stop banding.

if your toner(s) are good,
it will be good as new.

[diif]

Re: HP LaserJet 2605DN making stripes on the paper?

Does this apply for all printers that have a problem with printing stripes on the paper? In my case, I have LaserJet 1100 (oldschool, I know) and also a Brother HL1440. Both of them started printing these stripes, though with the Brother, they always seems to appear at equally spaced intervals(?). Moreover, when not using the printer for a long time, the first page or two always print out looking okay, but it's the pages that follow afterwards that have the stripes.

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack the thread with my printers, but I just wonder if that's the same issue or not. And if it is, what's the best way to fix it? - Replace toner? Fuser? Whole printer? (lol)

Sounds more like fuser than toner to me. I used to see image issues caused by problems with the transfer belt. They were printers under contract and the transfer belt was a classed as a consumable.(£120 on £400 printers IIRC).
With prices for laser printers now being so cheap, if cleaning the printer doesn't cure any problems it's usually cheaper to buy a new printer than buy spares for the old one, unless second hand parts can be sourced at a reasonable price.

[momaka]

Re: HP LaserJet 2605DN making stripes on the paper?

Thanks.

Yeah, sounds like I really need to open and clean both printers. I might have to wait until it gets warmer again, though. I just tested LaserJet 1100 again, and the printout came looking like someone had washed an inkjet printed page with water, but with lots of loose toner everywhere on the page (including the back). I wonder if the wild temperature swings in the garage did something to the toner/fuser/drum, because when I opened the printer up, there was toner *everywhere*.

Speaking of which, how should I clean/wash toner away after taking the printer apart? I know heat is what makes it melt, so I probably don't want to use warm water. But cold water and soap? Or go for a good dusting with a brush, followed by IPA? ... or window cleaner (Windex)?

[diif]

Re: HP LaserJet 2605DN making stripes on the paper?

Do you have a vacuum with a small brush attachment ? Use that and wipe with ipa to get any residue up. I'd advise wearing a dust mask even of its one of those cheap disposable ones.

[stj]

Re: HP LaserJet 2605DN making stripes on the paper?

loose toner could be an electrostatic problem.
either a failed invertor or a bad connection.

it could also be an open-circuit fuser lamp, but that will throw a code in the older stuff i'm used to.

[llonen]

Re: HP LaserJet 2605DN making stripes on the paper?

You generally find toner transfer belts in colour laser printers rather than monochrome, so in the case of your laser-jet and brother, there wont be a transfer belt. In the case of the original poster the transfer belt is very visible in the first image and looks to be severly degraded. I think reading up, most of the likely candidates for problem solving in your case have already been mentioned.

[momaka]

Re: HP LaserJet 2605DN making stripes on the paper?

I don't mess with those flimsy disposable dust masks. They are about as good as putting your shirt over your nose - i.e. not very good. The N/P95 rating they have means they block only 95% of particulate matter, which sounds good to the regular Joe. But in reality, it's those 5% of the particles they don't catch that are the most dangerous- the tiniest particles that get stuck in your lungs forever, like Silica. So I have a P100 particulate respirator, which is usually good for up to 10x PEL of small dust particles in the air. Makes quite a difference, really. Especially for me, as I found I have rather strong allergic reaction to fine dust particles sometimes, almost like Asthma.

Anyways, I probably won't use the vacuum cleaner, as I'm not sure it's dust bag won't later blow those particles in the house when I use it. Will probably just wait for the weather to get very warm again, so I can take the printer completely apart and wash everything that is washable (and brush/wipe the rest that isn't).

Thanks for all the answers everybody.

[Per Hansson]

Re: HP LaserJet 2605DN making stripes on the paper?

I bought a HP color LaserJet 2605DN many years ago.
It developed a problem with the toner though, it made stripes on the paper
I replaced all toners but this time used aftermarket, they worked for a while but now again got the stripes on the paper.
Anyone got some ideas, is the toner causing this or something else?

Answering my own question here hoping it might help someone else.
The issue was the toners: I bought new original HP toners and the problem went away, see attached photos for comparsion!
Take note that the aftermarket toners only did a few hundred prints at most!
Of course the company that I bought them from has gone bankrupt!
I did do some reading before I decided to give it a go:
The toners in this printer have the drum built in, and also toner waste bin.
So if the waste bin gets full this problem can occur: I made holes with a soldering iron to let out the used toner but there was not much in and it did not help.
The other conculsion that others made is that after the 2000 pages they are rated for have been used up the toner is really mechanically worn out.
And therefore aftermarket replacements are not a good idea for this printer!

That said all is not well with HP either, meanwhile from the post above I get a freebie HP 2840 Color Laserjet from dads company that was going to trash it.
It also "needed" new toners and refused to print because they where "expired": I bought toner replacement chips on eBay for like $5 and have printed almost 1000 pages since, and the prints look great!
Even color pictures look great, much better than on the HP 2605DN.
Now though that printer has developed a "standard problem" for that series: the toner wheel becomes unaligned, and I got tired to fix it...
It might actually be because of mechanically worn toners in its case too.
But I'm not sure I'm willing to spend the money on that printer to find out, we shall see

[jh20]

Re: HP LaserJet 2605DN making stripes on the paper?

Hey, the printout from the 2605DN looks faded. The picture of the monkey should have more red color in it. The laser lens need cleaning. Once cleaned it should print as good as the 2840. However the cleaning job is not easy, so not sure if its still worth it.