Taking Care of Your Printer

Changing the Toner Cartridge

You can easily install a new toner cartridge by following the series of steps here. Check your printer's documentation for the specifics, such as which end of the toner cartridge does in first and whether you need to flip any levers or switches.

1. Turn off the printer

2. Remove toner from OEM box. It should be packaged in a reflective foil bag. Remove foil.

3. Remove the seal from the toner cartridge if necessary.

4. If there are any extra pieces in the bag, such as a cotton swab or a cleaning pad, set them aside for now.

5. Shake the cartridge GENTLE. Rock the toner from side to side. This motion redistributes that toner within the cartridge so that the paper output will be even.

6. Insert the toner according to guide rails. These guide rails vary from printer to printer. The toner cartridge should easily slide into the machine.

7. If the toner came with a swab or a cleaning pad, use it now. Normally you would replace the older wand with the new wand.

8. Close the printer and turn back on.

Cleaning the Printer

You should make it a habit to cleaning the printer every time you change the toner cartridge. This stops many potential problems from ever appearing. LaserSmith recommends however that a professional perform a cover off cleaning annually. This is different from end user cleanings. A  technician should perform a cleaning where the internal parts are removed and all moving parts are checked for their working order. The following are instructions for user based cleanings:

1. Before opening the printer, turn power off and unplug it from the wall.

2. After opening the printer, use a damp, soft cloth to clean away any visible toner. It looks like black powder.

3. With an alcohol-dipped cotton swab, clean the toner from all visible wires. Look in your printers documentation user fuser wires, to assist you in locating wires in your machine. Make sure that you use high quality isopropyl alcohol. Ammonia based cleaners can damage the imaging elements in your printer.

4. Close the printer and use a damp cloth to clean all external parts.

5. Turn the printer back on and printer a test sheet. Generally, you would hold down the ALT button while pressing the test button. This however varies from printer to printer.

Troubleshooting / Possible Solutions

1. Middle or side section of the page is not printing.

Possible Solution(s): Rock the cartridge, Insert a new cartridge or Clean the corona wire

2. Vertical white streaks

Possible Solution(s): Clean machine corona wire with alcohol

3. White spot or blotch

Possible Solution(s): Clean machine corona wire with Q-tip, Use a different batch of paper

4. Light Print

Possible Solution(s): Adjust the density setting, Adjust the cartridge tabs, Return to service printer or Print 50-100 pages

5. Thin gray streaking from top pf page or blur from bottom of print

Possible Solution(s): Clean or change fuser wand or Use different paper or dry and flatten paper

6. Ghosting of previously printed images

Possible Solution(s): Run 20 or more blank pages, Install or replace felt or Return to service center

7. Regular spots of gray or black background

Possible Solution(s): Adjust humidity of room, Ground the cartridge by touching the metal contacts to a grounding wire

8. Consistent, evenly spaced "shadow spot" ususally three or four times per page.

Possible Solution(s): Try removing cartridge and reinserting it or Return to a service center

9. Marks on back of page, consistent location

Possible Solution(s): Clean the rollers, located over paper tray or Replace fuser wand

10. Smudging or backgrounding

Possible Solution(s): Lower humidity, Replace the wand or felt or Return to service center

11. Spotty grey vertical line

Possible Solution(s): Replace the fuser roller, Clean the rollers, Clean the separation belt or Return to service center.

12. Blurred print or print to dark

Possible Solution(s): Adjust the density dial, Adjust the room humidity, Change paper to less cotton content or Print 10-20 pages

13. Solid black vertical lines like paint drips

Possible Solution(s): Clean cartridge corona wire

14. Consistent, Vertical, Thin, Black Lines

Possible Solution(s): Clean claws under fuser lid, Replace fuser, Replace drum or Clean corona wire.

15. Pin marks, evenly spaced in consistent vertical line

Possible Solution(s): Return drum for replacement

16. Random Spotting

Possible Solution(s): Clean the glass, Clean the fuser, Clean the wand or Change paper type

17. Black pages

Possible Solution(s): Replace the toner cartridge, Reinsert the cartridge so that proper electrical contact is made or Return to service center

18. Wavy Background and halftones

Possible Solution(s): Return printer to nearest service center