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Posted on May 10, 2009

Xerox 8550 Light Stripe after Jet Substitution & Muddy Yellow

I've run the Eliminate Light Stripes many times and turned on Jet Substitution for Magenta 173. That has worked for quite some time with a different jet in yellow. However, the fix is not working at all for this one. Does this indicate a new print head is needed? And, how much will that cost? The company I use will charge me $110 just to come out for an hour. I'm wondering if it's time to replace the printer instead.

Also, the yellow ink gets muddy all of the time. If I run about 50 prints just printing solid yellow, it will get clean so that I can make good prints.

Help! I have lots of printing to do.


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semalmquist

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  • Posted on Sep 03, 2009
semalmquist
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Before replacing a printer that seems to be to far gone to repair try this simple "fix". I know it sounds too simple but turn the printer completely off for at least 4 hours. Before shutting it down turn the Jet Substitution back OFF. I had just about given up on two of my 8550';s and after an overnight power off one machine printed 100% and the 2nd older machine was pretty good, much better than before anyway. I also recommend quality ink: Either the Xerox brand or Media Science there is another ink produced in Korea that has caused me one headache after another.

Good luck. Steve

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  • Posted on Jul 02, 2009
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Time to buy another printer. The Print Head will cost you 800-900 plus the labor to install. This printer is a crime that isn't prosecuted. This should be a $100 part and they make it more expensive than a new machine. Don't even try to make Xerox eat it. It will cost you more in sleep. Look to another manufacturer.

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How to solve streaks in printout

If you have tried running the "eliminate light stripes" process in the troubleshoot print quality without success, you may want to look at the print quality sheet and do "jet substitution" on the ink nozzle numbers that aren't printing out. That will slightly slow down the printing, but will eliminate white streaks down your prints.
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On my Xerox Phaser 8560 DN I keep running the light stripes test to fix the weak/broken jets, only to have another stripe appear in another spot! It's like playing ink-head whack-a-mole. Needless to...

Have you tried using the jet substitution instead of cleaning every time. We used to do that till we had 5 or 6 weak jets then run the cleaning and if they have all recovered turn off the jet substitution..
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Lines on print. There's are three lines on picture print only. Can't see the line on document. It's about 1/4 inch wide and going throught top to bottom.

Have ou gone into your menus. Into troubleshooting, then image quality.
You will want to run both the eliminate light stripes and eliminate smears procedures. that will purge the print head, blow air through the jets and hopefully resolve the problem. I do believe the 8550 has a Jet Substitutin procedure where you can do a workaround and make other jets make up for the light areas.
here are some directions, Will forward more

  1. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button on the Control Panel to select [Troubleshooting] on the Display Screen, and then press the [OK] button.
  2. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Print Quality Problems], and then press the [OK] button.
  3. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Troubleshooting Print Quality Page], and then press the [OK] button.
  4. Evaluate the 'Light Stripes Test' page for missing printhead jets, such as missing Cyan, Magenta, Yellow or Black color bars. The 'Light Stripes Test' page is the last page of the Troubleshooting Print Quality Page that printed.

    WARNING: To avoid injury, do not touch the sharp metal strip attached to the clear rubber wiper blade in the Maintenance Kit.

  5. Use a clean lint-free cloth or a new paper coffee filter to gently clean the maintenance unit's clear rubber wiper blade, use only a wiping motion across the entire length of the wiper blade, and then empty the waste tray. A dirty maintenance kit wiper blade can cause white lines and weak or missing printhead jets.


  6. 8500-wiper-blade-clean.jpg

  7. Repeat step 3 to reprint the Troubleshooting Print Quality Pages. If there are no missing or partially missing color bars then the print quality problem has been resolved. If there are missing or partially missing color bars then the printhead cleaning procedure will need to be performed. Continue with the next section.
To clean the printhead using the basic eliminate light stripes procedure:
  1. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button on the Control Panel to select [Troubleshooting] on the Display Screen, and then press the [OK] button.
  2. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Print Quality Problems], and then press the [OK] button.
  3. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Eliminate Light Stripes], and then press the [OK] button.
  4. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Basic], and then press the [OK] button. The printer will perform a head cleaning, which will take about five minutes. The printer will then print a cleaning page and a light stripes test page.
  5. Repeat steps 1 - 4 one more time. If there are no weak or missing jets then the print quality problem has been resolved. If there are still weak or missing jets after two basic light stripe cleanings, continue with step 6.

    NOTE: Do not try the Advanced Eliminate Light Stripes Cleaning mode without performing two basic cleanings first.

    To clean the printhead using the advanced eliminate light stripes procedure:

  6. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Advanced], and then press the [OK] button.
  7. Select the missing jet color and number. If necessary, check the light stripes test page to determine the color and jet number of the missing jet.

    NOTE: Only perform the advanced light stripe cleaning once. If weak or missing jets still persist, continue with step 8.


  8. Print the Troubleshooting Print Quality Page. Evaluate the Light Stripes Test page for missing printhead jets, such as missing Cyan, Magenta, Yellow or Black color bars. If necessary, perform the basic eliminate light stripes procedure one more time. If the Advanced Eliminate Light Stripes procedure does not resolve the weak or missing jets, perform the Enable Jet Substitution Mode. See the Related Items below.

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Xerox 8550 Printer Magenta ink not working.

You need to run the eliminate light stripes. it should be in the menu, under troubleshooting, print quality issues. you can run this up to 3 times. you want the run the basic light stripes, not the advanced. If after 3 times running this, you are still missing jets, your printhead is bad. If you are using aftermarket ink, media sciences might cover the repair, if not, the printhead costs as much as a new machine. about $650+labor.
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I have a phaser 8400 banding problem. Actually reverse banding. It is ligher ink vertically along left margin and an inch from right margin. Is this a drum problem? It notes I am low on ink and have only...

nope its not a drum problem, That drum never goes bad. You are having a problem with some blocked jets in the print head.
You can scroll through your menu to troubleshooting and there are cleaning modes to eliminate light stripes and to eliminate smears.
Run the eliminate light stripes maybe 2 or 3 times. If that doesn't work, then try the jet substitution mode.
That is better described at Xerox.com, click support, then enter phaser 8400 in the search box, click support again and then enter
"jet" in that search and follow the directions.
If those do not work then your print head is most likely bad. Thats more likely if you have used non xerox ink sticks.Being low on ink should only give you a message that its low.
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Xerox Phaser 8400N Printing Stripes

When you go into the eliminate light stripes there is also a mode called Jet Substitution. You can sometimes bypass the bad jets.
If that does not work then the print head will most likely need to be replaced.
You can replace the printer for less than the cost of a print head normally..
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Xerox Phaser 8400 light stripes

Your print head is in ned of replacement.
If you have done all you have, not much more that can be done.
You can try running that eliminate stripes a few times, and also in that area try the Jet Substitution, and see if you can open new jets to bypass the blocked ones.
after that, your print head would need to be replaced.
Wish I had a better and cheaper answer.
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Possible Print Head Issue

Select the Jet Substitution Mode.
  1. On the Control Panel, select Troubleshooting, and then press the OK button.
  2. Select Print Quality Problems, and then press the OK button.
  3. Select Eliminate Light Stripes, and then press the OK button.
  4. Select Jet Substitution Mode, and then press the OK button.
  5. Follow the Control Panel prompts to select the color and malfunctioning jet number indicated on the Light Stripes Test page.
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Xerox Phaser 8500 not printing black

Here are the directions to enable and disable Jet Substitution. This may very well help.
Some of the print head jets will not unclog for you. If that does not work then most likely the print head needs to be replaced.

o enable the Jet Substitution mode:
  1. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button on the Control Panel to select [Troubleshooting] on the Display Screen, and then press the [OK] button.
  2. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Print Quality Problems], and then press the [OK] button.
  3. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Eliminate Light Stripes], and then press the [OK] button.
  4. If necessary, select [Print Light Stripes Test] to make a Light Stripes Test print that shows any weak or missing jet and its jet number.
  5. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Jet Substitution Mode], and then press the [OK] button.
  6. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select the color for the weak or missing jet, and then press the [OK] button to select the color.
  7. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select the number of the weak or missing jet (1 to 309), and then press the [OK] button to confirm the selection.

    NOTE: If necessary, press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Save Change and Select Another Jet] to substitute more jets.

  8. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Save Change and Exit] and then press the [OK] button to complete the procedure.

To disable the Jet Substitution mode:
  1. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button on the Control Panel to select [Troubleshooting] on the Display Screen, and then press the [OK] button.
  2. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Print Quality Problems], and then press the [OK] button.
  3. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Eliminate Light Stripes], and then press the [OK] button.
  4. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Jet Substitution Mode], and then press the [OK] button.
  5. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Turn Jet Substitution Mode Off], and then press the [OK] button.
0helpful
2answers

Light Stripe Problem

Try the jet substitution mode.
Here are the instructions.

To enable the Jet Substitution mode:
  1. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button on the Control Panel to select [Troubleshooting] on the Display Screen, and then press the [OK] button.
  2. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Print Quality Problems], and then press the [OK] button.
  3. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Eliminate Light Stripes], and then press the [OK] button.
  4. If necessary, select [Print Light Stripes Test] to make a Light Stripes Test print that shows any weak or missing jet and its jet number.
  5. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Jet Substitution Mode], and then press the [OK] button.
  6. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select the color for the weak or missing jet, and then press the [OK] button to select the color.
  7. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select the number of the weak or missing jet (1 to 309), and then press the [OK] button to confirm the selection.

    NOTE: If necessary, press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Save Change and Select Another Jet] to substitute more jets.

  8. Press the [Up] or [Down] arrow button to select [Save Change and Exit] and then press the [OK] button to complete the procedure.

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