The smudges are fixed and will appear even if I print a blank sheet. If I print multiple copies the smudges will usually become less noticeable and eventually disappear. The next time I start printing though, the smudges generally reappear. This happens whether printing in black & white or colour. The smudges are present across two thirds of the page and vary in their intensity from one job to another. From various other threads, it appears that the problem can only be with the toner cartridges or the fuser unit. I've changed the toner cartridges and cleaned the printer as much as possible. I've also removed the fuser and cleaned it with alcohol but the problem persists. The printer was purchased at he start of 2010 and the fuser has a recorded usage of 22000 (mainly colour) copies. The fuser has never had a paper jam and the rollers still look fairly good. I do not want to purchase an expensive new fuser only to find the problem remains. Is there any definitive tests that I can carry out that will confirm that it is definitely the fuser, (or something else that is causing the problem?
Possibility it could be the Image Transfer Belt or the Imagine Unit.
Belt damaged - will print out streaks of black or yellow lines on page or mouldy print out on the page or the first print will have a faint print on the second print.
Imagine Unit damaged - the print out will be dirty vertical streaks of thick lines or the Top print will appears on the bottom of the print on the same page.
Try to stop the sheet just before it enters the fuser and see if the marks are on the paper already. if not then it has to be the fuser if they are them you have another issue.
Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, the paper that feeds in from the tray disappears into the bowels of the machine. If I open the toner cartridge door and remove the cartridges/drum as soon as the paper has left the tray, it is not visible. Opening the rear cover exposes the paper but it already halfway into the fuser, so I learn nothing.
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Various comments here and on other websites suggest that it might be the cartridges, the drum, the fuser or the transfer belt. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a definitive test to carry out to confirm the exact cause of the bad copies. As the price on Amazon for a drum and transfer belt is typically more than £60 each, it would be Sod's Law that I bought the wrong item first and then still be in doubt as to the cause.
.......continued from previous comment.....I decided to buy a secondhand unit from Ebay that was also faulty but with different problems -It cost me £50. However, after swapping components out one by one, I established that the transfer belt was faulty. It had been causing the prints to have black/nicotine coloured smudges. With the replacement fuser, I now have clean prints again. I also have a spare broken printer with components that might be useful in the future.
Correction..."with the replacement "transfer belt" not fuser!!!
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