Laser printer prints a mess
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/37035021
hi everybody!
found an abandoned HP Laserjet 1020 in the dumpster. got it home, cleaned it and fitted the toner cartridge. it installed fine, prints fine, except the mess all over the paper (see pic).
now I haven't had to do with printers in at least a decade, but I seem to remember it's something with the thing inside the toner cartrdidge, so replacing the cartrdige should fix it.
can someone confirm this, as I can't really afford to waste money if it's something inside the printer. thank you!
Try cleaning the drums that pull the paper.
I would pull the rollers and clean them. Don't just use anything to clean them since some chemical cleaners will melt them. There are videos on how to do this. pull the plug in the middle of a print and inspect the page that is in it to determine where its getting on the paper in the cycle.
Check if that model has a replacement fuser or maintenance kit if the other suggestions don't work.
That usually fixes our printers when invoices start looking like this.
It can also be a shitty finger cartridge but I'm assuming you used a new one already so unlikely
Well, my very old laser printer had something similar, I think the exposure unit was broken or something. Long story short, since that shit is unhealthy toss it and get a new one.
I have not seen one of these in a long time but I would say from my experience it looks like the cartridge is bad and your model has the drum built into the cartridge. Likely it’s an older cartridge that failed, I’ve seen them go bad from sitting around for years.