Printing quality problems
Condition |
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Suggested Solutions |
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Toner specks |
• The paper may not meet specifications; for example, the paper may be too moist or rough. |
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• |
The transfer roller may be dirty. Clean the inside of your machine (see "Cleaning the machine" on page 11). |
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• |
The paper path may need cleaning. Contact a service representative (see "Cleaning the machine" on page 11). |
Dropouts |
If faded areas, generally rounded, occur randomly on the page: |
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• A single sheet of paper may be defective. Try reprinting the job. |
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• The moisture content of the paper is uneven or the paper has moist spots on its surface. Try a different brand of paper. |
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• The paper lot is bad. The manufacturing processes can cause some areas to reject toner. Try a different kind or brand of paper. |
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• Change the printer option and try again. Go to Printing Preferences, click the Paper tab, and set type to Thick or Thicker (see |
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"Opening printing preferences" on page 13). |
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If these steps do not correct the problem, contact a service representative. |
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White Spots |
If white spots appear on the page: |
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• The paper is too rough and a lot of dirt from paper falls to the inner components within the machine, so the transfer roller may be |
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dirty. Clean the inside of your machine (see "Cleaning the machine" on page 11). |
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• The paper path may need cleaning. Clean the inside of your machine (see "Cleaning the machine" on page 11). |
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If these steps do not correct the problem, contact a service representative. |
5. Troubleshooting 181
Printing quality problems
Condition |
Suggested Solutions |
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Vertical lines |
If black vertical streaks appear on the page: |
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• The surface (drum part) of the toner cartridge inside the machine has probably been scratched. Remove the toner cartridge and |
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install a new one (see "Replacing the toner cartridge" on page 8). |
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If white vertical streaks appear on the page: |
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• The surface of the LSU part inside the machine may be dirty. Clean the inside of your machine (see "Cleaning the machine" on page |
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11). If these steps do not correct the problem, contact a service representative. |
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Black background |
If the amount of background shading becomes unacceptable: |
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• Change to a lighter weight paper. |
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• Check the environmental conditions: very dry conditions or a high level of humidity (higher than 80% RH) can increase the amount |
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of background shading. |
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• Remove the old toner cartridge and install a new one (see "Replacing the toner cartridge" on page 8). |
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• Thoroughly redistribute the toner (see "Redistributing toner" on page 7). |
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Toner smear |
• Clean the inside of the machine (see "Replacing the toner cartridge" on page 8). |
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• Check the paper type and quality. |
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• Remove the toner cartridge and install a new one (see "Replacing the toner cartridge" on page 8). |
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5. Troubleshooting 182
Printing quality problems
Condition |
Suggested Solutions |
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Vertical repetitive defects |
If marks repeatedly appear on the printed side of the page at even intervals: |
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• The toner cartridge may be damaged. If you still have the same problem, remove the toner cartridge and, install a new one (see |
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"Replacing the toner cartridge" on page 8). |
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• Parts of the machine may have toner on them. If the defects occur on the back of the page, the problem will likely correct itself after |
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a few more pages. |
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• The fusing assembly may be damaged. Contact a service representative. |
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Background scatter |
Background scatter results from bits of toner randomly distributed on the printed page. |
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• The paper may be too damp. Try printing with a different batch of paper. Do not open packages of paper until necessary so that |
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the paper does not absorb too much moisture. |
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• If background scatter occurs on an envelope, change the printing layout to avoid printing over areas that have overlapping seams |
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on the reverse side. Printing on seams can cause problems. |
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Or select Thick Envelope from the Printing Preferences window (see "Opening printing preferences" on page 13). |
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• If background scatter covers the entire surface area of a printed page, adjust the print resolution through your software application |
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or in Printing Preferences (see "Opening printing preferences" on page 13). Ensure the correct paper type is selected. For example: |
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If Thicker Paper is selected, but Plain Paper actually used, an overcharging can occur causing this copy quality problem. |
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• If you are using a new toner cartridge, redistribute the toner first (see "Redistributing toner" on page 7). |
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Toner particles are around bold |
The toner might not adhere properly to this type of paper. |
characters or pictures |
• Change the printer option and try again. Go to Printing Preferences, click the Paper tab, and set the paper type to Recycled (see |
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|
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"Opening printing preferences" on page 13). |
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• Ensure the correct paper type is selected. For example: If Thicker Paper is selected, but Plain Paper actually used, an overcharging |
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can occur causing this copy quality problem. |
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5. Troubleshooting 183
Printing quality problems
Condition |
Suggested Solutions |
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Misformed characters |
• If characters are improperly formed and producing hollow images, the paper stock may be too slick. Try different paper. |
Page skew |
• |
Ensure that the paper is loaded properly. |
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• Check the paper type and quality. |
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• |
Ensure that the guides are not too tight or too loose against the paper stack. |
Curl or wave |
• |
Ensure that the paper is loaded properly. |
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• Check the paper type and quality. Both high temperature and humidity can cause paper curl. |
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• |
Turn the stack of paper over in the tray. Also try rotating the paper 180° in the tray. |
5. Troubleshooting 184
Printing quality problems
Condition |
|
Suggested Solutions |
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Wrinkles or creases |
• Ensure that the paper is loaded properly. |
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• |
Check the paper type and quality. |
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• |
Turn the stack of paper over in the tray. Also try rotating the paper 180° in the tray. |
Back of printouts are dirty |
• Check for leaking toner. Clean the inside of the machine (see "Cleaning the machine" on page 11). |
Solid color or black pages |
• |
The toner cartridge may not be installed properly. Remove the cartridge and reinsert it. |
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• The toner cartridge may be defective. Remove the toner cartridge and install a new one (see "Replacing the toner cartridge" on |
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|
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page 8). |
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• |
The machine may require repairing. Contact a service representative. |
5. Troubleshooting 185
Printing quality problems
Condition |
|
Suggested Solutions |
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Loose toner |
• Clean the inside of the machine (see "Cleaning the machine" on page 11). |
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• |
Check the paper type and quality. |
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• |
Remove the toner cartridge and then, install a new one (see "Replacing the toner cartridge" on page 8). |
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If the problem persists, the machine may require repair. Contact a service representative. |
Character voids |
Character voids are white areas within parts of characters that should be solid black: |
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• |
You may be printing on the wrong surface of the paper. Remove the paper and turn it around. |
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• |
The paper may not meet paper specifications. |
Horizontal stripes |
If horizontally aligned black streaks or smears appear: |
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|
• |
The toner cartridge may be installed improperly. Remove the cartridge and reinsert it. |
|
• |
The toner cartridge may be defective. Remove the toner cartridge and install a new one (see "Replacing the toner cartridge" on |
|
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page 8). |
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If the problem persists, the machine may require repairing. Contact a service representative. |
5. Troubleshooting 186
Printing quality problems
Condition |
|
Suggested Solutions |
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Curl |
If the printed paper is curled or paper does not feed into the machine: |
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• |
Turn the stack of paper over in the tray. Also try rotating the paper 180° in the tray. |
|
• |
Change the printer’s paper option and try again. Go to Printing Preferences, click the Paper tab, and set type to Thin (see |
|
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"Opening printing preferences" on page 13). |
• |
An unknown image |
Your machine is probably being used at an altitude of 1,000 m (3,281 ft) or above.The high altitude may affect the print quality, such |
|
repetitively appears on a few |
as loose toner or light imaging. Change the altitude setting for your machine (See "Altitude adjustment" on page 2). |
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sheets |
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• |
Loose toner |
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• Light print or contamination |
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occurs |
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5. Troubleshooting 187
Operating system problems
1
Common Windows problems
Condition |
Suggested solutions |
|
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“File in Use” message appears |
Exit all software applications. Remove all software from the startup group, then restart Windows. Reinstall the printer driver. |
during installation. |
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“General Protection Fault”, |
Close all other applications, reboot Windows and try printing again. |
“Exception OE”, “Spool 32”, or |
|
“Illegal Operation” messages |
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appear. |
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|
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“Fail To Print”, “A printer |
These messages may appear during printing. Just keep waiting until the machine finishes printing. If the message appears in ready |
timeout error occurred” |
mode or after printing has completed, check the connection and/or whether an error has occurred. |
message appear. |
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Refer to the Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista User’s Guide that came with your computer for further information on Windows error messages.
5. Troubleshooting 188
Operating system problems
2
Common Macintosh problems
Condition |
Suggested solutions |
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The machine does not print PDF files |
Printing the PDF file as an image may enable the file to print. Turn on Print As Image from the Acrobat printing options. |
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correctly. Some parts of graphics, text, or |
|
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illustrations are missing. |
It will take longer to print when you print a PDF file as an image. |
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Some letters are not displayed normally |
Mac OS cannot create the font while printing the cover page. The English alphabet and numbers are displayed normally on |
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during cover page printing. |
the cover page. |
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When printing a document in Macintosh |
Make sure that the resolution setting in your machine driver matches the one in Acrobat Reader. |
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with Acrobat Reader 6.0 or higher, colors |
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print incorrectly. |
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Refer to the Macintosh User’s Guide that came with your computer for further information on Macintosh error messages.
5. Troubleshooting 189