May 15, 2012
The firm gave Lexmark high marks for its expertise and strategic focus on business process optimization. Quocirca also emphasized Lexmark’s business process expertise, which enables Lexmark to further penetrate large enterprise accounts. Lexmark’s business process management capabilities, through its recent acquisitions, will help drive further value for Lexmark’s MPS customers.
Read the original post on Lexmark’s New Blog
April 23, 2012
Whether starting out or expanding a business, questions abound about what and how much printing/copying/faxing equipment you need.
Should you buy, rent or lease?
With the increasing number of brands, models and functions available confusion often gives way to multiple purchases of “affordable” printers and peripherals that can eventually cost way more than they’re worth in supplies and maintenance. In the end ‘under’ buying leads to the same result as ‘over’ buying; you’ve purchased a machine (or machines) that doesn’t meet the needs of your business.
One size does not fit all
I would urge every business owner to analyze their printing processes. Don’t skimp on this part. Put your best minds to work on the issue…including your service techs or service company! There are lots of questions to answer, for example:
Answers to these and lots of other questions will determine the types of machines best suited to be deployed in your workspaces. And trust me, one-size-fits-all will not meet all your needs. While it’s nice to have all the same brand, and that is for the most part achievable, you should expect to have a few others scattered around the office.
Let’s look at the front desk in the hypothetical
During your analysis it’s found that printing, scanning, faxing and copying letter sized paper in black and white are all required, but a networked printer isn’t necessary. There is no point installing a Multi-Function Printer (MFP) the size of a filing cabinet in a space better utilized by, oh I don’t know, maybe a filing cabinet. In fact, the smaller the MFP the better. But the quality needs to be better than average to ensure accurate faxed copies. After careful consideration and investigation into reliability and long term cost of supplies and maintenance it’s decided to install a Samsung rather than the office standard Lexmark.
Here’s another hypothetical
Though you are an HP shop in general the sales department needs better color graphics and picture quality for their brochures and ads. So the decision is made to install a Xerox Phaser for their use. It’s only one printer networked to the sales staff only. Not hard for the IT folks to accomplish.
How about a real life example
One of my customers wanted a printer for color. We initially sold them a SamsungCLX-6210. They were unhappy with the results. Upon further investigation we discovered they wanted to print graphics for sales ads. Samsung quality isn’t that good, but they do the spreadsheet highlights very well. HP, however, does make a printer for business graphics that was in the same price range.
There are three points to this last example. First, we should have asked more questions about how the printer would be used. This is extremely important, it’s one of the best measuring sticks for evaluatingMPS providers. How many pertinent questions do they ask? It should be a lot. Second, not all printers are equal in print quality or price. For this company Xerox would have provided the quality they desired but was way out of range in the price category.
One of the most important things to consider
When initiating your printer deployment or upgrade, consider who will provide the machines and the service. My suggestion is to evaluate the company for service now before you get the machines. Most SMBs should consider using a local service company, another SMB. Having a local company provide the machines, supplies and service makes more sense to me than having a large, faceless, out-of-town company provide you with some proprietary software to install on your network and an 800 number to call when there’s a problem. Because, I have news for you; when you call them, they call us — small service companies in small markets willing to represent themselves as the other company’s techs to fix your problems. Why not cut out the middleman and just go local?
When you deal with a local company
You’re going to get personal, face-to-face service. If you’ve used these guys to evaluate your needs and deploy your printers, they know they have to stock high failure parts for all the machines so that printer down time will be minimal. They know which toner cartridges to keep on the shelf so if you get a defective cartridge it can be replaced in a matter of hours or even minutes, instead of days. You know the techs coming to repair the printer and how those techs work. You know that since this is a contract it gets a higher priority than other service calls.
These are all elements of what was commonly known as a “working relationship”. And it’s important — to both businesses. Whether you notice it or not it’s just about the best advertising around for the service company. It’s called ‘word-of-mouth’. And it’s better for small businesses than the internet.
Let’s say you’re having a meeting in your conference room. First thing your client notices is the furniture. “It’s really comfortable isn’t it? I got it from a company here in town.”
Later on you provide a document your client needs through the computer Bluetooth connection but your client would like a hard copy. Well it just so happens there is a wireless printer in the room just for that purpose. “No kidding. Where’d you get that?” “The same company that set up our Printer Fleet. And it’s saving us a bundle in print costs.”
Corny?
Maybe, but it works. And it works both ways because service guys talk. Trust me we talk. We use our customers as references all the time. If we recommend a machine or service we’ll tell you about a customer that already has it. Or when we’re recommending against a certain course of action we’ll use another customer’s experience to illustrate the point. And if you ask and we have permission we’ll be happy to put you in touch with that customer for more information. That’s an SMB communication triangle that just might generate business all around.
My final point about going local
If you call a 1-800 customer care line to rant ‘n rave about poor service or crappy merchandise, whoever you’re railing at on the other end has probably taken their headset off and gone out for a smoke until you’ve either calmed down or passed out. But if you’re dealing ‘in town’ you’re going to get a better, quicker response and most times better resolution to the problem. In short you have someone to blame that’s going to care and respond in a timely manner. It’s our livelihood and reputation at stake. We’ll bend over backwards to keep you happy.
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Brian Ude is a certified printer technician with years of experience. Brian serves Western Office (www.western-office.com) in Billings, Montana. If you have a question for Brian regarding this topic or have any other printer repair related questions or topics you would like more information on, please post a comment on this blog or send an email to maryp@marketpoint.com.
April 18, 2012
We recently received a good question via email. Here’s the Q and Brian’s (our Lexmark Tech Blogger) response. Any one else have a perspective to share on this problem? Please post a reply if you can help.
Question: A number of my customers are still using T63X printers in their insurance and pharmacy businesses. I have convinced most of them that regular service and genuine Lexmark toner are the answer to longevity and few problems. I have a T634, 500 sheet, in an insurance office that is just over 350 k pages although it has not had a good service history. It constantly breaks the spring tab from re-drive assembly redirector 99A1857. Three so far. I have replaced the fuser unit with a reman Lexmark unit and checked the flags for jams, the output guide for toner buildup and made sure it is genuinely clean and straight. Last one lasted 3 months but it did it again. I have replaced the entire redrive assembly as well as just the redirector part and spring. Well over thirty years in the computer environment so I trust myself but feel I am never too old to learn or teach what I know. Any ideas on this one?
Response: You didn’t mention whether it had a mailbox installed so I’m assuming it doesn’t. So….
Since the only time that diverter is used, to the best of my knowledge, is when there is a mailbox installed, and after consulting with my learned colleagues, I have to say that there is some human interaction causing the problem. If there is a paper jam at the back door and the user can’t move the printer to get at it they might be yanking a little too hard in the wrong direction, as end users are known to do…. 
If they’re leaning on the re-drive cap the diverter can’t pop loose and either that stop tab or the hook would break off.
Something to look into would be the Diagnostic Menu (page 3-1) and print the error log (page 3-7). It only keeps 12 errors but it should tell you if there have been ‘Jams at Rear Door’.
If it happens to the loaner you put in place you’ll have your proof.
As far as construction of the assembly goes, the placement of the gears for the output rollers in front of the diverter prevent that drive belt from rubbing and causing any damage. The spring isn’t strong enough to break the hook. The hook and tab are protected during removal and installation. When it’s fully activated the diverter is stopped by the re-drive assembly itself so over extension shouldn’t cause the breakage.
Anyone else have any ideas? Thanks!
March 6, 2012
The HP color laserjet 4600 series machines are a perfect example of why HP has become legendary for their line of laser printers. In today’s market, while this is not one of the quicker machines out there, its high volume print cartridges, durability, and ability to handle any job an end-user can think of makes this printer series an office favorite. However, with its age the laser scanner optics are getting a build up of dust and debris on the mirrors and lens. While the light and faded print doesn’t happen as quickly and is not as apparent on this model as it is in the HP color laserjet 2600 and 3000 series, it still needs to be addressed.
In this article I will discuss what you can expect when light or faded print starts becoming an issue in the HP color laserjet 4600 series, how to troubleshoot the problem, and how to resolve the light or faded print issue when it has to be fixed.
Reported Problem from the Customer
Most of the service requests I get on this machine are due to light or faded print on the left side of the printed page, either in one color or all colors. Sometimes when customers have a very bad toner spill they blow it out and toner will get stuck on the main mirror resulting in a faded vertical line running down the page in random areas. Or in extremely dirty environments the whole image gets light.
What Causes the Problem?
Unlike new color laserjet models, the 4600 series color laserjets still use four laser scanner units to produce the four colors. Because these machines have laser scanner units like the monochrome series, the units are better sealed and the optics are kept level so dirt and debris doesn’t build up on them like newer models. Most of the time the dust and debris build up happens on the polygon mirrors located atop the laser motor. The polygon mirrors rotate like a fan. If you’ve ever cleaned a fan off you’ve probably noticed the dust builds up on one side. Same goes for the mirrors in the 4600 laser units. As they rotate dust tends to build up on the left side of the mirrors. Once this starts to happen the left side of the image becomes faded.
Troubleshooting Light or Faded Print in the HP Color Laserjet 4600 Series Printer
The first step in troubleshooting print quality problems is to print a demo and configuration page from the information menu and/or the PQ troubleshooting pages from the diagnostics menu. The demo page mainly helps to see how colors are being mixed together. The configuration page is good at showing faded print across the four color planes. The four lines at the bottom should have uniform color fill throughout the bars. Each of the bars represents that toner cartridge as the bar produced is strictly just using that color toner cartridge to produce the bar. If the optics are dirty the color will be generally faded on the left side but can be faded in other spots if dirt or dust has build up on the front optics of the laser scanner unit. The PQ troubleshooting pages will also help with faded print issues as they print full pages of the individual colors.
For some reason the 4600 series printers don’t always do a good calibration when toner cartridges are installed. I’ve serviced a number of machines where the image color on the demo page was so far off! After doing a color calibration the image quality was restored and I could go about fixing other issues.
After you have printed test pages go into the config device menu, scroll and click on the print quality submenu. On the 4600 run the ‘calibration now’ and on the 4610 and 4650 run the ‘full calibration’. After the calibrations have finished go back and print the test pages again to see if you notice any difference. If your problem’s been fixed, great! If not, read on.
So, Your Problem’s Not Fixed!
If you still have faded or light print after the color calibration we need to further troubleshoot. If all the colors are faded on the left side then you probably can move on to the disassembly instructions. If you just have an issue with one or two colors then we can troubleshoot more.
For example if only the magenta bar has faded print on the configuration page we can troubleshoot the cartridge and the laser scanner unit to isolate the problem. By following the procedure below we can put the machine into diagnostic mode and disable the cartridge check.
Diagnostic – Disable Cartridge Mode
1. Press the Check button (HP Color LaserJet 4600 models) or MENU (HP Color LaserJet 4610n and 4650 models) to open the MENUS
2. Press to highlight DIAGNOSTICS
3. Press to select DIAGNOSTICS
4. Press to highlight DISABLE CARTRIDGE CHECK
5. Press to select DISABLE CARTRIDGE CHECK
Once the cartridge check is disabled we can swap the magenta cartridge with the black cartridge or cyan cartridge (I would avoid swapping the yellow cartridge because it can be hard to tell if it actually faded or not), and reprint the configuration page. If the faded print color on the left side stays with the magenta color we know the magenta cartridge is causing the problem. If the faded print changes from the magenta color bar to whatever color you swapped it with then we know the optics in the laser unit are in need of cleaning.
Cleaning the Laser Scanner Assemblies
This is a very intensive procedure. If you haven’t performed a major repair on a printer I would not recommend trying this. It takes a lot of work to remove the units and they have to be positioned just right when reinstalling them. If you fail to do it just right you will be performing this procedure all over. I usually install the laser units back in and run the print test with the covers off to avoid completely doing the removal again if the laser units aren’t positioned correctly.
Let me say that again! If you haven’t done major printer repairs, this is not the repair to start with. Call your service company. You’ll be glad you did.
Removal of the Laser Scanner Assemblies
Rear cover
1. Remove two screws, top below vents.
2. Pull out on the left side of the rear cover, and slide it to the left to remove it.
Fuser Unit Removal
1. Turn the printer off.
2. Use the side handles to open the top cover.
3. Completely loosen the blue thumb screws on each side of the fuser.
4. Grasp the ends and pull straight up to remove the fuser (being careful NOT to grab the top middle section, as it is fragile).
Top cover
1. Using your fingers or needle-nose pliers, pinch and release the white plastic clips on the damper arm on the left side of the cover. It is easier to pinch these clips if you tip the top cover forward slightly.
2. Disengage the tab and remove the retaining block.
3. Push the cover to the left to release the hinge pin on the right side, then pull the cover to the right to release the hinge pin on the left side and remove the cover.
Rear top cover
1. Remove three screws, top by fuser area.
2. Insert a flat-blade screwdriver between the rear top cover and side cover on the right side of the printer.
3. Lift the screwdriver slightly to disengage the tabs on the right side of the printer.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the left side tabs on the left side of the top rear cover.
5. Remove the rear top cover.
Left cover
1. Open the front cover, remove one screw and disengage the locking tabs from the top.
2. Tilt the top of the cover away from the printer and remove it.
Right cover
1. Open the front cover.
2. Remove one screw and disengage the two locking tabs from the top.
3. Tilt the top of the right cover away from the printer and remove it.
DC controller shield
1. Remove nine screws. A tenth screw might be located on the rear of the printer at the bottom of the DC controller shield. If that tenth screw is present, remove it.
2. Remove the DC controller shield.
Remove the Formatter
1. Remove eight screws.
2. Grasp the black disk-drive lock and pull the formatter out of the printer.
Formatter case
1. At the rear of the printer, remove eight screws.
2. On the DC controller PCA, release the brown tab covering the formatter ribbon cable and disconnect the cable.
3. Disconnect one connector and remove the formatter case.
Laser/scanner components
1. On the DC controller PCA, disconnect four connectors.
2. On the DC controller PCA, release the brown tab covering the formatter ribbon cable and disconnect the cable.
3. At the rear of the printer, place the cardboard spacer (included with the laser/scanner assembly) underneath the V mark on the bottom of the chassis.
4. Remove four screws.
5. Using needle-nose pliers, pull down on the right side of the wire clip, then release the left side of the clip from the bracket. Repeat this step for each of the four clips.
6. Remove the plate that covers the laser/scanner units.
Remove the laser/scanner retaining bars
1. Remove the laser/scanner cover plate.
2. Pull the cables for the four laser/scanner connectors free of the printer chassis.
3. On the left side of the printer, remove one screw above the DC controller.
4. Push the top of the sheet-metal scanner retaining bar towards the laser/scanner units.
5. Rotate the bar down and carefully remove it from the printer.
6. On the top surface of the right side of the printer, remove one screw.
7. On the right side of the printer, push the top of the sheet-metal scanner retaining bar in towards the laser/scanners.
8. Rotate the bar down and carefully remove it from the printer.
To remove the laser/scanner assemblies
1. Remove the laser/scanner retaining bars (as described above)
2. Slide the cyan laser/scanner unit to the left and then pull it out of the printer.
3. For the yellow, magenta, and black laser/scanner units, first unhook each assembly from the white strap, then pull the laser/scanner units out of the printer.
CAUTION: When reinstalling the laser/scanner units, always reconnect them to the white strap behind where the scanners sit. Failure to do so could cause the laser/scanners to become distorted, and the laser beam could become skewed, resulting in image defects.
Also when reinstalling the laser unit move it around a little when you get it in. There are posts in the front of the laser scanner unit that need to align with the front of the frame. If you fail to do this after you reinstall the unit your colors could be shifted vertically, resulting in another disassembly. As I stated before, I usually don’t fully reassemble the machine until after I have run some print quality test.
Cleaning the Laser Scanner Optics
Once you have the laser unit out remove the screw or screws on the top metal plate and check out the polygon motor mirrors in back of the unit on top of the laser scanner motor PCA.
If there is a build-up of dust on the mirrors you should notice it. Take a Q-tip and gently brush off the mirrors.
The mirrors can easily be damaged. I prefer to brush it off gently several times rather than once using more pressure. I recommend using one Q-tip side for each mirror to avoid dirt from the previous mirror scratching the next mirror.
If you have gone this far I would strongly advice cleaning the rest of the optics in the unit.
As I tell everybody, at this point it is not a race. Take your time and do it right the first time. Take the laser unit and move it around at different angles so you can look at it from different points of view and make sure you have all the dirt and debris off the mirrors. The laser units are all the same; so if you’re really in doubt that cleaning the laser scanner will solve the problem you can always switch a laser unit with another and test it in another slot to see if the issue follows the laser unit to another color.
Additionally, since you have all the laser scanners right in front of you I would take the covers off all of them and clean them and/or check to make sure there is no dust and debris build up on the other ones, as well.
Conclusion about the Light or Faded Print in the HP Color Laserjet 4600, 4610, and 4650
If you had to perform the laser scanner cleaning procedure I hope that by following the instructions above you have fixed your light or faded color problems and have gotten your machine back up and running with the print quality restored.
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Kevin Gumpp is a certified printer technician and freelance writer for Market Point. HP Diagrams are from the HP Service Manual for the 4600 CLJ. Additional photos courtesy of Bill Raymond, a certified printer technician at Market Point. If you have a question regarding this topic or have any other printer repair related questions or topics for which you would like more information, please send an email to maryp@marketpoint.com.
February 29, 2012
If your customers print large numbers of envelopes or other narrow media on Lexmark printers, they may wonder why the printer slows down after quickly printing the first dozen or so pieces.
Here’s why: Lexmark printers have a built in safety feature that protects the fuser from damage when printing on envelopes or on narrow media.
When an envelope print job is sent to the printer, the first 10 to 20 envelopes will print at normal speed but then the printer slows down for the remainder of the print job. The narrow media is sensed by the fuser, which signals the machine to modify the print speed.
The reason for the slower print speed is to prevent the hot roller in the fuser from becoming warped or out of round. When the envelope goes through the fuser, it only comes in contact with the fuser rollers on the left side, therefore the heat needed to bond the toner to the envelope only dissipates from that section of the fuser. The right side of the fuser dissipates less heat since there is no media running through it. The printer slows down to keep the fuser at a consistent temperature.
The hot roller would warp or become out of round if one side was running significantly cooler than the other. This is not a problem when printing on regular width paper since, obviously, the paper is wide enough to dissipate heat evenly.
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Ron Marquez is a Lexmark certified printer technician and Depot Manager at Market Point. If you have a question regarding this topic or have any other printer repair related questions or topics for which you would like more information, please send an email to maryp@marketpoint.com.
February 6, 2012
It’s fairly simple in design (see diagram at the end of this post). A motor turns some gears that in turn rotate the shaft the rollers are attached to. In theory the design’s use of force makes the media in the tray inconsequential. No matter what media is being used, from tissue paper to card stock labels, the Autocompensator will deliver it to the imaging part of the printer one page at a time. Also, in theory, the Autocompensator cannot fail. In theory.
From the Lexmark Optra S to the Lexmark T630s the Autocompensator had a spring operated clutch on the roller shaft that only allowed the shaft to turn in one direction. That made it real easy to troubleshoot. The spring clutch, gears, motor, etc. rarely fail. However, the rollers get slick and then can’t move the media from the tray to imaging. Thus, you’d get a paper jam error but no jammed paper could be found. Simple fix: replace the rollers and all is well with the world.
One common problem to avoid is installing the rollers on the wrong side. They’re directional. Look at the sides of the rollers to observe the direction of the arrows. Always make sure they are pointing toward the front of the printer.
Integrated Autocompensator
The worst thing to happen with the integrated Autocompensator is the post on the Right Side Frame Assembly breaking off. That’s where the Bias Spring for the Bell Crank Assembly attaches to the frame. If this plastic post breaks, the Autocompensator will fall to the bottom of the tray and not lift when the tray is pulled out. When that happens you’ve got 2 options – if you’ve got a T630 model:
1) Replace the printer, which is not really a cost effective option and hard to sell your customer;
2) Replace the Right Side Frame Assembly [Optra S 99A0111 / T630 56P1320). A little time consuming and frustrating, but a lot cheaper than option #1 (besides, disassembly is my life… )
If you own or are repairing a T640 or later you have two options as well:
1) Replace the printer. No joke. The frame assembly has no part number and no support from any supplier I know of, including Lexmark. Also, the Right Side Frame Assemblies are not swappable. There are enough changes to the T640 that the older assemblies won't work. Two screws are completely different and the top left, as you're looking at it, is rounded in the T630 and flattened in the T640. It would make enough of a difference that the front cover wouldn't close right.
2) Try this procedure: Cut, sand or grind the post as smooth as possible. Drill a 1/8th inch (3.2mm) hole where the post used to be. Use a self-tapping screw at least ½ inch (12.7mm) long. I suggest you drill all the way through the frame. You’ll have enough in the frame to hold the screw and enough out to hook the Bias Spring on. Watch for splintering and cracking at the hole’s location. If that occurs refer to option 1.
Clutches
With the T640 series came the bearing clutch shaft. And it continues with the T650s. The little housing that the bearings operate in is pressed together (and not very well). It can open just enough for one or more of the bearings to fall out and render the clutch inoperable. It will periodically and momentarily stop turning and not feed the media. Once again, you’ll get a paper jam error with no paper to be found. Troubleshooting that problem is fairly simple; just turn the roller shaft quickly -- like it should operate -- and you’ll find that it binds and sticks every once in awhile. That’s when the error occurs.
The easiest fix I’ve found for this is replacing the bearing clutch shaft with the old spring clutch shaft. Which, by the way, can’t be ordered from any vendor I know of. It has to come from a machine that you can cannibalize. We usually have a couple of these in the attic. They are almost a necessity if you’re going to work on Lexmark printers. To remove the shaft take the rollers off, hold the gear housing and gently but firmly push the shaft to the right. It’ll eventually pop out. It takes two hands and some patience but it’ll happen, trust me. Then take the spring clutch shaft and push it into the hole in the gear housing from right to left. It’ll pop right in and work like a champ for a very long time.
If by some happenstance the little hooked piece of plastic that holds the rollers on the shaft breaks, you can temporarily fix that with a cotton swab. I carry them for cleaning tight areas so there’s a supply either in my kit or my car. Break off the cotton end and stuff it, stick end first, into the hole created by the missing latch on the end of the shaft. It forces what’s left of the latch out enough to keep the roller in place until you can get another shaft.
New Roller
A good improvement to the Autocompensator came with the T650s. The roller. It’s got horizontal, rounded ridges instead of microscopic teeth to grip the media. It’s been my experience that these types of rollers last literally years. They require cleaning every now and again, but rarely need replacement. A good design improvement. And although they look like they might not fit earlier models, they do, and they work beautifully. So the best combination I’ve been able to put together is the spring clutch shaft with the ridged rollers.
Happy customers, happy service guy.
Click image to enlarge
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Brian Ude is a certified printer technician with years of experience. Brian serves Western Office (www.western-office.com) in Billings, Montana. If you have a question for Brian regarding this topic or have any other printer repair related questions or topics you would like more information on, please post a comment on this blog or send an email to maryp@marketpoint.com.
January 30, 2012
I know The HP LaserJet 8100 and 8150 printers are older models and it may seem like they are past their prime, but I still have several out in the field and recently I’ve seen a resurgence in service calls for these models. In this post I’ll share some of the more common problems with these printers in an attempt to help you diagnose and repair them as needed.
50.1 Fuser Error in the HP 8100 and 8150
You’re probably thinking “how hard can the 50.1 fuser error be to fix?” In this model, like the old HP LaserJet II and III series, the error is usually related to the AC power supply, not the fuser. Actually, about 90% percent of the time it’s the AC power module. When servicing machines for this error I typically pull the fuser out and check the thermal fuse on top of the fuser and the lamps inside the unit for continuity to verify the problem isn’t in the fuser. I also check that when the machine turns on it doesn’t initialize and then say “warming up” on the display. If it just jumps to 50.1 error, that is another give away.
After verifying the problem is related to the AC power supply I check the fuser for common wear and tear in case the fuser also needs to be replaced. When checking the fuser:
If the bushings are worn I typically notice: (1) Metal shavings that fall out as I’m checking the unit, and (2) a jerky feeling as I rotate the gears. If you experience any of the above issues with the fuser then I recommend quoting the fuser replacement along with your quote on the new power supply.
Power Supply Removal in the HP 8100 and 8150
AC Access Cover
1. Remove the Formatter PCA
2. Remove 3 screws
Back Cover
Note: Remove the metal back cover and the plastic panel at the right side rear cover as a single unit. The square opening at the upper rear corner on the right side plastic panel is the engine test access.
1. Remove 5 screws
2. Open the top cover door, and remove 2 screw
3. Open the 2000-sheet input tray transfer door (if installed), tray 1, and the right lower door assembly
4. Remove the 2 screws from the plastic panel to the left of the metal back cover
5. Carefully release the cover around the AC input connector at the lower right of the back cover and slide the right side of the cover slightly forward
6. Carefully release the retaining tabs on the plastic panel to the left of the metal back cover by gently pulling the cover to the left while moving both pieces away from the printer chassis
Fan 3, Formatter Fan
Fan Housing
Remove 2 screws and remove housing.
Low Voltage Power Supply
1. Unplug 3 LVPS connectors
2. Unplug the LVPS fan (FM1) cable from the DC Controller
3. Remove 7 screws
Note: Make sure you remove the LVPS fan from the unit and put it on the new one before installing back in your machine.
Paper Registration Issues on the HP 8100 and 8150
Customers typically will say the image is being cut off on one side of the page or they will say the image is shifted. Several things can cause this issue. Here’s how to troubleshoot:
1. Determine if it’s happening from all the trays or just a specific tray.
2. Print a configuration page and make sure the paper size settings match what you have in the tray.
If the registration problem is happening from just one tray then we can troubleshoot just that tray.
The main problem I see with individual trays is the top or bottom of the page being cut off. If this is the case for your situation then check your tray’s blue paper guides to verify the guides are snug against the sides of the paper. Some users release the paper guides to install new paper and then forget to move them back and lock them in place. This can cause print skew and or the top and bottom of the image being cut off because it’s not centered in the tray.
Second thing is making sure the paper guides are in the right position. I see this situation most often in industrial locations where you have employees who don’t understand the value of the equipment they are using and don’t handle it properly. Instead of releasing the lock mechanism they move them individually by force, which breaks the teeth in the bottom of the tray, causes the guides to no longer be centered in the tray, or they no longer fit the paper snuggly when pushed together. The guides might look normal but they don’t match up with the paper size marks on the metal lift plate in the tray. If this is the case or if when pushed together the guides don’t fit the paper snuggly then you will have to remove the metal lift plate.
Adjusting the Paper Guides in the Tray
Note: Before you remove the lift plate make a mark in the bottom of the tray that coincides with the mark on the lift plate so when you align the guides you have something to use as a home position.
1. Remove the metal lift tray
2. Remove the screw in the center that holds the two guides in place
3. Position one of the guides in place with the mark that you put on the bottom of the tray
4. Insert a few sheets of paper and adjust the other guide snug against it
5. Remove the paper without moving the guides
6. Reinstall the center piece and the metal plate
If the image is shifted to the left or right and in all the trays then you probably have a registration problem with your registration assembly clutch.
As the paper feeds up into the machine the paper stops briefly at the registration assembly and creates a little buckle to make sure the paper is straight as it feeds through the image process portion of the machine. When the clutch fails, instead of stopping briefly at the registration assembly it keeps feeding through, causing the image to shift on the paper and part of it to be cut off. This problem usually starts off as intermittent or the first page prints fine and every other page has the defect. If this is the case you probably will have to replace the registration assembly.
Registration Assembly Removal
Transfer Roller Assembly
CAUTION: Handle the transfer roller from the ends only. Do not touch the surface of the transfer roller. Skin oils will affect its electrical characteristics, resulting in poor image transfer.
1. Open the top cover door and remove the toner cartridge.
2. Grasp the gear on the left end and carefully lift upward – just enough to clear the retainer clip.
3. Slide the transfer roller assembly to the left to release the shaft on the right end.
Registration Assembly
1. Remove the main gear train shield. Release the retainer clip and lift the forward end up.
2. Remove 2 screws at rear of assembly.
3. Unplug the clutch cable from the clutch on the right end of the registration assembly.
4. Lift the registration guide and remove 2 screws at the front of the assembly.
Paper Jam in the Right Side of the Machine Just Before the Registration Assembly
As the printer ages the feed rollers in the top of the Paper Input Unit (PIU) get a glaze on them or they start to wear causing the paper from tray 3 (or the 2,000 sheet tray) to have problems feeding through that area. Unlike tray 2, these are the only feed rollers pulling the paper through from tray 3.
When I am on-site to service a printer with jams in this area I always first test to see if tray 2 works while the other trays do not. When that’s the case, I check the feed rollers in the tray. If they look OK then the registration assembly will probably have to be removed. See instructions above.
The feed rollers are located under the jam plate just before the registration assembly — four black rollers on a long shaft the width of the feed path — hard to miss. I typically use alcohol or Simple Green to remove the glaze and restore the rubber on the rollers. If they look really bad and the machine has over 500,000 prints then replacement of the PIU should be done at this time as it is rated for 500,000 prints.
Paper Jam in the Left Side of the Machine with a Duplexer Installed
I’ve only seen this problem a few times but I’ve seen it enough on other forums and websites that I thought I would take the time to briefly talk about in this post. This problem is kind of an unexplained mystery for which nobody has a definite answer. The majority of the time replacing the fuser fixes the problem. I believe it’s an internal power struggle between the fuser and duplexer. As the fuser ages the lamps tend to draw more power to get them to their correct operating temperature, similar to the issue now being witnessed in the P4015 models processing problem. As a result, not enough power seems to be getting to the duplexer resulting in paper jams. The best way to troubleshoot is to remove the duplexer and see if the problem goes away. If it does, replace the fuser.
Note: Lamps that are still working are not typically replaced in rebuilt fusers. In this instance I would recommend purchasing a new fuser rather than a refurb unit. I’ve heard of instances where a refurb fuser was installed only to have to be replaced with a new fuser before the problem was truly fixed.
Conclusion about Troubleshooting the HP Laserjet 8100 and 8150
I have a lot of 8100 and 8150′s in the field that have well over 1,000,000 prints on them. These machines are great and can handle just about any type of paper, unlike their replacement model the 9000 and 9050 machines. The 9000’s and 9050’s can be touchy when handling any type of paper other than plain letter. Hopefully, this post will help you resolve some of the more tricky problems you’ll encounter with these machines to keep them running for a while longer. With the parts being so cheap now and the toner cartridges having such high yields they are well worth the repair investment.
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Kevin Gumpp is a certified printer technician and freelance writer for Market Point. Photos courtesy of Bill Raymond, a certified printer technician at Market Point. If you have a question regarding this topic or have any other printer repair related questions or topics for which you would like more information, please send an email to maryp@marketpoint.com.
January 23, 2012
Just as the family automobile requires periodic service, so too, do today’s output devices, including printers, document feeders and finishers. To ensure peak printer performance and maximum device availability, two factors are essential: using genuine Original Equipment Manufacturer parts and expertise in determining exactly which parts need replacement. Providing dealers and self-repairers with genuine Lexmark parts and support is crucial, especially as unauthorized parts become increasingly common and cause more problems than they aim to prevent, because of high failure rates. Read the full story here.
January 18, 2012
For any print quality issue the first check should be the toner cartridge, especially if the cartridge is compatible or refurbished in a Lexmark printer. Any cartridge other than a brand name Lexmark OEM or Lexmark re-manufactured cartridge is suspect number one, even for some jamming problems.
Be on the look out
When you open the bag the cartridge is shipped in, watch for excess toner in the bottom of the bag and on the cartridge. If you find loose toner in either of these places put the cartridge back in the bag and locate another because, if you use it in that condition it’s going to leak toner inside your printer. The toner will pile up on the inside causing smudges and streaks, pages folded at one or both leading corners, and eventually jamming at the entrance to the fuser. Not to mention the print quality issues you’ll experience.
Here’s what happens
Under the cartridge, the toner will coat the Transfer Roller and show up as grey on the back of prints, and/or inefficient image transfer to the paper from the image drum in the cartridge. This appears as light print and/or skipped/missing toner on the front of the page. If the cartridge is leaking, toner will pile up on either end of the Transfer Roller which can affect electrical connection and/or get into the Main and Image Drive gears and High Voltage Power Supply.
Steps to take
I first print the Menus Page. Then take a fresh, unused page from a tray and compare. This makes it real easy to see grey background front and back. I take the cartridge out and look at the image drum for excess toner anywhere on the cartridge or burn marks where the high voltage is arcing through the image roller, that kind of thing. I push down on the top flap and look for the same thing.
Remove and inspect the Charge Roller. Look for excess toner, marking or scarring. These will cause spots and what looks like scratches on the printed page. Take a Q-tip with whatever cleaner you want to use and clean the electrical contacts for the charge and transfer rollers.
After the toner cartridge, transfer roller, and charge roller have been removed use a toner vacuum to clean up the inside of the printer. Using the vacuum keeps more toner from dropping down onto the High Voltage Power Supply below. With the right attachments you can get into the little nooks and crannies.
Reinstall the rollers and cartridge and print the menus page or whatever test page you like to use for comparison. Use the fresh page to see if there has been any improvement with the background. After the menus page I like to print PCL fonts for the images printed to the extreme right side of the page. I want to make sure those print clearly. And there are five pages to make sure multi-page documents will print correctly.
Good luck and keep that vacuum handy.
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Brian Ude is a certified printer technician with years of experience. Brian serves Western Office (www.western-office.com) in Billings, Montana. If you have a question for Brian regarding this topic or have any other printer repair related questions or topics you would like more information on, please post a comment on this blog or send an email to maryp@marketpoint.com.
December 29, 2011
The Lexmark T63X series printers sometimes come up with 931-935 printhead errors that are not always caused by a defective printhead, but can actually be caused by a defective cover open switch. However, this is not mentioned in the Lexmark service manual.
This is the kind of problem that could cause many repeat service calls for a technician. The error may not be related to the printhead and many times you will not see the problem when you’re onsite servicing the printer.
After replacing the printhead, the printer will run fine, which was probably an intermittent problem to start with. After running a few hundred successful test pages you’d think that the problem is solved.
A few days later, you may get a call from your customer telling you that the problem has returned. You figure that it may possibly be a system board or a defective replacement printhead, so you change out one or both and printer works fine again. All is well.
Then, two weeks later, that dreaded call comes in again. Printhead error! Now what? Change out another printhead? A system board? An interconnect board? Cables?
No way! Not yet.
First, check the cover open switch located on the upper hinge on the left side.
Make sure that the tab on the left corner of the toner is making proper contact with the lever on the microswitch so that when the toner door is closed it tells the printer that there is a toner inserted. The lever on the switch (pictured)
either comes loose or gets bent back due to the upper cover being closed hard, or repeatedly, over time. This cover open switch is similar in design to the switch used in other T series printers, but the switch on the T63X series is not as robust as on the other models.
So what can happen in the T63X series when the printer is running, there will be some slight outward pressure pushing back on the front cover, which will move the switch lever ever so slightly and cause it to open electrically without the cover ever being opened. When this happens during mid-print, the printer will throw a printhead error instead of a cover open/insert toner message. Obviously, this is confusing when you think you’re troubleshooting a printhead error.
We have found that the best way to confirm proper operation of this switch is to check to see exactly where, in the travel of the closing of the front cover, this switch engages.
When the printer is powered up with toner installed and the display reads “close door or insert cartridge”, hold the cover open latch in and slowly close the cover. The message should change when the cover is about one inch away from closing.
If the message does not change until the cover is all the way closed, this switch may be the cause of the printhead error.
To repair the switch the front cover needs to be removed.
so you can make sure the switch is screwed in securely. It may have just come loose.
If you notice that the lever on the switch is bent you can manipulate the lever very carefully with small needle-nose pliers so that it activates sooner.
If the lever or switch is broken, you’ll need to replace the cover close cable, part # 56P1395.
This problem can happen with any of the T series printers, but this particular problem has been seen more with the T63X series due to the design of the switch and the switch lever itself.
Hopefully, this information will help you out when you have an intermittent printhead error that keeps coming back. Usually, solid printhead errors are caused by the printhead, system board, or an occasional defective printhead cable, (which is not very common).
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Ron Marquez is a Lexmark certified printer technician and Depot Manager at Market Point. If you have a question regarding this topic or have any other printer repair related questions or topics for which you would like more information, please send an email to maryp@marketpoint.com.
