Smudges on the page (either always in the same place or not) Once again, remember to be careful and if you’re not sure, get some help. Warning: Never touch the green metal cylinder (drum unit)
If the drum is damaged in any way with a finger print or dirt on it, it can cause sections of the print out to be missing because the dirt is blocking your image from being rolled on to the page. A drum is a replaceable maintenance part of the printer and can either be built into the toner cartridge, or separate from the toner located on top of or underneath it. This drum then rolls the toner onto the paper as it passes. The laser printer works by a laser beam ‘sketching’ the image of what you are printing onto a green metal cylinder called a drum or photoconductor unit. There are a few possible causes of this so you may need to check each in a process of elimination to figure out what’s happening but in most cases, the problem is caused by the drum. Missing areas of print (either always in the same place or not) Remember to be careful and if you are at all unsure, find a printer technician who is experienced in cleaning the printer. Warning: make sure you wear gloves and don’t touch the transfer belt film with your fingers or the hoover, you could leave a mark that will cause additional print problems. If all else fails, you may need to replace the transfer rollers / transfer belt.
With a lint free cloth very gently wipe the transfer belt (not all printers have one).With a vacuum hoover out any loose toner particles.Get a lint free cloth, rubber gloves (so toner doesn’t get on your hands), some isopropyl alcohol, and a soft paint brush and gently clean any rubber rollers you can easily reach.The following steps will help to fix this issue:
If the tracks are located all over the page or even in the middle, it could be due to marks or damage to the transfer belt.Īlso, if a blob of dirt or old toner is stuck to a roller or the transfer belt, it smudges a line down the paper as it passes. This is normally the case when the tracks on the page are located at either end. This happens when the rollers or the transfer belt inside the printer get dirty or covered in excess toner powder and as the paper is moved through the printer, the ‘tracks’ are being left on the page. Inside the printer the paper is moved along by rollers and often a piece of film like a conveyor belt (called a transfer belt). If you’ve experience any of these problems, here’s an example of what your prints might look like:īlack lines or tracks down either side of the page.
What causes black lines or smudges down the printer page?
What’s the deal with faint or missing lines? And how to fix it.What causes horizontal lines on a printer / how to fix it.How to fix the printing black lines issue.What causes black lines or smudges down the page.Here’s what you’ll learn about printers & black lines But what on earth causes your page to look like the monstrosity above? If this is happening with your Brother, Canon, HP, Lexmark, Oki or Xerox printer and you’ve had enough then read on….