I happened upon a used HP Laserjet III several weeks ago. When I first got it, it appeared to be smearing toner down one side. Running a couple of test prints seemed to clean it out and cure it. Up until now, it has been working perfectly. However, earlier today, it started leaving the little trails again. They appear to be small strips, about 1-2 inches wide, in which a faint ghost image of the upper part of the sheet appears.
Any thoughts folks? If it needs cleaning, how should I go about that?
They do have “kits” for single pass sheets that will clean off the drum. They aren’t that expensive and should be used every so often, depending upon how often you use the printer.
If that doesn’t work you may need to replace the drum…been a while since I have had a printer so I couldn’t even guess on the costs.
Also, many places do cleaning for a marginal price. If you do go that route choose a place that specializes in printers and copiers. They are usually quicker and have certified HP people on staff.
Printers can last a long time. My client has the copier company in every six months to preform cleaning and minor repairs on all the HP Laser Jets. There are some that have been around for 6 years so it’s worth the effort if the printer is still worthy of keeping around.
I used to sell a LOT of HP Laserjet IIIs, they sure don’t build them like that anymore. One of my friends had a business on the side buying up expensive laser printers like the LJ III and cleaning them up and reselling them. And I sure cleaned up a lot of LJs myself. You don’t need to bother cleaning the drums, just get a new toner cart and each one contains a new drum. Just don’t get reconditioned toner carts, those drums can be worn out and give problems too. You should probably clean out certain areas in the interior of the printer with compressed air when you change carts.
There’s a lot of complex mechanics inside the LJ III. There could be spilled toner if someone ever put the printer on its side. Or it could be dirty corona wires not fusing the toner properly. Look inside the printer for a little brush used to remove carbon off the corona wires. But for gods sake don’t break the little wires, be gentle, if you break a wire the printer is dead. Also paper fragments and dust can build up and clog so you get streaks in the printout. A general cleanup of paper lint is always good for a printer. A clean printer is a happy printer.
I agree with everything Chas.E said except the part about the compressed air. My experience (going on 6 years now) is that a vacuum does a much better job of actually removing the harmful particles. Compressed air is much more likely to propel them someplace you don’t want them to go.
While a vacuum will get the spilt toner out from the printer, the toner powder is very fine, and can pass through the vacuum filter. On the other side of the filter is the vacuum motor - the (conductive) toner can short a motor out, perhaps causing a fire. Best be careful!