# My printer prints askew and I can't take it anymore. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-printer-prints-askew-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/490641 "2009-03-24T21:04:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-printer-prints-askew-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/490641/1 "2009-03-24T21:04:35Z")
My printer (HP LaserJet P1505n) prints askew. I’m going to take a hammer to it. Not to fix it, mind, but because I can’t take it anymore. Initially, it only printed askew when using a combination of letterhead and the manual feed. At that time, I wasted hours researching how to fix it, including calling HP, who’s solution was to not print on letterhead. :mad: Thanks, jerks. It’s not like I need to print on letterhead for _any known business purpose_. The only other solution I found was to not shove the paper into the feeder too hard. If you gently, ever so gently, lay the paper in the feeder, a clean print would often result. Now the problem has metastasized to the manual feed, the regular feed, labels, copy paper, everything and everywhere. No amount of gentleness and care results on straight prints. All my shit is crooked, yo! Does anyone out there know how/why this is? It’s driving me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-printer-prints-askew-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/490641/2 "2009-03-24T21:34:27Z")
Have you checked the feed path to see if there’s anything stuck? Like a label on the fuser roller? Open it up and give it a thorough inspection and clean. How many copies has the toner / drum done? What about the fuser? ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-printer-prints-askew-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/490641/3 "2009-03-24T21:51:07Z")
Have you tried making sure the stack of blank paper is held securely? The printer I used to use at work (an old LaserJet 1200, which judging from the pictures on HP’s website has a similar paper feed to the 1500) had this problem consistently; the print on the page would frequently be slightly (but noticeably) tilted relative to the edges of the paper. I finally figured out that the problem was in the paper feed; when the printer picked up the page, it would apply a slight torque to the page as it was pulling it off the stack. The solution was to make sure that the two clips for the paper stack, running parallel to the paper path, were clamped fairly tightly onto the paper stack. An eighth of an inch of space between the clips and the stack of blank paper was enough to cause a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-printer-prints-askew-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/490641/4 "2009-03-24T22:02:15Z")
Feed path is clear and nothing stuck to pickup roller. I need to get a lint free cloth to clean it, so will do that tomorrow. This printer is only about a year old, but I have no real idea how many copies it’s done (it’s a desk top, it doesn’t have a meter that I know of). Toner was just replaced. **MikeS** - I don’t really think that’s the problem. Regardless of how much paper is in the feed I have the problem, and the clips are set tight, but not too tight! The manual feed only holds one sheet of paper to begin with. (And that’s where the trouble started.) What is the mechanism that would straighten the paper? Is it the pickup roller? The seperation pad? The HP site doesn’t have instructions on how to clean the black foam roller (I don’t know what it’s called) nor on how to replace it, just the pickup roller. Could that roller be the problem? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-printer-prints-askew-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/490641/5 "2009-03-25T08:45:43Z")
If it’s still under warranty, get HP to fix it. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-printer-prints-askew-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/490641/6 "2009-03-25T18:51:26Z")
Some HP printers have trouble with their pickup rollers. I had an old HP5L (small personal laser printer) for a while (I actually had 2 of them concurrently), and after about a year of home quantity use (these were in my home, salvaged from a discard pile at a job years ago), I’d have to replace the rollers. Cost about $20 for a roller kit, and took about 20 minutes to replace. You probably have one roller that’s worn more than the other, so the “less worn” roller picks up the paper first, feeding that side in slightly before the other, causing the skewed printouts. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-printer-prints-askew-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/490641/7 "2009-03-25T19:14:29Z")
Yeah, it looks easy to replace. That will be my next step. At least it might return results, as opposed to the fine folks at HP who think the solution to a mal-functioning printer is to not print… ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-printer-prints-askew-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/490641/8 "2009-03-25T19:35:20Z")
Aha! HP had this very problem years ago with their HP Deskjet 520 inkjet printers. They produced a roughening tool which was free for anyone who asked and could provide the serial number of their printer. See if they produce one for your printer. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-printer-prints-askew-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/490641/9 "2009-03-25T19:42:22Z")
Or just use an emery board. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-printer-prints-askew-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/490641/10 "2009-03-25T19:47:23Z")
A roughening tool? To file it down so it’s even? (I submit this may be a stupid question, but I’m not really an IT person… ) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-printer-prints-askew-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/490641/11 "2009-03-25T21:01:08Z")
No, a tool to make the surface of the pickup roller rougher so it picked up the paper more easily. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-printer-prints-askew-and-i-cant-take-it-anymore/490641/12 "2009-03-25T21:10:11Z")
Yeah, I couldn’t get to roughening conceptually. I thought maybe it involved sending my printer out into the world to find a job and pay it’s own way. No, wait, that would be a “toughing up” tool. Thanks, **Quartz!**