Just started a new job, and for the first time in my professional life I actually have my own dedicated printer sitting on my desk. (Yaaaay!) Hey, it might not sound like a big deal to some people, but it is to me.
Anyway, the problem is that the printouts are dirty, especially on the right and left edges. On the rest of the printed page it looks like there’s a fine layer of excess toner, but it doesn’t smudge or smear to the touch. Could this be the result of a poor quality (recycled) toner cartridge, or is there some other piece that I’d need to replace? It’s an HP LaserJet 1200.
Could be a low-quality aftermarket refill or remanufactured cart, but it could also be the imaging drum going bad. Or both. Since it’s a company printer, you’ll probably want to have the IT department handle it.
There are a couple of articles on cleaning that printer on the HP support site. On most HP Laser printers there is a way to print out stats on the printer and you may find that it has printed more than the recommended pages since its last maintenance. If this is the case you may need to order a maintenance kit, which consists of replacement rollers and fuser. If your company has a lot of printers, the IT department may have spare maintenance kits. As mentioned above, it may just be a dodgy toner cartridge and replacing this is probably the easiest thing to try first.
I’ve worked with LaserJet 1200s before, and I’d try another Actual HP Toner Cartridge, and if that doesn’t work, I’d say that the problem is most likely a lack of smashing it with a large brick or hammer. It’s an older printer, and really not meant for a large office environment either.
I don’t think that HP stocks the maint. kit anymore, which is a shame, because their maint. kits are actually pretty good, and the documentation is very straightforward. Congrats on your new job- I’d see if you can get a replacement from IT- they usually have some older, but serviceable printers laying about. (Yes I’m an IT guy…)
Sorry about my rant regarding the hammer and brick- I just hate the paper feed issues that those printers get. Check if something is stuck in the feed rollers, somtimes that causes a problem with paper alignment, which can cause out-of-whack printouts.
Not that I’d expect the printer in question to need actual maintenance, but kits are readily available. I’ve used rebuild kits from these folks a few times, and they do have parts for the 1200.
As it happens, this is a small company without an IT Department – just a contract with a dial-a-guru. So I’ll try cleaning the thing myself according to the instructions Fredescu linked to.
If the pattern of smudges is similar, but somewhat random on each page, something is spilling toner on the paper before the fuser process - this could be as simple as an accumulation of loose toner inside the printer, from a spill, or a faulty/cheap cartridge
If the pattern of smudges is identical on every page, it’s probably a damaged imaging drum.
On most HP laser printers (including this one as far as I can tell), the drum and toner cartridge are integrated. My suggestion would be to buy a new, original HP cartridge and ideally clean out any spilled toner you can see inside the printer.
The trouble with toner cleanup is that the particles can be harmful to human health and they are very small, so they can make it through the dust traps of some vacuum cleaners. In the past, I’ve done the cleaning by taking the printer outside on a breezy day and working on it there.
If the problem still persists after 15 years and three months I would consider it hopeless and just give it up.
But it was nice reading about a LaserJet 1200, I used to have one ages ago.