HP 2100 repeats itself at 3.7" intervals - toner????

[leatherbury]

My used HP 2100 did real good for a while - it didn't need a toner, pages were crisp and clean - I couldn't have been more satisfied.

Then I had to print a 200-page document, and it got rather hot - I could smell the toner being heated up a bit. Anyway, after about the 20th page, it started repeating the print for each page (in a lighter shade) as a ghost starting about 3.7" from the top of each page. So you get a normal page, with everything normal, but, at 3.7" from the top, the page then repeats itself ON TOP OF THE ALREADY PRINTED PART, but in a very faint shade. It continues on down the remainder of the page. So you see a faint ghost of your page repeated, starting at 3.7" from the top.

The book says that any defective artifact, repeated at 3.7", indicates a defective toner cartridge. But there is NO ARTIFACT, just a ghost repeat of whatever the current page is.

So, before I go drop $100 (or so) for a new toner, can anyone suggest any other way to overcome this? I followed the instructions for engine cleaning, and toner cleaning (both take about 10 minutes), and I followed the instructions for wiping the paper path with a lint-free cloth. Nothing made any difference. When I inspect the toner (the blue cylinder that is pale blue in color), I can see nothing indicating a problem.

There is a small spongy rod right behind the toner, which is black, about 1/2 " in diameter, and looks like it server to pull and push the paper through - I cleaned it off but it seemed like it has ink on it no matter what.

I am stumped on this one. I hate to waste $100 (on a new toner c4096A) if it still has this ghosting problem. Is this printer beyond repair? I sure hope not - I was very impressed with the print quality before I ran that large print job through it.

Help.

 

[leatherbury]

I found a website (www.fixyourownprinter.com) which has a forum about this specific problem as well as many other printer issues. They say that the presence of a faint ghost 3.7" down the page indicates the toner is defective. The toner has a "wiper" device, which works just like windshield wipers in that it is supposed to rake off any toner on the drum that didn't fuse onto the paper, but, some non-oem brands have cheap wipers that fail too soon, and then you get the residual toner on the drum leaving the ghosting effect. The diameter of the drum (which is part of the toner cartridge) is 3.7", so, I went ahead and ordered one of their replacements which are *supposed* to be guaranteed to be up to HP standards - I sure hope so.

So, we'll see if this new toner can print off a 200 page document with no ghosting.

Later post to follow.