Unknown Printer

How to Identify and Fix Common Problems ?

Our sources include academic articles, blog posts, and personal essays from experienced technical support :

Here are the most common causes of a printer printing faded text or images: Low ink or toner levels. Toner sticking to the fuser roller or problems with the transfer roller. Low ink or toner density settings.
If your printouts are blurry or smeared, try these solutions: Make sure your paper is not damp, curled, old, or loaded incorrectly in your product. Use a support sheet with special paper, or load special paper one sheet at a time. Make sure your paper meets the specifications for your product.
A printer`s heads, nozzles, and other components can become dirty or clogged, which could show up as white lines running across your page. Your printer may have a head-cleaning feature available through your device software located on your computer or from the control panel on the printer itself.
This is most often caused by using paper that is damp, is of poor quality, or not designed for this machine (ie: Inkjet paper) It can also be caused by the machine not being placed on a solid, level surface, poor calibration, or uneven distribution from a low toner cartridge.
Ghost prints happen when the drum or fuser unit within your printer become faulty. Because a fault with this element won`t heat the particles of the toner to a high enough temperature, the marks being made on the paper are much lighter in colour and appear more faded than typical documents.
If your printer is spitting out pages full of strange characters, symbols, or strange formatting, your inkjet printer drivers may be outdated, incompatible with your operating system or corrupt. Drivers are important to the proper function of your inkjet printer and it is best to check for updates regularly.
The only real workaround is to remap your keyboard so that the key combination you want to use is one that your keyboard is able to register. Remapping your keyboard means changing the response that each key gives. For example, you can remap your keys so that when you press the A key, your computer types a B.
If your refresh rate or resolution is too low or too high for your monitor, it can cause flickering or ghosting. To fix this, you need to adjust your refresh rate and resolution to match your monitor`s specifications and capabilities.
Make sure that the printer cable is not too long. We recommend that you use a USB cable that is no longer than 2 meters (6.5 feet). If you use the USB cable that is longer than 2 meters (6.5 feet), change it to the shorter USB cable and try again. Make sure that the printer cable is not damaged or broken.
Ghost images, like those created by cataracts, usually are seen by only one eye. Ghost images can occur after corneal surgery, such as LASIK, PRK or a corneal transplant. Most of these problems disappear when the problem is resolved, like after cataract surgery or when the refractive surgery heals.
Many cases of blurry or cloudy vision are caused by nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism – common issues that are typically corrected with glasses or Lasik surgery. However, your changing vision could be an important early symptom of a more serious disease or medical condition.
The primary causes of blurred vision are refractive errors — nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism — or presbyopia. Blurry vision can also be a symptom of more serious problems. These problems may include a potentially sight-threatening eye disease or neurological disorder.
Why is it important to clean a laser printer? Printing is vital to all businesses so ensuring your laser printer is thoroughly cleaned is crucial as it allows your machine to continue working efficiently. Cleaning a laser printer is easy with the correct equipment, however they are prone to dust and debris.
Place the toner vacuum in the printer chassis, ensuring that it does not come into contact with any internal surfaces. Gently and slowly use the toner vacuum to remove any spilled toner from the internal components. Take care to follow the manufacturer`s instructions for operating the toner vacuum properly and safely.
The print quality depends on the type of printer, its age, cleanliness, and condition, the type and amount of previous use of the ribbon (on impact printers), and the characteristics of the stationery.
The number one factor that determines the quality of a printer is the printer`s resolution or DPI (Dots Per Inch). DPI is the amount of ink that an inkjet printer can place in a one-inch line of your print document.
A mistake in anything that`s printed is a misprint. You might also call it a typographical error or typo. Misprints are an embarrassment for the publisher, since they`re evidence of a hasty printing job or a lack of careful proofreading.
Generally, 300 DPI is great for small prints, while 600 DPI is amazing for large prints. If you`re scanning documents or photos to be used on the web or in emails, 300 dpi is more than enough. If you want to print large photos or blow them up to poster size, 600 dpi will give you better results.
When printing on paper that is even slightly moist from humidity, ink can become smudged on the paper, colors can run together, and text or images can be distorted. Check if the paper is moist and try replacing the paper in the printer to see if print quality improves.
For screen printing ink, mainly from the ink drying speed, ink fineness, liquidity and viscosity, and other aspects of its impact on print quality.
Reduce motion blur: Motion blur is a common cause of ghosting in gaming monitors. You can reduce motion blur by enabling motion blur reduction settings on your monitor.
Your GPU creates the visuals you see on screen. If there is an issue with how these graphics are created or sent to the display, you are bound to see some ghosting on your screen.
A quick way to find problematic combinations is to press and hold ASDW (the most popular keys for moving around in games), and then, while holding those down, press every other key in turn. If you find a key that does not work, try releasing some of the ASDW keys.

Relevant Questions and Answers :

the most relevant questions and answers related to your specific issue

High quality printing
ANSWER : You’re lucky an old printer like that even works with a new iMac. As for latest driver, they haven’t made one in about 10 years or more.

Read Full Q/A … :
Unknown Printer

PGBK black not printing text
ANSWER : Best way to clean the print heads is under hot running water. Otherwise, you are using wet ink to clean dry ink.

Read Full Q/A … :
Unknown Printer

Print Quality Issue (Streaks and Ghosting)
ANSWER : Streaks are mostly caused by internal drum wiper blades that clean left over toner off the drum to prepare it for a new image. Ghosting is caused by a leftover image on the drum. The 6 inches that you mention would be the circumference of the part that is causing it. Fusers will never cause either problem.

Read Full Q/A … :
Unknown Printer

Canon Pixma MX882 won't print black text
ANSWER : Yeah I’m having the same problem with my Canon MX882. I’ve refilled the pigment tank, cleaned the print head and I still get no pigment black at all. I think it has something to do with the purge unit, but I don’t see any instructions on how to clean it. If I can figure it out, I’ll let you know.

Read Full Q/A … :
Unknown Printer

Laserjet 4250 print quality issue (see image)
ANSWER : It looks like a fuser problem. One way to prove it is with the half-stop test. Put a sheet in the drop down manual feed tray. Send a print job and watch the paper. When the end of it is about to enter the printer, open the lid and take out the toner cartridge. Look at the printed image. If it looks OK, then it is a fuser problem. If not, then it is a toner cartridge issue since it hasn’t gone through the fuser.

Read Full Q/A … :
Unknown Printer

Print file sent but no printing occurs
ANSWER : Been working on these since they first were released. Never seen a problem like yours. If it happens again, try doing an engine test, as it bypasses the formatter board. The engine test is located at the right side of the manual tray opening. Look for a hole in the side wall. Stick something like a paper clip into it to actuate the test button. It will then print a lined test page. If it does that, then it points to the formatter board as the cause of your problem.

Read Full Q/A … :
Unknown Printer

when printing front and back, the front will print well but the back will fade
ANSWER : It happens because second side voltage is much higher and the board breaks. Are you getting this issue in auto duplex only, or same error you are getting when you print second side manually?

Read Full Q/A … :
Unknown Printer

Print quality
ANSWER : Could be due to dust on the scanner mirrors. You can use a flashlight and look down inside and see if the mirrors are clean. You would have to open the top up to access the scanner. Only use a dry cotton swab to clean the mirrors.

Read Full Q/A … :
Unknown Printer