Hp 5550dtn printing "dirty" pages

[BrightonBelle]

Hi, I have a hp 5550dtn and I use it to print mainly A3 Tshirt transfer paper set on "extra heavy". Recently, the prints have been coming out with a grubby, yellowy greyish pencil-shading kind of effect all over the whole page, not just the printed area. This happens with A3 and A4. It's quite light, but on designs with a lot of white on, for example, an image with words below, it's pretty noticable. This is happening with the t shirt transfer paper and also on plain white paper (set on plain). I've been scouring google trying to find a reason but to no avail. I recently changed all the toner cartridges but for the week following the change over, all was well. I've taken out all the cartridges and had a clean inside the printer with a lint-free cloth but there wasn't really anything obvious inside and I don't know what to clean anyway! The transfer belt looked OK so is it the fuser? can it be easily fixed? I'm new and not so technically minded but any help appreciated.

 

[DrB0b]

So correct me if Im wrong, but it is working properly now? Did you try to reinstall any of the old "malfunctioning" toner to see if it was one or two bad toner cartridges? If you did and the issue didnt come back, then I would lean towards a transfer belt/IC issue(dont remember exactly how this one is put together). If it was a fuser or transfer belt issue, you should still see it with the new toner. Do you buy OEM toner or aftermarket?

Learning - A never ending quest for knowledge usually attained by being thrown in a situation and told to fix it NOW.

 

[BrightonBelle]

Hi, thanks for your answer. I put back old toners and this got rid of the dirty paper issue. I can't afford hp toners unfortunately, but my little business is going quite well, lots of orders so I may try to invest in a new printer which comes fully loaded with official hp toners (I can dream anyway!) I am now having ghosting problems together with vertical AND horizontal lines! I've almost given up on it as I'm having to load my designs on a stick and drive round to a print shop (who have a 15k printer)
"You get what you pay for" seems to ring true here, but it's a shame as it was working perfectly for six months. What I need is someone who knows all about the HP 5550 to come round and fix it in return for a fabulous roast dinner for them and their family!

 

[DrB0b]

If it is under a year old, it will still be under warranty and can be fixed by HP for free. Dont mention you have been using aftermarket toner, but it shouldnt void the warranty anyway.

I would apply all new aftermarket toner and run multiple cleaning pages through this and it may fix itself. A can of compressed air to the fuser and transfer belt area in the correct places can alleviate the issue if it is just a spillage issue.



Learning - A never ending quest for knowledge usually attained by being thrown in a situation and told to fix it NOW.