whats wrong with this hp 2200? vertial blank areas...toner, fuser?

[wallst32]

When the printer prints, there are vertical sections of the page that do not print at all (they remain blank even if something should be there). So for example, if I were to create an image file that was nothing but a solid black background, I would get white vertial bars on a printout, always in the same place. BTW, the bars are of different width, and spaced randomly from each other.

I have changed out the toner cartridge and have gotten the same results. This led me to believe the problem was with the fuser film.

So one other test I performed to validate this theory was to start a print job, open the door in the middle of the print job, and see what the partially printed page looked like. To my surprise, the blank vertical lines existed on the paper, and also on the toner cartridge image roll before touching the paper. Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't it pass through this area before the fuser? And if so, this would indicate the problem is not the fuser.

Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[wallst32]

Just to clarify, the vertical bars are always in the same position. But there is no pattern to them; they are not for example 4cm spaced from each other.

The position of the bars are may look like this for EVERY print out:

X X XX X X X X XX XX

 

[dnevill]

Blank bars mean no light hitting the drum in those areas. Check the mirror on the laser for dust, smudges or other obstructions. Sometimes things can get between the mirror and the drum too, causing light streaks.

 

[wallst32]

dnevill - I cleaned the mirror and lense. Now instead of getting blank bars in several areas, I only get them in a few. But after trying to clean the same parts over and over again, I'm not making any more progress.

I would get bars say in these positions before cleaning:

X XX XX X X X XX XX X

Now the output is much more visibile with bars only here:

X X X X

Any other suggestions?

Thanks.