Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

    This printer started to usually print the first sheet output of the day with back streaks / blotches. After the first sheet, the print would then be relatively clean. I did the corona wire cleaning but it didn't really help as the next day, the same result. Now after some cleaning of the black drum (with some alcohol and cotton), it has gotten worse to the point now it prints "ugly" all the time. :-(
    Is the toner just done or have I ruined the drum during my effort? System indicates the drum has about 60% life, toner 40%.

    The attached picture shows the poor print on the left while the right print was a good one from an earlier period when a first bad sheet had already been printed.

    I cleaned up / vacuumed / wiped interior areas of any loose toner. Didn't help.

    Any guidance or help would be appreciated before I totally break the thing (if I haven't already). Thanks.
    Attached Files

    #2
    Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

    looking at the colours, i think you need to start with a full cleanup.
    i suspect there is dust on the mirrors that reflect the laser from left to right.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

      thanks.... sorry for my "printer illiteracy" but I think the brother uses a row of leds for each color. Are these what you are referring to as an area to clean? I don't know how they "focus" their pattern on to the drum. I am somewhat "afeared" to go near those. Based on your comment, you are not thinking that this is a cartridge / drum problem but "higher up" in the "imaging". All the drums were cleaned in same manner (cotton swab and light alcohol / dry) yet it didn't help the black at all. The other colors were never really "spread" to areas where they didn't belong.

      Comment


        #4
        Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

        I swapped the cyan and black positions in the unit (same drum / cartridge left together). The pattern cleared up in terms of the black with just a little "contamination" along the left side in a few place. Both black and magenta appear to be on their last toner legs... but it would appear that the drum / cartridge pair is somewhat ok. Although at this point, it might be that the black "pair" has been used enough during my tests to finally get to an almost "normal state" again. I guess I will leave them in place and let things cool down a bit to see what happens.
        Attached Files

        Comment


          #5
          Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

          swapped the units back to "normal"... the contamination on the left is a bit more but like the original problem. The black appear "fuller" in its original place holder. Perhaps this is an electrical issue? I am somewhat at a loss.
          Attached Files

          Comment


            #6
            Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

            the printer generates a beam of light using a laser or leds,
            then scans it across the drum - line by line.
            where the beam hits, the toner sticks atleast enough to hold on till it hits the paper and then the heated fuser roller.

            so if dust blocks or deflects the beam, it effects the image quality.
            if your HV generator or it's corona wires have an issue then the toner wont stay on the drum/paper at all,
            and if the fuser is bad your paper will exit the printer with toner everywhere other than on it.

            99% of problems are down to dust and toner in the mechanism that needs to be cleaned out.
            a worn drum can lead to vertical banding too, because it transfers the toner to the paper.

            laser printers are almost mystical, they work mostly by exploiting static electricity to atract, and hold the toner dust.

            but because of this, they do fill up with dust and loose toner.
            Last edited by stj; 02-13-2021, 05:24 AM.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

              thanks for the further info. It helps me along. Further tests with swapping the cartridge pairs back seem to indicate the problem is with the density (how bright a color is or how black is black... I think). Not sure how it is handled but the regular position of the black seems to have high density such that it brings out the black toner. When the black toner is in the cyan position, its density is lower and thus there is little to no black toner spread "spuriously" around the page. How is the density "read"?... is it possibly that particular "sensor" is having a problem determining the actual density of the output?

              Comment


                #8
                Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

                it's completely down to the laser/led brightness how much toner is transfered.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

                  OK... but when the cyan toner / drum is in the black position, the cyan resulting color (for the black text) is a nice "cyan printed text" page off of the same leds that would have generated the regular black positioned cartridge / drum (the equivalent test with "blue text" and black toner / drum in cyan position also gives an relatively nice black text output with no "over streaks"... less density overall).
                  Basically, only the black toner in its normal position is a problem with density. Its almost like there might be some sort of voltage / contact problem with how that drum is charged at that position. IF I understand things, in general, the difference in charge (thru the optical drum) is what causes the deposit. Normally, no printing, charge is at the same level (drum and wire?). Increased "potential difference" attracts more toner resulting in print / darker accordingly. I am probably "out in space" on this. :-) Maybe I have to look closer at the contacts of the drum unit with the body of the printer to see if there is some form of corrosion or otherwise cause a voltage drop going into the drum at that position that is slightly different for the other drum.... maybe.
                  Last edited by budwich; 02-13-2021, 11:22 AM.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

                    it could be a contact issue from the drum to the printer - try cleaning all the contacts on all the drums and the printer - see what happens.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

                      I was comparing a couple of the cartridges.... i have an old yellow one that was recently replaced. On the side of all the cartridges, there is a small circular window (on the same side as the electrically contacts). It appears to align with some form of sensor on the side body of the printer. Each slot has one. Anyway, the window for the black cartridge appears to be somewhat frosted over while the others seem to be clear, meaning you can reading see thru them into that area of the cartridge. Not exactly sure of what the sensor is reading but maybe some form of "density" moves by the window's interior to be "read" by the sensor... maybe?
                      On the black unit, it appears that perhaps some form of contact cleaner was used on it which "frosted" the window's plastic... maybe. Just a guess though, I am a recent second owner. :-( I tried cleaning it with alcohol but not much luck. It is still quite "surface fogged". I am thinking that I might try removing the one from the old yellow unit and installing it on the black to see if that changes anything... maybe. Although, I think it might take a bit of disassembly to get at that "window lens" and haven't yet looked at how a toner cartridge comes apart without a hammer :-)

                      Looking closer at the mark, it looks like someone might have taken a black felt pen and provided some "darkness" to the window.... hmmm. I think its permanent marker so I don't think there isn't any way to clean / clear it. :-(

                      Can someone tell me what that window is used for? The picture doesn't really show it well but you can kind of see the "cast" to the side of the window... it covers about 70-80 percent of the view.
                      Attached Files
                      Last edited by budwich; 02-13-2021, 12:54 PM.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

                        it may be for seeing if it's empty - an led to light it and a sensor to detect the light reflecting/being blocked.
                        i'v not seen anything like it on HP stuff i'm used to.
                        .
                        interestingly, my brother inkjet uses an optical beam to detect low ink!

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

                          You are probably right.... and I wasn't very observant as there is a similar window on the opposite side of the cartridge. So there are two "windows" on each cartridge along with sensors and / or sources, one on each side of the printer chamber for each slot. The printer sensors appear to be be clean. Its the cartridge window on one side of the black that seems to have some sort of "contamination" on part of it. Like I posted, it seems like some sort of permanent marker or equivalent that has "frosted" the plastic so that it is no longer clear... almost opaque. Not sure what it is used for... probably some form of "fill detector" maybe. I wonder though if there are different detectors at each slot in terms of "light response" / colors such that they see (thru) certain colors better than others to get a better idea of how much toner is actually there????

                          The "mystery" of a laser printer is certainly great for me. :-)

                          edit add... it appears from some brother help page that the "beam / sensor" combo is used to determine that a cartridge is empty. Of course, the "explanation" does not shed any "light" on if the system uses the detection in any form to help with density decisions.
                          Last edited by budwich; 02-14-2021, 09:14 AM.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

                            There isn't feedback for density. If a laser print looks crappy the first thing to change is the toner.

                            To let you know you are not alone. https://theoatmeal.com/comics/printers

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

                              thanks... that's kind of how I feel. I will start there first (toner). Not knowing much about the inner workings, it is somewhat strange the way certain positional changes of the same components causes results that appear better which to me points at an issue somewhere away from those components.... but not having anything else to go on in terms of a service manual / schematic / etc, it leaves one to "cleaning, lubing, adjusting, replacing" type efforts which seem like a "death spiral" for equipment which may end at the "recycle" end point... :-(

                              I guess the one question that I have is how is density adjusted, if at all? The color components seem to have some form of adjustment but I don't see anything for black.
                              Last edited by budwich; 02-14-2021, 11:50 AM.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

                                It's usually replace the toner then drum then fuser. The fuser and drum both being service items at 50,000 prints as per the service manual.

                                Density is usually done in printing preferences on the PC not on the printer.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

                                  OK... I don't see it in the driver (mac) so perhaps some default somewhere. It still seems strange that an assembly moved from one area (slot) to the another, changes its output characteristic so quite dramatically while basically leaving everything else (toner, drum) as is.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

                                    Here's a service manual.
                                    What assembly did you move ?
                                    Attached Files

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

                                      thanks. I switched the toner/drum "pair" from the black location with the cyan. when I do that, a "blue print" (ie. text) which uses the cyan location / now the black, prints a relatively good page with little to no streaking / blotches (a couple small blotches along the left side still). The now cyan at the black location prints a clean black based text file. From this, it seems to indicate that things are relatively good at the cartridge level but seems to be a problem with the black cartridge / drum at its "home location" only.
                                      I will look thru the SM and see if it can get me further... thanks again.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Re: brother hl3040cn color laser... output gone to worse :-(

                                        A brief scan of the service manual has a section on density... (2-14). Not sure I understand how the system detects a new cartridge or otherwise... but perhaps I moved drum and / or toner roller in some form that cause the density action to do something. It would appear that the "automated density" is set up this way. That kind of explains why the switching of the drum/tone pair doesn't cause a problem for the cyan as I only did light cleaning of the colors since they always seemed to be relatively fine (at best perhaps a shake is need of the toner) while the black, was presenting problems as described so I was a bit more "aggressive"... maybe too much so. It still doesn't explain why moving the black "pair" to the cyan position seems to "almost" solve the problem (90+%).

                                        From the section, it appears that the density is set by the printer (fixed / expected so to speak) and then the biasing voltage on the developer is adjusted with "aging" to compensate and basically add more toner (increased voltage difference... ie. less voltage on the developer). my read of the SM explanation.
                                        Last edited by budwich; 02-14-2021, 04:24 PM.

                                        Comment

                                        Working...
                                        X