Laser printer shadows

phil22407 · Post by **phil22407** » Mon Feb 03, 2003 11:12 pm

Hi. I have an old Epson 1500. All of a sudden, it seems that the printer shadows what was previously printed. It appears that as the drum goes around the second time, it still has toner on the drum. Is my cartrige shot, or what? Anything I can do? Thanks.

Phil

poptom · Post by **poptom** » Mon Feb 03, 2003 11:57 pm

It's probably the cleaning pad.

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/supp ... eoid=17621

phil22407 · Post by **phil22407** » Tue Feb 04, 2003 9:24 am

Thanks. I went to your link, but it said the page has expired. I searched for a cleaning pad, but it didn't return anything. Was you link to something like that, or just to the Epson site? Is the cleaning pad in the cartrige, and can I clean that, or do I just need a new cartridge. I hate to get a new one, because they are about $175. Thanks again.

Phil

poptom · Post by **poptom** » Tue Feb 04, 2003 10:42 am

It's dead now but my link was to FAQs for the 1500 and it suggested replacing the pad. I had previously assumed the cartridge would need replacing but apparently that's not so.

The pad is what wipes the toner from the drum before it comes around again.

Anyway, I've never had that problem but that's what I would tke a look at.

--Tom

phil22407 · Post by **phil22407** » Tue Feb 04, 2003 12:27 pm

Thanks. I'll try to find a place for the pad. Do you know any good ones?

Phil

poptom · Post by **poptom** » Tue Feb 04, 2003 1:09 pm

Originally posted by phil22407
Thanks. I'll try to find a place for the pad. Do you know any good ones?

No, but I'm sure it would be an Epson part. My experience has been with HP and Panasonic.

Daves World · Post by **Daves World** » Tue Feb 04, 2003 1:29 pm

Are we talking about an Epson Action Laser 1500 cause I have one here in front of me and it doesn"t have a cleaning pad. Try to do a half page test. Just send the printer a Job and when the page is about half way out open the cover, now look at the printout on the paper before it goes thru the fuser. If the shadowing is present before it goes thru the fuser then it's your toner cartridge. If the shadowing is after the fuser ass'y then it's your fuser ass'y.

phil22407 · Post by **phil22407** » Tue Feb 04, 2003 2:07 pm

OK. You'll have to educate me a little. Which part is the fuser? Is that the green drum on the cartridge? Not much of a printer guy. Thanks.

Phil

PS
It seemed to start happening after I printed about 40 pages of a single document, with heavy bolding. Now it seems the bold prints where it is supposed to, and when the drum comes around again, it still prints it again a little, like there was still some toner on the drum.

Daves World · Post by **Daves World** » Tue Feb 04, 2003 2:42 pm

The fuser ass'y. fuses the toner to the page. The green drum is part of the toner cartridge.
The fuser ass'y. is just beyond where the toner is installed. It should have " Caution Hot Surfaced " stamped on it.
Is this an ACTION laser 1500 ?

poptom · Post by **poptom** » Tue Feb 04, 2003 2:46 pm

Here's a diagram of how it works:

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/laser-printer1.htm

And this refers to a felt pad in stead of the discharge lamp:

http://www.pctechguide.com/12lasers.htm

The final stage is to clean the drum of any remnants of toner, ready for the cycle to start again.

There are two forms of cleaning, physical and electrical. With the first, the toner which was not transferred to the paper is mechanically scraped off the drum and the waste toner collected in a bin. Electrical cleaning takes the form of covering the drum with an even electrical charge so the laser can write on it again. This is done by an electrical element called the corona wire. Both the felt pad which cleans the drum and the corona wire need to be changed regularly.

Hope this helps.
--Tom

phil22407 · Post by **phil22407** » Tue Feb 04, 2003 5:59 pm

Sorry. It is an Action Laser 1500. If I understand what I'm reading, it appears that the drum isn't getting clean. Anyone know where I can get those parts? Thanks.

Phil