How to repair a laser printer that got wet and only does 1/2 page

[Paul Sisneros]

I have an hp p1102w laser printer that I use to make circuit boards and for documents. For some reason my mother in law decided above it on the metal rack where it resides was a good spot to place a leaky jug of water last time she visited. It was a while before I discovered this and the paper tray was full of water. Only a few drops seemed to have got inside, though it was hard to tell. I opened it up and let it dry out completely and when I started it back up it would only print on the right half of the page. I put in a new cartridge, air dusted it and tried again and it got a little clearer. I ran several prints and the right half got sharper but it seems to have stopped improving with the right half fully developed and just smudges on the left.

It seems hopeless but I figured maybe there's a way to fix it. I hate to throw out something I still need, especially when I have 3 toner packs for it and they wouldn't fit a newer model. Does anyone have and idea what might fix it?

[the_digital_dentist]

Have you tried swapping out the toner cartridge?  Those contain the drum that is probably the part that got borked.

[Paul Sisneros]

Yeah, it made it get to half a page, but it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

On Mon, May 19, 2014 at 10:05 PM, the_digital_dentist <mark.r...@gmail.com> wrote:

Have you tried swapping out the toner cartridge?  Those contain the drum that is probably the part that got borked.

--

---
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "milwaukeemakerspace" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/milwaukeemakerspace/dxQCKf27wXE/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to milwaukeemakers...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[the_digital_dentist]

Doh!  Sorry, I got involved in a conversation while I was reading your post and the new cartridge just went in one eye and out the other.

[Joel Wakefield]

If you are printing half of a page that probably means r that the cartridge is OK but the laser is not exposing the photo conductor drum on that side. I would first check that the laser beam or LEDs path is not blocked. Else it could be that a mirror or lens is fouled.
Hope that helps!

[Paul Sisneros]

That's what I was thinking. It looks like the laser and mirror unit is in the middle of everything, encased by stamped plates and very integrated, getting it out without damaging it will be hard, but it seems like cleaning it up may be the only way.

On Tue, May 20, 2014 at 3:32 PM, Joel Wakefield <wakef...@gmail.com> wrote:

If you are printing half of a page that probably means r that the cartridge is OK but the laser is not exposing the photo conductor drum on that side.  I would first check that the laser beam or LEDs path is not blocked.  Else it could be that a mirror or lens is fouled.
Hope that helps!

[Joel Wakefield]

Before you do that, c heck out the high voltage wires. They are usually built into the cartridge but sometimes not. There is usually a slider attached to a brush that cleans any oxide off of the wire. My thought is that the wire may have some water or debris on it that is discharging the voltage somewhere along its lenght. It's a long shot, especially since you said that you changed the cartridge; but it is worth mentioning.