Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Eye Surgery on an HP 2600n


We have several HP color laser printers in various offices around the city.  Over time, it seems the magenta starts to fade and, no matter what brand of toner used, it doesn't seem to get better.  After doing a ton of searching online, I stumbled across a two-year old forum entry on HP's site with a link from Don Thompson.  Ironically, the printer's cooling fan blows dust from the toner cartridge into the image scanner.  The angle of the mirrors that reflect the magenta color happen to be directly inline with the fan's jet stream and get coated during use.  There's nothing on HP's site about this issue or even an explanation of the fix.
Don's PDF instructions were absolutely perfect... I was able to strip out the imaging engine, wipe down the mirrors and get everything back together without a missing screw or popped bracket.  Needless to say, there was a prayer meeting before the procedure and a sacrifice of praise afterward... and only a little bit of flop sweat in between!  Below are the side-by-side results using the same toner carts.  Thanks to Don for not silo'ing his info!

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