Phaser 7700 Serious Print Issues - Detailed Pictures Provided

[JohnM-Xerox]

Although there are two or three things that could be causing this issue, there is only one solution that you can try without scheduling a service call with a Xerox Technician.  I have copied a link to that procedure for you here.  If this does not resolve your issue, then you will need to call Xerox and schedule a service call.  That number, for the U.S. and Canada, is 1.800.835.6100.

[JohnM-Xerox]

I have forwarded this issue to someone who might be able to help us out with this.  I'll get back to you as soon as I hear what they want to do.  I'm going to do my best to avoid having you make a service call for this.

[gnomore]

I should also note I get 0 errors on boot.

[gnomore]

Okay, that seemed to have poked the hornets nest. I downloaded the firmware update from this link.

http://www.support.xerox.com/support/phaser-7700/file-download/enus.html?operatingSystem=winxp&fileL...

I read the install guide and followed it step by step, ftp transferred it on, and it did not get interrupted. The printer rebooted and this was the startup printout.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26001557/printer/afterfirmware/firstpageout.JPG

I then tried manually printing out the configuration pages through the menu. Here is the result.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26001557/printer/afterfirmware/printconfigurationpages.JPG

I then reset all nvram, and shut off the machine, pulled the power cord and waited 2 minutes. Here is that startup page.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26001557/printer/afterfirmware/reboot.JPG

I then tried printing the graphics demonstration.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26001557/printer/afterfirmware/graphics.JPG

I then tried a printout through visio to test if it was just the printers own configuration pages having an issue.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26001557/printer/afterfirmware/visio.JPG

So as you can see it is now overlaying the graphics demonstration on every print. The background problems are still there. I also tried to print the calibrate for color pages again and got the same load letter error but still have letter loaded.

Here is a picture of the printer properties through the web menu.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26001557/printer/afterfirmware/printerproperties.jpg

Think this might be the board starting to go?

[JohnM-Xerox]

Hello gnomore,

Let's start with making sure that your printer has the latest firmware release loaded on it from Xerox.com.  Once you have the latest firmware, try printing a couple color pages again and post what the results are here on the forum.

John

[gnomore]

Any educated guesses out there on what could be causing this? I am able to run any diagnostics needed including detailed pictures, voltage tests, printouts, you name it. Any help in the matter would be greatly appreciated as I have been a loyal xerox customer since 2002.

I am also resolved to learn laser printer repair/theory to a much greater level than I know now. Aside from the issue at hand, are there any books you guys might reccomend on these matters? This is the main reason I havent just outsourced this problem to a repair tech. Honestly I plan on buying a 7750 or 7760 for my office needs in the near future, this particular printer is my learning instrument if you will.

[gnomore]

I should also say that a year ago when this started happening, it only happened with magenta. As in every color print would have a magenta background. I fixed it by only printing with black for a while. Then I had one of the exit fuser rollers melt into the fuser, so shelved the printer until now. I have used an exit roller repair kit, and put a brand new fuser in. I should also note some of the melted rubber got down on the transfer roller. I had to use alcohol to get it to come off.

Also an interesting problem, I tried to run print calibration pages and it says I do not have the correct paper size in the tray. I have letter sized paper in *8.5 x 11*. All other configuration pages print fine without that error.

[gnomore]

Okay I have been on a bit of a print journey with this printer. I am trying to get this thing fixed, but it is having major issues.

Two days ago I rebuilt the fuser exit roller with a fuser exit roller repair kit, as one of the rollers had melted into the fuser. I also installed a brand new fuser. This got the printer printing to the point where it does not jam, and the toner is fused to the page correctly. But I am having major print quality issues and was having them before the fuser incident.

I have an issue which seems to happen on all colors, some worse some better in that an initial print will look bad, like there is too much toner on the paper that ends up coating the paper in lines. As I print continuous, the lines get wider and wider until they fill up the entire page edge to edge.

Here is an example of the graphical demonstration print #1.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26001557/printer/graphicprint1.JPG

As you can see it is having coloring issues, and lines in all colors are present. Running a single print, waiting for it to print out, and then sending another, gives similar results.

Now here is where it gets interesting. If I set it on continuous print of the same image, the first one comes out looking like that, but this is what the 20th looks like.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26001557/printer/graphicsprint20.JPG

As you can see there is full edge to edge saturation of toner on the paper. So I thought maybe I was having print drum issues. So I decided to do my testing in black only. I pulled up visio and ran a test print in black and white of some routers and switches. Here is a single printout of that.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26001557/printer/print1black.JPG

As you can see there are some black streaks on the page, and the images are fuzzy. Only 2 of the switches actually look colored properly. Here is what happens when I do a continous printout of the same image in black and white. This is printout 20.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26001557/printer/print20black.JPG

The lines you saw in the first print of black and white started getting more pronounced, then widening on each successive print.

I have swapped out the print cartridge for black, tried every other print cartridge in the machine. The toner is all OEM toner.

Here is a screenshot of the consumables page of the printer.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26001557/printer/consumables.jpg

Anyone have any idea what could be causing this?