HP Color Laserjet cp1217

After a couple of years with no problems, my cp 1217 now prints a dirty grey band about 1" wide down the left edge of the page. I have run the HP cleaning program a few times with no change in the problem. I guess that either the drum or the fusers need cleaning but I could do with some help in suggesting how I might best resolve the problem. It is only the black which prints the band and printing other colors is fine but still with the grey streak.
As usual, HP suggests sending it back for maintenence whici I hesitate to do as it sounds like big bucks

 

Since it's only the black, my guess is the black fuser, roller and/or transfer system are bad.

Not sure how the cp 1217 toner system works: Some HP's have the fuser drum attached to the toner cartridge itself; others use a seperate roller.

The best deal on printer parts is usually eBay. Look for Top-Rated Sellers who ship from the USA (or, if you live outside the USA, your home country).

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for your reply. I removed the black cartridge and wiped off a black/grey ring of toner to leaf of the roller. I subsequently then printed an existing word document and find that the whole document has shifted to the right by the same amount as the black/grey streaking on the left which seems to indicate that the problem might be with the way the printer sees the image. Help!!

 

Thanks for your reply. I removed the black cartridge and wiped off a black/grey ring of toner to leaf of the roller. I then printed an existing file which printed perfectly except for the dirty streaks on the left edge. I really need to get into the machine and see if I can identify and build up of toner which might cause this.

 

It's time to do some research on how much a color printer with comparable or better specs would cost, versus sending this one off for service. Even if you don't let HP overcharge you, most printer/copier repair techs in my area (Houston) have a minimum bench fee of $100 just for the initial diagnostic - plus the actual cost of repairs.

Don't limit your search to HP only. Other manufacturers (including Samsung and Brother) make decent color laser units (I have a three year old Samsung CLP-300 I've beat the c:***p out of; 15,000+ pages and still running like new).

The biggest thing to check is the availability and pricing of non-OEM aftermarket toner cartridges for the specific models you're considering. On my old Samsung, a set of 4 OEM toner units at Staples or Office Depot runs $150+; I can buy generic ones on eBay at around $25 (set of 4) including free shipping.

If your documents don't have to be colorfast (no ink smearing if the documents get wet, such as mailed out postcards), it's also worth considering a high-volume Brother or Canon inkjet unit. I have a Brother AIO Inkjet (click for model link to Newegg) that easily kicks out 12-15 pages of 8.5" x 11" flyers with about 25% color content per minute. It sells for under $100 and the ink is a steal -- on eBay, I get 18 replacement cartridges (6 black, 4 each C/Y/M) in a bundle for $26 including shipping. Each cartridge does about 500 pages in fast normal mode; your cost per page using aftermarket ink is less than one cent! Durable? Yes. I've kicked out almost 10,000 flyers for my PC shop on it over the past two months with no issues at all. (NOTE: If choosing Brother, go with a model that takes LC61/LC65 series ink. A few of the newer models use a new cartridge design that is more expensive and has less availability of non-OEM ink.)

Good luck on the search for a new printer. After you do research, please post back with your findings and thoughts.