Oki ES3640 - Dirty Print Problem - Please Help!

[lainiekel]

Hi,

I really hope someone can advise me. I'm having problems printing from the multi-purpose tray of my Oki ES3640. All prints are coming out with a very light haze of black toner all over the page, but its making the prints look dirty. The problem only seems to occur when printing from the MP Tray and the prints from the other tray are fine, but I do most of my printing from the MP Tray. I purchased the machine 2nd hand but the business that had it before me said they had it for approx 4-5 years and I've had it for almost 2 years (I haven't done much work on it though).

The Page Count is...Color Pages: 108167 and Monochrome Pages: 8292
Supplies Life:
Cyan Drum: 65% Magenta Drum: 65% Yellow Drum: 65% Black Drum: 52%
Belt: 94% Fuser: 88% Cyan Toner: 30% Magenta Toner: 90%
Yellow Toner: 100% Black Toner: 50%

I've tried a variety of different media ranging from 120gsm to 280gsm, matt and pearlescent stock but its there on all of them. I will call out a service guy but I want to make sure its not something really trivial that I'm doing wrong myself (fairly new to digital printing) or a sign that some of consumables are faulty or need replacing before I drag someone out as we're experiencing bad weather here at the minute with very icy roads.

Appreciate any advice/suggestions.

Thanks!

 

[Possumgal]

I had the same problem, only it was the magenta toner that made the haze. Our problem is that we have no climate control where the machine is located, so humidity plays a big factor. However, since your problem is not consistent tray to tray, it may be a dirty roller near the multi-purpose tray. See if there are any rollers near the intake you can clean with diluted alcohol.

 

[lainiekel]

Thanks a million for your reply. How did you sort your problem when it was humidity related? You have me wondering if it could be something like that as the weather has been really changeable here over the past few weeks...we've had snow/ice for the past week and heavy wind/rain, etc before that and only started having issues recently and I haven't been doing much work on the machine so could it be that its just cold.

 

[Possumgal]

We didn't. We just had to hope the customer didn't notice. We're in a big metal building, and the owner just buys stuff without any regard to things like climate control, and just expects the employees to solve all the problems.

 

[lainiekel]

Oh I see..well unfortunately my 'haze' is noticeable and makes the prints look so grubby. I just printed the Oki test page with the bright flowers from Tray 1 and its the best print out of the machine in ages. The white border was perfectly clean.

 

[OkiTech]

Hi. What happens if you run regular paper trough bypass? Will it be dirty as well
?

 

[lainiekel]

I printed the same A4 page in B&W yesterday on regular copier paper from both the MP Tray and Tray 1. MP Tray was dirty and Tray 1 was fine. I had a few paper jams a while back when trying a different stock that the machine didn't like via the MP tray so perhaps I've damaged something when removing those jams?

 

[OkiTech]

Ok, this what I would do:
take everything out - Drums, belt, fuser, Duplex unit, waist toner box, remove 2 black covers in the bottom of the printer, plug up all the waits toner holes.
Take a toner vacuum cleaner and vacuum the printer, take yellow rags and clean all the surfaces to the best of your ability, also - the basket where drums sits at, clean the bottom part of it...
Open all side covers and Blow the printer with air compressor, wipe everything again, make sure to do it well and make sure to do this out side not indoors.

 

[OkiTech]

best thing google a local tech and have him clean and tune the printer up.

 

[damfino]

Your issue is a real puzzlement as the point of entry for the sheet is the same whether from a tray or the bypass. If anything, the bypass tray offers the least contact with transport rollers.

My only thought is that due to low humidity potential static in the paper does not have the time or opportunity to discharge, given the short paper path. Perhaps when feeding from the tray any build-up gets adequately dissipated over the course of the longer paper path.

Humidity control is essential with this printer...more so than any other brand/model. A reading of 50-55 percent relative humidity is essential to avoid background toning.

I would not recommend using a blower or compressed air - this will only introduce toner throughout the machine. And the only vacuum you should use is one specifically designed for toner. A household vacuum will accrue a charge, potentially zapping you or doing damage to the electronics of the printer.

Good luck.

 

[lainiekel]

My only thought is that due to low humidity potential static in the paper does not have the time or opportunity to discharge, given the short paper path. Perhaps when feeding from the tray any build-up gets adequately dissipated over the course of the longer paper path.

Humidity control is essential with this printer...more so than any other brand/model. A reading of 50-55 percent relative humidity is essential to avoid background toning.

Just wondering if I improve the humidity control, would this lead to an improvement in the prints or do you suspect that damage has already been done to the machine?

 

[damfino]

Low humidity can't damage the machine, only the drums. The belt and fuser are not affected and the toner will recover.

By my experience, some drums will recover with acclimation to proper humidity, while others times they are toast. Unfortunately I don't have any absolutes to offer you.

To adequately control humidity you will need to have the printer and a humidifier located in a small(er) room.