Anyone know anything about laser printers?

[PaulHigg]

These photos are after I put in a new toner cart.

The one on the left is immediately after I installed it a few days ago.

The one on the right is from tonight.

Why is it suddenly printing dark streaks like this?

I have the Apple service manual and can take it apart but am not sure what the cause of this might be so I'm hesitant to disassemble it until I know why it's happening. :?:

 

[Byrd]

The first thing to try is to remove the toner and give it a few taps, either end, on something soft. Should dislodge the powder a bit if it has solidified. Also clean the rollers while you're there, maybe vacuum out any powder too.

 

[beachycove]

The likelihood is that your toner wiper blade (google is your friend) is not performing its duty, and possibly the OPC drum in the cartridge is bad also. You see the latter problem in the repeating pattern left on the first print, and the former problem on the second print.

Wiper blade problems sometimes take 3 or 4 prints to really begin to manifest, in my experience, so that looks to me the case with your prints.

Does "new" mean old stock from around 1994 (for your LW Select, by any chance)? Toner cartridges have a limited shelf life, so that some old stock will be found working and some not these days. I have seen the same results elsewhere, and the only remedy is a replacement cartridge. Essentially, the silicon wiper degrades, the electrostatic coating on the drum can get damaged (even by hardened cleaning blades), and the upshot is that you get messy prints.

If you know what you are doing and have parts, a cartridge can be serviced, but not really without the parts, which can be hard to find for unusual cartridges. The better bet is to try another cartridge if you can find one cheap. But it is hit and miss.

If you want to go the old LaserWriter route, you can't beat the ones that take an HP98a or HP98x toner: these toners are seemingly made still, are cheap, tend to be long-lived, and are about as ubiquitous as old toner gets. The printers in question are the LaserWriter 600, the Pro 630, and the 16/600. The last of these is the best of the lot.

 

[techknight]

Bad drum, also incorrect or missing voltages can do this. But in your case, the drum is bad.