Shadowing issues when printing

Hey everyone!
I could really use some help if anyone has an idea of what's going on here. My Xerox 3010 laser printer is acting up—it’s leaving this faint shadow of the text just to the left of everything I print, though it's pretty subtle. The weird part? Everything looks perfectly fine when I run a test page.

Thanks!

How old is this printer, and roughly how many pages has it put through so far?

When you see ghosting on the text with these larger machines, it usually means it's time for some maintenance—the transfer kit probably isn't scraping off all the excess toner anymore, which leaves those shadows behind.

George Sanders37 said:How old is the printer, and roughly how many pages has it put out so far?

If you start seeing ghosting on your prints with those big office machines—it’s usually a sign you’re due for some maintenance. Basically, the transfer kit isn't scraping off all that excess toner anymore, so it leaves those little shadows behind.

The machine is only about a year or two old—it’s only clocked about 950 pages so far.

Has he replaced the toner yet?

Since these little printers usually have everything built right into the toner cartridge—you know, the stuff that would normally be separate kits like the drum or transfer unit—it’s possible the issue might just clear up once he swaps out the toner.

946 pages? That thing hasn't even broken a sweat yet. 😬 Look, just try printing a massive black block—maybe do it a couple of times—and see what happens. If you're not sure how, just make a table in Word and fill the cells black, or maybe change the background color to black or some dark gray... Maybe the machine just needs a little shock to the system.

George Sanders37 said:Has the toner been swapped out yet?

These little printers usually have everything built right into the toner cartridge—you know, the stuff that would normally be separate kits like the drum or transfer roller—so swapping the toner might actually fix the issue.

The toner’s actually been changed twice already. The original one that came with the printer was fine, but the second one wasn't OEM and gave us all sorts of headaches trying to get the machine to accept it—it was a real pain. Now we're on the third one, and this is where the ghosting started, even though it ran okay for a little while.

darkowl72 said:946 pages? Man, that thing hasn't even broken a sweat yet 😬 Look, try printing a massive black block—maybe a few times—just to see what happens. If you're not sure how, just make a table in Word and fill the cells black, or maybe change the background color to black or a dark gray... Maybe it just needs a little shock to the system...

So, I printed a big black table about four or five times. There’s definitely some improvement, but you can still see it. It's almost nothing at the bottom, heaviest in the middle, and a bit at the top. I'm running it in landscape. It does leave a faint trace behind, though—nothing to do with the actual text...

I just printed out another six or seven black tables—another tiny step forward. Maybe if I run it through a hundred more times it'll finally disappear, though I wouldn't bet the house on it.

Man... looks like you aren't getting any favors from them. People are piling onto Xerox support complaining about all sorts of printers, and apparently, a ton of people are dealing with Xerox machines spitting out "ghost text":

http://forum.support.xerox.com/t5/Pr...nts/m-p/168350

And then there's this:

http://forum.support.xerox.com/t5/Pr...ages/td-p/5384

One user says: "I've had this problem before. I ended up changing the developer rolls and that actually got rid of the ghost imaging. Good luck."

I think we still need to figure out if there are other replaceable components besides just the toner—things they usually call maintenance kits, fuser kits, or transfer kits.

To reiterate, on larger printers, ghosting is usually caused by issues within those specific kits because excess powder isn't being scraped off completely. I’m not an expert on this particular model, though—so I don't know if it even uses these types of kits or how much of that hardware is integrated directly into the toner cartridge itself.

If those extra kits are required, they can get pretty pricey, even for smaller desktop printers. And if someone hasn't swapped them out personally before, they'll probably need to hire a pro—either a technician or a repair shop—which adds another layer of cost. I worry we might be getting close to the point where it just isn't worth fixing.

Hey guys,

thanks so much for all the help and the advice. It’s honestly pretty tough to pin down what the real issue is here. I think my best bet might just be grabbing a printer where the official ink isn't a total rip-off—not sure which one that is yet, but I'll start hunting around.

Quick update for you guys—problem solved. Here’s what I ended up doing:

1. Start All programs—Xerox Office printing—Phaser 3010—Printing Setting Utility—
Xerox Phaser 3010 (open the menu)
2. Diagnosis tab—Clean Developer—Start
3. Diagnosis tab—Refresh mode (Toner)—Black
4. Printer Maintenance tab—Adjust Fuser—the input field (was at 0)—change to +3—Apply New Settings
4. Printer Maintenance tab—Density Adjustment—the input field (was at 0)—change to +3—Apply New Settings

The print quality is actually amazing now. No more ghosting—just crisp, solid, perfect prints. No fading or weird spotting at all... honestly, a perfect ten.