HP 2600n: Faded Prints and Laser Scanner Contamination

It is typical to attribute the faded or worn out printouts produced by color laser printers to a low or depleted toner supply. Now this can be easily resolved by replacing the toner cartridge or by replenishing the toner supply of the exhausted cartridge with compatible toner supplied by an HP toner refill kit. If upon ocular inspection, the cartridge still has sufficient toner and the magenta cartridge is likely causing the fading prints, then this could be a case of "laser scanner contamination."

This condition can easily be detected in the HP 2600n color laser printer because of its design alignment where toner cartridges are stacked one above the other. However, this is not a design flaw of the print engine. The magenta cartridge is positioned on the bottom part of the array and therefore has the tendency to absorb loose toner and dust the most; to contaminate the laser scanning assembly eventually.

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The print engine of the HP 2600n color laser printer comes designed not only with 4 toner cartridges but also with 4 OPC drums, 4 laser scanning assemblies; one each for the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black toner cartridges. It is only unfortunate that the design calls for the magenta cartridge at the tail end of the cartridge array.

Over time, loose toner powder and dust collects on magenta cartridge components coating the sensitive laser and rotating reflective mirrors or lenses which consequently reduces its capability to accurately emit required light pulses on the OPC drum to form the latent image.

Failure of the laser scanning assembly results in faded or worn out color prints. Maintenance of the laser scanning assembly does not form part of the HP 2600n printer's internal cleaning features. Therefore, only manual troubleshooting will do the trick. The task of cleaning the laser scanning reflective mirror and lens is a simple matter, particularly with the printer service manual around. However, the location of this component inside the printer could not be easily reached and in fact entails dismantling the printer. For the beginner, that would take a couple of hours to complete the job.

The task is therefore best left to printer technicians to do justice on the cleaning of the laser scanning assembly.

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Understanding the HP 2600 "Cartridge Out Override" Function

Like most laser printers, the cartridges of the HP 2600cn laser printer is outfitted with a microchip that communicates the toner supply status of the consumable. In turn, the printer is able to prompt the user whenever the cartridge is low on toner; to consequently desist printing once toner supply is depleted. But in most cases, at least 20% of toner supply still lingers inside the cartridge's toner hopper when printing altogether stopped. This gives users the wrong impression! What if this were a scheme intended by OEMs to fast track the repurchase of a new cartridge? In this case, users are advised to pull out the cartridge from the printer and shake it vigorously so that clumped toner inside the chamber cavities is released and a few more pages can be squeezed out from the cartridge.

Well, we can always point an accusing finger to printer manufacturers. But the truth is that this could just be a sensor error wherein the ‘toner out’ prompt is routinely issued by the unit. Sensors are sensitive electronic devices directed towards a cartridge window that monitors toner supply. And once toner can no longer be detected, the "'toner out' prompt is thereafter displayed.

This troubleshooting technique is however not necessary with the HP 2600 laser printer. The printer is equipped with a ‘cartridge out override function’ that can be accessed through the control panel. Therefore when the ‘order supplies’ message is prompted, pressing the ‘cartridge out override’ button will deactivate the message and consequently, printing will commence. The ‘order supplies’ prompt informs the user that toner supply is running low and the succeeding pages could likely result in questionable prints as pointed out by the printer's service manual. This benefits the user as extra caution can now be observed in the printout of ensuing documents. The moment any print defect manifests, printing is immediately discontinued to thus avoid wasting paper in the process. To commence with print jobs, the user either replaces the cartridge orrefills its toner chamber with fresh toner supply.using a compatible toner refill kit.

If the HP Q6000A OEM toner cartridge is cost restrictive at $75, the user can choose do-it-yourself refill consumables to save on printing costs. The HP 2600 toner refill kit is sold online for only $30 and delivers print quality and yield of 2,500 pages at 5% coverage; similar to what the OEM toner can deliver.