Black Marks on the Print

You send a print job to the printer (which was working fine yesterday) and get a nice little surprise when it comes out. The image has black marks all over it. They might be lines, blotches, streaks, or not have any shape or regularity at all. What to do?

Black marks on the copy are almost always caused by one of two things: a bad toner cartridge or a bad fuser.

How do you tell?

First of all, just take the toner cartridge out, flip it over, and see if you have any black marks on the drum. If you don't that doesn't mean the toner cartridge isn't at fault. Really, the only way to tell for sure, is to replace the toner cartridge. If the black marks stay the same, then it's probably your fuser unit.

Usually, if it's the fuser at fault, the print on the page will feel grainy when you rub your fingers against it. Also, much of the black part will actually rub right off.

On some machines, the fuser is very simple to replace. You don't even need a screw driver. You just open a door or flap and look for HP's classic blue clips that hold the fuser in place. Pressing on the clips releases the fuser and it comes right out. Put the new one in, and you're ready to go.

But sometimes it's not that easy... and that's when you call us.