Dell 3100cn Color Prints Smudging

Well, I've got exactly the same problem - I've just written to support about it, so we'll see what they say.

If you want to get a better idea of the problem, go into the customer service menu (do this by powering off the printer, then holding the up & down arrows on the front panel when you switch it back on) - go to print tests and then select 'contamination check' - this prints a page for each toner colour.
On my printer, I can see a gap with missing toner at about 12 across and 20 down for all three colours - it's not there for black though.

I suspect the drum is damaged but I don't understand how - it didn't do it when it was new, and I've only printed a few hundred pages with it.

I hope Dell can sort this - it's a great printer otherwise (okay, we won't talk about paper handling here....)

I talked to tech. support about this - apparently, the printer builds the image directly on the drum for black, but when using colour it uses a transfer belt - so, if you have a problem with colour only then it's probably caused by damage / contamination of the transfer belt.
I am lucky in that my printer's still under warranty, so Dell (UK) have arranged to replace the drum cartridge (which contains the belt).

I guess if you're out of warranty & feeling brave you could try taking the cartridge apart and seeing if the belt can be cleaned - but I suspect you'll probably be needing to buy a new one...

Well, new drum fitted and it has just shifted the problem - looks as if the new drum also has a problem (but in a different place horizontally on the page).

Maybe these drums have quality problems...

I'll give them a call tomorrow and see what happens.

I phoned them today and they suggested replacing the cleaning pad (on the cleaning rod on the right hand side of the printer) with the new one supplied with the new drum - and then cleaning the print head. This seems to have fixed the problem - although there's another problem now (faint white line all the way down the page on all four colours)

Anyway - I'm sure you've all tried cleaning the printer with the cleaning rod, but if not, it seems to work (and I really didn't expect it to make any difference!)

I tried cleaning it again (used the rod about 20 times) and all the problems seem to have gone now.

Good luck.

Dear Friends,

I have a Dell 3000cn laser printer and have the following problem:
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=S2500&message.id=7738

==>>Is this related to the problems you have and could you let me know if using the rod does help?

My drum got replaced and everything went okay for a couple of prints.
Yesterday however I noticed that my problem appeared again... :=(

I testprinted some DVD covers which cover most of a A4 page:
The quality is perfect except on 3 areas of the page. If I drew a vertical line at the page, you'd notice that the 3 artifacts are beneath each other(this means they are at the same distance in horizontal direction but appear on different spots in vertical direction).

The spots are longitudinal stripes which are colored blue-white and the edges have the same colour of the neighbour cover.
I also noticed stains in the middle of the page and smearing of text when I print the first textpage after the printer warmed up.

What should I do? I'm really desperate...

I don't have a scanner but if needed I ask someone to scan a couple of pages.

toner level:
Black: 40%
Cyan: 80%
Yellow: 100%
Magenta: 100%


Thanks!
Steven

What country are you in? If you're in the UK it might be worth having a go from the consumer rights point of view - i.e. the product is not sufficiently reliable, fit for purpose and as described in that the drum failed after less than 1/3 the supposed life (which I believe is 9000 cycles). Contact trading standards and have a chat.

If you're not in the UK then bad luck.. ;-)

Hi Kelraine,

I tried the rod, didn't help me...
Well it did help, after 15 prints the poblem was gone. 3 hours later I restart my printer and here we go again.
Could you confirm that you don't have this problem anymore?

I'm really disappointed... This printer cost me about €600 (extra toner) and it doess't print well anymore after 1400 prints. This sounds like failing material considering that replacing my drum didn't help me.

Could anyone give me a straightforward solution?


Kind regards,
Steven Berbiers

Yeah, that's not very good at all. I've tried another test print and my printer's still okay. If you replaced the drum then there aren't many other areas left that could cause that sort of problem I would have imagined.
Have you checked the transfer rollers etc. for any damage or dirt?

What exactly does the problem look like? Is it always in exactly the same place?

Given the low usage, I would see if you can 'persuade' Dell to repair or replace the printer under whatever consumer rights legislation you have.