When diagnosing print quality issues, pictures speak a thousand words.
If you can, please scan or take some pictures of your defective images and post them with your reply. You'll need a website on the internet to host the pictures from. If you don't have one, www.Flickr.com is one that works great, among others.
fyi...... max image width allowed in this forum is 460 pixels.

 

The best images to use to diagnose this issue is the 20% density test pages:
1. Power off the printer.
2. Press and hold the UP and DOWN arrow buttons while you power the printer on.
3. The buttons may be released after the LCD indicates "Diagnosing..."
4. After a few seconds, the LCD should indicate "Customer Mode" and "ESS Diag"
5. Press the UP or Down arrow buttons to find "Test Print", press the Enter (center) button.
6. Press the Down arrow button to find and select Cyan20%, or Magenta20%, or Yellow20%, or Black20%; press the Enter button twice to select and print that test page
(note: printers with the newest firmware may have an additional menu item called "ContaminationCHK". Using this item will print all 4 of the 20% density pages for you)
7. After all print tests have been completed, power the printer off, wait ~5 secs, and power on.

Once again, if you scan (or take a digital picture) the images with the defects and provide me a link to where I can examine them, I can evaluate the defects and better advise you on corrective action. I don't need to see any images except for the 20% density pages. When we fix the problem with the 20% density images, the other images will be fixed as well.

llynster, thanks for responding - I did go into Customer Mode and printed test page of each color (Cyan20%, etc.) - cyan and yellow printed fine, magenta and black leave a white strip down the right side, Gradation diagnostic page shows a faded green section down the right side

I have posted the scans on Flickr.com - Search Flickr Members - esmyth1@yahoo.com

OK.... looked over your images. I have a question and also have soem suggestions on things to be tried first.

 

Question: Is the picture (mountain/valley) printed in Landscape or Portrait mode?

 

The problem..... It appears you have several laser beam blockages causing the vertical blank spots (aka, vertical deletions) down the right side of the page. 

Do this first:

Use the front panel to select, then remove, and then re-seat each toner cartridge.

Ensure the rotating toner lock handle is completely rotated all the down into the locked position.

This is very important.

 

The reason you need to make sure the toiner handle is completely rotated into the locked position is to prevent the handles from blocking the laser beam.

As the carousel (the big thing in the center of the printer that holds the toner carts) rotates, each time it stops to transfer a color, the toner cart of the "next color" in rotational sequence is very close to the laser beam path. If the locking handle on that cart is protruding at all, it will block the laser beam for the active color scan and the result wil be a huge blank area down the side of the page.

As you view the carousel from the front where you replace the carts, rotation of the carousel is downward.

Yellow can effect Black

Magenta effects Yellow

Cyan efects Magenta

Black effects Cyan

 

Let me know the results and we'll proceed from there.

 

OBTW..... when you post an image to FLICKR, just right-click in the center of the picture then copy/past the URL info and include that in your reply.

yes, I believe so - I prefer replacing cartridges myself but in a large school environment its impossible at times - thanks again

Glad I could help..... was one or more of the toner carts changed recently?

it worked!! - one of the cartridges must not have been locked all the way down - thanks for guiding me thru this

Excellent post.

 

I just started a 3000cn that I purchased in Nov/05 for good customer and it just came back to the shop.  The complain: A white streak or a white patch or a vertical blank spot listed on several attempts to fix it.  I found several notes indicating that the Magenta cartridge was removed and reinstall to no avail. It was replaced once and the drum was also replaced before I found this post.

 

Your post which indicates that if you are having problems with the Magenta color you should look at the Cyan to be blocking the laser was brilliant. That fixed the issue as the locking device arrow was not over the locking icon. It was only off by 1/4 inch, but it resulted in a 1.5" blank stripe on the right hand side of the paper but only in the magenta color. The customer is happy again.

 

Fabio Soto

TechnologyRescue

Fabio,

 

Glad to help.....