The Laser Printer Tech Quarterlyfrom Liberty Parts Team

Winter 2013

SERVICEEDGE

OUR LATEST PRINTER DISCOVERIES CLJ 3000 series: Looping (and Hanging) initialization LJ 4200: (Mostly) Blank pages LJ 9000 66.11.01 error

PLUS Color Laser Theory

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About this issue of Service EdgeWe have much to say in this is-

sue about color laser printers. But that's not all!

• If you have Color LaserJet 3000, 3600, 3800, CP3505 printers that can't finish initializing, we have articles that will be of interest. We show how to trouble-shoot calibration-related issues such as "Looping Initialization" and "Hanging Initialization" and share a useful calibration work-around.

• We update our laser theory article to include color.

• We share our discovery that an out-of place ground wire can cause severe imaging problems in the 4200/4300 family.

• Finally, we show what to do when a 9000 series printer gives indications to install a paper path connection unit that is already present.

Hope you find this an informative and enjoyable issue.

About the coverYou may have recognized the design on the cover as the close-up of overlaid cyan, ma-

genta and yellow circles. These three colors plus black are the basis for color laser printing. In theory, equal amounts of the three colors should produce black, in practice, they make a muddy color when printing, so black pigment is mixed with them to get black. That's why we have black toner in color printers.

ServICe edgeisthequarterlylaserprintertechbulletinofLibertyPartsTeam,Inc.

Editor-in-Chief:DavidK.ReinkeEditor:RobertReinkeWriters:DennisKosterman,RobertReinke

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LASER PRINTER ImAgE fORmATION

0 CALIBRATION (COLOR). Inamonochromeprinter,precisecontrolofimagealignmentanddensityisnotcritical–smallvariationsarenotevennoticed.Butinacolorprinter,sinceyouarecombiningfourseparatecolorplanesintoasinglecompositeimage,itisvitalthatallfourplanesarethesamedensity,andthattheylineuppreciselywitheachother.Thisiswhycolorprintersneedtocalibratefrequently(oneachpower-up,andwheneveratonercartridgeorotherimag-ingelementisreplaced).

1 CONVERSION. Thecomputerconvertstheprintjobintoapagedescriptionlan-guageandsendsittotheprinterformatterboard.PageDescriptionLanguagesincludeAdobePostScript(PS),HPPrinterCommandLanguage(PCL),andMi-crosoftXMLPageSpecification(XPS).

2 PROCESSINg. Theformatterseparatestheprintjobintoimagelocationinformationandprintprocessinstructionsandstorestheimageinformationinmemory.TheDCcon-trollersynchronizesimageformationwithinputandoutputandalsosignalstheformattertosenddata.

3 CONDITIONINg. Thephotoconductivedrumiscleanedoftonerbyarubberbladeandreceivesaneven,negativeDCchargefromthechargeroller,aswellasadoseofACbiastoremoveresidualimages.

4 WRITINg. Thelaserbeamdischargestinyareasofthephotosensitivedrumtoformaninvisibleimage.Theimagesonthedrumandontheprintedpageconsistofhorizontalrowsofcloselyspaceddots.Ona1,200dpiprinter,thedotswouldbe1/1,200ofaninch.

Color Toner Cartridge and Laser/Scanner Orientation: Two Kinds• EarlyCarousels.Asinglelaser/scannerwritestofourtonercartridgesmountedinacarousel.Aftereachcartridge

drumiswrittenupon,theimageistransferredtothebelt(seestep6),andthenextcartridgeisrotatedintotheac-tiveposition,andsoon.

• SinglePass.Eachcartridgeisfixedandhasitsownlaser.Thisallowsallfourcolorplanestobelaiddowninasinglepass.

5 DEVELOPINg. Negativelychargedtoneradherestodischargedareasofthedrum.Thetonergetsthenegativechargefromthedeveloperroller.Sincelike-chargedobjectsrepeleachother,thetonerdoesnotadheretothenegativelychargedpartsofthedrum,butonlytodischargedareas.

6 TRANSfERRINg. Thetransferrolleraddsapositivechargetothebackofthepaper,whichattractsthetonerfromdrumtopage.

Color Transfer Process: Two KindsInsteadofatransferroller,colorlaserprintershaveatransferbelt(ordrum)thatislargeenoughtoholdacompletepage-sizeimage,orafullsheetofpaper.Therearetwomethods.• Multi-stagetransferprocess:tonerisfirsttransferredfromtheimagedrumstothetransferbelt/drum(primary

transfer).Thisprocessisrepeatedfourtimesuntilwehaveacompositeimage(allfourcolors)onthedrum/belt,andthenthatimageistransferredtothepaper(secondarytransfer).Single-passlaserprintersmayusethemulti-stagetransferprocessandcarouselprintersmustuseit.

• Directtransfer,usedbymanynewerprinters,hasthetransferbeltcarryasheetofpaperpastthetonercartridges,withthetonertransferreddirectlyfromtheimagedrumstothepaper.

7 fUSINg Lowerrollerpressureandupperrollerheatbondthetonertothepaper.

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NEW DISCOVERY!

Looping Initialization3000/3600/3800/CP3505

If your Color LaserJet 3000 serieslaser printer gets stuck in an initializa-tionloopatstartup,repeatingvariousstages indefinitelywithout ever reach-ing theReady state, thecause ismostlikely related to a simple “dooropen”condition.

Mostprintersuseswitchesandsen-sors to detect when doors are open.Ifadoorisleftopen,orifoneoftheseswitchesfails,youwillgetanerrorcon-dition–eitherablinkinglight(onlower-level printers) or a “DoorOpen”mes-sageontheprinter’sdisplay.

In this series, if the “door open” condition is present when the printer is powered up, it will just keep cycling through the startup stages (memory test, initialization) without ever reach-ing the ready state. If your printer be-haves like this…

1 Checktomakesurebothdoorsarefullyclosed.2 Checkiftheactuatortabsforthedooropenswitchareintact.Thedooropenswitchisactuatedbytabsinthefrontdoorandthetopfuserdoor(Figs.A,B,C).Theoneonthefrontdoorisdetachable.Replacetheappropriatedoororcoverifatabismissingorbroken.3 Ifallofthatlooksgood,theinterlockswitchmaybebad.4 Swaptheformatterifallelsefails.

RM1-2671 UpperCover(FuserDoor),Simplexmodels

RM1-2673 UpperCover(FuserDoor),Duplexmodels

RM1-2714 FrontCover,Simplexmodels

RM1-2715 FrontCover,DuplexModels

RM1-2670 Interlock-switch

A arrows IndIcaTe where Tabs acTIvaTe The door oPen swITch

B acTuaTor Tab, fuser door C acTuaTor Tab, fronT door

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PRINTER TECH ARTICLE

HangingInitialization3000/3600/3800/CP3505

Part One: What is Calibration?

If your Color LaserJet 3000 serieslaserprintergets stuckat the "Initializ-ing..."stageduringstartup,itisprob-ablyacalibrationproblem.Thisarticlewill explain how to bypass calibration(a useful expedient), the two ways ofresetting it, andhow to swapparts asa last resort.But first letusunderstandwhatcalibrationis.

Calibration is the printer's way ofcheckingthat(1)thedarkness/densityforeachcoloriscorrect;(2)the4colorplaneslineupproperlywitheachother.

Todothis,itputsatonerpatternonthetransferbeltandlooksatitwithsen-sors. If the pattern looks good, we'redone. If not, the printer makes someadjustments and tries again. It repeatsthisprocessuntilsatisfied. If it isneversatisfied,youeithergetacalibrationer-rororitgets"stuckincalibration".Notethat thesensorswhichareused in thisprocess are sometimes called densitysensors(referringtofunction#1above),andsometimescalledCPR(colorplaneregistration) sensors (referring to func-tion#2above).Thesearethesamesen-sors,justtwodifferentnamesforthem.

Generally, color printers performcalibrationatpowerupandwheneverthe tonerdoor isopenedandclosed.Some printers will also do it periodi-cally(e.g.,everyhalfhouroreveryhour-- this intervalcansometimesbeset inthe menus). Usually, you can also gointo the menu and force a calibrationwhich is more powerful and/or morethoroughthantheonethat theprinterdoes automatically. Calibration occursautomaticallyduringthepower-onpro-cessandshouldonlytakeamoment.

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HangingInitialization3000/3600/3800/CP3505

Part Two:Bypassing Calibration

Itisacommonproblemonthisseriesofprintersforthecalibrationtotakealongtimeorhangindefinitely.Eventuallythiswillneedtobefixed,butyoucangetaroundtheimmediateproblembyperformingthefollowingprocedureonpower-up:

1 Turntheprinteroff,ifnecessary,andthenon.

2 Assoonastheprinterbeginsitsini-tializationsequence,pressandhold“downarrow”untilallLEDsarelit.

3 Press“uparrow”onetime,andthenpress“Menu”.

4 Press“downarrow”untilSKIPCALIBRATIONappears,andthenpressthegreen“checkmark”keytoselectit.

Thiswillgetyougoingfortheshortterm,aslongasprintqualityisaccept-able.Ofcourse,whateveriscausingthecalibrationproblemmayalsocauseprintqualityproblems.Eveniftheimmediatequalityisacceptable,itwilleventuallydegradeiftheprinternevercalibrates.Soatsomepoint,youwillneedtoaddresstheunderlyingprob-lem.

a PrInTer ThaT can'T caLIbraTe ITseLf Is a PrInTer ThaT needs fIx-Ing. however, IT Is PossIbLe To byPass The caLIbraTIon sTage If The needed.

Part Three: Cold ResetThecoldresetisoneoftwodifferent

resets that can fix with Color LaserJet3000seriescalibrationproblems.

1 Sincethecoldresetwillclearthenetworkaddress,itisagoodideatoprintaconfigurationpagefirstsothenetworkaddresscanbereenteredafterward.Evenbetteristopreventtheaddressfrombeingcleared

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coLd reseTs erase The neTwork address. avoId ThIs InconvenIence by fIrsT removIng The jeTdI-recT card or dIsabLIng The embedded Lan.

engIne TesT buTTon aT rear of PrInTer

byremovingtheJetDirectcardordisablingthetheembeddednetwork.

a Todisabletheembeddednetwork,selectDISABLEEMBEDDEDLANinthesamehiddenmenuwhereyoufindthecoldreset(seebelow).Performinganyactioninthismenutakesyououtofthemenu,andthenyouhavetocyclethepowertogetbackin.Soyouwillhavetodothisthreetimes:oncetodisabletheembeddednetwork,asecondtimetoperformthecoldreset,andathirdtimetore-enablethenetwork.Butthismaystillbesimplerthanresettingthenetworkaddress.

2 Power-ontheprinterandwatchthedisplay.3 Whentheinitializationsequencebegins,pressandholdthegreen“checkmark”key.4 Whenalllightsareonsolid,releasethiskey.YoushouldseeSELECTLANGUAGEonthedisplay.5 UseeitherarrowkeytoscrolltoCOLDRESETandthenselectitwiththegreen“checkmark”key.

If yourprinter still cannotget to theReadystate,trytheDCControllerreset.

Part Four: DC Controller Reset

1 Withtheprinterpoweredoff,openthefrontdoorandleaveitopen.2 Pressandholdtheenginetestbutton(accessiblethroughasmallholeintherearpaneloftheprinter,lowerrightcorner)whilepoweringup.3 Afterabout10seconds,releasethebutton,closethefrontdoor,andlettheprinterinitializeasusual.4 Iftheresetsdon'thelp,tryaremotefirmwareupgrade(bypassingcalibrationwillbenecessary,asdescribedinparttwo).Ifthatdoesn'twork,swappartsasdescribedinpartfiveonthenextpage

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TONERCARTRIDGES 3000 3600 3800,

CP3505

cyan Q7561a Q6471a Q7581a

magenta Q7563a Q6473a Q7583a

yellow Q7562a Q6472a Q7582a

black Q7560a Q6470a Q6470a

HangingInitialization3000/3600/3800/CP3505

Part Five: Parts Swapping

Anything that affects image qualitywillalsomake ithard for theprinter tocalibrateitself.Soalloftheimagingel-ementsaresuspects.Inaddition,thereareelementsthatareonlyusedduringcalibration: thecolor registration/den-sitysensors(locatedinsidethetransferbeltunitontheseprinters),andthefirm-ware routines in the formatterandDCcontroller that control the calibrationprocess.

The following isour recommendedcourseofaction.

1 TONERCARTRIDGES.Notethatcolorprinterscanbeverysensitivetodifferencesintonercartridges.Eventhoughthefourprintermodelslistedinthearticletitleallsharethesamebasicengine,theydonotallusethesametonercartridges(seetable).Incorrectcartridgeswillstillfitintheprinter,andmayevenwork,buttheycancauselongcalibrationtimesaswellasvariousotherproblems.Theseprinterscanalsobesensitivetonon-HPcartridges.Forbestresults,usethecorrectHPcartridgesforeachprintermodel.2 TRANSFERBELT.3 HIGHvOLTAGEPOWERSUPPLY4 LASER/SCANNER(inparticular,dirtyopticsinsidethescannerunit).Ifthescanneropticsaredirty,youwillneedtoremovethescannerunitfromtheprinter(seetheservicemanualfordetails)andopenituptodoagoodjobofcleaningtheoptics.5 DCCONTROLLER.6 FORMATTER.

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a DCControllerb Formatterc LaserScannerd HvPSe TransferBeltParts to Swap

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A The area

B ProPer PosITIon of ground wIre

C ImProPer PosITIon

D ImProPer PosITIon

NEW DISCOVERY!

Misplaced Ground Issue in 42xx, 43xx

Inalaserprinter,theprintedimageisgeneratedbyalaserbeam,butagoodimage also depends on the toner car-tridge being electrically charged in acertain way. This charge comes fromthe high voltage power supply. If thecharge isoff inonedirection, youcanget light print or even a totally blankpage; if it is off in the other direction,youcangetadarkbackgroundorevenatotallyblackpage.Thischargeonthecartridgeisreferencedtoagroundcon-nection. If the ground connection ismissingorbad,thecharge“floats”,andthiscanhavethesamesortofeffectsontheimagethatwedescribedabove.

Thisproblemcanoccur inany laserprinter, but it is especially common inthe 42xx/43xx series (4200, 4240,4250,4300,4345MFP,M4345MFP,and4350).Onthesemodels,thetonerground connection is just a thick, stiffwire on the left side of the cartridgecavity(Fig.A),anditcaneasilygetdis-lodgedfromitsproperposition.Inthenormalposition,thereshouldbeabouta finger-width between the groundwireandthewhiteplasticguidebelowit(Fig.B).Whenitgetsdislodged,itwillusuallybe lower than thenormalposi-tion(Fig.C,D).Dependingwhereitis,you may even have trouble insertingthetonercartridge.Ifthishappens,donot force it!Check theposition of thegroundwire.Itiseasytomoveitbacktoitsproperposition.

Thesmearedpage in Fig. Eisapossiblere-sult.Partialprintand other printproblems arealsopossible.

Lpt

E one PossIbILITy

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NEW DISCOVERY!

(False) 66.11.01 Paper Path Connec-tion Unit Not Installed LJ 9000/9040/9050/m9040/m9050

In HP LaserJet printers, 65 and 66error codes are always related to op-tional devices – high-capacity feed-ers,outputstackers,etc.IntheLaserJet9000series,oneofthemorecommonerror codes is 66.11.01. According tothe service manual, this means thatthepaper path connection unit is notinstalled,andtherecommendedsolu-tionistoinstallit.Inthisarticle,wewilllookatwhat thatunit is,what itdoes,and how you can get this error evenwhenitisinstalled.

The paper path connection unit ismountedtotherightsideoftheprint-er,justabovetheoptional2000-sheetfeeder (tray 4) (Fig. A). It helps feedpaper from tray 4 into themainbodyof the printer, and is only usedwhenfeedingfromtray4.Ifthereisnotray4,theprintermayormaynothaveapa-perpathconnectionunit,andwillworkfinewithoutit.However,ifthereisatray4feederinstalled,theprintercansensewhetherornotthepaperpathconnec-tion unit is there, andwill display the66.11.01errorifitcannotdetectit.

The sensor that detects the pres-enceorabsenceofthePPCUislocatedin the vertical registration assembly,whichispartofthetray4feederratherthantheprinter,andislocateddirectlybelowthePPCU.TheuppergearinthevRAismountedonaspring-loadedpiv-otarm,andwhenthePPCUisinstalled,awhiteplasticbracketontherightsideofitpressesdownonthisarm(Fig.B).ThisactuatesanopticalsensorinsideofthevRA.Fig.Cdemonstrateshowthepivotarmmoveswhenpressed.

C demonsTraTIon of PIvoT arm movemenT when Pressed

B uPPer gear (arrow) and whITe PLasTIc brackeT

A The PPcu. The rIghT Lower cover has been removed.

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Inshort,ifyougetthiserror,therearethreepossiblecauses:

1. thePPCUisnotinstalled2. the PPCU is not pushing down

on thegear in thevRA (eitherdueto incorrect installation, or due tobrokenparts);

3. there are internal problems in thevRA (broken actuator arm or badsensor).Therearenopartsavailableforeither

thePPCUorthevRA,sounlessit’sacaseofimproperinstallation,oneoftheseas-semblieswillneedtobereplaced.

rg5-6225 vertical registration asm (vTu/vra)

rg5-6227 Paper Path connection unit (PPcu)

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