Solved 6 month long vertical streak issue on HP CM3530

**aab1** · 04-04-2015

Sorry had to make this post again, for some reason the first one only loads in print preview mode, I'm assuming it could be due to the title ending with the word print so I changed the title (edit: definitely seems to be a forum bug with titles ending with "print", if I add "-print" to the address of this thread before the ".html" it also loads in print preview mode, could definitely be a recurring problem on this type of forum).

Six months ago I posted about my HP CM3530 leaving a vertical streak on every page about 1 inch from the left side. This started after I fed special paper in the multi purpose tray after washing my hands without drying them fully which left a drop of water on the special paper and every page printed since that event 6 months ago has had a streak. The problem was worst after the printer did a cleaning cycle and then slowly faded away until the next cleaning, but never went away fully.

I was torn between getting one of the HP Officejet Pro X 70 pages/minute inkjet multi function printers or a new transfer belt (the transfer belt costing significantly more than the 70ppm inkjet MFPs).

Yesterday I again had an important document to print that had to be streak free so I removed the transfer belt to clean it as usual which normally allows the next print job to print streak free (problem resumes after it does a cleaning cycle). However this time I looked at the transfer belt assembly closely to see if I could see the wiper blade as the problem was most likely dirt on the wiper blade allowing a streak of waste toner to make a continuous line on the belt. I was able to see what was most likely the wiper blade and forced an alcohol swab between the belt and wiper blade and slid it across to clean the wiper blade.

Every print since I did that came out perfect without even a hint of a streak, and the printer has done cleaning cycles and many print jobs since.

A 3 cent alcohol swab saved me $700, I hope this lasts but no other belt cleaning method I tried so far lasted more than one print job.

I'd recommend doing this at your own risk just in case it makes things worst, but if you have a transfer belt leaving a streak and are willing to take the risk to avoid buying a new one it may be worth a try.

**ZOOTECH** · 04-04-2015

aab1, glad to see you back, we sort have missed you!

**theengel** · 04-04-2015

For the benefit of end users who are trying to figure out why their color laserjet has streaks and happen to land on this page:

Transfer units are pretty dificult to disassemble and reassemble without breaking them... especially the 1st time. Odds are, you'll break it. The cleaning blade on the transfer unit is much like the one on a drum unit. Over time, toner sticks to parts and parts of it wear away. If you clean the crap out of it, you'll probably end up with more streaks than before. But even if you're lucky enough to lose the streaks for a while, they'll eventually come back, as waste toner builds up. The fact that you can make them go away for a while doesn't save you any money--it just buys a little time. The only way to actually fix a transfer unit is empty the waste toner, replace the belt, replace the blade--which you'll have a hard time finding unless you're hooked up with a reliable manufacturer. It's been my experience that the "refurbished" transfer units for these machines are really just cleaned, you'll probably have to go buy a new one again. I don't think anyone is making the belts or the blades. The only real option for an end user is to replace the transfer unit with a new one.

**Wild Bill** · 04-06-2015

Originally Posted by theengel

For the benefit of end users who are trying to figure out why their color laserjet has streaks and happen to land on this page:

Transfer units are pretty dificult to disassemble and reassemble without breaking them... especially the 1st time. Odds are, you'll break it. The cleaning blade on the transfer unit is much like the one on a drum unit. Over time, toner sticks to parts and parts of it wear away. If you clean the crap out of it, you'll probably end up with more streaks than before. But even if you're lucky enough to lose the streaks for a while, they'll eventually come back, as waste toner builds up. The fact that you can make them go away for a while doesn't save you any money--it just buys a little time. The only way to actually fix a transfer unit is empty the waste toner, replace the belt, replace the blade--which you'll have a hard time finding unless you're hooked up with a reliable manufacturer. It's been my experience that the "refurbished" transfer units for these machines are really just cleaned, you'll probably have to go buy a new one again. I don't think anyone is making the belts or the blades. The only real option for an end user is to replace the transfer unit with a new one.

Nice job, completely agree theengel

**aab1** · 04-11-2015

Originally Posted by theengel

For the benefit of end users who are trying to figure out why their color laserjet has streaks and happen to land on this page:

Transfer units are pretty dificult to disassemble and reassemble without breaking them... especially the 1st time. Odds are, you'll break it. The cleaning blade on the transfer unit is much like the one on a drum unit. Over time, toner sticks to parts and parts of it wear away. If you clean the crap out of it, you'll probably end up with more streaks than before. But even if you're lucky enough to lose the streaks for a while, they'll eventually come back, as waste toner builds up. The fact that you can make them go away for a while doesn't save you any money--it just buys a little time. The only way to actually fix a transfer unit is empty the waste toner, replace the belt, replace the blade--which you'll have a hard time finding unless you're hooked up with a reliable manufacturer. It's been my experience that the "refurbished" transfer units for these machines are really just cleaned, you'll probably have to go buy a new one again. I don't think anyone is making the belts or the blades. The only real option for an end user is to replace the transfer unit with a new one.

That's why I didn't dare try to take it apart to reach the cleaning blade, it's not only fragile but under tension. Since I know this problem started after feeding a sheet with a drop of water on it, it was obvious that water and toner mixed to make a paste that stuck on the cleaning blade and it wasn't the blade itself that was damaged. That's why when I was able to see the cleaning blade without taking the transfer belt apart I was quite sure that sliding an alcohol swab between the blade and belt would get the "toner paste" off from the blade.

This was not a problem that arose from normal wear and tear, it's obvious it was the water on the sheet that mixed with toner and that caused "toner paste" to stick to the cleaning blade, after all the problem started suddenly after feeding a sheet that had a drop of water on it and persisted for 6 months until I slid an alcohol swab under the blade. To this day the printer prints like new, any other things I tried such as cleaning the belt itself would only make the following one print job print ok, and still not completely streak free.

I had seen refurbished transfer belts for less than half the price but also figured I might as well just throw my money away, I was about to get a new genuine transfer belt for $500-700 until I tried cleaning it with an alcohol swab.

**tech28** · 04-12-2015

That's great you got it, I had a call on a HP 3525 this week, had streak about 8th inch wide, what I generally do, insert a piece of paper where the cleaning blade is and turn the belt counter wise and insert paper where streak is, run the paper back and forth a couple of times. Run 30-50 sheets of blank prints/copies. 99% of the time, takes care of problem without dissembling unit.

**aab1** · 04-13-2015

Originally Posted by tech28

That's great you got it, I had a call on a HP 3525 this week, had streak about 8th inch wide, what I generally do, insert a piece of paper where the cleaning blade is and turn the belt counter wise and insert paper where streak is, run the paper back and forth a couple of times. Run 30-50 sheets of blank prints/copies. 99% of the time, takes care of problem without dissembling unit.

Thanks, had I not solved the issue yet that would likely have solved it for me too. The 3525 is the "printer only" model of my 3530 multi function printer so it's certainly the same transfer belt.

By the way, why was the printer only version around $800 while the multi function version of the same printer $2800? $2000 seems awfully expensive for a scanner. I know it's not just the scanner it has more, it has a HUGE color touch screen, a 40 GB or so hard drive, way more options accessible from the machine through the touch screen. Still seems like a lot of money for those extra features, and it doesn't even come standard with a fax for that price (luckily I bought it used for half price and the previous owner had the fax module added)!

For inkjet printers the cost between the printer only and multi function version of the same printer isn't anywhere near that big.

Since my first all in one I've been hooked and never going back to a printer-only machine. Making a copy with a printer, PC and scanner is often infinitely more complicated than simply pressing a button on an all in one. It also takes half the desk space to have them in the same machine.