Samsung CLX-3175N, weird color problem

[peterFixing]

This printer/copier had its 2 year birthday last week, en got this week a complete set of new toner cartridges. The costs of this was more then half of what the printer cost 2 years ago. This is why I want to get is back alive. The counters of the printer are as follows:

Total Page Count: 2466 / 994 Page(s) (Color/Mono)
Toner Page Count: (779/48/10/20) Page(s) (Yellow/Magenta/Cyan/Black )
Fuser Life: 10813 Page(s)
Transfer Roller Life: 3449 Page(s)
Tray Roller Life: 3460 Page(s)
Total Image Count: 10864 Image(s)
Imaging Unit Life: 10864 Image(s)
Transfer Belt Life: 10864 Image(s)
Platen Scan Page Count: 97 Page(s)

If I print this 4 color testpage:
http://www.refreshcartridges.co.uk/i...-Test-Page.jpg
it looks exactly as I would expect it to be.

If I print this (beach) image:
http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/sh...auwe-hemel.jpg
The trees, clouds and water are there, but not as nice as it used to be. And the beach, it is gone. There is a bit of blue, but thats it.

Printing kaki (beige, zand) color is not possible, also some others. But printing a test page with only the four cartridge colors look ok.
I think the fuser needs to be replaced.
The costs of a fuser are about half of the costs of the cartridge set, so if this is the case, it is worth it I believe. I have a technical hardware background, and designed and repaired lots of electronics. Although I never opened a laser printer before, but with a manual I will manage this.

But the question is, is it the fuser?

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[blackcat4866]

As probabilities go ... probably not. Quality issues from the fuser tend to be cyclic, that is anomalies that repeat at 86.5mm intervals, and affect all colors equally.

By the way, congratulations on presenting yourself very well on your first post. Accurate meter counts, samples of problem prints, I'm impressed. I wish all our techs did so well.

You did not mention if these cartridges are OEM (that is Samsung brand) or aftermarket/generic/refills (remanufactured cartridges). Rarely do remanufactured cartridges produce as good an image as OEM. I also have to mention that this is intended as a business color printer, that is bar graphs, pie charts, map quest directions, not graphic quality like photographs or brochure art.

There is perhaps one thing you can do though. Remove all the cartridges, drum unit and transfer belt. Wipe down the areas inside with a Stretch-N-Dust (like Swiffer). Along the bottom of the paper path you'll find a spring loaded shutter covering the laser slit glass. Carefully slide open the shutter and clean the glass with glass cleaner and soft towel. Reinstall units and try it out. Note that the drum unit is light sensitive. Cover the drum with a clean dark colored cloth, or a paper tent to keep direct light from the drum surface. If left out long enough it will light-shock. Up to 30 minutes is fine, out of direct light. Never touch the drum.

Does that help? =^..^=