[CQ] HP 1600 color registration will not stay

[yourownfree]

I have an HP 1600 giving me fits. The registration of the colors will not stay calibrated. If it or you do the perform calibrate now it will throw the registration off. I have reason to believe it is the laser assy. I perform NVRAM and sometimes it takes a few times before that will work and dial it in again. It doesn't stay for maybe a day or two at most. I am going to take the laser assy out and lube the spindle on the laser mirror and swap the two lasers to see if it follows the same laser. The assy is an item that is no longer available. This is a throw away printer per a tech support. Any body have a similar problem? I am thinking the laser assy mirror is a bit sluggish to turn. I am assuming something is on the edge of the window the machine can dial itself back in line again. The reason it takes a while and many times to get it right. I am up for suggestions. The etb looks ok and turns ok. I see no side play. I am going to go get the machine in a few minutes and bring back to the shop to dissect it. I have not done a super NVRAM but in my mind that should not be needed as the nvram will clear out the data this needs. If I do super nvram I will clear out the page count serial number data as well. I didn't think I need to enter that portion of memory to solve this. I believe if I get this thing to write a beam consistently the auto registration correction should be able to bring it back in line. What are your thoughts?

config_1600.JPG
Update. removed laser assy cleaned mirrors etc. I dont touch the laser mirror octagon except to remove and lube shaft. I swapped laser motor mirror boards blk-yellow with magenta-cyan it stayed the same and did not follow the laser board as suspected. I will do an engine print to eliminate the formatter then go for the dc controller. I will do an super nvam at this time as a final resort if after I calibrate and it does nothing. If no effect there I will replace the dc controller........ The engine print without the formatter plugged in still showed it's not functioning correctly. Now super nvram..... that did not resolve either. just a second have to scratch my head....looking at this again, from a config sheet starting at left side,American, cyan is good and solid nice gradient, now the blocks on the right top,cyan and magenta, terrible off from one another by about 1.5-2 mm, now the magenta under the cyan on the left side of the page again is nice but not in line with the cyan above it the yellow is off too. tried to take a pic of it maybe you can see it ok.
Another Update: I have ordered the DC controller. will be here tomorrow.
Why my reasoning about laser assy. At first it appeared to be just the magenta and cyan, but I had forgot the yellow was involved too. Had I looked a little closer I would have saved myself some time, but all is well it needed cleaning anyway.

[yourownfree]

Re: HP 1600 color registration will not stay

received the dc controller... did not resolve. I performed nvram. first shot it worked. I did a test and said calibrate now, and it threw it off again. Now I cant get it back in even with nvram clear. So Looks like I am wrong all the way around. It appears even though I unplugged the formatter, I had assumed it was the dc controller since it still did it with it unplugged. What I mean is the engine print was still off. But now after the fact reasoning states that the formatter must have communicated with the dc controller, inputted the values it saw fit then I unplugged it from the dc controller but so what, the values were already written. In other words the formatter is setting the values, so anything you do must go through the formatter then back to the dc controller when it comes to settings. So the machine when turned on does it's thing and processes all the information, laser density etc. then sends it from the formatter to the dc controller. If my theory is wrong this time, it might find a few boot marks on it. I also believe there is a master storage on the formatter. What that means I think you cant change both formatter and dc controller at the same time. You would have to do one then other. That way the info stored on one board will then be shared with the other. You can correct me if I am wrong, I don't mind. So I will order the formatter board and see what flies after that!

[yourownfree]

Re: HP 1600 color registration will not stay

Replaced the formatter rebooted tested then did nvram still did not solve. here come the boot marks. I am about to drop kick this machine. back to the think tank. I will get back to this again later, have other calls to do for now. Now my thought is one color is off or two that throws the third and fourth off causing it to compensate for the first color being off which throws the second color off. Had to come up with something ha-ha. I will return when I try something else.

[ucinn]

Re: HP 1600 color registration will not stay

Replaced the formatter rebooted tested then did nvram still did not solve. here come the boot marks. I am about to drop kick this machine. back to the think tank. I will get back to this again later, have other calls to do for now. Now my thought is one color is off or two that throws the third and fourth off causing it to compensate for the first color being off which throws the second color off. Had to come up with something ha-ha. I will return when I try something else.

My first bet would be the transfer belt slipping. I haven't worked on any of these but have had a couple lanier copiers that have done this because of a slipping belt and one HP..i can't remember what model it was though..something like a 5735 or such.

[yourownfree]

Re: HP 1600 color registration will not stay

Thanks for the info. all is of big help. I am still waiting for the formatter board to arrive. It is off both left to right and lead to trail, but I don't have a clue anymore. far as I know maybe its because I ate Granny's fine home cooking or something. Except I am old enough now, Granny is my wife. Food is still like Grandma use to make, never can forget food and how it taste. The heck with this thing I am going to eat now. I will keep informed what happens as I go, hope it helps.

[prntrfxr]

Re: HP 1600 color registration will not stay

Before you started changing out electronic parts did you change the cartridges and the transfer belt? Most of the time it is one of those.

[yourownfree]

Re: HP 1600 color registration will not stay

well that would be about my luck. no I didn't. Didn't have any idea that the cartridges would do that. The belt I can see. guess we will find out shortly. I don't usually have this problem where it takes me this many shots to get it. i know a few of you might think differently, but it happens to the best of us, or worst of us depending.
I am sure it will be something simple as soon as I find it. so you have had registration issues and the drum unit resolved it? My thinking was way off. I will try the belt and drum units after this. Thanks.

[ucinn]

Re: HP 1600 color registration will not stay

well that would be about my luck. no I didn't. Didn't have any idea that the cartridges would do that. The belt I can see. guess we will find out shortly. I don't usually have this problem where it takes me this many shots to get it. i know a few of you might think differently, but it happens to the best of us, or worst of us depending.
I am sure it will be something simple as soon as I find it. so you have had registration issues and the drum unit resolved it? My thinking was way off. I will try the belt and drum units after this. Thanks.

We all have those problems that just kick us in the groin, if we didn't, this site wouldn't exist

[yourownfree]

Re: HP 1600 color registration will not stay

You Know I like your attitude. Something that finally makes sense.
I am sitting here wondering when the formatter is going to come in. realized I went to meet somebody to get it and I already put it in. That is how far out there I must be. good grief Charlie Brown. Running a super nvram just because. Because I cant remember if I did that since I replaced the formatter. It's worse now. It actually got worse when I swapped the laser drive units. Not by much but noticeable. i guess I am looking at a belt and drum units now as suggested.

Update: replaced the ETB, did not resolve, replaced magenta drum unit . looks a bit better but still wont align. I did perform nvram with no change and I did try calibrate now. I do not have the other drum carts to try. ???
removed laser assy and inspected carefully, removed laser deflector shields just to see if they had anything to do with it. cant see now. but thats ok. (just kidding)
I am going to stop and rethink this. I guess maybe if I had the other drum units it might be as simple as that. so will see if customer has the other units available. If not I have another account I can take this machine to and borrow their units for a test. just weird.

[prntrfxr]

Re: HP 1600 color registration will not stay

Any time you change the laser scanner, cartridges, transfer belt, formatter, or dc controller on any color laser, you should calibrate 3 times.

[yourownfree]

Re: HP 1600 color registration will not stay

done that over and over exact same result each time and the never moves or aligns stays the same.

[yourownfree]

Re: HP 1600 color registration will not stay

resolved! It was the laser assy. replaced the laser assy, performed the adjustments and now it stays, even if I run calibrate now, over and over. I suspected that from the beginning but was told by support that it was most likely the formatter then dc controller. The part number for the laser assy was not in the manual. I then found the number RM1-1970 after an Internet search. That number has been changed to RM1-5181. Which is the number you should use. I am sure the other number is still usable, but for me I try to keep up with the new numbers,in case it has been updated to work better. Just a note I did flash this machine in the earlier stages of troubleshooting.
I want to thank you for all your comments and help.

[ucinn]

Re: HP 1600 color registration will not stay

resolved! It was the laser assy. replaced the laser assy, performed the adjustments and now it stays, even if I run calibrate now, over and over. I suspected that from the beginning but was told by support that it was most likely the formatter then dc controller. The part number for the laser assy was not in the manual. I then found the number RM1-1970 after an Internet search. That number has been changed to RM1-5181. Which is the number you should use. I am sure the other number is still usable, but for me I try to keep up with the new numbers,in case it has been updated to work better. Just a note I did flash this machine in the earlier stages of troubleshooting.
I want to thank you for all your comments and help.

Glad to see you got it fixed and thanks for posting the resolution..it'll help someone else someday.