DellDispatchTrainingforPrinters Contents

Overview.....................................................................................................................................................4 Welcome.................................................................................................................................................4 Prerequisites...........................................................................................................................................4 CourseContents ......................................................................................................................................6 SafetyPrecautions..................................................................................................................................6 StandbyPower........................................................................................................................................7 SafetyPrecautions:LiftingEquipment .................................................................................................... 7 UsingaWristStrap.................................................................................................................................8 Introduction................................................................................................................................................8 LearningObjectives .................................................................................................................................8 WorkgroupPrinters................................................................................................................................9 WorkgroupPrinters................................................................................................................................9 DeterminingWheretoInstallaPrinter.................................................................................................. 9 LaserPrinters........................................................................................................................................10 WorkgroupPrinting.............................................................................................................................. 11 MultifunctionPrinters...........................................................................................................................11 PrintingOverview.................................................................................................................................12 Review...................................................................................................................................................14 PrintingProcess:Overview....................................................................................................................... 15 LearningObjectives ............................................................................................................................... 15 PrintingOverview.................................................................................................................................15 PrintingfromtheClient........................................................................................................................ 15 Drivers...................................................................................................................................................16 PageDescriptionLanguages................................................................................................................. 17 XerographicProcess .............................................................................................................................. 18 TheNetwork.....................................................................................................................................18 ThePrintersRole.............................................................................................................................. 18 TheImageEngine.............................................................................................................................. 19

 Charge...............................................................................................................................................20 Expose...............................................................................................................................................20 Develop.............................................................................................................................................21 Transfer.............................................................................................................................................22 Neutralize..........................................................................................................................................23 Fusing................................................................................................................................................23 Clean.................................................................................................................................................24 ColorPrinting........................................................................................................................................25 PrintinginColor................................................................................................................................25 OneorFourPassPrinting................................................................................................................. 26 RotaryCompositing.......................................................................................................................... 27 TandemXerography..........................................................................................................................27 5000SeriesColorLaserPrinters....................................................................................................... 28 MediaPath............................................................................................................................................29 MediaPath........................................................................................................................................29 MediaTrays .......................................................................................................................................31 RollersandBelts............................................................................................................................... 32 TheFuser ...........................................................................................................................................33 TheDuplexer.....................................................................................................................................33 TheExitTray ......................................................................................................................................34 Review...................................................................................................................................................34 NetworkingWorkgroupPrinters.............................................................................................................. 38 LearningObjectives ............................................................................................................................... 38 NetworkInstallation............................................................................................................................. 38 PrinterLocation....................................................................................................................................39 RemoteorDirecttothePrintServer.................................................................................................... 39 DynamicorStaticIP.............................................................................................................................. 40 WiredorWirelessNetworking............................................................................................................. 40 EmbeddedWebServer......................................................................................................................... 41 ColorTrack..........................................................................................................................................42 ColorTrack2........................................................................................................................................42 DellOpenManagePrinterManager................................................................................................... 43 2

 Review...................................................................................................................................................44 Troubleshooting:Overview...................................................................................................................... 46 LearningObjectives ............................................................................................................................... 46 DellSupport..........................................................................................................................................46 DellSupport:DecisionTreesandJournalIDs....................................................................................... 47 ErrorMessages.................................................................................................................................47 SymptomBasedTroubleshooting........................................................................................................ 49 SymptomBasedTroubleshooting.................................................................................................... 49 GatheringInformation...................................................................................................................... 49 CategorizingSymptoms.................................................................................................................... 50 PrinterDiagnosticModes..................................................................................................................... 52 PrinterDiagnosticModes................................................................................................................. 52 DigitalInput/OutputTest.................................................................................................................. 53 ManualFeedTest............................................................................................................................. 53 JamsandMisfeeds................................................................................................................................54 JamsandMisfeeds............................................................................................................................ 54 CausesofMisfeeds........................................................................................................................... 54 CausesofJams..................................................................................................................................56 TroubleshootingJams....................................................................................................................... 57 TipsforClearingJamsandMisfeeds................................................................................................. 58 ImageQualityIssues............................................................................................................................. 59 ImageQualityIssues......................................................................................................................... 59 TroubleshootingPrintQualityIssues................................................................................................ 60 NoiseIssues .......................................................................................................................................62 Media....................................................................................................................................................64 Curl....................................................................................................................................................65 FiberContent....................................................................................................................................65 GrainDirection..................................................................................................................................65 DetermineGrainDirection................................................................................................................ 66 MoistureContent .............................................................................................................................. 66 PaperDustandContaminants.......................................................................................................... 67 RecycledPaper..................................................................................................................................67 3

 Smoothness......................................................................................................................................67 WeightandSize................................................................................................................................68 Review...................................................................................................................................................69 Review.......................................................................................................................................................73 Introduction..........................................................................................................................................73 Module1(IntroductiontoWorkgroupPrinting).................................................................................. 73 Module2(PrintingProcess) .................................................................................................................. 74 Module3(NetworkingWorkgroupPrinters)........................................................................................ 75 Module4(TroubleshootingWorkgroupPrinters)................................................................................ 76 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................78

Overview

Welcome
Thiscourseintroduceslaserprintertechnologies.BasedoncurrentDellofferings,itdescribesthe technologies,commonpointsoffailure,andbasictroubleshootingproceduresusingcurrent workgrouplasersasexamples. Aftercompletingthiscourse,youwillbeableto: Definecommonprintertermsandacronyms IdentifythecustomerserviceablecomponentsofDellWorkgroupprinters Describetheprintprocess,including: o Thexerographicmethod o Paperpaths ExplainhowtosetupandconfigureDellWorkgrouplaserprinters Describethetroubleshootingprocessforcommonsymptoms

Prerequisites
Therearenoprerequisitesforthiscourse.However,youshouldalreadyknow: Howtoinstalltheoperatingsystemusedatyourcompanyandhowtoinstalldevicedriversinthat operatingsystem. Thewiredorwirelessnetworkconfigurationyourcompanyusesandhowtoattachnetworked devicestothatnetworkusingbothstaticaddressesandDHCP.

 HowtoconnectaprinterdirectlytoacomputerviaaparallelorUSBcableandinstallthe appropriateprinterdrivers.

Ifyoudonotknowsomeofthesethings,youcanstilltakethecourse.However,itmaynotanswerall ofyourquestions.

CourseContents
Thefollowingmodulescomprisethiscourse: 1. Introduction:Providesanoverviewofworkgroup printing 2. Printing:Describesthexerographicmethodoflaser printingandthevariantsthatenablefourcolor printing.Itcoversallsubsystemsusedintheprint process,including: Theclientcomputer Theimagingengine Themediapath 3. Networking:Describestheroleofthenetworkin printing.Topicsinclude: Wiredandwirelessnetworking TheEmbeddedWebServer(EWS) TheColorTrackmanagementsystem OpenManagePrinterManager 4. Troubleshooting:Describesthetroubleshootingprocessforresolvingcommonprinterissues, including: Printqualityissues Jamsandmisfeeds Noise Media 5. Review:Reviewsthemajorpointsofthiscourseinpreparationfortakingtheassessment 6. Assessment:Providesanopportunityforyoutodemonstrateyourmasteryofthecourseobjectives Toreceivecreditforthiscourse,youmustpasstheexitassessmentwithascoreof80%or higher.

SafetyPrecautions
Observethefollowingsafetyprecautionsbeforeperforminganyinstallationorbreak/fixprocedures involvingdisassemblyorreassembly: Turnoffthesystemandanyattachedperipherals. 6

 StandbyPower Dellproductswithstandbypowermustbecompletelyunpluggedbeforeopeningthecase.Systems thatincorporatestandbypowerareessentiallypoweredwhileturnedoff.Theinternalpowerallows thesystemtoberemotelyturnedon(wakeonLAN),tobesuspendedintoasleepmode,andtohave otheradvancedpowermanagementfeatures.Afterunpluggingthesystem,allowthechargetodrain fromthecircuitsbywaitingapproximately30to45secondsbeforeremovingcomponents. DisconnectthesystemandanyattachedperipheralsfromACpower,andthenremovethebattery. Disconnectanytelephoneortelecommunicationslinesfromthesystem. Useawristgroundingstrapandmatwhenworkinginsideanycomputersystemtoavoid electrostaticdischarge(ESD)damage. Afterremovinganysystemcomponent,carefullyplacetheremovedcomponentonanantistatic mat. Wearshoeswithnonconductiverubbersolestohelpreducethechanceofbeingshockedor seriouslyinjuredinanelectricalaccident.

SafetyPrecautions:LiftingEquipment
Adheretothefollowingguidelineswhenliftingequipment: Getafirmbalancedfooting.Keepyourfeetapartforastablebase,andpointyourtoesout. Bendyourknees.Donotbendatthewaist. Tightenstomachmuscles.Abdominalmusclessupportyourspinewhenyoulift,offsettingthe forceoftheload. Liftwithyourlegs,notyourback. Keeptheloadclose.Thecloseritistoyourspine,thelessforceitexertsonyourback. Keepyourbackupright,whetherliftingorsettingdowntheload.Donotaddtheweightofyour bodytotheload.Avoidtwistingyourbodyandback. Followthesametechniquesinreversetosettheloaddown. WARNING:Donotliftgreaterthan50poundsindependently.Alwaysobtainassistancefromasecond personoruseamechanicalliftingdevice.

UsingaWristStrap
ElectrostaticDischarge(ESD)isasu uddentransfe erofelectrostaticchargebetween b bodiesatdifferen nt electrostaticpotentialusuallyasasparkasthe ebodiesappro oachoneano other. ESDisamajor m concernwhenhandlingcompone ents,especial llyexpansioncardsandsystemboards. . Verysligh htchargescandamagecir rcuits.Damag gefromESDcanoccurimm mediately,oritmaynot becomeapparent a forsometime.ESD E mayalsocauseinterm mittentproble emsorashort tenedproduc ct lifespan. orkingwithth heelectronicsubsystem(E ESS),useanESDstrap. Whenwo While ethesystemispluggedintotheEarthcircuit c viathe epowersocke et,attachthe ewristground ding toyo ourwristandcliptheotherendtoagro oundobject. Unplugthemachine. Ifast trapisnotav vailable,disch hargestaticelectricityfrom myourbodybefore b youtouchanyofyo our comp puter'selectroniccompon nents,bytouc chinganunpa aintedmetalsurface s onthecomputer chass sis.Periodicallytouchanunpainted u me etalsurfaceto oremoveany ystaticcharge eyourbodymay m haveaccumulated d. Hand dleallstaticsensitivecomponentsinastaticsafear rea.Ifpossible e,useantista aticfloorpads sand work kbenchpads. Whenhandlingstaticsensitive ecomponents s,grabthemby b thesides,notthetop.Avoid A touchin ng oards. pinsandcircuitbo Whenunpackingastaticsensit tivecompone entfromitsshippingcarto on,donotrem movethe comp ponentfromthe t antistatic cpackingmat terialuntilyouarereadyto oinstallthecomponent. c Beforeunwrappin ngtheantistaticpackaging g,besuretodischarge d stat ticelectricityfromyourbo ody. Befo oretransport tingastaticsensitivecomp ponent,place eitinanantis staticcontain nerorpackaging.

Introdu uction
Learning gObjectives s
Thismod duleexploresworkgroupprinting. p After rcompletingthis t topic, youwillbe b ableto: Determineanade equatelocatio onforinstallin ngaprinter Defin nethecharacteristicsofworkgroupprin ntingandworkgroup laserprinters

WorkgroupPrinters
Justasyoucouldinstallaserveroperatingsystemonadesktop(orevena notebook)anduseitasaserver,manypersonalprintershaveembedded networkingandprintserverfunctionality.Thequalitiesthatmakeaprintera workgroupprinterhavealotincommonwithwhatmakesacomputeraserver. NetworkInterface: EmbeddedprintserverandWebconfigurationinterface SupportforEthernetwirednetworks Abilitytohandlelargevolumesofinformation:

Upto50pagesperminute(PPM) Tonercartridgesratedupto12,000pages Sheetfeederscapableofupto1,000pages(maximumcombinedcapacityofmorethan2,000 pagesforalltrays) Expandablememory Optionalharddrives Reliabilityunderheavyuse: Engineeredfor24/7operation Dutycycle: Upto95,000pagespermonthundernormaloperation

Allcurrentworkgrouplaser printershaveanRJ45and USBport,butnotallhavean RJ11orparallelport.

WorkgroupPrinters
MostcurrentlyshippingDelllaserandinkprintershavesomekindofnetworksupport.Dellworkgroup laserprintersareinthe3000and5000series.The1000serieslaserprintersareconsideredpersonal printers,eventhoughtheyhavenetworkcapabilitiesandcansupportmultipleusers.Noinkprinters areconsideredworkgroupprinters. AllcurrentworkgrouplaserprintershaveanRJ45andUSBport,butnotallhaveanRJ11orparallel port.

DeterminingWheretoInstallaPrinter
Manyfactorsdeterminewhereyourprintersareinstalled.Eachprintermodelmayhaveunique installationrequirements.AlwayscheckyourprintersOwnersManualorServiceManualforspecific installationinstructions. Whilethistopicdoesnotcoverthespecificsofinstallinganyprinter,somegeneralconsiderations apply: 9

 Allowforadequateventilation. Laserprintersgeneratealotofheat.Avoidenclosuresandmakesuretheprinterhasplentyof roomforairtoflowaroundallslides. Mostlaserprintershaveventsorfansonthesidesandback.Blockingtheseventscouldcausethe printertooverheatandshutdown. Placethelaserprinteronastablesurface. Laserprinterscanbeveryheavyandcancausebodilyinjuryiftheyfallonsomeone. Makesurethemediatraysareeasilyaccessible. Addingpapershouldnotbeadifficulttask. Keeptheexittrayclearofallobstructions. Obstructionscancausejamsanddamagefinishedprintouts. Keepthebackoftheprinterfarenoughawayfromthewall. Youneedaccesstotheconnectors.Someprintershavereardoorsorcoversthatmustbeopened toclearjams. Makesureallcoversanddoorsareaccessible. Youaccessthetonercartridgesinsomeprinters,the5000seriesforexample,fromthetop,behind theexittray.Otherprintersmayhavedoorsoraccesspanelsonthesides. Leaveroominfrontoftheprinterforthefrontcovertoopen. Youneedtoopenthefrontcovertoaccessthetonercartridgesandothercustomerreplaceable devices. Neveruseapowerstripandavoidextensioncords. LaserprintersshouldneverbepluggedintoaUPSorpowerstrip.Ifanextensioncordisabsolutely necessary: o Usetheshortestpossiblelengththatsafelysuppliestheprinter. o Thecordmustberatedequalto,orbetterthan,thepowerrating(amps)oftheprinter. o The(earth)groundmustbecontinuousfromtheoriginalpowersource.

LaserPrinters
Alaserprinterisessentiallyaspecializedcomputerthatcontrolsamechanicalprintingdevice.Alllaser printerscontain: Electronicsubsystem(ESS) o Aprocessor o Controllercard(systemboard) o Memory o BIOS(firmware) 10

 o Anoperat tingsystem(s storedinthefirmware)

Communicationsports o Parallel(b becomingless scommon) o RJ45 o USB Mediahandlingco omponents Imag gingengine o Imagingdrum d o Fuser o Laser

Workgro oupPrinting g
Youcanthink t ofaworkgrouplaser rprinterasaprintservercontrolling c a highvolu umeprinter. Tomeettheneedsoftheworkgrou upstheyserv ve,workgroup plaser printersscale s fromrelativelysmallnetworkedprinters p toverylargeprinters.Printersserving s larger r workgrou upsmayinclu ude: Expandedmemor ry Local lstorage(har rddrive) Highcapacitymed diatrays Multipleoutputbins

Multifun nctionPrinte ers

Someprinters,suchasthe3115cn, ,aremultifun nctionprinter rs.They includean a optionalsc cannerandfaxmodem.Th hesefeaturesenablethe printerto ofunctionasafaxmachine,photocopie er,orscanner,aswellas aprinter. Somemu ultifunctionworkgroup w printerscaneve enredirectincoming faxesviaemail,reduc cingoverallprinting p costs. Whilethe eymakemult tifunctionprintersmoredesirableandcosteffective e,theseaddit tionalfeature es alsoaddtothecomplexityoftheprinter. p Usingandtroubles shootingtheadditional a fea aturesisbeyo ond thescope eofthiscourse.

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PrintingOverview
Printingtoaworkgrouplaserprinterisacomplexundertaking.Itinvolvesanumberofsystems,anyof whichcouldcontainmultiplepointsoffailure. Aclientsystem Theprintprocessstartswithaclientinitiatingaprintjob.Theclient systemmusthavethecorrectprinterdriverinstalled.Ittranslatesthe documenttobeprintedintoatransmittableformthattheprintercan interpret.Delllaserprinterscaninterpretanumberofprotocolsand pagedescriptionlanguages. SeetheOwnersManualortheprinterforinstructiononloadingthe drivertoclientsystems. Thenetworkinfrastructure Thedocumenttravelsoverthenetworktotheprinter.AllDellworkgroup laserprintershaveanembeddedNIC.Manyalsohaveoptionalwireless networkadapters. Thiscourseassumesyouarealreadyfamiliarwithyournetwork infrastructureandtroubleshootingnetworkcommunicationissues. 12

 Theelectronicsubsystem(ESS)ofthelaserprinter TheprintersESSistheprinterscomputersection.Itincludes: o Systemboard(controllercard) o Processor o Workingmemory o Sensors Whentheprinterreceivesthedocument,thecomputationalunitinterpretsthe instructionsinthepagedescriptionlanguageandengagesthemotor,sensors, printhead,andothercomponentsneededtoprintthedocument. Formoreinformationonspecificcomponents,seeyourprintersOwnersManual orServiceManual. Theimagingengineofthelaserprinter Theimagingengineisresponsibleforputtingthetonerontheprintmedia. Itincludes: o Theprinthead o Drum o Chargeroller o Transferroller(orbelt) o Fuser TheESSfiresthelasertochange(reduce)thechargeonthedrum.The reducedchargedetermineswheretonerstickstothedrum. Thetransferrollermovesthetonerfromthechargerollertothemedia. Thefusermeltsthetonertothemedia. Formoreinformation,seethePrintingProcessmoduleofthiscourse. Themediahandlingsubsystemofthelaserprinter Themediahandlingsubsystemofthelaserprinterisresponsibleformoving themedia,usuallypaper,throughtheprinter.Mostpeoplearefamiliar withmediatrays,butthiscomponentalsoincludesalargenumberof: o Sensors o Motors o Gears o Rollers Formoreinformationaboutthemediahandlingcomponents,seethe PrintingProcessmoduleofthiscourse. 13

 Thephysicalmedia Especiallyattheworkgrouplevel,themediaisalmostalwayspaper,but itcanincludetransparencies,cardstock,andotheritems. Mediaisthemostcommoncauseoflaserprinterissuessuchas: o Poorimagequality o Jams o Misfeeds Formoreinformationaboutmedia,seethePrintingProcessmoduleof thiscourse.

Review
Thequalitiesthatmakeaprinteraworkgroupprinterhavealotincommonwithwhatmakesa computeraserver. Theabilitytohandlelargequantitiesofdata Reliabilityunderheavyuse Extendeddutycycle Installlaserprintersinasafe,accessiblelocation. Allowforadequateventilation. Makesurethesurfaceisstableandcansupporttheweightoftheprinter. Makesurealltrays,doors,andpanelsareaccessible. DonotconnectalaserprintertoapowerstriporUPS. Laserprintersareacombinationofmechanicalcomponentsandtheelectronicsthatcontrolthem. Workgrouplaserprintersservelargegroupsofpeopleandaredesignedtofunctionwellunderheavy workloads. Multifunctionprintersincorporateascannerandfaxmodemintotheprinter. Printingtoaworkgrouplaserprinterinvolvesmanypotentialpointsoffailure: Theclientsystem Thenetworkinfrastructure Theprinterselectronicsubsystem(ESS) Theprintersimagingengine Theprintersmediahandlingsubsystem Thephysicalmedia 14

PrintingProcess:Overview

LearningObjectives
ThismoduleexplorestheprintingprocessusedinDelllaserprinters.Specificsaredifferentforeach printer,buttheconceptsareconsistent. Aftercompletingthismodule,youshouldbeableto: Describethexerographicprocess o Explainhowthecomponentsoftheprocessinteract o Identifysymptomsthatcouldresultfromfailuresatanystageoftheprocess o Describethemethodsofcolorprinting Explainhowmediamovesthroughtheprinter

PrintingOverview
Printingtoaworkgrouplaserprinterinvolves: Aclientsystem Thenetworkinfrastructure Thelaserprinterselectronicsubsystem(ESS) Thelaserprintersimagingengine Thelaserprintersmediahandlingsubsystem Thephysicalmedia Thismoduleexploreseachcomponentoftheprocess.Subsequentmodules providemoredetailonmanyofthecomponents.

PrintingfromtheClient
Everyprintjobstartsataclientcomputerwhenauserdecidestoprintthedocumenttheyarewriting orreading. Belowaretheelementsinvolvedintheprintprocessontheclientside. Theapplication Theapplicationisresponsibleforformattingthedocumenttobeprinted.Whatyouseeonthe screenisnotalwayswhatprints.

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 d lan nguage Apagedescription Delllaser l printerssupportseve eralpagedescriptionlangu uages.Asthe etermimplies s,these langu uageshelptheapplicationdescribewhatitdisplaysonthescreen nintermsthe eprintercan unde erstand.Forajobtoprintcorrectly, c the eclientandth heprintermu ustbothspeak kthesamepa age descr riptionlangua age. Onetroubleshoot t tingstepforprint p qualityis ssuesistoreprintthedocumentusingadifferentpa age descr riptionlangua age.Makesurethatthepr rinterandclie entbothsupp portthenewchoice. Theprint terdriver Thiscourse c usesthetermprint terdriverlooselytoinclud detheContro olPanel(Print tPropertiesand PrinterPreference es)appletsth hatinstallwith htheactualdriver. d ThePr rintdialogbox xispartofthe application,butitcancalleithe erorbothoftheothertwo odialogboxe es. NOTE E:Asusedinthisdocumen nt,ControlPa anelreferstotheWindowsControlPan nel.Operator pane elreferstothe esetofcontr rolsphysically ymountedon ntheprinterthat t somepri intermanuals scall thecontrol c panel. . esubjecttoth hesamecorruptionissues sasanyother rdriver.Ensuringthatthe Printerdriversare talwayshasthe t mostcurr rentprinterdriver d canpre eventmanyprinterissues. client Thenetw workdriveran ndadapter Since eworkgrouplaser l printers sserveanumberofusersby b default,th hiscourseassumesthatyo ou areprinting p overanetworkconnection Oneway w todetermineifprintproblemsaris sefromtheprinter p orthenetworkconnectionisto attac chtheprinter rdirectlytoaclientcompu uter(allDellworkgroup w las sersincludeaparallelorUSB U interface).Ifthejo obprintscorr rectlywhenconnected c dir rectlytoaclie ent,theprinte erhardwareis i work kingcorrectly.Youmayneedtochecknetwork n settin ngsorhardware. Printingany a oftherep portsavailablefromthepr rintersopera atorpanelcan nquicklyelim minateeitherthe t printerortheclientas sthesourceof o aprintingissue: Ifthe eproblempersistsonthereport, r troubleshoottheprinter. p Ifthe ereportprintscorrectly,tr roubleshootthe t clientorthe t network.

Drivers
Mostuse ersinterfacewith w printersusinganapplicationsuchas Microsof ftWord,but ttheapplicat tiondoesnotreallytalktothe printer.It ttalkstotheoperatingsys stem,which,inturn,talkstothe driver.Ap pplicationspr rovideaPrint tdialogboxwhere w userscan configure ethecurrentprintjob. D printer drive Dell ers use a comm mon installation wizard. Thedrive ertranslatesthe t instructio onsfromtheoperating o systemto somethin ngtheprinter rcaninterpre etusingapag gedescription n language e(PDL).Atlea astonePDLin nstallswithth heprinterdriv ver.Whenthe edriverisins stalled,itreco ords: 16

 thertheprint terisconnect tedlocallyoraccessedove erthenetwor rkataspecificIPaddressor o Whet hostname. Anyoptional o equipment(suchasaduplexer)thatisinsta alledintheprinter.

Userscon nfigurethedr riverusingap pplets: PrintPropertiesco onfiguresthe edriverforthecurrentprin ntjob. PrintPreferencesconfiguresth hedriversde efaultsettings sforfuturepr rintjobs. Inmostcases, c theord derofpriority yfromhighest ttolowestis: 1. Printdialogbox(a application) 2. PrintPropertiesapplet(partof fthedriveran ndmaynotbeincludedinthePrintdialogbox) 3. PrintPreferencesapplet(partof o thedriver) ) 4. PrinterSettings(h hardware) Insomecases, c confusioncanarisewhenonese etting,suchas smediasizeor o tray,overridesanother. .The easiestway w toavoidthisconfusion nistomakesurethesettin ngsarethesa ameinallfourplaces.

PageDe escriptionLa anguages

terreceivesin nstructionsfr romtheclient tsysteminth heformofa Theprint pagedes scriptionlangu uage(PDL).The T printerselectronic e sub bsystem (ESS)thentranslatesthese t instruct tionsintocom mmandstoits sinternal compone ents. p pageshouldlooktotheprinter.APDLisa PDLsdescribehowaprinted highleve ellanguageth hatincludesin nstructionsto otheprinter.SomePDLs, suchasPostScript, P are ecompleteen noughtobeconsidered c pr rogramming language es. emanyPDLs,andmostprinterssuppor rtmorethanone.Among Thereare thosetha atDellworkgrouplaserprinterssuppor rtare: Devic ceIndepende ent(DVI) PostS Script PrinterCommand dLanguage(PCL) XMLPrinterSpecification(XPS) ) Eachofthesupported dPDLsmaybe eavailableinmorethanoneversion. Alwaysch heckyoursys stemsOwner rsManualor rServiceManualto determin newhichPDLs sandwhichversions v ofthePDLsyourprinter p supports. EachPDL Ltheprintersupports s hasuniquePrintPropertiesan ndPrint Preferencesdialogboxesonthecli ientsystem. 17

 YouchoosewhichPDLtouseonthePrintdialogboxwhenprintingadocument.OnthePrintdialog box,eachavailablePDLmayshowupasadifferentprinter.

XerographicProcess
TheNetwork Inmostcases,theprintjobgetstoaworkgrouplaserprinterovera wiredorwirelessnetwork. Belowarewaystheprintermaybeconnectedtothenetwork: ConnectdirectlytoaprintserverusingaUSBorparallelcable ConnecttoaprintserveroveranEthernetorwirelessnetwork ConnectdirectlytoanEthernetorwirelessnetworkanduseits internalprintserver Formoreinformationonnetworks,seetheNetworkingmoduleofthis course. ThePrintersRole Oncetheprintjobgetstotheprinter,threeinternalsystemswork togethertocreatethefinalproduct: Theelectronicsubsystem(ESS),whichincludesthecontrollercard,coordinatestheotherinternal systems. Themediahandlingsubsystemmovesthemediathroughthefeedpath,pasttheimagingengine, throughthefuser,andfinallyintotheexittray. Theimagingengine(subsystem),whichhastwofunctions: 1. Creatingtheimageofthedocumentonthemedia 2. Fusingtheimagetothemedia

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 TheImageEngine Laserprintersusethexerographicmethod(also knownastheelectrophotographicprocess)to createanimageonmedia.Xerographyuses electrostatics(staticallychargeddevicesinstalled insidetheprinteratspecificpointsforspecific purposes)tomovethetonerfromoneplaceto another.Toneriscomposedofablendofplastic andironparticles.Thisblendallowstonertobe movedwithchargesofelectricityandfinally fusedintothepaper. Xerographyisastandardizedtechnology,butspecific The thin blue line in this drawing represents detailsmayvaryamongprinters.Ratherthandelving the path the media follows from left to right as intospecificcharges,ourpurposeisbetterservedby it passes the drum and surrounding parts. describingwhathappensinmoregeneralterms.It doesntmatterwhetherthechargechangesfrom positivetonegativeortheotherwayaround;whatmattersisthatthestateofthechargechanges. Thexerographicprocessconsistsoftheseactions: 1. Chargetheimagingdrum. 2. Exposetheimagewithalaser.Thismaybethoughtofasdrawingtheimageonthedrum. 3. Developtheimagewithtoner. 4. Transferthetonertothemedia.Someprintersuseasecondarytransferbeltordrumbetweenthe mainimagingdrumandthemedia. 5. Neutralize(removetheresidualchargefrom)themediaandthedrum. 6. Cleantheexcesstonerfromthedrum. 7. Fusethetonertothemedia. Thespecificorderofthelastthreeactionsmayvarybyprinter.Incolorprinterssomeofthesesteps mayberepeatedormultipleiterationsmayhappensimultaneously. ThesubsequentdiscussionsusetheprintprocessofseveralDellcolorandmonochromeprinters. AlwayscheckyourprintersOwnersManualorServiceManualforthespecificprocessand componentsusedinyourprinter.

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 Charge Thechargerollerevenlydistributesanegativechargeontheimaging drum.Thisevenlydistributedchargeactsasthefilmthatisdischarged (exposed)bythelasertocreatethelatentimage. Symptomsthatadefectivechargerollermaycauseinclude: Blacktonerstreaks,spots,lines,orbackgroundfog,whichcouldresultfromadamagedcharge roller.Irregularitiesappearseveraltimesonlettersizedmedia. Completelyblackpages,whichcouldresultfromamissingchargerolleroronethathascompletely failed. Thechargerollerisusuallysmallerthantheimagingdrum.Defectscausedbyadamagedchargeroller repeatatsmallerintervalsthandefectscausedbyadamagedimagingdrum. Thechargerollergetsitschargefromthehighvoltagepowersupply(HVPS).AfaultyHVPSoraloose connectionbetweentheHVPSandthechargerollercanmanifestthesamesymptomsasafailed chargeroller. Sincethechargerollerisindirectcontactwiththedrum,anydamagetothechargerollermayalso damagethedrum. Expose Laserprintersusealasertodrawanimageofthedocumentonthe imagingdrum.Thedrumiscoatedinaphotoconductivematerial. Thelaserresidesintheprintheadassemblyanddoesnotmove.Nor doesitshinedirectlyonthedrum.Insteadmirrorsandlensesfocus thelaserondifferentpartsofthedrum.Usually,ahexagonalmirror rotatestoredirectthelaserbeamacrossthedrum.Lensesmayalso helpdirectthebeamtospecificspots.Timingiscriticalbecause boththedrumandthemirrorareinmotion. The hex (polygonal) mirror Thelaserbeamscansacrossthedrumwhilepulsingoffandonto causes the laser to scan dischargespecificareas,creatingalatentimage.Alatentimageis across the drum. actuallytheinvisibleimageformedonthephotoconductor(PC) surfaceafterbeingdischargedbythelaserscan.Theareasexposedbythelaserbeambecomepositive (orlessnegativethanthesurroundingsurface).Onlytheareasonthedrumthatwereexposedtothe laserlightshouldattracttonerduringtheDevelopstage. 20

 Symptomsofadamagedormalfunctioningdruminclude: Blackstreaksorlines Voids Whitespots(dropouts)ontheblacktestpage Blackspotsontheblankpagequalitytest Thinsolidlinesdownthepage Alloftheseprintdefectsappearregularlyontheprinted page.Thespacingofthedefectsvariesbyprinterbecause thesizeofthedrumvaries. Ifthelaserfails,itcannotdischargethedrum.So,outputwould The beam path of the 3000-series of printers is very complex. benearlyorcompletelyblank.Aloosepowerorcontrol connectioncouldcausecompletelyrandomdropouts. Obstructionsofthebeamcanresultinregulardropoutsacrossthepage. Damageorfailureofthemirrororitsmotorcanresultin: Dropouts Asolidblackline Anunfocusedimage Randombackgroundclutter Develop Whilethelaserwritesthelatentimagetotheimagingdrum, thetonercartridgedropstonerintothedeveloperassembly. Insidethedeveloper,oneormoreaugersstirtheresident tonerandmoveittothedeveloperroller,whichmayalsobe Because the developer is a calledamagneticrollerormagroller.Theagitationofthetoner consumable, it is sometimes part of the toner cartridge. causesittoacquireafrictionchargeliketheonethat accumulatesinnylonclothing. Toneronthedeveloperrollerreceivesanegativechargeasitpassesunderthedoctorblade.The doctorblade(ortrimmerblade)removestheexcesstonerfromthedeveloperrollerandensuresthat thetonerspreadsevenlyacrosstheroller.Thedeveloperalsoreceivesanegativechargeatthistime. Becausethedeveloperandtonerhavethesamecharge,theytendtorepeleachother.

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 Theexposed(discharged)areasoftheimagingdrumattract tonerfromthedeveloper.Atthesametime,thedrumrepels thetoner.Asthedrumrollspastthedeveloper,thelatent imagebecomesvisiblewhenitacquirestoner.Thenow visibleimageiscalledthedevelopedimage. Lowtonercancause: Alightprint Dropouts Whitestreaks Blankmedia(whentoneriscompletelyexhausted) Damagetothedeveloperroll,whichmaybepartofthetoner cartridge,maycause: Lightorfadedprint Athinlinedownthelengthofthemedia Blankmedia(whenitfailstopickuptoneratall)

This illustration shows the interaction of the toner cartridge, developer, and imaging drum in the 3000-series of printers.

Transfer Aftertheimageisdeveloped,itmustbetransferredtothemedia.The transferrollerusespositivevoltagetoattractthetonerawayfromthePC drumandontothemediaoracompositingdevicesuchasabeltordrum. Early3000seriesprintersuseanintermediarybeltforcompositing colors.Theseprintersuseonetransferroller(IBT1)tomovethe tonerontotheintermediatetransferbelt(IBT)andasecondtransfer roller(IBT2)tomovethecompositedimagefromthebelttothe media. The5000seriescolorprintersusetwointermediarydrums.Eachofthesedrumscompositestwo colorsandthentransfersthecompositetothefinaldrum. Althoughtheimageisnowonthepaper,thetonerisstillinpowderformandcanbesmearedeasily. Afailingtransferrollermayresultin: Ablankorverylightdocument Repeatingdropouts Attransfer,thetonerisstillaplasticpowder.Themediaacquiressomeofthepositivechargefromthe transferroller,butthatchargeisallthatholdsthetonertothemediauntiltheypassthroughthefuser. Ifajamoccursbetweenthetransferrollerandthefuser,thetonermayfalloffofthemediaasyou clearthejam. 22

 Neutralize Neutralizationisatwostepprocess.Theexcesscharge mustberemovedfromboththemediaandtheimaging drum. Anyresidualchargeonthedrumsurfacecan: Hinderthedrumfrombeingchargeduniformly Leadtoprintdefects Someprintersuseaneraselamptoremoveanyexcess charge.TheeraselampisanLEDorlampassemblythat exposesthedrumsurfacetolight.Someprintersdonotuse anyspecificerasemethod.Instead,theseprintersusethe characteristicsofthetransferprocesstohelperasethedrum. Removingtheexcesschargefromthemediaismore importantwhenprintingincolor,butitcancauseproblemsin monochromaticprinting.Incolorprinting,themediamustbe neutralizedaftereachcolorinthecompositingprocess. Failuretodosomaycausethemediatopickuptonerin placeswhereitshouldnot.Inmonochromeprinters,thefuser mayalsoneutralizethemedia. Also in the 3110cn, a detack saw removes excess charge from the media between each color transfer.

In the 3110cn, a lamp removes the excess charge from the drum surface as part of the cleaning process.

Fusing Thefuserbondsthetonertothemediabymeltingtheplasticpowder andpressingitintothemedia.Thefuserhastwomainparts: Theheatroller,whichsuppliestheheatthatmeltsthetoner. Thepressureroller,whichpressesthemediatightlyagainsttheheat rollertohelpensurethatthemediaisevenlyheatedandmovesthroughthefuserquickly. Alwaysusemediadesignedforlaserprinters.Somemediadesignedforinkprinterscandamagethe fuserbeyondrepair.Thefusergeneratesenoughheattomeltsomeplasticizedmedia(suchas transparenciesorvellum).Meltedmediacanadheretothefuser,wrappingaroundtheheatroller. Failureofthefuserpreventsthetonerfromadheringtothemedia.Theresultcanbeverymessy. 23

 Alwaysletthefusercoolbeforetroubleshooting.Thefusergetsveryhot.Touchingthefuserbeforeit coolscancausesevereburns. Ifyougettoneronyourclothing,washincoldwater.Hotwatercanfusethetonertoyourclothing. Damagetothetonermayresultin: Jams Defectsthatrepeatregularlyacrossthepage: o Smears o Streaks o Unfusedtoner(fallsoffpage) Afterpassingthroughthefuser,themediamaytakeeitheroftwopaths.Itmay: Enteraduplexersotheothersidecanbeprinted Exitthefeedpathintotheexittray Clean Thelaststepoftherepeatingcycleistocleantheimagingdrum.A cleaningbladewipesresidualtoner,paperdust,andotherdebrisoffof thedrum.Thistoneranddustcollectsinthewastereservoirorrecycles intothedeveloper. Adamagedcleaningbladecausesstreaksdownallorpartofthepage. A cleaning blade removes Becausethecleaningbladecontactstheimagingdrum,adamaged the excess toner from the bladecandamagethedrum. imaging drum before the drum moves past the charge roller. Thecleaningbladeisusuallypartofthesameassemblythathousesthe imagingdrum.Dependingontheprinter,theymaybepartofthetonercartridgeorhousedina separatecartridgeorassembly.

The excess toner may be recycled or dumped into a bin to await disposal.

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ColorPrinting
PrintinginColor Themajordifferencesbetweenmonochromeandcolorprintingtake placeintheimagingsystem.Colorprintingcompositesfourcolorsin varyingamountstoformafullcolorimageonthemedia.Thefourcolors oftonerusedtoprintacolorimageare: Cyan(C) Magenta(M) Printers use subtractive Yellow(Y) compositing. Each additional Black(K) layer of color gets closer to black. The addition of true Theprocessissimilartoamonitorcompositingred,green,andblue black toner finalizes the (RGB)todisplayanimagethatcontainsmillionsofshades.But transition from dark brown to monitorsuseanadditiveprocesswhileprintersuseasubtractive true black. process. Inanadditiveprocess,coloriscontrolledbyluminescence. Blackistheabsencesofluminescence. Whiteoccurswhenallcolorsarefullyluminescent. Inasubtractiveprocess,colorisformedbythereflectionofvariousfrequenciesoflight. Whitetonerdoesnotexist.Theabsenceofcolorissimplythatwhiteorwhatevercolorthemedia is. Blackformswhenthetonerabsorbsallfrequenciesoflightequally. Therearetwomethodsofprintingblack: 1. Blacktoner 2. Compositeblackmixingcyan,magenta,yellow,andblacktonertogethertoformblack Becauseofthedifferentmethodsofcreatingcolor,whatyouseeonthemonitormaynotbeexactly whatcomesoutoftheprinter.Printingonmediathatisneitherwhitenortransparentfurther compoundscolorvariations. Tohelpalleviateproblemswithcolorvariation,colormatchingschemashaveevolvedovertime.

25

 OneorFourPassPrinting Colorprintersusetwodifferentmethodsofprintingcolor: Onepassprintingmovesthemediathroughtheprinteronetimeperface. Fourpassprintingmovesthemediathroughtheprinterfourtimes(oneforeachcolor)perface. Inbothoneandfourpassprinting,eachofthefourcolorsisimagedanddevelopedseparately.AllDell colorlaserprintersuseonepasstechnology,buttheyuseslightlydifferentmethods,eachofwhichis discussedonthesubsequentpagesofthistopic. Rotarycompositing Tandemxerography BelowarediagramsofmethodsusedbydifferentDellprinterlines. 3000series Theearly3000seriesusesrotary composting.

3110cn

The3110cnusestandemxerography.

5000series

The5000seriesifcolorlasersuses intermediatedrumstocompositethe colors.Thefirstsetofdrums compositesfourcolorsdowntotwo. Thesedrumsthentransferthe compositedimagetoanotherdrum thatholdsthefourcolorimagefor transfertothemedia.

26

 ompositing RotaryCo Theearly y3000cn,301 10cn,and310 00cnprintersuseathreestep s processcalled c rotarycompositing. Seebelow wforadescri iptionofthethree t steps. E colorton nercartridgeanddevelope er 1. Each r resides onala argecylinder. .Thecylinder r r rotates togive eeachcolors sdeveloperaccess. a

2. Inaprocesscalledinterme ediatebelttra ansfer (IBT)eachcolo orthencomp positesonabelt b (alsocalledth heIBT)before etransferringtothe m media. Abiastransferrolle er(BTR)facilit tates t transferring th hetonerfrom mthedrumto othe IBT.TheIBTmakes m fourpa assesoverthe edrum f eachprintedpage. for 3. T Themediapassesoverthe eIBTonceand dthen m moves ontothe t fuserorduplexer.

TandemXerography The3110 0cnusestandemxerography. Thisproc cessdiffersfro omothercolo ortechnologi iesinthateac ch colorsde evelopedima ageisoverlaid ddirectlytothefinalmedi ia, insteadof o anintermediatesurface. 1. Themedia m movesfromthereg gistrationrolle erstothetransfer belt,whereitishe eldinplacewith w ahighvo oltagecharge. . 27

 m movesupwardthro oughtheprint ter,arrivingat a eachcolordrum d whenthatdrumsim mage 2. Themedia isrea ady.Itpasseseachdrumin nsuccession: a. Yellow Y b. Magenta M c. Cyan C d. Black B 3. After rallfourcolorshavebeenoverlaiddire ectlyonthemedia m surface, ,itentersthe efuser. 4. After rfusing,themedia m passeseithertotheexittrayorthe t duplexer. The purpose of the 3110cns 3 transf fer The3100 0cnessentially yhasfourimagingenginessothatall e belt is to move the media past the colorscanbeprintedinonepassth hroughtheprinterbut transfer ro ollers. onlyonefuser.Neutra alizationtake esplaceaftereachcolor transfer.Adetacksaw wpositionedabove a eachtr ransferroller removesanyexcesschargefromth hemediasothat t itdoesnot interferewithcompos sitingthenex xtcolor. A implemented As d in the 3110cn n, the lasers path is very complicated. 5000Ser riesColorLaserPrinters The5000 0seriesofcol lorlaserprint tersusesanin ntermediarytandem t composit tingsystem.Each E colorhasaseparatedeveloper d andimaging drum.Tw woprimarytra ansferdrums scalledintermediatedru umtransfer1 (IDT1)e eachonecom mpositestwocolors.Finally y,theinterme ediatedrum transfer2(IDT2)comp positesthede evelopedima agesfromthe etwo secondar rytransferdrumsintoafo ourcolorimag ge. Themediapassesthro oughtheprin nteronce,goingbetweenIDT2 I andthe biastransferroller(BT TR).Drawingpowerfromthe t highvolta agepower supply(H HVPS),theBTRschargedrawsthetone erfromIDT2and a causesittosticktothe emedia.Still holdingthetonerwith hthischarge,themediath henpassesth hroughthe fuser. Anotherbigdifference ebetweenth he5000series sandotherDell D color laserprin ntersisinthedevelopingsystem. s The5000 5 seriespr rintersusea complete elydifferentmethod m ofsupplyingtoner rtothedevel lopers. Tonerstillcomesinca artridges.But tthecartridge esinstallfaraway a from thedevelopers.Aseriesofaugersandtubesmo ovesthetone erfromthe cartridge etothedeveloper.Tonerisalwayspres sentinthesetubes.

28

 istentpresenceoftoneris sacriticalfactorinmoving g Thepersi 5000seriesprinters.You Y mustalw waysmovethe eprinterwith h tonercar rtridges(orca artridgeblank ks)installedin nthecartridg ge bay.Ship ppinga5000series s colorprinter p withou utthetoner cartridge esbeinginstalledallowsth hetonerinthe etubestoesc cape. Itcancov vereverysurf faceofthepr rinter. Alwayssh hip5000seriescolorlaser rprinterswith hthetoner cartridge esorcartridge eblanksinsta alled.Failureto t shipthepr rinter withalltonercartridg gesinstalledand a lockeddo owncancause eirreparabledamagetoth heprinter.When W aprinterisbeingreturnedtoDell,tonercartridgesordumm mycartridges(provided ( wh henDellreplaces theprinter)mustbein nstalled.

MediaPath P
ath MediaPa Eventhougheachprin nterhasauni iqueMediaPath, P thereare emanycomm monelements s.Thegraphic c illustratesthemediapath p in3000c cn,3010cn,an nd3100cnwo orkgroupcolo orlaserprinte ers.Evenwith hin the3000 0series,there earedifferences.Forexam mple,the3110cnusestand demxerograp phy,andthe mediapa athdifferstosupportthatprintingmethod.Alwayscheck c yourpr rintersOwne ersManualor ServiceManual M foryo ouprinterssp pecificpathan ndcomponen nts. Genericallyspeaking,themediaflo owsthroughthe t mediapathinaproces sssimilartothe t following: : 1. The T printmed diastartsoutinamediatr rayorMultipu urpose F Feeder (MPF).

29

 2. Atakeuprollerfeedsonesheetatatimealonga designatedpath.

3. Theprintmediausuallymakesatleastoneturnbefore passingthedrum.

4. Themediamaymakeanotherturnonitswaytothefuser.

30

 5. Aduplexunitmayroutetheprintmediapastthedrumand fuseragaintoprinttheotherside. Note:The star represents where media re-enters the path
after exiting the duplexer. The option duplexer is not shown on this illustration.

6. Theprintmediausuallymakesonelastturnonitswayto anexittray.

Aseriesofrollersorbeltsfeedsthemediathroughthepath.Sensorsreportitsprogresstotheprinters controlunit,whichcontrolsthemotors,rollers,andbeltsthatmovethemediaandtheimaging componentsthatprintthemedia. MediaTrays Themediapathbeginseitherinamediatrayoramultipurposefeeder(MPF).Someprintersmayhave both. Seebelowtolearnmoreaboutmediatraysandsensors. Standardtrays Standardtraysslideinandoutofabaythatmaybepartoftheprinter chassis 31

 Multipurposefeeders Thesetraysareembeddedintheprinterchassisandareprimarilyused forprintingnonstandardmediasuchascardstockoroddsizedmedia Eachprintersmediatraysaredesignedforitsmediapathandcannotbe exchangedwithmediatraysfromothertypesofprinters.Forexample,the3000seriesmediatrays feedfromtherear,butthe5000seriesmediatraysfeedfromthefront. Asensorineachtraydetectstheamountofmediaavailableforprinting.Themediasensorcanbe: Amechanicaldropdownsensor Adropdownsensormovesoutoftheoutofthewaywhenyou insertthetray,thendropsdownontothemedia. Amechanicalswitchingspring Amechanicalsprintswitchmaybeincorporatedintothebottomof thetray.Addingmediaforcesittoitslowestsetting. Ineithercase,thesensorextendsasmediaisconsumed.Whenthetray isempty,thesensorisatitsfullestextension. Adefectivesensorcancause: Afalsejamiftheprinterthinksithasmediaandanothersensorreportsthatthemediadidnot arriveasexpected Afalsepaperouterrorifthesensorcannotdetectthepresenceofmediainthetray Someprintersalsohavesensorsbuiltintothetraytodetectthesizeofthemediacurrentlyloaded. Thesesensorsreportthepositionofthemedialengthguides. Atakeuporpickrollerfeedsthemediaintothepath,onesheetatatime.Othertraycomponents workinconjunctionwiththeserollers.SeeyourprintersOwnersManualorServiceManualfor details. RollersandBelts Rollersandbeltsmovethemediathroughthefeedpath. Belowismoreinformationaboutthedifferenttypesofrollers. Takeuprollersandpickrollers Usuallylocatedinthemediatryorthemediabay,takeuprollers pickupasinglesheetofmediaandfeeditintothepath.Defectiveor wornfeedrollersmay: o Beunabletopickupanymedia(falsejam) o Grabmorethanonesheet(misfeed) o Feedthemediaaskewtothepathorientation(misfeed) Registrationrollers 32

 Rollersorbeltsthatcompensateformediathatfeedsaskewtothepath.Registrationrollersalign theleadingedgeofthemediatothepath.

Feedrollers Locatedthroughoutthefeedpath,theserollersmovethemediaalong.Someprintersalsoreferto thetakeuprollersasfeedrollersbecausetheyfeedthemediaintothepath. Otherrollers Otherrollerskeepthemediamovingallofthewaythroughthefeedpath.Somerollers,likethe transferroller,servedoubleduty.Whilethetransferrollerisacriticalpartoftheimaginingengine, italsoservestokeepthemediamoving.Thesameistrueofthepressureandheatrollersinthe fuser Someprintershaveasetofexitrollersthatpropelthemediaintotheexittray. Asensormaybelocatedneareachoftheserollerstotracktheprogressofthemediathroughthe path. TheFuser Thelaststageofthecomponentoftheprintprocessisthefuser.The fuseriscomprisedoftworollers: Theheatroller,whichsuppliestheheatthatmeltsthetoner. Thepressureroller,whichpressesthemediatightlyagainstthe heatrollertohelpensurethatthemediaisevenlyheatedandmovesthroughthefuserquickly. Sincebothoftheserollersarepartofthefuserassembly,failureofeitherrequiresreplacingthewhole assembly. Whenmediaexitsthefuser,itenterseithertheDuplexer(ifapplicable)ortheexittray. TheDuplexer Theduplexerenablesprintingonbothsidesofthemedia,aprocess calledduplexingordupleximaging.Theduplexercanbeanoptionalunit (asinthe3000cn),oritcanbeanintegralpartofthefeedpath(asinthe 5100cn). Theduplexer: Receivesmediafromthefuser Transportsmediatothebeginningofthefeedpath Orientsthemediasothatthesecondsidecanbeprinted 33

The 5220ns main chassis rests on its duplexer.

 Feedsmediaintothepath Forduplexingtowork,theduplexermustbeproperlyalignedwiththe feedpathatboththefuserandtheentrypoint. The 3000-series duplexer attaches to the back of the printer. TheExitTray Theexittrayisthefinalrestingplaceoftheprintedmedia.Differentprintershavedifferentexittray capacities. Belowismoreinformationaboutcapacity. Asensorlocatedwherethemediaentersthetraydeterminesifthetray isfull.Becauseofitsshape,theoutputsensormaybecalledtheoutput flag. Failureofthissensormaycause: Amediajaminthefuser Mediatospilloutoftheexittray Someprintersofferanoutputtrayexpansionthatgreatlyincreasesthe outputcapacityoftheprinter.Forexample:the5210nhasadefault capacityof250sheets.Butwiththeoptionaloutputexpander,itsoutput capacityincreasesto650sheets.

Review
Attheclient,theprintprocessinvolves: Theapplication Apagedescriptionlanguage Printerandnetworkdrivers Applicationsinteractwiththeoperatingsystem,whichinteractswiththedrivertocommunicatewith theprinter. Userscanconfiguretheprinterdriverwithdialogboxes.

34

 ThePrintcommandconfiguressettingsforthecurrentprintjobonly,buttheapplicationmaystorethe settingswiththedocument. Userscanconfiguretheprinterdriverwithdialogboxes. PrintPropertiesconfiguressettingsforthecurrentsession. PrintPreferencesconfiguresdefaultsettingswhenusingtheprinterfromtheclient.Printer defaultsarenotusuallyaffected. Settingsfromthedialogboxesareappliedinaspecifichierarchy. Theprinterdriverusesapagedescriptionlanguagetocommunicatewiththeprinter. PDLsdescribehowaprintedpageshouldlooktotheprinter. TherearemanyPDLsandeachmayhavemorethanoneversion. EachPDLtheprintersupportshasitsowndialogboxes. Dellworkgrouplaserprinterscan: ConnectdirectlytoaprintserverusingaUSBcable Connecttoaprintserveroverthenetwork Functionastheirownprintserverwhenconnectedtoanetwork Theelectronic,mediahandlingandimagingsubsystemsworktogetherintheprintertocreatea printeddocument. Xerographyisastandardizedtechnology,butspecificdetailsmayvaryamongprinters. Seebelowforthestagesoftheprintingprocess. Charge Thechargerollerevenlydistributesachargethatisdischarged(exposed)bythelasertocreatethe latentimage. Symptomsthatthechargerollercouldexpressinclude: o Blacktonerstreaks,spots,lines,orbackgroundfogthatappearseveraltimesonletter sizedmedia o Completelyblackpages Expose Thelaserexposespartsofthedrum,changingthechargesothattonerwillattachtoit. Theexposedareasofthedrumformthelatentimage. Adamagedormalfunctioningdrumcancause: o Blackstreaksorlines o Voids o Whitespotsontheblacktestpage o Blackspotsontheblankpagequalitytest o Thinsolidlinesdownthepage Adamagedormalfunctioninglasercancause o Droupouts 35

 o Asolidblackline o Anunfocusedimage o Randombackgroundclutter Failureofthelasercancauserandomdroupoutsorcompletelyblankpages.

Develop Thedevelopertransferstonerfromthetonercartridgetothedrum Whenthetonerstickstotheexposedpartsofthedrum,thelatentimagebecomesthedeveloped image Lowtonercancause: o Alightprint o Dropouts o Whitestreaks o Blankmedia(whentoneriscompletelyexhausted) Damagetothedeveloperroll,whichmaybepartofthetonercartridgemaycause: o Lightorfadedprint o Athinlinedownthelengthofthemedia o Blankmedia(whenitfailstopickuptoneratall) Transfer Thetransferrollerusesahighvoltagechargetomovethetonerfromthedrumtothemedia. Afailingtransferrollermaycause: o Ablankorverylightdocument o Repeatingdropouts Neutralize Neutralizationisatwostepprocess. o Theeraselampexposesthesurfaceoftheimagingdrumandremovesexcesschargefrom thedrum. o Adetacksaworotherdeviceremovesexcesschargefromthemedia. Fuse Asthemediapassesbetweenthefusersheatrollerandpressureroller,thetonermeltsandis pressedintothedrum. Clean Acleaningbladeremovesresidualtoner,paperdust,andotherdebrisfromthedrum. Colorprinting Printersuseasubtractiveprocesstocreatecolor.Themorecolors,thedarkertheimage. Dellprintersusetwodifferentcompositingmethods: Rotarycompositinginearly3000seriesprinters Tandemcompositinginthe3110cn 36

 Theearly3000seriesprintersuserotarycompositing. Allfourcolortonercartridgesmountinacylinder. Eachcartridgerotatespasttheimagingdrum. Colorcompositesonanintermediatebelt. Thedevelopedimagetransfersfromthebelttothemedia. Tandemxerographyprintsallfourcolorssequentially,usingseparatechargerollers,drums,and transferrollersforeachcolor. 5000seriescolorlasersuseavariantformoftandemxerography. Eachcolorimagesontoaseparatedrum. Twointermediarydrums(IDT1)compositeyellowwithblackandcyanwithmagenta. Anothertransferdrum(IDT2)compositesthetwocolorimagesfromtheintermediarydrums. ThemediapicksupthecompositedimagefromIDT2. Themediapathistheroutemediafollowsthroughtheprinter. AllDellworkgrouplaserprintersincludeatleastoneofthefollowing: Astandardmediatray Amultipurposefeeder Asensorinthemediatraydetectsthepresenceorabsenceofmediaandcancause: Afalsejamiftheprinterthinksithasmediaandanothersensorreportsthatthemediadidnot arriveasexpected Afalsepaperouterrorifthesensorcannotdetectthepresenceofmediainthetray Rollerskeepthemediamovingthroughthefeedpath.Eachprinterhasauniquesetofrollers. Thefuserassemblyiscomprisedoftheheatrollerandthepressureroller. Duplexersenableprinterstoprintonbothsidesofthemedia. Theduplexermustbeproperlyalignedwiththefeedpathatboththefuserandtheentrypoint. Theexittrayreceivesthefinisheddocuments.Someprintershavemultipleoutputbins.

37

NetworkingWorkgroupPrinters

Learning gObjectives s
abilityisakey yfeatureofworkgroup w las serprinters.You Y canshare eotherlaserprintersovera Networka network, ,butworkgro ouplaserprinterscanhand dlemuchheavierworkload dsthananetworkedperso onal laserprin nter. Evenso,actuallyconn nectingaworkgrouplaserprintertoanetwork n isnotthatdifferentfrom connectin ngothernetw workableprin nters. Thismod duleprovidesahighleveloverview o ofnetworking n workgrouplase erprinters.Aftercompleti ing it,youwi illbeableto: ectingaprinte eroverthene etwork Describetheprocessforconne Reco ognizethefeaturesoftheEmbedded E Web W Server(EW WS) Navig gatetheEWS S Describethediffe erencesbetwe eenthetwoColorTrack C utilities u thatcontrol c colorprintingon supportedprinter rs Reco ognizefeature esoftheOpenManagePrinterManag ger

Network kInstallation
AllDellworkgroup w las serprintersin ncorporatean nEthernetportand aWebinterface.Someprintersalsoofferanop ptionalwireles ss adapter. NOTE:Whether W youare a usingawiredorwirelessnetwork,this t courseas ssumesyouknow k howtomanageandtroubleshoot t tyour network. . Theprocessforattach hingaprinter rtothenetwo orkisalmostaseasy asconnectingthenetworkcable: 1. Determinewhereyouwanttoinstallthepr rinter. 2. Installanyoptiona alhardwaresuch s as: o Hard H drive o Memory M o Multiprotocol M lcard(MPC) o Additional A trays 3. Determineifyouwant w touseawiredorwir relessconnec ction. 4. Conn necttheprintertothenetw workordirec ctlytoaprintserver. 5. Determineiftheprinter p should duseadynam micorstaticIPaddress. 38

 6. Installthedriversontheprintserver. 7. Createthequeueontheprintserver.

PrinterLocation
Beforeunpackingtheprinter,youshouldhaveagoodplaceto installit.Hereareafewguidelines: Findaplacethatisconvenientforyouruserstoaccess. Retrievingprintjobsshouldnotbeachore;otherwise, usersmaysimplyforgettopickuptheirdocuments. Laserprintersgeneratealotofheat.Avoidenclosuresand makesurethereisplentyofroomforairtoflowaroundall sidesoftheprinter. Placethelaserprinteronastablesurface.Laserprinters Problems with this installation include: canbeveryheavyandcancausebodilyinjuryiftheyfall Table not sturdy enough for the onsomeone. weight of the printer Someprintermodelscanbeconfiguredwithanumber Installation partially blocks a door, could be knocked over ofadditionaltrays,makingthemtoohighandunsafe Cables not secured and fortabletopuse.Thesemayrequirespecialfurnitureor improperly routed bases. Tray access blocked by handles Makesurethemediatraysareeasilyaccessible. Dusty environment Keeptheexittrayclearofallobstructions. Makesurethepanelsthatprovideaccesstothetoner cartridgesareeasytoaccess. Makesuretheenvironmentisreasonablyclean.Excessivedustcancauseprintdefectsandblock ventilation.

RemoteorDirecttothePrintServer
Inmostcases,theprintjobgetstoaworkgrouplaserprinteroverawiredorwirelessnetwork. Differenttypesofnetworkconnectionsare: ConnectdirectlytoaprintserverusingaUSBorparallelcable.Local printersconnecttoadedicatedprintserveronanetworkthat controlsallprintjobqueuesreleasingtheclientsforothertasks. Printerlocationisdeterminedbylengthofcables,usuallywithin severalfeetoftheprintserver. Connecttoaprintserveroverawiredorwirelessnetwork.Remote printersconnecttoanetworkwhereadedicatedprintserver controlsalljobqueuingreleasingtheclientsforothertasks.Printers canbeplacedanywhereonthenetwork. 39

 Connectdirectlytoawiredorwirelessnetworkandusetheprinters internalprintserver.Usingtheprinterasitsownprintserverhasall oftheadvantagesofaremoteconnectiontoaprintserverandit eliminatestheexpenseofaprintserver.Eachclientcontrolsprint queueoperation;eachclienthasacopyofdriversinstalled;printers canbeplacedanywhereonthenetwork.

DynamicorStaticIP
Inanenterpriseenvironment,mostnetworkeddevicesuseDynamicHostControlProtocol(DHCP).Dell workgrouplaserprintersdefaulttoDHCPfromthefactory.Inmanycases,allyouneedtodoisconnect thenetworkcabletotheprinterandletitrun. ButthereareafewreasonstouseastaticIP: DriversconfiguredtolookforaspecificIP(ratherthanahostname)maylosetheprinterifits addresschanges. StaticIPaddressesdontchangewhenyoumovetheprinter.DynamicIPaddressesmaychange anytimetheprinterreboots.

WiredorWirelessNetworking
AllDellworkgrouplaserssupportawiredEthernetnetwork,andmanyalsosupportanoptional wirelessnetworkadapter.Evenprintersthatdonothavewirelesssupportcanbeconnectedtoa wirelessnetworkifanaccesspointiscloseenough.Justrunacablefromtheaccesspointtothe printer. Dellofferstwowirelesssolutionsforspecificprinters: USBDongle.The3110cn,3115cn,and5110cnprintersuseaUSB dongleinstalledintotheprintersmultiprotocol(MPC).TheMPC isaseparateoptionfortheseprinters.TheMPCprovides supportforAppleTalk,Linux,andUnixnetworks. InternalCard.The5210and5310printerssupportawireless adapterthatinstallsdirectlyintoaslotintheprinters interconnectslot.Thecardsupportsbothadhocand infrastructure802.11b/gnetworks. 40

 Formore edetailsonin nstallingandconfiguring c th hesewirelessadapters,seetherelevan ntproduct documen ntation.

Embedd dedWebSer rver

Allnetwo orkableDellla aserprintersfeatureanEm mbeddedWe eb Server(EWS).TheEW WSisaWebba asedconfigur rationutility builtinto otheprinters sfirmware.Th heuserinterf faceforthe EWShasbeenfairlyco onsistentacro ossproducts, ,taking differenc cesinproduct tfeaturesinto oaccount. TheEWSisaccessibleonlythrough htheprinters snetwork connectio on: 1. Open nasupported dbrowseronanynetworkedcomputer. 2. Inthe ebrowsersAddress A field,typetheIPaddress a ofthe e printer. Every Dell wor rkgroup laser Whenthe eEWSopens,itprovidesaccess a toeveryconfiguration pr rinter has an em mbedded print optionth hatisavailablethroughthe eoperatorpa anel.Another r server (EWS) ) to facilitate graphicshows s thelevelofeachton nercartridge. .Youcanacce ess r remote printer management. m manyEW WScontrolsth hroughmorethan t onepath.Someofth he EWSmen nusopensubmenusofoth hermenuitem ms. Belowaredescriptionsofcommon nEWSmenus. PrinterSt tatus.Getimmediatefeed dbackonprint tersupplysta atus.Whento onerisrunnin nglow,clickthe OrderSupplieslinkon nthefirstscre eentoorderadditional a ton nercartridges s. PrinterJo obs.Liststhejobs j currently yinthequeueofthosealr readycomple eted. PrinterSe ettings.Changeprinterset ttings,viewtheoperatorpanel p remote ely,andupdat tetheprint serverfir rmware. PrinterSe erverSettings s.Viewandch hangecurren ntnetworksettings.Youmust m havetheprinters Administ tratorpasswo ordtomakeanychangesin nthissection. nterSettings.Quicklyclone etheprinterssettingstoanother a print terorprintersonthenetw work CopyPrin justbyty ypingeachprintersIPaddress.Youmustbeanetwo orkadministr ratortouseth hisfeature. PrinterIn nformation.Keep K trackofprinting p trend ds,suchaspa aperusagean ndtypesofjobsbeingprinted. tings.Viewan ndadjusttray ysettingsforthe t printer. TraySett 41

 nformation.Get G theinform mationyoune eedforservicecalls,invent toryreports,orthestatus sof PrinterIn currentmemory m andengine e codelevels. lert.Receivean a emailwhe entheprinterneedssuppliesorinterve ention.Forsp pecificinstruc ction EmailAl onusingthisfeature,seetheprintersOwnersManualorSe erviceManua al. SetPassw word.LocktheEWSwithapasswordso ootherusersdonotinadve ertentlychan ngetheprinte er settingsyou y havesele ected.Youmu usthavetheprinters p Adm ministratorpasswordtoma akeanychang ges inthissection.

ColorTra ack
Printingin i colorismuchmoreexpe ensivethanprinting p thesame edocumentin nmonochrom me.Atthesam metime, mostuse ersfindcolordocumentsto obemuchmore appealing gthanmonoc chromedocuments.Tohe elp administratorscontro olthecostsof fcolorprintin ng,Dell implementedColorTra ack,adriverbasedappli ication thatenab blessystemadministrators stoenableordisable colorprin ntingatagrouporuserlev vel. WithColo orTrackenabled,userswh hoareauthor rizedto printincolorcan: Togglebetweenmonochrome m (default)and dcolor printing Enter rTonerSaver randDraftpr rintmodes Networkadministrato orscan: Controlrightstoaccess a colorprinting p Assig gnacolorormonochrome m edrivertoeac chprinter Formore einformationabouttheor riginal,driverbasedColorT Tracksystem, ,seeExplanationofthe ColorTrac ckFeaturefortheDellColorLaserPri inters,availab bleonsuppor rt.dell.com.

ColorTra ack2
ColorTrac ck2isaprinte erbasedutilit tythatallows san administratortocontr rolaccesstocolorprinting gon edprinters. supporte

42

 ColorTrack2offersmorerobustmanagementofcolorprintingthanitspredecessor,ColorTrack,which isadriverbasedutility.ColorTrack2mustbeenabledandconfiguredviatheEWS,andthedriveron theclientcomputermustbeconfiguredtoworkproperly. ForspecificinstructionsonusingColorTrack2,seetheExplanationoftheColorTrack2Featureforthe Dell3110cn,3115cnand5110cnColorLaserPrintersonsupport.dell.com. WithColorTrack2youcan: ChangeaccessviatheEWS. Changeaccessdynamicallyinrealtime. Configureacombinationofupto50userorgroupaccountsforcolormanagement. Setmaximummonochromeorcolorprintvolumesperaccount. Assignapasswordtoeachgrouporaccount. ColorTrack2hasthefollowinglimitations: ColorTrack2canonlybeconfiguredusingtheEWSandcannotbemodifiedfromtheprinter's operatorpanel. ColorTrack(1)monochromeonlyorpasswordprotectedcolordriversinstalledontheclient computeroverrideColorTrack2management. Administratorscannotcopyorimportuserlists. ColorTrack2doesnotsupportLDAPandActiveDirectory. Timebasedprintinglimits(e.g.,400colorpagespermonth)cannotbeset. TherearethreebasicstepsneededtoconfigureColorTrack2: EnabletheColorTrack2feature. AddausertoColorTrack2. ConfiguretheprinterdriverforColorTrack2.

DellOpenManagePrinterManager
TheDellOpenManagePrinterManager(OMPM)providesan automatedrepertoireofmanagementandreportgeneration toolsthatenablecompaniestorecognizeandoptimizetheir TotalCostofPrinting(TCOP)throughouttheusefullifeofthe printer.TCOPaccountsfor: Printeracquisition Consumableusage Servicing Recommendedforfleetsof50ormoreprinters,OMPMisa 43

 serverbasedapplicationanddatabasethat: MonitorsDellandnonDellprintersonthenetwork Consolidatesthedatainasinglelocation Providesconfigurablereportsandalerts Facilitatescommunicationwithdell.comtoreorderconsumables Administratorscaninteractwiththeserverapplicationusingeither: AWindowsclientapplication Abrowser YoucandownloadOMPMfromsupport.dell.com.

Review
AllDellworkgrouplaserprinterssupportanEthernetconnection.Manyalsoofferanoptionalwireless adapter. Laserprintersrequireastable,wellventilatedlocation. Itshouldbeeasyforuserstoretrieveprintjobsandreplenishmedia. Obstructionstotheexittraycancausejamsorotherwisedamageprintjobs. Printserveroptionsinclude: ConnectdirectlytoaprintserverusingaUSBorparallelcable Connecttoaprintserveroverawiredorwirelessnetwork Connectdirectlytoawiredorwirelessnetworkandusetheprintersinternalprintserver DellworkgrouplaserprintersdefaulttoDHCP,butyoucansetastaticIPifneeded. The3110cn,3115cn,and5110cnprintersuseaUSBdongleinstalledintotheprintersmultiprotocol card(MPC).TheMPCisaseparateoptionintheseprinters. The5210and5310printerssupportawirelessadapterthatinstallsdirectlyintoaslotintheprinters interconnectslot.Thecardsupportsbothadhocandinfrastructure802.11b/gnetworks. AllDellworkgrouplaserprintersfeatureaWebserver(EWS)embeddedintheirfirmware. TheEWSenablesyoutomonitorandmanagetheprinterremotely. YoucanaccomplishanytaskthroughtheEWSthatyoucanaccomplishthroughtheprintersmenu system. ColorTrackwasoriginallyimplementedinthedriverandsufferedthelimitationsofadriverbased solution. 44

 BecauseColorTrack2residesontheprinter,itoffersmuchtightercontrolovercolorprintingthanthe originalversion. OpenManagePrinterManager(OMPM)isrecommendedformanaginglargeprinterfleets.Itisa serverbasedapplicationanddatabasethat: MonitorsDellandnonDellprintersonthenetwork Consolidatesthedatainasinglelocation Providesconfigurablereportsandalerts Facilitatescommunicationwithdell.comtoreorderconsumables

45

Trouble eshooting:Overview w

Learning gObjectives s
port(support.dell.com)isyour y primary DellSupp troublesh hootingtool.Butyoucanuse u support.d dell.commor reeffectivelywithalittle backgrou undinformation.Thismod duleprovides contextfor f troublesho ootingprinters. Aftercom mpletingthismodule,youwillbeable to: Findresourcestohelpyoureso olveprinter issue es Describeasystem maticapproachto diagn nosingandre esolvingprinte erissues Reco ognizethecha aracteristicsof o printer diagn nosticmodes Corre elatesymptom mswiththecomponents c that t arelikely ytocausethe em

DellSup pport
DellSupp portprovidesgreattrouble eshootingand dsupport resourcesonlineatsu upport.dell.co om.Onsuppo ort.dell.com, youcanfind: f ersanddownloadsforyou urprinterorother o Dell Drive product Technicalsupport tandproduct thelp Orde erstatusinfor rmation Warr rantyinforma ation Custo omerservice Twoofth hemostimpo ortanttoolsaretheDellFo orumsandthe eDellSolutio onsNetwork(DSN). Inthe eforums,you ucantalkwithotherDellcustomers c tolearnhowth heyhavereso olvedissueswith theirprinters. DSNisadatabase eof: o Productin nformation o Technicalsupportartic cles 46

 o Troublesh hootingdecisi iontrees

DellSup pport:Decisi ionTreesandJournalID Ds

Thedecis siontreespro ovidestepbystepproceduresfor resolving gtechnicalissues. ththedecisio ontrees,DSNprovidesajo ournalID. Alongwit Thejourn nalIDisthekey k toarecordofthe troublesh hootingsteps syouperform med.Ifyoune eedto contacttechnical t supp port,thejour rnalIDenable essupport agentsto oreviewyour rtroubleshoo otingeffortsandfinda solutionmorequickly. NOTE:AlwaysrecordyourjournalIDwhenusingthe decisiontrees.Ifyouare a unableto oresolvetheprocess p on yourown nandneedto ocontacttech hnicalsuppor rt,the journalID Dstreamlines stheprocess. . ErrorMe essages Ifanerro orconditionarises a inaprin nter,itdisplay ysanerror messageintwoplaces s: TheEmbedded E Web W Server(EW WS),whichyo oucan acces sswithaWeb bbrowserand dtheprinter sIPaddress TheLCD L onthepr rintersopera atorpanel Theerror rmessagesha aveafourlin neformat,eve enthough theopera atorpanelcandisplayonly ytwolinesat tatime.The displayto ogglestheme essagetwolin nesatatime. . Exa amples are spe ecific to the 3110cn. Eacherro ormessageha asthreeparts s: hatreferences sthespecificerrorconditiondetected.Lookupthecodeinyour 1. Asixdigitcodeth printersOwnersManualorSe erviceManua alfortroubles shootingspec cifics. Example: E 010354 2. Atex xtdescriptionofthecode.Thisdescript tionishighle evel,andthesame s textma aybeusedfor r multiplecodes. Example: E Rest tartPrinter 3. Twolinesofexpla anatorytext.The T explanatorytextprovidesbasicins structionsforresolvingthe e curre enterror. 47

 Example:ContactSupportIfmessagereturns

48

SymptomBasedTroubleshooting
SymptomBasedTroubleshooting Troubleshootinglaserprinterproductscanbeacomplicatedundertaking. Printersareprimarilymechanicaldevices.Itishelpfultohaveabasic understandingoftheprocessandhoweachelementwithintheprinter contributestothefinalproduct.Thissectionpresentsabasicstrategyfor troubleshootingDellworkgrouplaserprinters. Youcanapplythefollowingtroubleshootingguidelinestoalmostanyproductorsituation. 1. Gatherasmuchinformationabouttheissueasyoucan. 2. Categorizethesymptomstoidentifythepossiblecauses. 3. Testthepossiblecausestoidentifytherootcausethroughaprocessofelimination. GatheringInformation Toresolveanissue,youmustfirstgatherasmuchinformationas possible.Themoreinformationyouhave,theeasieritistogeta clearerpictureofthenatureoftheissue. Youcanusesimplequestionstohelpidentifytotheactualissue: Wasthisprinterjustrecentlyinstalled? Hasiteverfunctionedcorrectly? Whendidtheprinterstarthavingtheproblem? Whenwastheprinterlastworkingcorrectly? Whathaschanged? o Hastheprinterbeenmoved? o Isitusingthesamenetworkconnection? AretheappropriatedriversinstalledonthePCthatishavingproblemsaccessingtheprinter? Whaterrormessages,ifany,appearontheLCDwhenyouattempttoprint? Whatapplicationistheuserprintingfrom?Doestheissuehappenwithotherapplications? Hastheusertriedcyclingpowerontheprinter? Whattypeofmediaisbeingused? Youwillthinkofmanymorequestions,dependingontheinitialproblemdescriptionandtheanswers youget.Eachtroubleshootingsituationisunique.

49

 Althoughtheinitialproblemdescriptionisagoodstartingplace,rememberthattheprinterusersyou supportmaynotbeabletodescribeaproblemaccurately. Forexample,theymayindicatethattheprinterisnotpickinguppaperfromafullyloaded250sheet tray.Butwhenyouaskabouttheerrormessageontheprinter,theytellyouitsays,"LoadMPFTray." Theinitialdescriptionwouldleadyoutothinkthatthemediatraywasatfaultwhentheerrormessage tellsyousomethingcompletelydifferent. WhatcouldcausetheerrorLoadMPFTray? TheusersapplicationistellingtheprintertousetheMPFasthemediainput. TheprinterhasbeensenttodefaulttotheMPF. CategorizingSymptoms Mostprintingsymptomsfallintooneormoreofthefollowingcategories: JamsandMisfeeds:Jamsandmisfeedsarefailuresofthemediatofeedproperlyalongthecompletefeedpath
oftheprinterandoutagain.Afailuretocompletethepaperpathcanresultfromavarietyoffailuresandisoften themostdifficultofissuestoresolve. Jamsandmisfeedscanresultfrom: Atimingorcleaningissuewithasensor Anobstructioninthefeedpath Afailureofthesystemboardtoproperlyinterpretortimesensorinput Dirtyordamagedrollers Poormediaquality Failureofamotorthatwouldnormallyturntherollerstofeedthepaperthroughthepath

Ajamisone,oracombinationof,thefollowingconditions: PaperispresentwhereitshouldNOTbe. PaperisNOTpresentwhereitshouldbe.

NOTE:WhenperformingserviceonanyDelllaserprinter,alwayscleanandinspectallpaperfeedrollers asapreventativemaintenancesteptoavoidunnecessarypaperjamandfeedissuesduetodebrisbuildup ontherollers.Performthiscleaningprocedureonthebasetrayfeed(pick)rollers,aswellasonthefeed(pick) rollersforanyadditionaltrays. MediaQuality:Paperqualityisoftenoverlookedasthepossiblecauseofprintingissues.Itaccountsfor

thelargestportionofprintingissuesthatcouldbeclassifiedas"customeravoidable,"especiallyjams andmisfeeds. Mediaqualityissuesincludeusingmediathatis: Inappropriatefortheprinter 50

 Designedforinkprinters Tooheavy(cardstock)ortoolight(ricepaper) Improperlystored(excessivehumidity) Damaged,folded,orcrumpled Cupped Crossgrained

NetworkConnectivity: Thiscourseassumesyouarefamiliarwithnetworkingingeneralandyour networkinparticular.Failuresoftheprintersnetworkhardwareareveryrare,butyouwould troubleshoottheprintersnetworkadaptersjustasyouwouldtroubleshootthoseinadesktopor notebooksystem. POST:POSTissuesarethosecausedbyafailureoftheprintertocompleteitsfirmware"selftest"to reacha"ReadyPrint"state.POSTfailuresusuallyresultfromfailureofoneofthemaincomponentsof theengineassembly,including:thesystemboardandpowersupplies. Afaultypowersourcecancreatetheillusionormisperceptionofapowerissuewiththeprinter. EliminatingpowerconcernsearlyoncaneliminateanyconfusionbetweenpowerandPOSTissues. Power:Powerissuesresultfromafailureoftheprintertoobtainoruse electricity.Powerissuescanresultfrom: Externalelectricalconnections LowVoltagePowerSupply(LVPS) HighVoltagePowerSupply(HVPS)

Whentroubleshootingpowerissues,check: Thepowersource Thepowercableandconnections Internalpowerconnections

PrintQuality:Mostpeoplewoulddefineaqualityprintjobasonethatmeetstheirexpectations.As technicians,wemustadd"accordingtotheprintersspecifications."Userperceptionsareamajor driverof"printqualityissues." Actualprintqualityissuesresultfrom: Failedorcontaminatedchargerollers Scratchesinxerographicdrumsurfaces Poorqualityorinappropriatemedia Contaminantsadheredtothefuserheatroller Failingorexpendedtonercartridges

51

 Software:SoftwareconfigurationaccountsforalmosthalfofsupportlaserprintercallvolumeinDell callcenters. Softwareisabroadtermusedtodescribeavarietyofelements,including: Theoperatingsystemenvironment Drivers Firmware Applications Printercommunicationlanguagessuchas: PrintCommandLanguage(PCL) PostScript

Symptomsofimproperprinterperformancedonotnecessarilymeanthatthereisanactualhardware failure.Manyissuescanberesolvedbyconfiguringsoftwareapplications,drivers,andfirmware.

PrinterDiagnosticModes
PrinterDiagnosticModes Withprinters,thereisnoseparatediagnosticutilitytorun.Allprinterdiagnosticsarebuiltintothe printerfirmware.Dellworkgrouplaserprintershavetwodiagnosticmodes. Customermode:Asthenameimplies,Customermodeisaccessibletoendusers,andthey shouldbeencouragedtouseittotroubleshootandresolveprinterissueswheneverpossible. Developer/CEmode:TheDeveloper/CEmodeisreservedforusebyqualifiedandtrained serviceprovidertechnicians(CE=CustomerEngineer).Endusersshouldbediscouragedfrom usingthismode.Manyinternalprintersettingscanbechangedadverselyaffectingprinter operationandprintquality. Forinstructionsonenteringandusingthesediagnosticmodes,seeyourprintersOwnersManualor ServiceManualortheDellSolutionNetwork(DSN),adatabaseofinformationandtroubleshooting proceduresaccessiblethroughsupport.dell.com. CustomerMode:Asthenameimplies,Customermodeisaccessibletoendusers,andtheyshouldbe encouragedtouseittotroubleshootandresolveprinterissueswheneverpossible. Developer/CEMode:TheDeveloper/CEmodeisreservedforusebyqualifiedandtrainedservice providertechnicians(CE=CustomerEngineer).Endusersshouldbediscouragedfromusingthismode. Manyinternalprintersettingscanbechanged,adverselyaffectingprinteroperationandprintquality. 52

 DigitalIn nput/OutputTest Dellwork kgrouplaserprinter p featur reaseriesoftestsbuiltint totheir firmware e.Eachtestch hecksthefunctionalityofaspecificsensoror compone ent. Thesetes stsfallintotw wocategories s: Digita alinput(DI)tests t (sensors s) Digita aloutput(DO O)tests(senso ors,motors,and a othercom mponents) mpleonthe31 110cn,DI2te eststheexitsensor. s DO0, ,DO1,D02,andDO3tes stvarious Forexam functions softheprinte ersmainmot tor. Youcanaccess a thetes ststhroughth heprintersoperator o pane el,whichalsodisplaystheresultsofthe e test.Torun r atest,set ttheprinterto t Diagnosticmode.Youmay m alsoneed dtophysically ymanipulatethe compone entyouarete esting.Forexample,totes sttheexitsen nsor,youmus straiseandlo owerthefuse er exitguide eplate.Witheachmanipu ulation,theLC CDshoulddis splaythechan nge. WARNIN NG:Beveryca arefulwhenmanipulating m the t printersinternalcomponents.Som me,suchasth he fuser,are everyhot.Ot thers,suchas sthechargeroller, r operate eathighvoltages.Persona alinjuryorde eath canresultfromtouchingthesecom mponentswit thoutfollowin ngallofthesafetyprecaut tionsspelledout inthepri intersOwner rsManualan ndServiceMa anual. ManualFeed F Test Themanualfeedtests sareasubset toftheDigita alOutputtest ts.Thesetestsdetermineif i allthe compone entsofthemediapathare efunctioningcorrectly.Torunthetests s,allpathcom mponentsmustbe installed, ,andthefron ntcoversmus stbeclosed. Becausethesetestsru unwithnose ensorinteract tion,themediafeedsendtoendwithno n gapbetwe een pages.So o,whathappe ensifajamoccurs o whenrunning r themanual m feedte ests? You Y mustbeprepared p tostop s thetestby b turningoff ftheprinterifnecessary. "No " sensorint teraction"me eansthatthe eprinterdoes snotknowajam j hasoccurred.Itcontin nues t trytofeedmediathroug to ghthejamun ntilyoustopit. i

53

JamsandMisfeeds
JamsandMisfeeds Misfeedsoccurwhenthemediafailstoenterthefeedpathcorrectly.Misfeedsoccurwhen: Morethanonesheetentersthepathatthesametime Mediaentersthepathatanangle Misfeedsoftencausejamsfailuresofthemediatotraversethefulllengthofthefeedpath.Jams occurwhenasensorindicatesthatmedia: Ispresentataplacewhereitshouldnotbe Isnotpresentataplacewhereitshouldbe Whenasensorreportsajam,theprinterstopsfeedingmediathroughthepathto: Avoidwastingmediaandconsumableswhenanerrorconditionalreadyexists Preventdamagetotheprinter Mostofthetime,jamsdonotrecuroncetheyarecleared.Forspecificinformationonclearingjams, seeyourprintersOwnersManualorServiceManual.Instructionsforclearingthejammayalsoappear ontheprintersLCD. CausesofMisfeeds Commoncausesofmisfeedsinclude: Improperlyloadedmedia Whenloadingmedia: Makesurethemediaisloadedinanappropriatetray. Makesurethatthemediaguidesarepositionedcorrectly.Iftheyare: o Tootight,themediacupsandmultiplesheetsmayfeedsimultaneously. o Tooloose,themediamayenterthefeedpathtoaskewfortheregistrationrollersto correct.

54

 Media Makesurethemedia: Complieswiththeprintersmediaguidelines Isundamagedandlaysflatinthetray Isdry Printerorprintdriversettings Makesureallsettingsareappropriateforthemediayouareusingandtheoutcomeyouwant. Wornordirtytakeuprollers Wornordirtyrollersmaynotbeabletofeedmediaintopathcorrectly.Theymayfailtopickupthe mediaatall,ortheymayfeedmorethanonesheetatatime.Theytwistthemediaasitentersthe path,causingafailurefartherintothepath. NOTE:Alwayscleanandinspectallfeedrollersasapreventativemaintenancestepwhenever youperformserviceonDelllaserprinters.Keepingtherollersandtheinterioroftheprinter cleancanpreventjamsmisfeedscausedbydebrisbuildupontherollers.Performthiscleaning procedureonthebasetrayfeed(pick)rollers,andonthefeedrollersforanyadditionaltrays.

55

 CausesofJams Anythingthatcausesamisfeedmayalsocauseajam. Media Inappropriatemediaisacommoncauseofjamsandmisfeeds.Inappropriatemediacanbe: Toolight(ricepaper) Tooheavy(posterboard) Toosmall(postcards) Toolarge Designedforinkprinters Designedforotherapplications(velum) Motors Motorscannotmovethemediathroughthepathwhenthey: Havefailed Arefailingintermittently Arenotgettingpower Ifmediastopsanywhereinthepathwhereasensorcannotdetectit,thenextsheetmayjamintothe motionlessmedia.Thisprocesscontinuesuntilthemediabacksupfarenoughalongthepathtotrigger ajamsensor. FailedmotorsusuallygenerateaPOSTfailurecode,butintermittentproblemsmaynotbedetected untilajamoccurs. Printerorprintdriversettings Thesettingsontheprinterandthesettingsintheprinterdrivermustmatch. Forexample:auserwantstoprintalegalsizeddocumentandloadslegalmediaintheMPF.The applicationknowsitisprintingalegaldocumentbutdoesntknowwherethelegalsizedmediais loaded.IftheuserdoesnotspecifyprintingtotheMPF,theapplicationanddrivertrytoprinttothe defaulttray,usuallytray1.Thissituationresultsina"LoadLegalTray1"messageontheprinter.Users oftengetfrustrated,thinkingtheyhaveloadedthemediaandsettheprinterdrivercorrectly. Sensors Sensorsdetectthepresenceorabsenceofmedia.Theprinterscomputationalunitinterpretsthisdata todetermineifajamhasoccurred. Ifasensorconsistentlyreportsajamwherenoneexistsorifitfailsadiagnostictest,cleanthesensor andtheinterioroftheprinter.Accumulatedtonerorpaperdustmaycausethesensortogenerate falsesignals.Thentrytoprintorrunthediagnosticagain. 56

 Toner Laserprintersallexperiencesometonerleakage.Accumulatedtonercan: Adherethemediatorollersorcauserollerstofailtograbthemedia Blockthelaser Causesensorstogeneratefalsesignals Landonmediaasitprogressesthroughthepath,causingaspeckledbackground Cleaningalaserprintershouldbeapartofyourroutinemaintenanceschedule. Wornordirtyrollers Wornordirtyrollersmaynotbeabletomovemediathroughthefeedpathefficientlyenoughto preventjams. NOTE:Alwayscleanandinspectallfeedrollersasapreventativemaintenancestepwhenever youperformserviceonDelllaserprinters.Keepingtherollersandtheinterioroftheprinter cleancanpreventjamsmisfeedscausedbydebrisbuildupontherollers.Cleanthefeedrollers throughoutthepath. TroubleshootingJams Whenpaperisjammedintheprinter,yourtroubleshootingapproachshouldtaketheconditionofthe jammedmediaintoconsideration. Thepaperisphysicallydamaged. Thepapermayhavebeendamagedbeforeitenteredthepath,oranobstructioninthepathmayhave damagedit. Checktheremainingmediainthetrayandremoveanymediathatisdamaged: Folded Cupped Torn NOTE:Drilledorperforatedformsmaybehavethesameastornorfoldedmediainthefeed path. Checkforobstructionsintheareaindicatedbythejammessage. Checkforobstructionsinotherlocationswhichmayhavedamagedthepaperandcauseditto eventuallyjam. 57

 Wipecleantheinnersurfacesofanyinvolvedsensorwithaclothorswabtoremoveanytonerbuildup anddebris.Thenperformatestofthesensorusingtheproperdiagnostictestforthatprinter.Always checkyourprintersOwnersManualorServiceManualforthecorrectprocedures. Thepaperisnotphysicallydamaged Themediadidnotreachasensoronscheduleorwaspresentwhenitshouldhaveexitedthesensors range. Multiplefeedscancausethemediatoappeartobetoolong.Clearthejamandretrythejob. Themediadidnotreachasensorwhenitshouldhave. o Alogicerroronthecontrollercancausethisproblem. o Awornfeedrollerorfailedfeedrollerenginemaynotadvancethemediafastenough. Totroubleshootsensorrelatederrors: Clearthejamandrunthediagnostics. CheckthesecondarycodesintheErrorMessagessectionoftheprintersOwnersManualor ServiceManual. TipsforClearingJamsandMisfeeds IdentifyJamLocation:Whenlookingforthejamlocation,rememberthatthesensorindicatedinthe errorcodeonlydetectedthatajamhadoccurred.Thesourceofthejammaybebeforeorafterthe sensorinthefeedpath. ClearJamCompletely:Whenclearingjams,besuretoclearthelengthofthefeedpath.Jamscanresult fromdebrisinthepath,andtheycangeneratemoredebris,especiallyiftheydamagethemedia. CheckMedia:Dontforgettocheckthemedia!Mostjamsarecausebyinappropriate,damaged,or improperlystoredmedia.

58

ImageQualityIssues
ImageQualityIssues Imagequalityissuesresultfromaproblemintheprintengineortheperceptionofsuch.Common imagequalityissuesinclude: Perceptionandexpectations Theuser'sexpectationsconcerningprintqualitycancausefalseissuesifnotaddressedthrough educationabouttheproduct'scapabilitiesandlimitations. Forexample,ifauserattemptstoprintphotosonacolorlaserprinterusingglossyinkjetpaper,the resultwillnotbesuccessful.Theusershouldbetoldthatthistypeofprintingisnotwhattheprinter wasdesignedtodo.Brieflyexplainingthatcolorlaserprintersaredesignedforcolorbusinessgraphics printing,notreproductionofphotographsusuallycorrectsthisexpectation. Ifthecustomerisusinginkjetglossypaper,youmaywanttoexplainthedifferencebetweeninkjet andlaserpaper.Thesedifferenttypesofpaperarespecificallydesignedaccordingtotheprintprocess oftheintendedprintingprocessandwillneverachievethedesiredresultsonaprinterthatisnot designedtousethem.Thisresultisthereasonpapersarelabeledforaspecifictypesofprinter. Configuration Configurationisamajorcauseofprintqualityfalseissues. Usersmayexpectahighqualityprintandnotachievethedesiredqualitysimplybecausetheprinter's colorqualitysettingisfactorydefaultedtoasettingofmediumorlowqualitycolortoconservetoner. Thismisperceptioncanbecorrectedquickly(andinmostcasespermanently)byeducatingusersabout theadjustmentstheycanmaketotheirprintertoachieveamoredesirableresult. Mediaquality Mediaqualitycandrasticallyaffectthequalityofthefinishedprint. Ifthemediasurfaceistoosmooth,suchasinkjetglossyphotopaper,thetonerdoesnotfusecorrectly tothemedia.Ontheotherhand,ifthepapersurfaceistoorough,thetonerdoesnotfuseproperly intothesurfaceeither.Theproblemswithfusingcausedeletionsordeletionspots.Besuretocheck thattheproperspecificationpaperisinstalledintheprinterwhenaddressinganyprintqualityissue.If possible,installpaperfromafreshlyopenedreamasafirststepintroubleshooting. Contamination Contaminationofvariouscomponentsalongthepaperpathcandisplayasprintqualitydefects. 59

 Oftenthisproblemcanberesolvedbycleaningtherollersalongthepathsuchasfeedrollers,transfer roll,chargeroll,andPCdrum.Whenaddeddefectssuchassmears,verticallines,orspotsappearon print,alwayscheckthefuserhotrollerforcontaminationasafirststep.Whenlabelsorotherpapers thatcontainadhesivebackingarefedthroughthepaperpath,theadhesivehasatendencytobleed outontothefuserhotrollduringthefuseprocess.Thiscausesprintqualitydefectssuchasspotting, lines,andsmearing. Devicefailure Failureofaspecificdevicesuchasamotorcanleadtoprintqualitydefectsaswell. Forinstance,failureoftheyellowdevelopermotoronthe5100cncausestheyellowtonernotto dispenseproperly,endinginaprintorprintsdevoidofyellowcolor. TroubleshootingPrintQualityIssues Troubleshootingsuggestionsforcommonimagequalityissuesarelistedbelow.Thesesuggestionsare notareplacementforusingthetroubleshootingstepsavailableonsupport.dell.com.Thespecific diagnosesandsuggestionsarevalidforthe3110cn. Blankpages Makesurethepackagingmaterialisremovedfromthetonercartridges. Checkthetonercartridgestomakesuretheyareinstalledcorrectly. Thetonercartridgesmaybeloworneedtobereplaced.Confirmthe amountoftonerineachandreplaceitwithanewoneifnecessary. Completelyorpartiallyblackoutput Checktheprintcartridgestomakesuretheyareinstalledcorrectly. EnabletheChangeAllColorstoBlackTextSmoothingoptiononthe AdvancedtabinthePrinterPropertiesdialogbox. Fadedimageonleftandrightsidesofthepage Thisproblemoccurswhentheprinterisoperatinginalocationwhere relativehumidityreaches85%ormore.Adjustthehumidityorrelocatethe printertoanappropriateenvironment. Makesurepaperbeingusedisstoredinthesamelocationastheprinter. Usersoftenstorepaperinaseparatelocationwithaverydifferent temperatureandhumiditylevel.Ifso,theyshouldbringreplacementpaper

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 totheprinterlocationandallowatleast24hoursforthehumidityinthepapertoadjust beforeusingit. Horizontalstreaks Usethe"ContaminationChk"testpagestoseparatetheindividualcolors anddeterminewhichcartridgeneedsreplaced. Determinethetonercartridgewhichexhibitsthedefect,andthenswap withaknowngoodcartridgeifpossible. Replacethedefectivecartridge. Horizontaldeletions Thistypeofdeletionpointstoadefectinoneofthebiastransferrollers. Printthe"ContaminationChk"pagesinCustomerDiagnosticsmodeand determineifthedefectcanbeisolatedtoasinglecolor. Allfourbiastransferrollersarecontainedwithinthetransferbeltassembly. Usethe"ContaminationChk"pagestodeterminethedistancebetweenthe defectrepetitions,andthenusetherollerdiametertestsheettoverifythat thedistancematchesthediameterofabiastransferroller. Onceyouhaveverifiedthatthedefectisbeingcausedbyabiastransferroller,replacethe transferbelt. ThisdefectsymptomcanalsobecausedbycontaminatedHVPStotransferbeltcontacts. Locatethefourmetalpowercontactsonthetopleftsideofthetransferbeltassemblyand cleanthemwithalintfreecloth. Incompletefusing Ifyouareprintingonanunevenprintsurface,changethepapertype settingsintheTraySettingsmenu. Verifythattheprintmediaiswithintheprinterspecifications. Substituteanewreamofpaperandtryprintingagain. Ifthepreviousstepsdonotresolvetheissue,thefuserisnotworking properly.Replacethefuser Lightprint Theprintcartridgesmaybeloworneedtobereplaced.Confirmthe amountoftonerineachprintcartridgeandreplaceitwithanewoneif necessary. DeselecttheTonerSavingModecheckboxontheAdvancedtabinthe printerdriver. Ifyouareprintingonanunevenprintsurface,changethepapertype settingsintheTraySettingsmenu. Verifythatthecorrectprintmediaisbeingused.Trydifferentprintmediaif itisavailable. 61

 Randomdeletions Checkforcontaminationonthetransferbeltassembly. Swaptheinstalledpaperwithdifferentpaperthatfallswithinacceptable specifications. Swapthetransferbeltassemblyifaknowngoodtransferbeltassemblyis available. Replacethetransferbeltiftheissuefollowsthebelt. Randomspots Usethe"ContaminationChk"testpagestoseparatetheindividualcolors anddeterminewhichcartridgeneedstobereplaced. Determinethetonercartridgewhichexhibitsthedefect,andthenswap withaknowngoodcartridgeifpossible. Replacethedefectivecartridge. Verticaldeletions Adeveloperrollorimagingdrumisdamaged. Usethe"ContaminationChk"testpagestoseparatetheindividualcolors anddeterminewhichcartridgeneedstobereplaced. Verticalstreaks Thetonercartridgesmaybeloworneedtobereplaced.Confirmthe amountoftonerineachcartridgeandreplaceitwithanewoneif necessary. Ifyouareusingpreprintedforms,makesurethemediacanwithstand temperaturesof0to35C. NoiseIssues Likeallmechanicaldevices,Delllaserprintersmakenoisewhentheywork.Sometimesusershave unrealisticexpectationsaboutthekindsofnoiseitshouldorshouldnotmake. Noiseissuescomefromanypartthatmoves,andtherearemanymovingparts: Motors,includingfans Tonercartridges Rollersandrollerfeedassemblies Gearassemblies 62

 Thebestcourseofactionistotrytoisolatethespecificpartcausingthenoiseissue.Tryreseating componentsorswappingwithknowngoodpartsfromanotherprinterifpossible. Incompatiblemediacancausetheprintertoworkharderthanitwasdesignedtowork,inwhichcase theexcessivenoiseisindirectlycausedbythemediabeingused.Makesurethemediaintheprinter fallswithintheprinter'smediaguidelines.YoucanfindthemediaguidelinesintheOwnersManual.

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Media
Thequalityofpaperusedinthedigitalprintingprocesscangreatlyaffectthequalityofthefinished printproducedandthefrequencyofpaperjams.Itcanalsoaffectvariousotherelementsofthe printingprocess.Forbestresultswiththefewestproblems,alwaysuseahighqualitypaperwithno filleroradditives.Choosemediathatisspecificallydesignedforlaserprintersandtheintendedprint job. Mediacharacteristicsthatcanaffectprintqualityandcausejamsinclude: Curl Fibercontent Graindirection Moisturecontent Paperdustandcontaminants Recycledpaper Smoothness Weightandsize Thefollowingpagesdiscusseachofthesecharacteristics. Ingeneral,alwaysfollowthemediaguidelinesspecifiedinyourprintersOwnersManual.

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 Curl Curlisthetendencyofpapertocurveatitsedges.Ifcurlisexcessive,it cancausefeedproblems.Curlcanresultfrom: Excessivemoistureinthepaper o Ahumidenvironment o Storingthepaperunwrapped,eveninthetray Theheatusedinthefusingprocess Somemanufacturersofferpaperthathasbeenprocessedtopreventexcessivecurl.Paperswith"curl control"arepreferable,andareusuallymarkedassuchinthespecificationssectionofthepaper packagelabel. Toavoidcurl: Storemediainaflat,drylocation. Allowmediatoacclimatizetothelocationbeforeusingit. FiberContent Paperdesignedforlaserprintersisusuallymadefrom100%chemicallypulpedwood.Thiscontent providesthepaperwithahighdegreeofstability,resultinginfewerfeedproblemsandbetterprint quality. Papercontainingfiberssuchascottonpossessescharacteristicsthatmaymakeitmoreesthetically pleasingbutcanresultindegradedpaperhandling.Theamountofcottonapapercontainsisoften describedasthepercentageofrag.So20%ragpaperconsistsof20%cotton. GrainDirection Grainreferstothealignmentofthepaperfibersinasheetofpaper.Paperiseither: Longgrainthefibersorientalongthelengthofthepage. Shortgrainthefibersorientalongthewidthofthesheet. Thetypeofmediayoushouldusemaydependonthetypeoftrayandtheapplication.Forexample, theOwnersManualofthe3110cnrecommends: Longgrainfor: 60to176g/m2(16to47lb.bond)paper 65

 Medialoadedinstandardtrays Shortgrainfor: Papersheavierthan176g/m2(47lb.bond) Medialoadedinthemultipurposefeeder DetermineGrainDirection Graindirectionisusuallyindicatedonthepackaging.Ifnot,orifthepackagingisnotavailable,youcan determinethegraindirectionwiththefollowingtests. Teartest Tearasamplesheetofpaperpartiallylengthwise,andthenpartially widthwise.Papertendstotearinastraighterandmoreuniformly fashionalongthegrain. Foldtest Foldasamplesheetofpaperlengthwise,andthenwidthwise.Paper foldsmadewiththegraintendtoappearsmootherthanfoldsmade acrossthegrain. MoistureContent Theamountofmoistureinthemediaaffectsbothprintqualityandtheabilityoftheprintertofeedthe mediaproperly.Excessivemoisturecancause: Curl,whichisdiscussedearlierinthistopic Dropoutsthatarisefromthemoistureinterferingwithchangeinthetransferprocess Jamsthatresultfrommediatearingbecausemoisturehasweakenedit Smearsthatarisefromthemoisturepreventingthemediafromheatingfullyinthefusingprocess Topreventmoisturerelatedissues: Storemediainaclimatecontrolledlocation. Leavemediainitsoriginalwrapperuntilyouarereadytouseit.Thislimitstheexposureofthe mediatomoisturechangesthatcandegradeitsperformance. Whenmovingmediafromastorageenvironmenttotheprinter,allow24hoursforthemediato adjusttothehumidityofthenewenvironmentbeforeusingit.

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 PaperDustandContaminants Itisextremelyimportantnottosacrificequalityforcostwhenchoosingpaperforhighvolumeprinting. Paperthatcontainsorgeneratesexcessivepaperdustorcontaminantscancausefeedandjamissues. Theissuescanbeintermittentandveryhardtodiagnose. Othercontaminantsincludeadhesivecoatingresidueandloosefibersfrompaperwithpoorcutquality orimproperpackaging. RecycledPaper Itisveryimportanttobaseyourdecisiontopurchaserecycledpaperon thespecificationsinsteadoftheprice.Hugedifferencesinthequalityof recycledpapersexist.Whatmayseemlikeacostsavingsattimeof purchasemayendupcostingcountlesshoursoflostproductivityand printerdowntime. Recycledpapermadeusingalessexpensivechemicalcleaningprocess maycostlesstopurchasethanpapersthatgothroughamorethoroughcleaning.Unfortunately,the lessexpensiveprocessmaynotremovecontaminantssuchasglueadhesive.Thesecontaminantscan causefeedandprintqualityissues. Agoodexampleofthisisadhesivecoatingusedforsheetsoflabels.Thisadhesivecanleavearesidueif itgetspressedoutduringthefusingprocess.Itcanandwillsticktothefuserheatroll,resultinginprint defectsonthebacksideofprints.Buildupofcontaminantsisoneoftheleadingcausesofservicecalls. Smoothness Thedegreeofsmoothnessofmediadirectlyaffectsprintquality. Ifthemediaistoorough: Thetonerdoesnotfusetothepapercorrectly,resultinginpoorprintquality. Thetonerusuallyfuseswelltothemediapeaks,butinconsistentlytothevalleys. Ifthemediaistoosmooth: Tonermaynotbeabletofusetothemedia,resultingindropoutsorsmears. Feedproblemsmayresult. Smoothnessmustbebetween100and400Sheffieldunits(SUs),butsmoothnessbetween100and 250SUsproducesthebestprintquality.

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 WeightandSize Inappropriatemediaweightandsizecanleadtojamsandmisfeeds.Youcanusetheweights mentionedinthistopicasaruleofthumb.AlwayscheckyourprintersOwnersManualforspecifics. Seebelowforsomegeneralconsiderations. BestPerformance:MostDellworkgrouplaserprintersautomaticallyfeedmediabetween60to176 g/m2(16to47lb.bond).Forbestperformance,use75g/m2(20lb.bond)grainlongpaper. LightStock:Medialighterthan60g/m2(16lb.)mightnotbestiffenoughtofeedproperly: Jamscouldresultfromthemediatearingorcrumplinginthepath. Misfeedscouldresultfromtheprinterpickupupmultiplesheets. HeavyStock:Mediaheavierthat176g/m2mightbetooheavytonegotiatethebendsandturnsinthe mediapath. Someprintersrequirethatcardstockloadinthemultipurposefeeder(MPF). StandardandSpecialSizes:MostmediatrayscanacceptstandardletterandA4media. LegalsizeandotherlongermediamayrequireaspecialtrayorMPF. EnvelopesshouldalwaysbeloadedintheMPF. Ifyouwanttoprintonmaterialsnarrowerthan182x257mm(7.2"x10.12"),thebasisweight mustbegreaterthanorequalto90g/m2(24lb.bond).

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Review
Reviewthesummaryofthistopicbeforetakingtheselfchecktoseehowwellyoumasteredthetopic. Support.dell.comprovides: Driversanddownloads Technicalsupportandproductinformation DellForums DellSolutionsNetwork(DSN) Whenusingthedecisiontrees,DSNrecordsthetroubleshootingstepsyoutake.AjournalIDlets technicalsupportagentsreviewyourtroubleshootingandfindasolutionmorequickly. ErrormessagesonDellworkgrouplaserprintershaveafourlineformat,eventhoughtheLCDcanonly displaytwolinesatatime. Thefirstorsecondlinecontains: o Asixdigitcode o Abriefdescription Thethirdandfourthlinescontainalongersetofexplanatorytext.

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 Youcantroubleshootprinterissuesusingasimilarapproachtotroubleshootinganyotherissue. Theinitialproblemdescriptionmaynotdescribetheactualsituationwellenoughforyouto resolvetheissue.Askingadditionalquestionscangainmoreinformation. Mostprinterissuesfallintooneofseveralbroadcategories: Jamsandmisfeeds Networkconnectivity Perception PowerandPOST Printquality Software Dellworkgrouplasershavetwodiagnosticmodes: Customermodeisaccessibletocustomers. Developer/CEmodeisreservedfortrainedandqualifiedtechnicians. Printerdiagnosticsarebuiltintotheprinterfirmware. Digitalinput(DI)tests(sensors) Digitaloutput(DO)tests(sensors,motors,andothercomponents) Manualfeedtestsrunwithnosensorinteraction.Themediafeedscompletelythroughthe pathwithnogapbetweenpages.

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 Misfeedsandjams Misfeedfailureofthemediatoenterthefeedpathcorrectly Jamanerrorconditionthatoccurswhenasensorindicatestheunexpectedpresenceor absenceofmedia Misfeedsarelikelytobecausedby: Wornordirtytakeup(orpick)rollers Inappropriateprinterorprinterdriversettings Improperlyloadedmedia Inappropriatemedia Becausemisfeedscanresultinjams,theysharemanyofthesamecauses.Additionalcausesof jamsinclude: Motors Sensors Toner Whenlookingforthejamlocation,rememberthatthesensorindicatedintheerrorcodeonly detectedthatajamhadoccurred.Thesourceofthejammaybebeforeorafterthesensorinthe feedpath. Whenclearingjams,besuretoclearthelengthofthefeedpath.Jamscanresultfromdebrisinthe path,andtheycangeneratemoredebris,especiallyiftheydamagethemedia. Dontforgettocheckthemedia.Mostjamsarecausebyinappropriate,damaged,orimproperly storedmedia.

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 Imagequalityissuescanresultfrommorethanonecondition: Contamination Configuration Devicefailures Mediaquality Userexpectationsandperceptions Noiseissuescanresultfromanymovingpartintheprinter. Mediacharacteristicsthatcanaffectprintqualityandcausejamsinclude: Curlthetendencyofmedia,especiallypaper,tocurveatitsedges.Itusuallyresultsfrom excessmoisturecontent. FiberContent Paperdesignedforlaserprintersisusuallymadefrom100%chemicallypulpedwood. Theamountoffabric,suchascotton,apapercontainsiscalleditsragcontent. Ragpapersmaybeestheticallypleasing,buttheycandecreaseprintquality. Graindirection Moisturecontent PaperDustandContaminants RecycledPaper Smoothness Weightandsize

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Review

Introduction
Congratulationsonfinishingthiscourse! Onlytwostepsremain: 1. Reviewthefollowingpagestopreparefortheassessment. 2. Passtheassessmentwithascoreof80%orhigher.

Module1(IntroductiontoWorkgroupPrinting)
Installlaserprintersinasafe,accessiblelocationwithadequateventilation. Allowforadequateventilation. Makesurethesurfaceisstableandcansupporttheweightoftheprinter. Makesurealltrays,doors,andpanelsareaccessible. DonotuseapowerstriporUPS. Thequalitiesthatmakeaprinteraworkgroupprinterhavealotincommonwithwhatmakesa computeraserver. Workgrouplaserprintersservelargegroupsofpeopleandaredesignedtofunctionwellunder heavyworkloads. Multifunctionprintersincorporateascannerandfaxmodemintotheprinter. Printingtoaworkgrouplaserprinterinvolvesmanypotentialpointsoffailure. Theclientsystem Thenetworkinfrastructure Theprinterselectronicsubsystem(ESS) Theprintersimagingengine Theprintersmediahandlingsubsystem Thephysicalmedia

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Module2(PrintingProcess)
Applicationsinteractwiththeoperatingsystem,whichinteractswiththedrivertocommunicatewith theprinter. Userscanconfiguretheprinterdriverwithdialogboxes. Settingsfromthedialogboxesareappliedinaspecifichierarchy. PDLs(PageDescriptionLanguages) PDLsdescribehowaprintedpageshouldlooktotheprinter. Dellworkgrouplaserprinterscan: ConnectdirectlytoaprintserverusingaUSBcable Connecttoaprintserveroverthenetwork Functionastheirownprintserverwhenconnectedtoanetwork Xerographyisastandardizedtechnology,butspecificdetailsmayvaryamongprinters. Charge Expose Develop Transfer Neutralize Fuse Clean ColorPrinting Printersuseasubtractiveprocesstocreatecolor.Themorecolors,thedarkertheimage. Dellprintersusetwodifferentcompositingmethods: 1. Rotarycompositing Allfourcolortonercartridgesmountinacylinder. Eachcartridgerotatespasttheimagingdrum. Colorcompositesonanintermediatebelt. Thedevelopedimagetransfersfromthebelttothemedia. 74

 2. Tandemxerography Printsallfourcolorssequentially,usingseparatechargerollers,drums,andtransferrollers foreachcolor

5000seriescolorlasersuseavariantformoftandemxerography. Eachcolorimagesontoaseparatedrum. Twointermediarydrums(IDT1)compositeyellowwithblackandcyanwithmagenta. Anothertransferdrum(IDT2)compositesthetwocolorimagesfromtheintermediary drums. ThemediapicksupthecompositedimagefromIDT2. Themediapathistheroutethemediafollowsthroughtheprinter. Rollerskeepthemediamovingthroughthefeedpath.Eachprinterhasauniquesetofrollers. Thefuserassemblyiscomprisedoftheheatrollerandthepressureroller. Duplexersenableprinterstoprintonbothsidesofthemedia. Theexittrayreceivesthefinisheddocuments.Someprintershavemultipleoutputbins. Sensorsatvariouslocationsdetectthepresenceorabsenceofmediaandcancause: Afalsepaperouterrorifthesensorcannotdetectthepresenceofmediainthetray Afalsejamiftheprinterthinksithasmediaandanothersensorreportsthatthemediadidnot arriveordepartasexpected

Module3(NetworkingWorkgroupPrinters)
AllDellworkgrouplaserprinterssupportanEthernetconnection.Manyalsoofferanoptionalwireless adapter. Early3000and5000seriesprintersuseaUSBdongleinstalledintotheprintersmultiprotocol card(MPC).TheMPCisaseparateoptionin3000seriesprinters. Themostrecent5000seriesprinterssupportawirelessadapterthatinstallsdirectlyintoaslot intheprinterssystemboard.Thecardsupportsbothadhocandinfrastructure802.11b/g networks. 75

 Location Networkedlaserprintersrequireastable,wellventilatedlocationwhereuserscaneasily retrieveprintjobsandreplenishmedia. Printserverconnectionoptionsinclude: ConnectingdirectlytoaprintserverusingaUSBorparallelcable Connectingtoaprintserveroverawiredorwirelessnetwork Connectingdirectlytoawiredorwirelessnetworkandusetheprintersinternalprintserver DynamicHostControlProtocol(DHCP) DellworkgrouplaserprintersdefaulttoDHCP,butyoucansetastaticIPaddressifneeded. AllDellworkgrouplaserprintersfeatureaWebserver(EWS)embeddedintheirfirmware. TheEWSenablesyoutomonitorandmanagetheprinterremotely. YoucanaccomplishanytaskthroughtheEWSthatyoucanaccomplishthroughtheprinters menusystem. ColorTrackwasoriginallyimplementedinthedriverandsufferedthelimitationsofadriverbased solution. BecauseColorTrack2residesontheprinter,itoffersmuchtightercontrolovercolor printingthantheoriginalversion. OpenManagePrinterManager(OMPM)isrecommendedformanaginglargeprinterfleets.Itisa serverbasedapplicationanddatabasethat: MonitorsDellandnonDellprintersonthenetwork Consolidatesthedatainasinglelocation Providesconfigurablereportsandalerts Facilitatescommunicationwithdell.comtoreorderconsumables

Module4(TroubleshootingWorkgroupPrinters)
Support.dell.comprovides: Driversanddownloads Technicalsupportandproductinformation 76

 DellForums DellSolutionsNetwork(DSN) Whenusingthedecisiontrees,DSNrecordsthetroubleshootingstepsyoutake. AjournalIDletstechnicalsupportagentsreviewyourtroubleshootingandfindasolutionmore quickly. ErrormessagesonDellworkgrouplaserprintershaveafourlineformat,eventhoughtheLCDcanonly displaytwolinesatatime. Thefirstorsecondlinecontains: o Asixdigitcode o Abriefdescription Thethirdandfourthlinescontainalongersetofexplanatorytext. Youcantroubleshootprinterissuesusingasimilarapproachtotroubleshootinganyotherissue. Theinitialproblemdescriptionmaynotdescribetheactualsituationwellenoughforyouto resolvetheissue.Askingadditionalquestionscangainmoreinformation. Mostprinterissuesfallintooneofseveralbroadcategories: o Jamsandmisfeeds o Networkconnectivity o Perception o PowerandPOST o Printquality o Software Printerdiagnosticsarebuiltintotheprinterfirmware. Digitalinput(DI)tests(sensors) Digitaloutput(DO)tests(sensors,motors,andothercomponents) Manualfeedtestsrunwithnosensorinteraction.Themediafeedscompletelythroughthe pathwithnogapbetweenpages. Misfeedsarelikelytobecausedby: Wornordirtytakeup(orpick)rollers Inappropriateprinterorprinterdriversettings Improperlyloadedmedia

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 Becausemisfeedscanresultinjams,theysharemanyofthesamecauses.Additionalcausesofjams include: Motors Sensors Toner Whenlookingforthejamlocation,rememberthatthesensorindicatedintheerrorcodeonlydetected thatajamhadoccurred.Thesourceofthejammaybebeforeorafterthesensorinthefeedpath. Whenclearingjams,besuretoclearthelengthofthefeedpath.Jamscanresultfromdebrisin thepath,andtheycangeneratemoredebris,especiallyiftheydamagethemedia. Dontforgettocheckthemedia.Mostjamsarecausebyinappropriate,damaged,or improperlystoredmedia. Imagequalityissuescanresultfrommorethanonecondition: Contamination Configuration Devicefailures Mediaquality Userexpectationsandperceptions Noiseissuescanresultfromanymovingpartintheprinter. Mediacharacteristicsthatcanaffectprintqualityandcausejamsinclude: Curl Fibercontent Graindirection Moisturecontent Paperdustandcontaminants Recycledpaper Smoothness Weightandsize

Conclusion
ThisconcludestheReviewmodule. 78