Wednesday, July 6, 2011

"GHOSTING" ON YOUR LASER PRINTS EXPLAINED

"Ghosting" is the appearance of multiple lighter shaded repeated images printed on the same page. It can appear as a graphic or a block of text that appears multiple times on the same page, with each image a little lighter than the previous one.  Most ghosting issues relate to a problem with either the imaging drum, the imaging kit, or the transfer belt.  The following is a brief description of the actual mechanics of the printing process.
 During printing, the toner is transfered from the cartridge by charging areas of the imaging drum with positive and negative voltages. This in turn attracts the toner to adhere while the paper rolls around the drum assembly, thus transferring of toner powder in the form of an image onto the paper. At the end of a drum assemblies usable duty cycle, some residue toner can remain on the drum due to charging irregularities. This residual toner might be transferred to the same page again and again as the drum rolls across it. This can be described as "ghosting".


  As with the imaging drum, other attributes that cause ghosting can be the imaging kit or transfer belt that are near the end of their duty cycle and starting to malfunction. Many printers can display the estimated remaining life left of these specific parts. Once determined to be at the end of their duty cycle, replacing either of these may address the problem. In most instances imaging drums can be replaced by the end user, but replacement of an imaging kit or transfer belt may very well require a professional repair technician to perform this service on some makes of imaging machines.


 Another possible cause of ghosting is an inconsistent power supply. As the imaging drum becomes electrically charged during printing, this causes the toner to stick to the drum in certain areas. If the power supply to the drum is variable, it can cause printing problems. Replacement of the internal power supply has been shown to correct ghosting. It's even possible that a faulty ac power receptacle could be causing the ghosting. Plugging the printer into a different power recepticle can sometimes alleviate this problem. If it can be determined that all ac power recepticles at the location have a problem supplying constant adequate ac power, another option would be to use an uninterruptible power supply (UPS)with battery back-up, which can regulate the power input to the printer to more consistent performance standards.
DR. TONER, INC.
13550 S.W. 120 STREET,
SUITE 406A-133
MIAMI, FL. 33186
305 776 3308