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LaserWriter 16/600 PS Problem

Kashchei

Kashchei

macrumors 65816
Original poster
I own two LaserWriter 16/600s and both have recently done something that has left me baffled. After years of unproblematic use, both printers recently started printing very dirty pages. The print itself is weak in places with dark streaks of toner along one paper edge. There is also a fine dusting of toner all over the entire page, so that it seems that I am printing onto grey paper, although it is standard white laser printer paper.

Have my LaserWriters reached the end of their lives or is there something I can do to bring them back? Any help will be greatly appreciated and thank you in advance!
 
re: LaserWriter 16/600 PS Problem

yeah, old post, but...

I've got the exact same problem, anyone have any ideas?

Replacing the toner cart with a new HP unit gave no joy, same symptoms - weak/broken text, overall gray "dirty" page with some streaking. Very discouraging as the printer otherwise works great. I really hate to landfill this workhorse for some curable problem.

TiA

dan k
 
As you saw, I never got any replies and eventually the problem got worse so that I could no longer use the old workhorses. I think there must be a rubber gasket deep in the bowels of the printer that has grown old and allowed toner to leak. I can't help but think that there is a fix for this problem. Either the people who knew of such a fix never saw my post, or they didn't have the time to tell me it was a lost cause. In either case, I bought a $200 Konica-Minolta color laser printer that connects via USB. I figure I can probably recoup the cost of this printer by selling my unused toner cartridges for the 16/600.

Good luck with your printer, and if you have a better outcome than I did, please let me know!
 
MisterMe said:
The toner is fully contained within the replaceable toner cartridge.
Click to expand...

Do you have any idea why we are having the same problem? It sounds like you know more about this than me. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
 
Kashchei said:
Do you have any idea why we are having the same problem? It sounds like you know more about this than me. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
A laser printer is a very sophisticated piece of equipment. Problems cannot be diagnosed remotely and most certainly not over an Internet fan site.

Absent a service call, the first thing that you should do is replace the cartridge. Most of the parts that can wear out are contained in the cartridge. They are are replaced whenever you replace the cartridge.

Now let's face a few facts. The LaserWriter 16/600 dates back to 1994. That's 16 years. The printer has given faithful service for as long as most people in your office can remember. The OEM which I will assume was Canon built it like an anvil. However, even anvils eventually wear out and must be replaced.

It is all good and fine to try to fix the printer. However, it is simply not worth it to put too much effort into that ancient printer. You can buy a small monochrome laser printer now for not too much more than a toner cartridge for the old one. You can buy a quality genuine PostScript 3 color laser printer for substantially less than the price of the LaserWriter.
 
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