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HP Colour LaserJet Fading Fix
  The Problem Illustrated (and incentive to fix it):
Here is a “before” and an “after” set of photos. Notice how the “before” image appears washed out and with a distinctive green tint. What magenta (red) there is in the photo is concentrated in the middle; the edges are even more green. The “after” image looks, well, wonderful.
Some Background and The Usual Warnings
 My HP Color LaserJet 2605dn printer is about 16 months old. A few months ago, I noticed that the pictures it printed started looking washed out. I tried changing the magenta cartridge, for all photos seemed to have a green cast. That did absolutely nothing. I figured as much, as the “HP Easy Printer Care” program, and the printer’s internal web pages, said there were several hundred pages left to go on all my cartridges. Updating the firmware also failed to fix the problem. Resetting the printer to its default settings also accomplished little. I tried recalibrating the printer (see step 24, below) to no avail. NOTE: try this first yourself just in case it is the problem with your printer – will save you all the trouble in steps 1 to 23! Thankfully, an Internet search turned up an article on FixYa that described the problem exactly. A Google search on “2605 faded colors” also shows articles about it at HP’s website (you’ll have to look at the cached versions of the pages as it seems you need to log in to HP in order to see the actual articles). Don Thompson wrote a wonderful article on fixing this issue which he put on the HP support forum; I have obtained his permission to include it here in this article – its what I followed all those years ago to fix my printer for the first time.
>> Fading Red Tones on Color LaserJet 2600s by Don Thompson 2007
 An example of how an image is "written" onto the photoreceptive drum in a laser printer. The problem is this: dust on the ‘beam alignment lenses (mirrors)‘ which are buried deep within the printer – the dust prevents the laser light reflecting off of them properly and thus toner is not collected up and put onto your printout. If you attempt this repair feat, then:
- Make sure your warranty is up;
- Try cleaning the plastic reflectors behind each toner cartridge first (see Kevin’s comment below)
- Try recalibrating the printer (see step 24, below)
- Consider calling HP and asking them about any service notes on this problem
- rumour has it there is one which may get you a free replacement printer
- update on 4 Mar 2008: confirmed with HP support in UK that they will pickup, fix and return your printer (or a refurbished one) free
- update on 10 Nov 2008: be sure to tell HP you are calling for the “fading” fix
- call 0870-8422339, choose option 2 and then 3, and state your printer serial number
- or, call cheaper on 01344-36000 then ask for technical support for printers
- (thanks to Say No To 0870 for the cheaper phone number!)
- Set aside several hours without screaming kids around;
- Be confident in your technical abilities;
- Don’t rush; and,
- Be very observant of where things are before taking them out.
I took photos at each step of this process for two reasons:
- to put them on this page to aid you; and,
- to refer to them when putting the printer back together to make sure everything was as it should be.
Be Warned:
- You may screw something up and be left with a non-functioning printer. e.g. you might pull a bit too much on a wire and it breaks;
- There are high-voltages inside the printer – You must unplug the printer from the mains before starting any work on the printer; and,
- You undertake all this at your own risk.
- I did this on my 2605dn (twice!) and I only hazard a wild guess that it will work on similar models (like 2600, 2605n, 2605dtn, …)
(Gosh, you think I grew up in North America or something – over here in Europe we just get stuck into things and damn the consequences!)
Elapsed Time:
I started at 15h30 and got to the optical box at 17h16 — just under two hours; but I was taking photos along the way. Reassembly started right after cleaning at 17h30 and finished about an hour later (I took a break for dinner and putting my kids in the bath and to bed), so this is approximate.
Preparation:
- Clear space on a desk and give yourself some room to work;
- Send your young kids to grandma’s (older ones can stay but only if they promise to help);
- Ask your wife/husband/partner to make you a lovely cup of tea.
Tools needed:
| A Phillips screwdriver (the one with the cross-shaped end) |
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| A pair of pincers to grab screws that are a bit too tucked away to grab with your fingers |
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| A label maker; I have a Brother PT-65 P-touch “Home & Hobby” |
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| Scissors (to cut your labels to a tiny size, to fit on the cable connectors) |
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| Cotton swabs (“Q-tips”) |
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Before You Start:
Please ensure you have tried the other things listed above first! Perhaps a quick clean of the plastic reflectorsbehind each toner cartridge is all you need.
Disassembly and Cleaning:
Step 1:
 Unplug printer from the mains and detach your USB or Ethernet cable; take out the paper tray and all the cartridges (this makes the printer lighter and easier to handle).
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Step 2:
  Turn the printer around to look at its back. Remove the paper tray cover at the bottom and the paper holder tray at the top. Both just pull off.
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Step 3:
 Undo the screws on the back panel, including the one just below the USB and Ethernet ports. Put these screws into their own pile (later you will have another pile for all the screws you take out of the inner panel. Its a handy trick to help you ensure you put back all the screws you take out.
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Step 4:
 Pull the back panel off gently by holding it at the bottom and tilting it out and up.
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Step 5:
 Take a photo of the circuit board and wiring — you’ll want to refer to it when putting things back together, just to be sure you have done it all correctly!
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Step 6:
  Pull the right-hand side (as looking at printer from front) panel off, again it tilts upwards – note the way it slots and clips in (the middle plastic guide at the top of the panel). Remember that for when it comes time to slide it back on later. Gawk at the wonders of the printer. The reason for taking this panel off was to make it easier to pull out the wires from the back later; and because if you’re dismantling the printer, you might as well see how the whole thing looks naked. 
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Step 7:
  Start taking off the cover of the left-hand side by first undoing the screw that is recessed in the handle/indentation at the bottom of the left-hand side’s panel. Then, pull the beige panel piece off, leaving the larger, grey panel piece for now.
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Step 8:
  Okay, now take off that grey panel piece by tilting it up and sliding it off (it has the same mechanism as the other side). Gawk again at the wonders of your printer. This is the high-voltage side. If you didn’t unplug your printer as I told you to, then you will be now convulsing on the floor and sporting a new hairdo.
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Step 9:
 Squint when really close to the circuit board on the back of your printer and you will see that each cable goes into a connector that is labelled something like “J106″. You will soon be taking these cables out and later you will want to put them back in – at the same place! So, print out labels which you can attach to the cables. My label maker let me print out super-small letters and on two lines. You want small labels because the connectors are not that big. Here’s what I printed out (the ? or Enter or Return key is used to tell the label maker to go to the next line): J106 J104 J103 J102 J101? J108 J107 J105 J110 (My label maker wouldn’t let me print out any more than that in one go; so, being lazy, I didn’t bother labeling the very last cable connector). Then, use scissors to cut each connector name out.
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Step 10:
 Now, pull each cable connector out, one at at time, and put the correct label onto it. Note that the purple cables are attached to a plastic block (some black, some white) which is pushed into a plastic holder, like a small box – think of a baseball with purple strings sitting snugly in a glove. Pull firmly on the purple cables (perhaps wiggling slightly side to side) near to where they go into the plastic block, this should remove the block from its plastic holder. Do not use tools, for fear of pulling out individual cables, or worse, pulling off the outter plastic box, instead of the block in which the purple cables are (as Piper, in the comments below, did).
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Step 11:
  Carefully detach the data cables, too, and unthread them from the plastic holder (you will soon be taking off the plastic holders). The data cables to the circuit board on the right side of the back panel also pull out quite easily and reveal a hidden screw! I didn’t bother labelling these as the data cables all stayed in the right order when disconnected.
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Step 12:
 Gently pull out all the cables from the two black cable trays. You’ll see that there are three layers of cables: thicker power cables in their own clips, and two bunches of thinner purple cables with some zip fasteners around them every so often. Its a bit of a (un-)weaving exercise…
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Step 13:
 Pull the empty trays to the side to unfasten them and then take them out completely – be sure no stray wire gets snagged by them!
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Step 14:
  Unscrew the back panel – no need to undo the two circuit boards themselves – they are both attached to a larger metal panel. Note that there is one screw that is in horizontally on the top-left (this is why you took off the side panel!). Note that your printer may not have the extra memory card inserted as I have in mine (see picture).
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Step 15:
 Pull out the back panel with the two circuit boards on it. Be sure that no cable is snagged, or left attached.
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Step 16:
 Ah-ha! There it is! That is the optical box we’ve been working so hard to find! Three more screws and we’ll have it…
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Step 17:
  Okay, you found the two screws holding the optical box at the top; but where is the third screw that I mentioned? Tip: tip the printer so you look at the bottom of it, where the paper tray usually goes. See them? Two shinny plates. They bend when you pinch them with your fingers. Now, on my printer there was a screw beneath just one of them. Feel lucky? Which one will you take off? Were you lucky? Or maybe your printer has a screw underneath both… The screw holds the bottom part of the optical box. Take out the third (and maybe forth) screw.
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Step 18:
 Gently lift up the optical box and remove the pair of data cables that go to it. Again, I didn’t bother labeling these as they stayed in the same position/order and wouldn’t get muddled up when I reassembled everything.
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Step 19:
 Pull out the optical box and undo the screw that is in the middle of it. Be careful – there’s a spring in the box. Take off the cover and…
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Step 20:
   At last! There are the filthy mirrors that are the cause of this nightmare. If only HP has seen fit to seal this optical box then none of this would have been necessary… Okay, that wasn’t really a step, it was just some soap-boxing. Here is the real step 20: Clean the mirrors using dry cotton swabs!
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Step 21:
   Gawk at the wizardry of the optical box, its lasers and your nice shiny mirrors. Play with the flaps that cover the laser openings — don’t loose that spring which is between the flap mechanism that covers the laser diodes and the optical box.
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Step 22:
 Reverse everything and put it all back together again. Simple. Ha! Be sure that you seat the optical box back exactly right – ie. don’t leave it loose!  Putting those cables back in the plastic trays is the most challenging. Just remember to put the two bundles of purple wires in first (the largest bunch, which splits at the right side to go up and down, should be at the very back of the tray; the other bunch on top of it; and finally the power cables should fit into their special holders at the very edge of the trays).  Note carefully how to feed the data cable around the tray at the left side. Double check that you haven’t pinched any cables around corners, etc. Did you use up all the screws? I sure hope so, otherwise you’ll have to undo everything to find out where you missed them…
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Step 23:
 Underside of the printer; note the black grill on top left - that's the air intake for the fan. (optional) On the first anniversary of this page, and my second go at cleaning the mirrors (yup, they got dirty enough in the one year to warrant going through this lot all again), I decided to slap on a homemade air filter to the fan intake. Make sure you don’t have the paper tray installed; and then tip the machine onto its front, so that you are looking at the underside of it. You’ll see a black grill or grate.
 Vaccuum cleaner bag cut to fit over the grill, so it acts as an air filter. Get yourself a vacuum cleaner bag and cut it to fit over that grate. Use some cellotape to stick it in place. You may very well have to do as I did and cut little slits in the bag so it fits over the silly extruding bits of plastic. If I haven’t already said it, I’ll say it now: this printer is over engineered! Now tip the printer back to its normal position and install the paper tray. |
Step 24:
 Re-load the ink cartridges; paper and plug everything back in. You must now recalibrate the printer (this aligns all the lasers so the colours match up and don’t give you a blurry photo print). You can navigate your way through the printer’s front panel menu to force a calibration:
- Press the check mark key (screen shows “Main Menu – Reports”)
- Press right arrow key (“Main Menu – System Setup” shown)
- Press the check mark key (“System Setup – Language” is now shown)
- Press the right arrow key twice (“System Setup – Print Quality” is shown)
- Press the check mark key twice (“Calibrate Color – Calibrate Now”)
- Press the check mark key (“Press [v] to calibrate now”)
- Press the check mark key (calibration begins)
Alternatively, you can use the printer’s built-in web server over the Ethernet port to force an immediate recalibration (sorry, don’t know what you do via USB). |
Step 25:
 (optional) Unconnected Connectors and An Interesting Button…  While you had the covers off and the circuit boards exposed, did you notice that there are a few unconnected connectors and a “test” button? One connector is “IOT” and the other is “MCPU Writer”. After I reassembled and plugged everything in, I pressed the “test” button. I got a boring printout of colour lines.
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Step 26:
Please leave a comment below to say if this page helped you; or, if any steps were unclear. Happy colour printing! |
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Print This Page
My HP Color LaserJet 2605dn printer is about 16 months old. A few months ago, I noticed that the pictures it printed started looking washed out. I tried changing the magenta cartridge, for all photos seemed to have a green cast. That did absolutely nothing. I figured as much, as the “HP Easy Printer Care” program, and the printer’s internal web pages, said there were several hundred pages left to go on all my cartridges. Updating the firmware also failed to fix the problem. Resetting the printer to its default settings also accomplished little. I tried recalibrating the printer (see step 24, below) to no avail. NOTE: try this first yourself just in case it is the problem with your printer – will save you all the trouble in steps 1 to 23! Thankfully, an Internet search turned up an article on FixYa that described the problem exactly. A Google search on “2605 faded colors” also shows articles about it at HP’s website (you’ll have to look at the cached versions of the pages as it seems you need to log in to HP in order to see the actual articles). Don Thompson wrote a wonderful article on fixing this issue which he put on the HP support forum; I have obtained his permission to include it here in this article – its what I followed all those years ago to fix my printer for the first time.
I have the 2600n, and cyan does not print at all; have done all the cleaning but there’s still no cyan!! Any idea what else could be wrong?
I can’t believe that no-one has challenged HP on this issue. I have owned several lasers (and inkjets) and worked with many more. They all have their quirks but they have given good and reliable service. The mirror dusting issue on the 2605 is clearly a design fault – users should not have to dismantle a machine to this extent in order to fix it. HP will say that they should get a professional to do it – but that simply replaces the bother of doing it with a heavy fee, and in this day and age, no real guarantee that the job will be done well.
No HP, this is a ‘poor design’ issue.
I rang their technical helpline and spoke to a ‘technician’ in India who told me (I think!) that I could not get help without paying for it as the guarantee had expired. But he also told me that there was nothing in the HP database regarding this issue, therefore there was NO SUCH COMMON FAULT! I told him that I had raised this issue when it was in guarantee and that they couldn’t help me then either.
I asked him to escalate my complaint to the Customer Relations Dept. I await a response.
Perhaps more users should complain to HP about this.
I will keep you informed.
Now I have a 1-millimeter-thick vertical blue line on the rightside of the page, 1.75″ from right edge of page.
Houston, we have lift-off!
Woo-hoo!
Thank you!
I’m buying you a beer.
(I’ve heard of this fix in two other places, but this is the one place that I could actually FIND it.)
PS: To update the fix to my 51.22 error that I posted about a while ago: I forgot to reattach the two white tapes to the underside of the optics box upon reinstalling it. I also almost forgot to reattach the black clip on the top of the optic box. I focused too much on getting the box to settle into place then jumped into the circuit-board panel. So: don’t forget the optic box connections!
PPS: I found the whole process to be very easy, interesting and nice.
I’m impressed that the tiny amount of dust in that laser box was enough to mess things up so completely — I had ZERO magenta. The mirror did have a light coating on it — that was enough to shut it down, apparently. I would also like to see what those lasers look like in action sometime! It’s pretty in there! I didn’t have a vaccuum cleaner bag to cut up but I want to do this asap to prevent further dust.
My problem was bad color (mostly magenta) and then NO magenta AT ALL. But it still seems like the fix is this mirror-dusting. So I did everything. My mirrors appeared quite clean — the lower one — seems like it might be the magenta — was LIGHTLY dusty. There was a bit of red toner sprinkled. I cleaned everything, blasted with compressed air. Reassembled. Everything went smooth and easy.
I now have a 51.22 error.
Googled that and it’s the magenta scanner. What’s it mean? I’ll go back in and redo everything now…
Thanks everyone! JP
Thanks a lot, very useful. Saved the day.
We have a Color Laser Jet 1600 that started exhibiting the problems above. I took it apart last night spent about 2 hours total. I cleaned the primary rotating mirrors, the secondary mirrors and all the plastic optics. The Cyan was nearly white on the sides for the test print before and now is completely uniform. I did break some plastic tabs on the wire router, but isn’t that what wire ties are made for…. Thank you so very much for this detailed description of the problem and how to fix it. Merry Christmas!
Walleye John
Thank you, thank you! Your instructions worked a treat and I am so happy. I’m now going to buy you a beer!
xx Jon
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Sadly, I had to go through everything twice to get it right. (The first time the optical box must not have been in straight because I was getting the same half-page prints as some of the others here. Pay attention to step 22!) Anyway, all is now good and I can get to work on my Christmas letter without having green-tinted faces!
NOTE TO OTHERS TRYING THIS: Definitely run a test-print before you put it completely back together. Also, I’m glad I took the time to label the cables since I did end up doing it twice. Next year (or whenever I have to do this again) it will be much simpler. So glad I don’t have to buy yet another color laser printer!
Cheers!
Thank you so much for these detailed instructions! Just spent three hours this afternoon following them, having put the job off for over a year. No problems encountered, and now enjoying crisp solid colour in all parts of the page again. Just in time for the Cristmas newsletters.. Andrew, I see you are in Whitchurch; I’m just down the road in Winchester. Thanks again!
Another satisfied customer here. I’m thrilled! The whole thing took me about two hours but it will go much faster if there is a next time.
I found removal of the cable trays to be tricky and in fact I broke one of the attachment posts off the smaller L-shaped one. But I was still able to get everything back where it goes.
After messing with the optical box, the color alignment was a couple mm off, but after a calibration it looks good. A HUGE thanks for posting this – it definitely saved me from having to dump a couple hundred bucks worth of toner for pennies on the dollar on craigslist, not to mention the purchase price of another printer.
Happy holidays to all my cleaning fans!
If you feel particularly generous for this help, then I also like Glenfiddich and Bowmore whisky
~Andrew~
Vielen Dank für die Anleitung. Sie hat toll geholfen.
Das schweierigste dabei war, die Anleitung auf Deutsch zu übersetzen.
Ich habe den Lüfter mit dem Sauger vor dem Zusammenbau noch gesäubert
und die Lasereinheit mit Druckluft zusätzlich gereinigt.
I cant locate the flaps of the laser however, I did take it all apart as you advised and cleaned the four mirror’s and thats all I did and put it all back together again. The print out is still the same, ‘fading from left to right of the paper’ and thats just with the black colour. With all the other colours, I dont see a hint of red ‘magenta. The remaining two colours of Cyan and Yellow seem to be printing good without any fading. By the way, all the toners are brand new.
Just fix my CM1017mfp. Works like new. I deliberately left out the screw behind the board with the ethernet port and memory slot on it so that I do not need to remove the board next time. I use a whitepaper pen and thin permanent marker to mark the connectors. Thank you.
Took it all apart again and redid the whole thing…. Result!!! Wont think twice about doing this again!
I paid someone to do this for me and it improved big time. A year or so later (having been off line for a few months) I tried out your solution. Cleaned the mirrors but I must have done something wrong as I dont get anything printing now!!! Help anyone!!!
HI Phil
Didnt follow the thread to see if you had a reply, but might be able to help.
Two reasons why you have not printout. 1 – one or more connecters are not connected or inserted properly. 2 – The optical box is not positioned correctly. Try loosening its screws and forcing the box up to its highest position as allowed by the screws. It will only be a tiny amount but if the miniscule laser beam does not shine through the correct aperture, no light will fall on the paper, therefore no tner will stick. If this doesn’t work, try it in various other positions, e.g. fully left, fully right, fully down, central. But I bet the first one works. Good luck.
Did it in under an hour! Whewww… You shave alot of time off by instead of pulling all the cables out and labeling them. Just disconnect the 4 Ribbon cables on the side that stay in place for easy identification, the 1 purple wires connector going to the optical box and both power cables which are really easy to remember. then just lift the panel and leave it hanging off to the side. Not a very impressive and tech procedure but saved ALOT of time.
You’ve saved my printer! Thanks.
I assumed that the cleaning will also have to be done in the future, so I eliminated a few screws and wire guides to make the process a little faster next time. Also, I had someone help to hold the back plate out of the way so I didn’t have to remove 70% of the wire connections. I’m lazy, but I cleaned it in an hour. One bit of advice I would give is to make sure the mirror box is straight when you reattach it. You can view the magnifiers through the front of the printer by openning the door and removing all the print cartridges. Mine was a little off after reassembly and the black wasn’t printing correctly. I just had to loosen the 3 screw that held the mirror box and move it straight again. Problem solved. Thanks again!
Thank you my friend , it is awsome solution that worked perfect and saved us to pay 100USD to HP.
Thanks for the detailed instructions! The colors of my 2605dn have improved tremendously after cleaning the mirrors. What appeared to be critical in my printer is the positioning of the optical box. After the first try, the black color was not printed at one third of the paper; later on, after repositioning, all colors were very pale.
I think that a control or check step can be added to the reassembling procedure. I.e.: before replacing the back panel, the printer must be switched on. Two test prints must be made: the first one using the “test button” on the circuit board (the right one with connectors for most of the cables): this check provides information whether all 4 colors are printed over the whole paper; second, the “test monkey page” using the main menu, which provides information on color density. If these prints are not OK, the position of the optical box can be adjusted by unscrewing the three screws of this box a bit. All other parts, such as the circuit boards and side panels can remain in place ! Thereafter, these two print tests and, if necessary further adjustments of the optical box, can be repeated until the desired result has been achieved.
Not earlier than both prints are correct, the back panel must be replaced.
Greetings from the Netherlands !
That’s been frustrating me for ages. I had no trouble with your instructions. My mirrors didn’t look very dirty either, but it’s all looking good again now.
Thanks for your comprehensive instructions.
And yep, just in time for the Christmas letter!
Thank you so much!! We’ve been fighting with the bad magenta for over a year, and came across your site. Once I finally got down to the mirrors, they didn’t look dirty at all. A couple swipes with the Q-tips, and reassembly later, the printer works again (slight calibration issue, but better than no red at all!)! And, just in time for Christmas letters! Thank you!
Before putting the sides back on, I have tried to test the unit, and have the following problem. Error 57 re the fan (the one on the side or the one in the optic unt?)
The paper seems to enter the uptake unit above the cartridges, about 1/2 inch, and then stalls. I can force paper through, so that is not the source of the problem. Any suggestions is much appreciated.
Peggy z
I had to do this clean about a year ago, with unbeleivable results, but used a different set of instuctions from elsewhere
They were not as clear as yours
Your instructions are excellent, but this time i managed to do the job without removing all the cables from the black plastic holder that runs below the top cover, which saves a lot of time, it just needs juggling down a little to expose the hidden screws.. There is a clip on the cable tray on the left hand side (from the back) which needs removing and replacing once the back PCB metal plate is re-installed
The multiway plugs are all different sizes so only go back in one way, so dont need to be labelled.
If your doing this for the first time you will be being really careful anyway, so there really is nothing to be scared of
Unless you are like a bull in a china shop there is little that can go wrong
Hope this helps others
Like many of the others, I thought I would have to junk my printer. I was a bit intimidated to take it all apart, but thanks to your instructions, I did it and had only 3 screws left over at the end of the process. I was a bit disappointed when I cleaned the mirrors. It seemed like nothing came off, so as I put it back together I didn’t have much faith that I had accomplished anything, but when I tried it out the Laserjet 2605dn performed like new. I am very appreciative of you taking the time to set up the directions. Thanks.
Another happy customer!
You’ve done a great job of breaking down the steps and the photos are invaluable!
Thanks, I bought my 2605DN was the demo unit and it never really printed color well. Had if for a 2 years or so, replaced the HP carts with off-Brand and it got even worse. Put in new carts from HP (expensive) and it did not fix anything. Did the mirror cleaning bit, sure enough the mirrors were coated with dost and probably toner from the cheat carts. Now it works great, thanks for the info.
You have saved yet another printer!
I too had the problem where after doing the cleaning it would only print half way across the page.
I left all the panels off the machine, hooked up the power (being VERY careful not to touch anything in the open panels) and pressed the test button (approx 1 sec press) and got it to print out those lines which were only reaching half way across the page on cyan and black!
Read a bit more… Aha…. optic box not seated correctly – removed all, re-seated optic box, re-installed back tray – re connected and test button again – Viola! Perfect lines across the page!
Re-fitted all the panels and Viola! Like a new one! only…. better!
Many thanks!
I just cleaned the mirrors because the magenta wasn’t working correctly and now I get the error message 51.23. I opened it back up to make sure I had all the connections correct and pushed in properly. Put it all back together and it still says Error 51.23. I don’t know what to do now. Any suggestions?
Well having changed my toner catridges (was using compatibles) I of course found the problem was not the toner and was the mirrors as you described. The layer of dust on two of the mirrors was clear to the naked eye, no torch needed here. Task took 2 hours (15 minutes of which was removing that pesky cable guide, felt quite foolish when I found that small lug and depressed it). I was prepared to ignore the fact that I forgot to replace the small cable guide (found it on the kitchen table) but of course once printer was connected it came up with error 51.22 and then error 51.23 which are internal error messages for magenta and yellow lasers. Diagnosis – I hadn’t seated the ribbon cables properly from the mirror cage, at one end or the other. Time to disassemble and reassemble 45 minutes (with test print with all components exposed!). So VMT thanks for your comprehensive guide. Now I just need to recover those part used toner catridges from the bin.
Huh…The reported problem “Paper Jam at output bin” was gone dis-assembly and assembly the printer again.
Thanks for your detail instruction. After spending hours of work, I am able to clean mirrors within optical box. However, after assembly back the printer, the printer always echoes with “Jam in output bin” & “Open Door to clear jam” error. Actually, there’s no paper in the printing path. I have browsed through previous comments, but can’t find a solution. Can any one give me hints to fix this problem. Thanks
Thanks Andrew! I found this website over a year ago and it saved me trashing my HP Color Laserjet CM1017 MFP. Almost exactly 1 year to the day it needs to be cleaned again. I don’t remember step 23 last time. Did it help in delaying the inevitable at all?
Awesome help and fun too.
The color improved tremendously even though not much dust showed up on the q-tips.
Many, many thanks.
OMG I can’t believe it, the difference is amazing. This was actually much simpler than I had expected. I was thinking to buy another printer but now my HP Color Laserjet 1600 prints like when it was new!
There is a lot of wiring but all of it fairly obvious when you reassemble it again. The most difficult part for me was putting the plastic panels back on.
Thank you very much.
Please add another fixed printer to your list and enjoy your beer. Our printer is a Canon LBP 5000, but the differences were minor and mainly related to the outer cover. Once inside, everything matched and the job was easy. I spent a couple of hours on it, gave the printer a good clean as I worked, and it’s now running very nicely with excellent print quality. I used a bit of cheap dust mask to cover that pesky vent, so hopefully we should be good for a few more years.
Thanks again for saving us from chucking out a perfectly good printer, and also wasting the full set of new toner we bought to try and solve the problem.
Keywords for anyone else searching on this – canon i-sensys lbp5000 lbp5001 lbp 5000 5001 magenta fade uneven side
Wow! I was scared to attempt this, but after just buying new toner, thinking that might solve my fading magenta problem (which it didn’t), I just had to try. I did end up with an extra screw, and cannot figure out where it came from, but my father always fixed his own washing machines, and had a LOT of screws left over.
I worked in replicated optics for years, and think the quality of those red mirrors is wonderful. I suspect they have a vacuum coating of quartz to protect the surface. Yes, the cyan and magenta mirrors, facing up, were dirty, and the black and yellow mirrors were very clean. I just cleaned the dirty ones, and removed all the dust I could from the optical section. Scariest part was pulling out the wiring from the circuit board connectors. Such fine wires, but looking at the way the wires are crimped to the contacts, I was confident. On those data ribbon cables, one conductor on one ribbon had a metal pad folded back – I believe from the factory. I had to carefully bend it back down and hope for the best. I believe enough of the healthy part of the pad made contact, and the printer works, so it must be a good connection
Thank you everyone for your comments and corrections over the past years. And thank you Andrew. I hope you enjoy the beer.
Ken Hecker
Hi,
great descriptions… Just rescued a HP 2600n with your help!
greats from Portugal
Hello,
thank you for that incredible description. With it, it was easy to repair the printer. Now my printer works perfect!
my 2605DN for over 4 years now. I have cleaned the mirrors and lenses annually. Everytime I have had stellar results. I have had over 26,000 copies through this unit. I have succumbed to using aftermarket toner. It has been printing perfectly until now. I am showing over 25% toner left on only one cyan all other more in varying amounts. I have noticed by reviewing the cleaning procedures I seems I may have missed the square rotating mirrors. Am I going to have to tear it appart and clean those? Am I ready for a new fuser? This old girl has treated me well and had made me some money I hate to see her go.
Thanks for this writeup!!! I had a magenta cartridge go bad, dump a bunch of toner into the printer & start printing magenta down 1/2 the page. I replaced the cartridge but magenta wouldn’t print at all. These directions were easy to follow & after cleaning the optical box & reassembling…printing works better than ever!!!
The instructions were great. I think that I did not do something right though. I am not getting any color now at all.
Thank you for this. I was afraid I was going to fork out a couple hundred $$$ to replace or repair this beast. Mine actually lasted about 4 years before I had to do this. I’m going to print out this and shove it in with the other printer documentation I have. Have a beer on me!!!
Great instructions… I don’t look forward to doing hardware work at home; do enough at the office. But my 2605dn is showing the same issues described here.
A pint of beer? You should get an OBE for outstanding services to the printing public!!! Have a pint on me – it’s a great feeling to repair a piece of malfunctioning kit (and saves me getting a replacement printer).
Order of the Beer Enthusiast? Gladly received! I’ll have a T.E.A.
Many thanks. Red and yellow were very weak. Back to original brightness now. Both the red and yellow mirrors were dusty. Recommend cleaning optic box on a very sunny day with the light behind you.
Three points,
1. Look for the quick release cable clip that hold the two optic box data cables to the side wall. Saves disconnecting the cables from the optic box, provide you are careful.
2. Run a sharp pencil around the optic box before removing, to mark exact position. I managed to get very good colour alignment without calibration.
3. Remove the spring before the centre screw in the optic box.
Cheers.
Hi,
great descriptions… Just rescued a HP 2605dn with your help!
Greetings from Germany and cheers
Thank you for this site! I’m one of those who rarely use a color printer (still with the original toners with slight less than half full), so it was only after four years that I suddenly noticed magenta fading, and found this site. There was practically no dust except for the bottom mirror.
The wires and trays were the most difficult, followed by the screw at the bottom of the laser box.
As for contacting HP, I never tried, since I’m guessing I would have to clean it again in another 4 years, so better learn to do it, and it probably takes more time calling, shipping, etc. than disassembling. I also had an issue with a top-loading HP printer where dust would settle on the rubber roller and cause lots of misfeeds, and all HP told me was to purchase some padding, which didn’t help much.
I also had experience completely disassembling HP laptops to dust off fans and internals so it wasn’t too daunting. I still run my 6-year old HP laptop with fancy 3D compiz desktop in Linux with just a memory upgrade, after a major dust cleanup.
Dust is the most probable cause of all computer component malfunctions, and I’m glad I didn’t have to spend a dime, except losing 3 hours of my time.
Getting 2605dn second hand found that it wasn’t printing colour at all. Did the task and now we have colour – thanks.
Still some issues with colour balance especially on blue, and have inherited a non HP yellow so work still to do. Thanks again for your very comprehensive and straightforward instructions.