1. Unplug the printer and disconnect any cables. Remove the ink cartridges and any paper.

2. Lift and remove the covers on the right and left sides. Locate the index strip and remove the screw holding it in place.

3. Stick the Torx screwdriver through the exposed hole in the index strip and loosen it just a bit to remove the retaining nub.

4. Loosen the screws and remove the service station on the right side. Remove the print head assembly and loosen the screw until you can raise the carriage, then release the clip to separate the carriage and disconnect the black cable.

5. Slide the retaining clip off the white cable’s connector and disconnect the cable, then slide the carriage free.

6. Carefully remove the belt, noting its orientation so that you can place the new belt on properly.

7. Wind the new belt around the carriage, and then reverse the instructions to reassemble the printer.

Once you have reassembled the printer and put the covers back on, reconnect the cables and plug the printer into the wall. Print a test page by going to the Control Panel and clicking “Hardware and Sound”, then clicking “Printers”. Right-click the printer’s icon and choose “Properties”, then click the “General” tab and click “Print Test Page”. Don’t forget to add paper. If the printer prints correctly, you have successfully completed your repair.

The 1050C is a rather bulky machine, as are most large-format thermal printers. It measures 50.8 inches by 61 inches by 26.6 inches and weighs around 150 pounds. The printer comes mounted on a stand with casters for rolling it into place, alleviating the need for lifting it.

The printer can handle page sizes up to 36 inches wide and when combined with a paper roller unit, it can handle extremely long projects as well. Printing resolution is up to 1200 dpi in black and white and up to 600 dpi in color. The wide dimensions combined with sharp resolutions allow users to print large detailed projects easily. The machine can handle a variety of media types, such as photo paper, coated paper and imaging film in addition to plain paper varieties.

Print speed is relatively fast for a large-format unit, at up to 2 pages per minute in color. Graphics can print at up to 4 pages per minute, and black and white prints are rated up to 1.3 pages per minute.

For production houses, CAD environments and technical departments that need an efficient large-format printer, the DesignJet 1050c is a solid choice. Its fast speeds and sharp resolution combine to produce high-quality prints at a quick pace. The printer’s reliability and solid design represent a good value for buyers who require a large-format thermal inkjet printer.

For the majority of buyers, the reason they consider compatible ink cartridges instead of OEM is to save money. In almost every case, buying compatible cartridges will save a significant amount over OEM prices, sometimes up to 75% savings. This gives compatible cartridges a big advantage for buyers who are looking to reduce costs.

OEM manufacturers often claim that their products will provide sharper quality and better color output than compatible cartridges. In most cases, compatible ink gives the same quality output for a lower price. The cartridges are designed to meet or exceed the specifications of the originals, so there is no reason they should not. However, it is important to buy compatible cartridges from a seller with a reputation for quality. Many good sellers offer a satisfaction guarantee so that the product can be returned if it does not meet your expectations.

Lastly, many users tend to perpetuate a myth that using compatible cartridges will void the warranty on their printer. This is not true. In fact, there are many laws against manufacturers who do not honor a warranty for this reason.

While there are no significant differences between OEM and compatible ink cartridges, many buyers only buy OEM cartridges, despite the potential cost savings. Often this is based on poor experiences with low-quality compatible cartridges that led buyers to believe that all compatible products are made this way. If you decide to go with compatible ink cartridges, it is important to find a reputable seller who stands behind their products with a satisfaction guarantee.

Light Stripes

Some printouts may exhibit light vertical lines that often run the length of the paper. Most printers have a menu option called “Eliminate Light Stripes” for this very issue. It is usually located under Troubleshooting – Print Quality Problems in the menu. Run this feature a few times then print a test page to see if the problem is solved.

Printing Is Slow to Start

If you find that your Phaser printer is slow to start printing, adjust the power saving settings for quicker starts. Turning Fast Resume on will make printing start faster, though it uses more power throughout the day. You can also adjust the amount of time before the printer enters standby mode.

Problems After Moving Printer

One of the most common problems is bad print output after the printer has been moved. This is often the result of moving the printer before it has properly cooled down. Consult the manual for the proper cool down procedure before moving a solid ink printer. Unfortunately, once this problem exists, it generally requires a repair technician to fix.

Printer Using Too Much Ink

Many users may find that a solid ink printer seems to be using too much ink, specifically that it is dumping a large amount of ink in the waste reservoir of the printer. The printer will generally dump excess ink to remove air from the printhead. This problem is especially present when the printer loses power. To remedy this issue, make sure the printer is not losing power during the day, and keep the printer in sleep mode to ensure that it isn’t shut off unnecessarily.

Most manufacturers calculate the estimated page yield for a cartridge by calculating based on 5% coverage. That is to say that when an average page of text and graphics is printed, approximately 5% of the page will be covered in ink. This is only an estimate, however, as many pages will use more and less than 5% coverage, which will affect the overall page yield of the cartridge.

In more recent years, the ISO (International Organization for Standards) has released a set of standards for determining page yield. This process involves printing a test page or series of test pages until the cartridge reaches its end-of-life. Testing a monochrome cartridge involves a single test page which contains a combination of text and graphics, while testing color cartridges involves printing a series of 5 pages that use a variety of different images and patterns. In both cases, they are printed repeatedly until the cartridge is empty.

The great benefit of these ISO standard tests is that is provides a much better comparison between different models. Previous to this standard test, one manufacturer’s test procedures might have used very different page coverage than another’s. Today, any manufacturer who conforms to the ISO/IED 19752 or 19798 standards can be accurately compared with each other. This helps consumers make an informed decision by comparing the page yields of different models and cartridges in an accurate way.

Laser printers work by transferring toner (a carbon and polymer powder) to the paper to create an image. Most of this process is done by the drum, which is a large roller that becomes electro-statically charged by the laser, causing the toner to adhere to it in a specific pattern as it is rolled across the drum.Once the toner is transferred to the paper, which is where the fuser comes in. The fuser assembly consists of rollers that are heated. As the paper rolls through the heated rollers, the toner is fused to the paper.

Most fusing units consist of two rollers. One roller is usually hollow, with a heating element inside of it. This allows the heat to be transferred to the roller, and therefore the paper as well. The other roller is generally covered in rubber to ensure a good grip on the paper as it rolls through. The paper is rolled through with the toner side facing the heated roller to fuse the toner to the page. The heated roller must be uniformly heated to achieve the best results. Less expensive printers often roll pages through more slowly, to ensure they are properly heated and fused, which often accounts for the slower printing speeds of inexpensive laser printers. Heating up the fusing unit often accounts for most of the warm-up time of laser printers.

A laser printer is a finely-tuned machine that must accomplish many steps in a fast and efficient process. The fuser is an important component, and now that you understand its part, you can appreciate its role in the laser printing process.

As toner cartridges get used, paper dust and toner can collect and settle beneath your toner cartridges. This can accumulate until it becomes big enough to begin to stick to pages as they route through your machine. Once this dust is attached to your page, it passes through the printer’s fuser rollers as normal and comes out the other side. Unfortunately, the fusers finalize the process of the toner dust settling on the page and in doing their job, fuse that dust onto your page, creating a streak or smudge effect.

To remedy this, you can typically remove the toner cartridge, or cartridges if it applies, and wipe them down, as well as the interior of your machine. For best results, take a vacuum inside your printer and around your removed cartridge, then go in with dry, lint-free cloth and wipe up any remaining dust or particulate. When doing this, also check each cartridge for possible leaks or spillage. A toner leak is much more worrisome a problem however and typically requires professional repair. Additionally, a cartridge leak can compromise much more of your machine than simply a streaked page.

If the toner in your machine has begun to spill or leak, the toner can get onto the transfer rollers. These rollers do exactly what it sounds like they do, they transfer the toner onto the page, ideally in the computer designated format. However, if toner is spilling onto those rollers, it will be directly place onto the page, ruining your print.

In many cases, if there are no signs of trauma or spillage, shaking the toner or directly replacing the cartridge will fix the problem. If this recurs often or is not fixed by replacing the toner, contact a printer repair technician for further assistance.

One of the easiest solutions and most common causes of a printer jam is an over-filled paper tray. Once you can confirm that the printer is clear of any jams, try running a page through individually in the tray, removing the other pages in the tray. If this goes through without any problems, try keeping a small stack of paper out of the machine and only filling the tray partway.

Check also that the paper you are using adheres to manufacturer recommendations. Some heavier weights of paper aren’t as easily manipulated by your printer to run through the machine, and thus can get stuck. This is especially true when printing on a material such as card stock. Some paper as well is only designed for use in ink jet or laser printers, and will cause problems for a different type of printer.

Most printer manuals, and even some printer displays, have directions for removing paper jams when they occur. This will typically consist of opening certain trays or doors on the machine to access particular sections on the inside of your printer where paper can commonly become stuck. You should also check for cracked or glazed rollers, which can consistently create paper jams. Broken teeth on gears can also cause paper jams which can be usually be tracked down by checking where the paper stopped in the printer.

After clearing the jam, run a single page through the machine to ensure that the path is clear, and that there isn’t something wrong which is causing a recurrent jam. If pages are getting stuck in your printer over and over again, consult your user manual, or have it inspected by a technician.

In a single pass printer, toner is maintained in 4 different containers, or drums. These include your three color cartridges (cyan, magenta, and yellow) and a black cartridge. When a page is processed by the printer, it runs under each drum, receiving the corresponding color as directed by your job. In this fashion, the page runs straight through your machine and out the other side, quickly and reliably.

In multi-pass printing all four toner colors are maintained in a single drum. When a page is processed the drum applies one color, recycles the page, and applies the next color, and so on. This process takes longer, but delivers the same product, and is actually cheaper than single pass printing to maintain. What you will lose in the redundant cycling, you will more than save in supply as the cartridges for multi-pass printers are much cheaper than those for singe pass printers.

Multi-pass printers are however also prone to one pitfall that single pass printers generally are not. In multi-pass printers, if the page or the cartridge shifts, it will result in a distorted page, with some or all colors offset and placed incorrectly. While this can happen with single pass printers, it is far more common in multi-pass printers as you are running material through your machine far more often, giving it essentially four times the chances to become misaligned.

When it comes down to it, single pass printing is faster and more reliable, however more expensive to maintain. Multi-pass printing will give you the same quality product in just a little more time; however it will also save you money in the long run.

If you are unsure if your printheads need cleaning, the easiest way to be sure is to run a job through your printer. If the print is missing lines or dots in your text or graphics, your printheads need to be cleaned. Be aware however that the cleaning process will use ink, so you should only run the cleaning process when absolutely necessary. On most HP printers, the cleaning process will take approximately three to three and a half minutes.

In HP printers, the cleaning process is either initiated through the control panel of your printer. Refer to your owner’s manual or to the manufacturer’s information on how to initiate the cleaning process through your printer’s control panel. The cleaning process consists of multiple levels. When cleaning printheads, you should first initiate a level one cleaning, and then test your print again. If there is still an issue, proceed to a level two cleaning. Repeat this process again, and if necessary perform a level three cleaning.

Alternatively, printheads can be manually cleaned. First, open the top cover of your machine, and be sure that the printer is on. Wait a few seconds, and then unplug the machine without powering it off. This prevents the printer from shutting down, which would move the print carriage out of your reach. Then, lift the printhead latch and printhead handle, and pull the printhead out of the slot. Carefully clean each printhead with a dry, soft, lint-free cloth, making sure you only wipe the contact pads. Be careful not to touch the nozzles as these are very delicate and you can cause severe damage to them. Once printheads are clean, plug the printer back in and turn it on. Reinsert the printheads and re-latch them into your machine. Then, close you cover and the printer will finish the rest.