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Printer and Photocopier Troubleshooting and Repair Collection : First page smudges on OKI OL400         
 Copyright © 1994-2007, Samuel M. Goldwasser. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this document in whole or in part is permitted if both of the following conditions are satisfied: 1. This notice is included in its entirety at the beginning. 2. There is no charge except to cover the costs of copying. I may be contacted via the Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ (www.repairfaq.org) Email Links Page.

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First page smudges on OKI OL400

"Sounds like my second hand (sorry, previously owned) OKI OL400 has a problem with the fuser roller, too. Up till now I've just printed two first page copies of everything I needed 'clean'.

Please does anyone know if the fuser roller is an integral part of the OKI OL400/800 Image Drum Cartridge replacement kit? If not, any ideas on the part number, please?"

(From: Al Savage (asavage@iname.com).)

Note that an OL400 is nothing like an OL400e. Almost no parts interchange including the drum/developer assemblies.

(From: Brian Hughes (bkhughes@gisco.net).)

The problem you're both describing is caused by the "wiper blade" in the drum cartridge, not the fuser! OKI doesn't sell the part and says when you have this problem you must replace the entire image drum assembly $$$$

The cure is really quite simple: I remove the entire drum cartridge and place it on newspaper under subdued lighting (you don't want to "shock" the drum). The corona wire assembly can be recognized by the sliding blue knob on top; I release the left side with a small screwdriver tip and remove it. After removing the two screws I have just uncovered, I lift the blade free. Gently wiping the accumulated toner off the blade allows me to see the rubber better. If I see that the blade has "curl", I can then weight it down on my bench for a while to reverse the curl before I reassemble it. Sometimes all it takes is the cleaning. I have done this with my own "preowned" OL400, and now enjoy like-new printing.

The one that stumps me is where to find a fuser lamp, OKI will only sell the fuser assembly (major part!).

DISCLAIMER: Due to the possible health hazards of toner dust, I have only told you what I have done...it is your choice, and your responsibility to take precautions should you disassemble your printer.

(From: George Hurley (ghurley@voicenet.com).)

That smudge on the first page is your OL400 telling you that your image drum is getting old - they're about $240 from Staples, or $180 rebuilt. HOWEVER, the actual cause of the smudge is the failure of the toner wiper blade inside the image drum assembly. This acts like a windshield wiper and scrapes excess toner off the drum. When it hardens with age, it stops working as well as it should. This blade can be replaced at fairly low cost - I bought one for $25 and suspect that I overpaid, and it took about ten minutes to replace the old one. You'll eventually need a new drum assembly, but this repair should squeeze another 10-15,000 pages out of the drum.

I forget who I bought the blade from, but LaserImpact should have one. You can reach them at 1-888-809-4155 - if you ask for tech support, they can probably give you instructions on how to do it.


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