The print quality has detiorated especially when printing in black. Color prints better. The left side of the page is printing lighter then the right side of the page

Is the print quality poor on left side for all colors? You may have one bad cartridge. Create a paint document with Yellow, Magenta and Cyan squares on the left side and see if one color prints better than the others. You can also gently shake the cartridges to redistribute toner.

Clean the Printhead & Print a test page by doing the ff:

1. Press the Ink button press the Up or down arrow key to select Test Print, then select Print Quality press OK and press Black or Color START. Check all the colors including the black & check if there are any missing dots and if there are any colors not printing correctly.

2. Press the Ink button on the control panel and select CLEANING press OK.

3. Press the up or down arrow key to select Color press ok and press Black Start.

*After the cleaning process the printer will ask you if the quality is OK, press up or down to select yes or no, and it will ask you whether black or color is ok, once you have selected you're answer press Black or Color START to print another test page. Compare the 1st and 2nd test page if it's improving, you may need to do this 3-5 times or until you get a better quality

Hope this helps Please rate if it worked Thanks!

If the yellow ink is not printing here's what you can do:

Clean the Printhead & Print a test page by doing the ff:

1. Press the Ink Management button press the Up or down arrow key to select Test Print, then select Print Quality press OK and press Black or Color START. Check all the colors including the black & check if there are any missing dots and if there are any colors not printing correctly.

2. Press the Ink Management button on the control panel and select cleaning press ok

3. Press the up or down arrow key to select Color press ok and press Black Start.

*After the cleaning process the printer will ask you if the quality is OK, press up or down to select yes or no, and it will ask you whether black or color is ok, once you have selected you're answer press Black or Color START to print another test page. Compare the 1st and 2nd test page if it's improving, you may need to do this 3-5 times or until you get a better quality

Hope this helps.

Rate if it worked Thanks!

Both types of printers are OK for home use.
The color inkjet printers are cheap printers for color printing, the only disadvantage is if they are not used regularly then the nozzles in the print head can become blocked and if the head cleaning process cannot clean the nozzles then the print head needs to be replaced. These print heads are usually expensive to replace.
If you only want to print black documents I would recommend you purchase a laser printer for the best cost per page printing and they can stand long periods of non use.
Color laser printers are now cheaper, but for photo print quality inkjet printer are better especially when they use 6 or more color print cartridges.

Run the Print Quality test. Sounds like one of the color cartridges is bad.
Also run the Disable Cartridge test. That will let you test each cartridge by itself.

Before you do that, open the front door halfway. Now you can see each of the color drums in each cartridge. One of them may have a 1/2" stripe on the drum on the left side.

Follow these steps to check the print settings for your print job.

1. In the software program you are trying to print from, click File and then click Print . The Print dialog box opens.
2. Select your product, and then click Properties . The printer Properties dialog box opens.
3. Click the Printing shortcuts tab.
4. Under Printing shortcuts , click the type of job you are trying to print.
5. Review the following options, and then make any necessary changes.
   • Paper size : Make sure that the selected option matches your paper size.
   • Paper type : If one of the options matches your paper type exactly, select that option.
   • Print quality : If you are not satisfied with your printed page quality, or want more densely printed prints, increase the print quality. To print more quickly, or for lighter prints, decrease the print quality.
6. Click the Features tab.
7. Check the Print in Grayscale setting
   • If you are trying to print in color, select Color Options , and then make sure that Print in Grayscale is not selected.
   • If you are printing a black and white image, select Print in Grayscale to fix streaking in black areas.
8. Click OK , and then click OK again to start the print job.

Make sure the printer is loaded with unused white paper.
Open HP Solution Center , then click Settings , then Printer Toolbox .
Select the Services tab.
Click Print PQ (print quality) Diagnostic Page .

Make sure the printer is loaded with unused white paper.
Open HP Solution Center , then click Settings , then Printer Toolbox .
Select the Services tab, then click A- Click Align Printheads or
B- Click Clean Printheads .
C- Click Calibrate Linefeed .

If, after repeated printhead cleaning, the Print Quality Diagnostic page shows white lines across the color blocks in Test Pattern 2 (but no white lines in the gray blocks in Test Pattern 3), one or both of the printheads will have to be replaced. The Print Quality Diagnostic page shows which printhead should be replaced.









Try using the HP Scan Diagnostic Utility in Windows - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

Hi Good day!!
Follow this method hope it helps you!!

During the printing process, paper, toner and dust particles can accumulate inside the printer. Over time, this buildup can cause print-quality problems such as toner specks or smearing. This printer has a cleaning mode that can correct and prevent these types of problems.
This printer has two processes for generating cleaning pages: one is automatically generated and one is manually generated. When a new black print cartridge is installed, a cleaning page will be automatically generated prior to calibration.
Clean the fuser using HP Toolbox
NOTE: Use the following procedure to clean the fuser using the HP Toolbox. To clean the engine when the computer is running an operating system that does not support HP Toolbox, see the late-breaking Readme on the root of the CD-ROM, or visit http://www.hp.com/support/clj2600n .


1 Make sure that the printer is turned on and in the Ready state.

2 Open the HP Toolbox using one of the following methods.
*
On the Windows desktop, double-click the HP Toolbox icon.
* On the Windows Start menu, click Programs (All Programs in Windows XP), click HP , click HP Color LaserJet 2600n, and then click HP Color LaserJet 2600n Toolbox .

3 Click the Troubleshooting tab, and then Troubleshooting Tools .
4 Click the Print button next to step 1, "Click the "Print" button to print out the Cleaning Page."

5 Remove the Cleaning Page from the output bin, and load it printed side down in Tray 1.

6 Click the Clean button to complete the cleaning process. Press the GO button on the printer control panel. The Cleaning page will print, with a second page adhered to the first page. This is normal behavior during the cleaning process.

Cleaning spilled toner
Defective print cartridges can develop leaks. Also, after a paper jam has occurred, some toner might remain on the rollers and guides inside the printer. The pages that print immediately after the jam can pick up this toner.
CAUTION: When cleaning the printer, do not touch the ETB with a damp cloth or with fingers.
Cleaning the paper path
The device features a special cleaning mode to clean the paper path.
NOTE: If there is access to HP Toolbox, HP recommends cleaning the paper path by using HP Toolbox.
Clean the paper path


1. Use the (LEFT ARROW) or the (RIGHT ARROW) button to select Service, and then press (SELECT).

2. Use the (LEFT ARROW) or the (RIGHT ARROW) button to select Cleaning Mode, and then press (SELECT).
A page feeds through the printer slowly. Discard the page when the process is completed.

3. Load plain letter or A4 paper when prompted.

4. Press (SELECT) again to confirm and begin the cleaning process.
A page feeds through the printer slowly. Discard the page when the process is completed.

Calibrating the printer
Calibrations are performed at regular intervals. For best print quality, a calibration can be performed from the control panel using the following steps:
NOTE: This will calibrate the color and clean the black electrostatic transfer belt (ETB).


1 Use the (LEFT ARROW) or the (RIGHT ARROW) button to select System setup and then press (SELECT).

2 Use the (LEFT ARROW) or the (RIGHT ARROW) button to select Print quality and then press (SELECT). Calibrate color will display on the control panel.

Press (SELECT).

3 Use the (LEFT ARROW) or the (RIGHT ARROW) button to select Calibrate now and then press (SELECT).

4 Press (SELECT) to start the calibration.

Other options for print quality defects that still persist

the problem is not with the printer but it is with the ink that might be damaged, this is located inside the printer

Good Evening Robert,

The setting for non dell toner only controls the fuser temperature, and will not cause you any print quality issues. Toner is actually made up of ink and plastic. The fuser melts the plastic to "fuse" the image to the paper. Dell toner is set to "fuse" at a specific temperature. when you use non Dell toners, the temperature required to fuse may be different, and when set to non dell toner setting, the fuser temperature is raised to the maximum to ensure the other toner fuses properly. The down side to this is that you will wear out the fuser sooner then it should.

As far as the print quality issue you are having, it is most likey caused by the imaging drum.

Regardless of the estimated life for the imaging drum as stated by the printer, this is just an estimate. Many things can and will cause the imaging drum need replacing. ( Just yesterday I replaced a black toner in a 3115 that was less then a month old... genuine Dell... with more then 75% expected usage left because it was defective).

On this printer, each of the 3 colors and the black are all independent of each other with the exception of the imaging drum. Even within the imaging drum, cyan and black are independent of magenta and yellow on the first stage of transfer. When you have deteriorated print quality that effects more then one color, the first step is to replace the imaging drum.

The Primary transfer, secondary transfer, and tertiary transfer of the image are ALL contained within the imaging drum.

The chances of having 3 or 4 bad Developers is very very slim. If your print quality issue was related to only ONE color, then I would say you had a bad developer unit ( the 4 items located behind the imaging drum when removed). These are far more difficult and expensive to change.

The BTR ( bios transfer roller ) is the only other item that "could" effect your print quality, however, based on the symptoms you discribed, I doubt it. Besides, if i am not mistaken, the imaging drum kit comes with a new btr anyway.

Although I am sure you may be disappointed with the fact the drum unit is failing while showing it still has life remaining, the solution to replace it should restore your unit to full operation. The unit is light sensative, and effected by physical age as well as the number of prints it has supplied.

Please evaluate the solution i have provided and, rate the solution appropriately to show your support.

Thanks,
Cory

Try cleaning the corona wire/ charge roller if this doesn't work replace the image drum