Freakels on Print

You should never use alcohol when cleaning this printer. If you need a solvent, use a soft, lint-free cloth dampened with water. A dry lint- free cloth is better for cleaning most parts of the printer. The Clean Drum function on the Dell 1600n is accessed from the Maintenance sub-menu. You need to press Menu on the printer repeatedly until you see Maintenance on the top line of the Display. Clean Drum should be displayed on the bottom line. Press Select twice to start the cleaning. You may need to repeat this operation several times if you see that the printed page is still streaky.

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells

Dose The Dell Printer 160N Take 1 Or 2 Ink?

If the print rubs off the page, this means the toner is not being fused to the page. Fused......this is done by the fuser. This would have nothing to do with light print.

The dell (1600n and 1815n /1815dn) printer drivers has a toner saver mode, which can contribute to light print.

To turn Toner Save Mode off, (Windows XP) perform the following steps:

1. Click the Start button, click Settings, and then click Printer and Faxes.
   The Printers and Faxes window appears.
2. Right-click Dell Laser MFP 1600n, 1815dn, and left-click Printing Preferences.
   The Dell Laser MFP 1600n, 1815dn Printing Preferences window appears.
3. Click the Advanced button.
   The Dell Laser MFP 1600n, 1815dn Advanced Options window appears.
4. Click to highlight Toner Save.
5. Click the drop-down list and change it to Off and click OK.
6. Click OK.

One thing that you mentioned in your post "it takes the printer forever to warm up". The fuser does have to reach operational temperature in order for it to fuse the toner to the page. So it is possible that you are having fuser problems, because of the time it is taking for it to warm up. Another thing that can contribute to the warm up time is not plugging the laser printer directly into a wall outlet. This would be true for any laser printer, not just a Dell laser printer. The low voltage power supply is what works the fuser, along with sensors and other motors in the printer.

Replacing the fuser and or the low voltage power supply in this model of printer is not an easy task. If using a Dell branded toner cartridge and checking the toner saver mode does not fix the issue. Then you would be looking at more expense then the machine would possibly be worth.

If it makes verticle lines only when using the document feeder it is most likely a dirty glass strip over the scanner light bar. If it makes verticle lines in all modes (printing, flat bed scanning/copying, receiving faxes) it could be the fuser or a dirty glass over the laser where ever the laser images to a drum roller (usually a larger green roller). It is possible that this green drum roller is inside the toner - if so - replacing the toner cartridge could fix it. Maybe you could try an old used toner to see of the problem changes - if so - it is very likely that a new toner would fix your print quality issue.

Rollers may be worn out and not properly grabbing paper or a gear may be broken. You should be able to inspect by lifting cover to feeder and watching as paper is pulled through.

Clean the small glass strip on the left side of the scanner. There is probably some dirt there and will only show up when using the ADF.

There are 2 seperate glass areas on the top, the large one is for when you lift the cover to scan or copy, the little narrow one is when you use the ADF. If there is a dot or a spec on the narrow part, it will leave the streak on the page, Clean the narrow part really well. I use a foaming window cleaner, and a razor blade.
You may also want to check to see if there are any small scratches on that glass. That will cause the same thing to happen.

You have either a piece of dust or a scratch on the scanning glass. This will show up as a line because the paper is pulled across the point.

The 1600n AIO (all-in-one) is a laser printer. Laser printer use a statically charged "drum" to place toner on the paper. Your ghosting problem may be from the drum itself becoming too charged or simply dirty and not the cartridge. Servicing laser printers is tricky business because they use a lot of wattage/voltage to create the static charge and also "bake" the image onto the paper. A very quick fix would be to de-ionize the drum and clean it thoroughly.

First, make sure you have the unit completely unplugged for, at least, ten to fifteen minutes before proceeding to ensure that all static charge has had a chance to dissopate.

Second, remove the toner cartridge and place it on some newspaper or paper towels. Inspect it for any residual toner and/or damage that may be causing the ghosting (look for cracks/grooves/lines in the cartridge that shouldn't be there).

Third, take a used dryer sheet (or one that's had most of the chemical fabric softener rinsed off and then completely dried) and wipe the entire drum to completely remove any static charge. Then, using denatured alcohol and static-free, lint-free wipes clean the entire drum to remove any remaining detritus. Allow to dry thoroughly before proceeding.

Last, wipe the drum down, one final time, with a clean dryer sheet or lint-free cloth. Reassemble the unit and replace the toner cartridge.

Run a few clean sheets (blank prints or copies) to further remove any particles knocked loose and check for any more "ghosting."

Final printing will be necessary to check for inconsistencies or success.

Any difference between using the document feeder and just the flat bed?