HP CE310A, CE311A, CE312A, and CE313A

pictures updated Dec 10, 2013

 

THE OPC DRUM IS NOT INTEGRATED WITHIN THE CARTRIDGES THEMSELVES.  THE DRUM UNIT IS A SEPARATE, REPLACEABLE, MAINTENANCE ITEM.

Not Recognizing

 

Verify you have the correct cartridges for your specific model printer.

 

There’s a smart chip located on the front right of the cartridge.  Check the chip for damage or debris.  A Q-tip or a clean, dry, lint-free cloth can be used to clean the two gold contacts.

 

Verify you are installing the correct color into the correct color slot.  The printer will give an error stating that the wrong cartridge is installed if a cartridge is put in the wrong slot.  When changing the cartridges you will select the color your are replacing by pressing that color’s button on the printer.  This will rotate the carousel inside the printer to move the color into position to be changed.  Check that the color slot on the printer matches the color on the cartridge.  Make sure the cartridge is fully inserted into the slot.

 

Print Quality Issues

 

There is an orange plastic cover on the front of the cartridge and a pull tape seal on the side of the cartridge that must be removed prior to installation.  It is important that the pull tape seal is completely removed.  If the cartridge is printing blank pages then the pull tape seal probably hasn’t been removed or has broken off inside the cartridge while it was pulled out.

The cartridges use a small rubber roller to distribute the toner to the OPC drum.  Visually inspect the rubber roller for any cracks or damage.  Do NOT clean the rubber roller.  Do NOT use moisture of any kind near the rubber roller.

 

Almost all ghosting, streaking, lines, and repeating image defects will be an issue with the drum unit.  The drum unit is separate and is a maintenance item that will need to be changed usually after 4-6 toner changes.

 

Grasp both sides of the print cartridge and gently rock the print cartridge to distribute the toner evenly inside the print cartridge.

 

There is a Print Quality Troubleshooting Page that can be printed on the printer to help determine print quality defects.  To print this page;

1. Make sure that the product is idle and the Ready  light is on.

2. Load paper in the input tray.

3. In the Windows system tray, right-click the Device Settings icon  and then click the product

name.

4. Click the Device Settings button.

5. Click the Print PQ Troubleshooting Page button.

 

This page contains five bands of color, which are divided into four groups as indicated in the following illustration. By examining each group, you can isolate the problem to a particular print cartridge.

If dots or streaks appear in only one of the groups, replace the print cartridge that correlates with

that group.  If dots appear in more than one group, determine if the dots are always the same color; for example, if magenta dots appear in all five color bands. If the dots are all the same color, replace that print cartridge.  If streaks appear in multiple color bands then the problem is with the drum unit.

 

If the colors appear to be off or the images are coming out skewed then they should calibrate their printer.  To calibrate;

1. Make sure that the product is idle and the Ready  light is on.

2. Load paper in the input tray.

3. In the Windows system tray, right-click the Device Settings icon  and then click the product name.

4. Click the Device Settings button.

5. Click the Calibrate Now button.