Brother HL-2040 black spot

Good to hear, I still would not suggest a solvent of that type on a
photo conductive drum. The surface can be dissolved.

Art


If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

E Z Peaces wrote:
> Arthur Entlich wrote:
>> I cannot suggest you use that cleaner again. It may well cause
>> further clouding. It has likely disrupted the photo conductive
>> surface. Again, try gently cleaning with isopropyl alcohol at best.
>>
>> Art
>>
> The clouding is gone now.

I cannot give you an exact list, since each drum composition is
different. I've seen half a dozen surfaces for photo-conductive drums.

I would be wary of hexane and the related compounds in that group
(aliphatic hydrocarbons). The ethanol probably is safe, although some
alcohols are safer than others. Hexane is a petroleum based solvent,
and some may soften the surface of these drums.

I had one drum damaged beyond repair with acetone.

As a safety precaution, I suggest keeping to solvents which tend to be
safest in not damaging polymers, such as isopropyl alcohol, which is
relatively non-reactive with most non-water based resins.

Its caveat emptor when one steps into use of other solvents and best to
test in an area that will not harm the image surface.

Art


If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

E Z Peaces wrote:
> Arthur Entlich wrote:
>> DO NOT use that cleaner, it will probably dissolve or damage the
>> surface of the drum.
>>
>> Test using either a bit of water or test an area where it will not
>> show on the print and try some isopropyl alcohol. The drum surface
>> can be dissolved with a number of solvents and several of the ones you
>> mention will probably damage it.
>>
>> Art
> As propane is a propellant, I mentioned only three solvents. Which
> several will probably damage it?

I usually use 99% isopropyl, but I have used water without issue as long
as it is given adequate time to dry before using the printer.

I'm glad you didn't have any long term issues with the contact cleaner,
but, as I stated, I have seen drums ruined with the wrong solvents.

As I previously mentioned the cause of white or black spots can be a
defect in the drum, an abrasion cased by mechanical wear, adhesive
contamination, strong light, other mechanical issues which can leave
toner residue, an overheated drum due to heat transfer from the fuser
area causing the toner to fuse on the drum, I have even seen damages
caused by paper jams when the paper is attempted to be removed from the
printer, often from the front end. If you reuse paper that has been used
on one side, and there is glue on it, staples which weren't removed,
etc, that can damage the drum.

Lastly, the drums don't last forever, so in some cases the drum just
wears out. Without seeing your printer and how it is designed it is
difficult to say what may have caused your drum to perform that way.

Art

If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

E Z Peaces wrote:
> Arthur Entlich wrote:
>> DO NOT use that cleaner, it will probably dissolve or damage the
>> surface of the drum.
>>
>> Test using either a bit of water or test an area where it will not
>> show on the print and try some isopropyl alcohol. The drum surface
>> can be dissolved with a number of solvents and several of the ones you
>> mention will probably damage it.
>
> As far as I can tell, contact cleaner worked fine. The cloudy paleness
> appeared on my gray print not wherever I'd used the solvent, but only
> around where the two worst deposits had been. That's why I thought it
> was residue, and now it has cleared up.
>
> Is water safe? I considered it before using the contact cleaner. One
> reason I didn't try isopropyl alcohol is that it contains water.
>
> I haven't figured out where the deposits came from. Besides plain
> paper, I have printed an occasional lick-to-seal envelope, but it seems
> I printed my last envelope long before the defect appeared.
>
> When I print my gray page in the toner-saver mode, there's a pale
> vertical stripe about 6mm wide down the middle of the page. I wonder if
> all HL-2040s do that. All but two of my deposits were in that area.

I've seen many a laser printer have poor grays with banding. It can be
due to the imaging system, the firmware in the printer and the mechanics
of how the toner transfers.

I wouldn't bath the drum. The drum maintains a thin layer of toner to
lubricate the wiper and to keep the paper from sticking to its surface.

Art


If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

E Z Peaces wrote:
> Tony wrote:
>> E Z Peaces <> wrote:
>>> Arthur Entlich wrote:
>>>> DO NOT use that cleaner, it will probably dissolve or damage the
>>>> surface of the drum.
>>>>
>>>> Test using either a bit of water or test an area where it will not
>>>> show on the print and try some isopropyl alcohol. The drum surface
>>>> can be dissolved with a number of solvents and several of the ones
>>>> you mention will probably damage it.
>>> As far as I can tell, contact cleaner worked fine. The cloudy
>>> paleness appeared on my gray print not wherever I'd used the solvent,
>>> but only around where the two worst deposits had been. That's why I
>>> thought it was residue, and now it has cleared up.
>>>
>>> Is water safe? I considered it before using the contact cleaner.
>>> One reason I didn't try isopropyl alcohol is that it contains water.
>>>
>>> I haven't figured out where the deposits came from. Besides plain
>>> paper, I have printed an occasional lick-to-seal envelope, but it
>>> seems I printed my last envelope long before the defect appeared.
>>>
>>> When I print my gray page in the toner-saver mode, there's a pale
>>> vertical stripe about 6mm wide down the middle of the page. I wonder
>>> if all HL-2040s do that. All but two of my deposits were in that area.
>>
>> In a different post you mentioned that the drum was more than 90%. The
>> status printout for some printers can be confusing, are you sure it is
>> more than 90% full or empty??
>> One way to check is to look at the page count, IIRC the page count per
>> drum for this printer is 12,000 after which it will ask you to replace
>> the drum.
>
> The page count was 828. I've had the printer about 1300 days. No
> expense except fairly cheap paper, no mess, and very little trouble: I'm
> doing much better than I've done with inkjets.
>
>> Traces of water will not hurt.
>
> Thanks. If I'd known that, I would have tried water first.
>
> My only problem now is an unevenness of gray, a sort of horizontal
> streaking. I think I observed it when the printer was new. It wouldn't
> matter unless I wanted to print the nicest possible grayscale pictures.
>
> Somewhere I've read in some situations it helps to wipe the whole drum,
> I think with alcohol. Would that be harmful with alcohol? With water?
>
>> If the drum unit is nearing end of life, pale stripes are quite likely
>> to show on a gray page but will probably not show up with normal
>> printing.
>
>
>> The deposits could have come from anywhere, I have seen a dead moth
>> stuck to a drum. I assume you used envelopes that are rated for use
>> with a laser printer, if not it is essentail that you do, normal
>> emvelopes can melt onto the fuser resulting in a dead printer (at this
>> end of the range).
>> Tony
>>
> Thanks. For many years I printed envelopes on an Apple Laserwriter from
> the 1980s. I don't remember anything about laser printers on the
> envelope boxes. It worked fine.
>
> It didn't work so well with my HL-2040 because envelopes tended to stick
> shut. I don't think I've tried any since the printer was new. Maybe
> I'd have better luck with envelopes made for laser printing.

Arthur Entlich wrote:
> I cannot give you an exact list, since each drum composition is
> different. I've seen half a dozen surfaces for photo-conductive drums.
>
> I would be wary of hexane and the related compounds in that group
> (aliphatic hydrocarbons). The ethanol probably is safe, although some
> alcohols are safer than others. Hexane is a petroleum based solvent,
> and some may soften the surface of these drums.
>
> I had one drum damaged beyond repair with acetone.
>
> As a safety precaution, I suggest keeping to solvents which tend to be
> safest in not damaging polymers, such as isopropyl alcohol, which is
> relatively non-reactive with most non-water based resins.
>
> Its caveat emptor when one steps into use of other solvents and best to
> test in an area that will not harm the image surface.
>
Thanks.

Acetone dissolves many plastics.

Isopropyl alcohol will damage various plastics and rubbers. It will
damage a vinyl record and may damage a computer screen.

A lab may use hexane to try to determine what damaged a plastic because
hexane is inert to many plastics. I don't know if it's harmless to all
plastics.

I'd love to get some 99% isopropyl alcohol to clean where I don't want
any water. I think normal distillation produces 87% propanol, but much
of it is watered down to make it clean skin better.

If I'd known water was safe I would have tried it first, partly because
I wondered if the contaminant was water soluble.

Arthur Entlich wrote:
> I've seen many a laser printer have poor grays with banding. It can be
> due to the imaging system, the firmware in the printer and the mechanics
> of how the toner transfers.
>
> I wouldn't bath the drum. The drum maintains a thin layer of toner to
> lubricate the wiper and to keep the paper from sticking to its surface.
>
> Art
>
I would have thought a layer of toner on the drum would smudge the
paper. Maybe I'll grasp it if I read more.

The layer is extremely thin, almost not visible, unless you were to rub
it down with a white cloth, for instance. It is not enough to make an
obvious visible coating on the paper.

Art


If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

E Z Peaces wrote:
> Arthur Entlich wrote:
>> I've seen many a laser printer have poor grays with banding. It can
>> be due to the imaging system, the firmware in the printer and the
>> mechanics of how the toner transfers.
>>
>> I wouldn't bath the drum. The drum maintains a thin layer of toner to
>> lubricate the wiper and to keep the paper from sticking to its surface.
>>
>> Art
>>
> I would have thought a layer of toner on the drum would smudge the
> paper. Maybe I'll grasp it if I read more.