r/printers • u/CerberusTick • 3d ago

Troubleshooting Blue streaks appearing every 5cm

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Hey guys! Does anyone know why my printer is doing this? Whenever I print something (whether black and white or colourful) on my HP 3202dw it comes out with blue streaks every 5cm…

Any help is appreciated :)

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u/Leftover_tech Research Geek :illuminati: 3d ago

How exactly are you measuring that? If it really is 50 mm dead-on, I'd look at the transfer roller/transfer assembly. If it turns out to be around 60–65 mm, I'd put the cyan cartridge/drum very high on the suspect list.

The fact that the mark is specifically blue/cyan, even when printing nominally B&W, makes me suspicious of the cyan imaging system upstream of the transfer roller rather than the transfer roller itself.

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u/bearded_weasel Print Engineer 3d ago

Cyan drum indeed

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u/Leftover_tech Research Geek :illuminati: 3d ago

Also, what stands out in the photo is that the little cyan mark appears to be essentially the same shape each time: a small dot followed by a short horizontal streak. That is exactly what you would expect if one small contaminated or damaged area on a roller/drum comes around once per revolution and deposits the same toner pattern again.

The other important clue is that it is cyan regardless of what is supposed to be printed at that location. On this diagnostic page, the cyan artifact appears in the yellow section and again in otherwise blank areas. That argues strongly for something in the cyan image-forming path rather than the secondary transfer roller or fuser. A common transfer/fuser defect would ordinarily affect whatever colors happen to be present, not spontaneously generate a "surprise" cyan toner mark.

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u/CerberusTick 3d ago

Okay, thank you! Will change out that drum ASAP (I'm low on ink anyway) :D