Fault guides
What is your printer actually doing?
Twenty-two guides to the faults we see most. Each one starts with the likely cause, tells you what you can fix yourself, and is honest about when it needs a bench.
Most printer faults announce themselves in a specific way, and the way a machine fails usually identifies the part that failed. These guides are organised by what you can actually see: the marks on the page, where the paper stops, the noise it makes, or the message on the screen.
Print quality
Faded or light printing
Pale output, and how to tell toner from a worn transfer roller.
02Lines and streaks
White lines, black lines and repeating marks each mean something different.
03Ghosting
A faint second image repeating further down the page.
04Toner smudging
Print that looks right but rubs off when you touch it.
05Blank pages
The machine runs, the paper feeds, nothing appears on it.
06Black not printing
Colour works, black does not — or the reverse.
07Spots and random marks
Dots and blobs that are not in a line.
08Colours coming out wrong
Casts, shifts and colour that does not match the screen.
Noises, errors and consumables
Grinding or clicking
What each noise usually means, and when to stop printing.
02Drum error
Replace-drum warnings, and whether the drum is really finished.
03Toner low but cartridge full
Why the machine insists it is empty when it is not.
04Error code will not clear
Lights and codes that survive a power cycle.
Connection and computer
Tell us what it is doing.
Call and describe the make and the symptom — most jobs are done in a single visit, and we will tell you straight if it is not worth repairing.