Toner smear is one of the most notorious print defects for the HP LaserJet 1320. Regular maintenance usually prevents it from recurring but if you are already getting it every now and then, you should hear me out. Smearing can be caused by many different things but most of the time the issue is related to these two – presence of old toner and the waste compartment being too full.
Toner Leak fix
When there is an excessive amount of toner inside the cartridge, it will typically dispense more than the usual. You end up having excess toner appearing on the pages causing the text and images to appear smeared. This often happens when you overfill the HP 49A toner cartridge during a refill or you forget to empty the waste compartment after the refill.
What you can do? Take the cartridge out of the printer and give it a little shake down. You can also use canned air to blow out the old and excess toner. Give the front opening of the cartridge a couple of short shots of air. This technique can also be used to clean the waste compartment. I recommend doing this first as this works more often than not.
Get Rid of Debris on the Drum
Smears and random dirty marks on the prints can appear when the drum on your HP 49A toner cartridge has some debris on it. The tricky part about this is that you should not physically touch the drum itself. You can try to blow off anything that is on it using compressed air. Give it successive short bursts of air then shake. I suggest doing this together with the first tip to maximize effectiveness.
Replace the Photoreceptive Drum
If there is damage to the drum, be it scratches, deep fingerprints or ridges, there is not much that can be done but to replace the photoreceptive drum on the toner cartridge. This is way cheaper than actually getting a new set which is why I suggest getting a compatible drum for the HP 49A toner cartridge to keep expenses on the down low.
These three quick fixes should get rid of your toner smear problems. Let us know if you have questions about other recurring print defects on your HP LaserJet 1320 and problems related with its reliable HP 49A toner cartridge. We’ll be happy to help you out! Send us your inquiries in any of our social media or leave it down on the comments below.
