Member Avatar for guyinpv

I have a Hp Laserjet 3030 all-in-one and it just started printing almost solid grey over the whole page. I tried changing resolutions and other settings, ran the printer's own cleaning cycle a couple times, nothing changed. Even on draft mode it still covers the page. It's not perfectly solid, more like horizontal banding but it covers about 85% of the page or more in grey.

Since the HP 12a drums have no functions for physical cleaning, I replaced the drum entirely, put in a brand new HP 12a. Made a test print, and it has the SAME problem but now WORSE than before! The coverage is thicker and the toner darker across the page with more visible banding.

Here is a scan of the page that printed after replacing the drum:

Is there a transfer wire or cleaning shield or something on the inside that needs cleaning? Not sure where to start.

Thanks for any tips!

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Consistent heavy grey that got worse after swapping the drum (noted by ) is a classic sign that the problem is inside the printer, not the toner cartridge itself. ’s note about loose toner inside the chassis and ’s pointer toward the charging/cleaning parts are both on the right track — but the next step is a short, ordered isolation procedure rather than broad cleaning.

  1. Run the printer’s built‑in self-test / configuration page from the machine’s control panel (not from a PC). If the self‑test shows the same grey banding, the fault is internal; if the self‑test is clean, focus on drivers/host computer.
  2. Re‑fit the original cartridge (if available) or try a known‑good genuine cartridge. Confirm any protective shipping tape/strip on a new drum was removed and the drum seated correctly. A mis‑seated drum or leftover tape can produce heavy background.
  3. Visually inspect the paper path for loose toner, and look at the transfer/charge and fuser roller areas for uniform residue or a shiny film. Toner smeared in a consistent band usually implicates those assemblies rather than random dirt.

Safe cleaning and handling notes: power the unit off and unplug, allow the fuser to cool, wear nitrile gloves and a disposable mask if working around loose toner, and use a toner‑rated vacuum or a lint‑free cloth. Avoid touching the photosensitive drum surface with bare hands. Use high‑purity isopropyl on rubber rollers only; do not spray solvents into the fuser film. Household vacuums, rough cloths, or rough handling can make the problem worse.

If the internal self‑test is bad after these checks, the likely next steps are targeted cleaning of the transfer/charge assembly or replacement of the transfer or fuser module. Given the increased darkness after fitting a new drum, inspection for seating/protective tape and service by a technician are reasonable options before further parts replacement.

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Member Avatar for caperjack

Not sure where to start

HP tech support would be my first place to look .but i have seen it before and i think is is caused by something inside that is dirty ,what happens is the tower dust kind of spills onto parts inside where the paper slides out ,i see it at work with the photo copier towner

Hp Laserjet 3030 tech support site

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Printers-LaserJet/bd-p/bsc-413

Edited by caperjack
Member Avatar for guyinpv

if it was just something that was "dirty" then eventually it would stop smearing on the paper, but it's not, it prints very consitently the same way, which tells me something may be wrong with the mechanics oftransferring toner to paper. Maybe to do with the corona wire or cleaning blade or some magnetic issue.
It is also an issue inside the printer, not the toner cartridge, since I replaced that and the problem was even worse than before!
I'll keep troubleshooting, maybe I can take the think apart.

Member Avatar for dfnsdavid

This happened to me recently, you should troubleshoot the Corona wire and the Cleaning Blade its between the two.

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