Dell 1230c manual Printing quality problems

CONDITION	POSSIBLE	SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS
	CAUSE
The printer	The paper source	For many software
selects print	selection in the	applications, the paper
materials from	printer properties	source selection is found
the wrong paper	may be incorrect.	under the Thin Paper tab
source.		within the printer properties.
		Select the correct paper
		source. See the printer driver
		help screen.
A print job is	The job may be very	Reduce the complexity of the
extremely slow.	complex.	page or try adjusting the print
		quality settings.
Half the page is	The page orientation	Change the page orientation
blank.	setting may be	in your application. See the
	incorrect.	printer driver help screen.
	The paper size and	Ensure that the paper size in
	the paper size	the printer driver settings
	settings do not	matches the paper in the
	match.	tray.
		Or, ensure that the paper
		size in the printer driver
		settings matches the paper
		selection in the software
		application settings you use.
The printer	The printer cable is	Disconnect the printer cable
prints, but the	loose or defective.	and reconnect. Try a print job
text is wrong,		that you have already printed
garbled, or		successfully. If possible,
		attach the cable and the
incomplete.
		printer to another computer
		and try a print job that you
		know works. Finally, try a
		new printer cable.
	The wrong printer	Check the application’s
	driver was selected.	printer selection menu to
		ensure that your printer is
		selected.
	The software	Try printing a job from
	application is	another application.
	malfunctioning.
	The operating	Exit Windows and reboot the
	system is	computer. Turn the printer off
	malfunctioning.	and then back on again.
Pages print, but	The toner cartridge	Redistribute the toner, if
are blank.	is defective or out of	necessary. See
	toner.	"Redistributing toner" on
		page 26.
		If necessary, replace the
		toner cartridge.
	The file may have	Check the file to ensure that
	blank pages.	it does not contain blank
		pages.
	Some parts, such as	Contact a service
	the controller or the	representative.
	board, may be
	defective.

CONDITION	POSSIBLE	SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS
	CAUSE
The printer does	Incompatibility	Printing the PDF file as an
not print PDF file	between the PDF	image may solve this
correctly. Some	file and the Acrobat	problem. Turn on Print As
parts of	products.	Image from the Acrobat
graphics, text, or		printing options.
illustrations are		It will take longer to
missing.		print when you print a
		PDF file as an image.
Your printer has	The oil used to	After printing about 100 color
an odd smell	protect the fuser is	pages, there will be no more
during initial	evaporating.	smell. It is a temporary issue.
use.
The print quality	The resolution of the	Reduce the photo size. If you
of photos is not	photo is very low.	increase the photo size in the
good. Images		software application, the
are not clear.		resolution will be reduced.
Before printing,	Using damp paper	This is not a problem. Just
the printer emits	can cause vapor	keep printing.
vapor near the	during printing.
output tray.

Printing quality problems

If the inside of the printer is dirty or paper has been loaded improperly, you may notice a reduction in print quality. See the table below to clear the problem.

	CONDITION	SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS
Light or faded print		If a vertical white streak or faded area appears
		on the page:
		• The toner supply is low. You may be able
		to temporarily extend the toner cartridge
		life. See "Replacing the toner cartridge" on
		page 27. If this does not improve the print
		quality, install a new toner cartridge.
		• The paper may not meet paper
		specifications; for example, the paper is too
		moist or too rough. See "Selecting print
		media" on page 17.
		• If the entire page is light, the print
		resolution setting is too low. Adjust the print
		resolution. See the help screen of the
		printer driver.
		• A combination of faded or smeared defects
		may indicate that the toner cartridge needs
		cleaning.
		• The surface of the LSU part inside the
		printer may be dirty. Clean the LSU by
		opening and closing the front cover several
		times and if the problem still occurs call the
		contact a service representative.

34 Troubleshooting