HP 4100n print "extras", Additional output when printing Options

[Kell]

My networked 4100n (which has a few miles on it ... yes) started making a soft sort of grinding noise yesterday when I printed from it. Today I printed three PDF docs and after each printed, a strip of something else came out of the paper output into the tray. They are 5 - 7 invhes long and about 1/4 inch wide. Tannish-yellow on one side and dark grey on the other, more shiny on the tannish side than on the grey. Faint electrical smelll (can also smell that inside the printer. ) The noise increased also. The strips are made of some kind of very light metal or heavy duty poly-something. When you fold or bend the piece, it doesn't break or snap, but you can see the impression of the fold or bend. The print quality is severely degraded on the left third of the page while the rest is OK ... clear but a tiny bit dirty. Any ideas other than put 'er out to pasture and get a new one? BTW, now after the initial three PDFs with their associated other stuff, I have since printed a PDF and single page Word doc that didn't yield any "stuff" but still marked print deterioratioan. FWIW, XP with Office 2007 (yuk!!) Seem there was much system deterioration after 2007 was rolled out. But that's a whole 'nother story.

[Grasshopper]

Well that is a laser printer so my guess would be that it is some of the coating off the drum. If I'm right you are going to need a new drum fitted. They have a finite life and are replaceable items so shouldn't be hideously expensive.

P.S. your guess at metal is sort of on the mark as the drum coating is Selenium.

[Kell]

Well that is a laser printer so my guess would be that it is some of the coating off the drum. If I'm right you are going to need a new drum fitted. They have a finite life and are replaceable items so shouldn't be hideously expensive.

P.S. your guess at metal is sort of on the mark as the drum coating is Selenium.

Hello Grasshopper. I was thinking / guessing it may be something of that sort, but wasn't too sure which sort it may be. Your answer makes sense to me so I shall order the drum, or maybe have my local office supply / repair store do so for me so they can install it. I can tear a pc apart, but printers .... not so much. Thanks for the advice and have a great day!

[Grasshopper]

It is almost impossible to find service manuals for printers in my experience. So it is probably best to call in a proper printer service guy. Since bits shouldn't come off the drum, it probably needs a bit of a clean up inside anyway.

[Kell]

It is almost impossible to find service manuals for printers in my experience. So it is probably best to call in a proper printer service guy. Since bits shouldn't come off the drum, it probably needs a bit of a clean up inside anyway.

Just to follow up (which is kinda nice so that you find out what the deal really was) : the service guy just left after replacing the fuser. The "bits" were pieces of the coating on the heat roller .... it was about half stripped of the coating. I guess you just can't replace the heat roller itself since the individual parts aren't available but need to relace the entire unit. Still about $200 US all told. Thanks for the assist with this! Have a wonderful weekend! Cheers.