Laser Printer Problem: Samsung CLP-650ND - Poor Quality

[lothian1]

Our two Samsung CLP-650ND color laser printers are producing awful--and wasteful--output. The quality of both printers was perfectly acceptable until some recent, non-specific event--meaning, I have no idea what is different now vs. before--changed that.

 

First, though...

There needs to be a sub-forum on this site dedicated to printer problems. That said... to my dilemma...

 

 

Take a look at the image below; this is typical output from both printers:

 

 

Perhaps most strange thing going on, and something I cannot show in an image: neither printer will output in "draft mode" and when a printer job set to highest quality output is worse. Same for monochrome output (i.e., "greyshade): output is solid black only--no greyshades whatsoever. Additionally, both printers lay heavy toner that is tactile and sometimes doesn't bond to the media consistently.

 

This/these problem(s) seem(s) to be a fuser issue. So I checked the fuser first. I swapped a replacement fuser with no change to output. The printer consumables report lists the fuser, toner, transfer belt and take-up rollers are each significantly within their respective lifespans.

 

Given that 1) the output is consistent across two devices; 2) the problems began at the same time; and, 3) the printer software quality settings are suddenly rendered useless, I suspect (admittedly paranoid) that Samsung has updated driver software to hobble the printer if non-Samsung toner carts are detected. Whatever the cause, we're down to production printers here with no apparent remedy, and we're wasting toner and media. Rather than summarily swap expensive consumables, I prefer to simply identify what is broken based on consistently reproducible problem output, which shouldn't be particularly difficult.

 

First things first: anyone recognize the output artifacts in the image I include? What is the cause?

Second: any thoughts on the other, software/driver presumption?

Edited January 30, 2018 by lothian1