HP 2550L prints dirty bands on each page

Your problem could be the drum, but is much more likely to be the toner cartridge.

Brenda Ann Inscribed thus:

If the band is across the page its likely to be a drum problem. If the band runs down the page its probably a toner problem. Usually if there is a drum fault the band repeats itself several times on the page.

Taking the toner cartridge out and giving it a good side to side shake often will clear bits of toner that has caught under the scraper blade.

And rotating backwards a couple of turns

And while you do that, make sure there isn't a funny electronics and plastic putty stuff attached to it!

Ok. I decode that as a 2cm wide vertical strip. Since the 2550L is a color laser printer, is this stripe any particular color? If it's sorta light gray, then the problem is in the fuser roller assembly. If you see a corresponding vertical stripe on the rollers or corresponding burned area on the fuser film strip, it's time for a rebuild.

Sounds like the fuser, not the drum.

Also sounds like the fuser. If it were the drum, it would not respond to cleaning. What's happening is that the burned area of the fuser film strip is picking up and holding toner from the previous pages and depositing it slowly on subsequent pages. The clue is the light grey color, which is a mix of all the colors or a light application of black toner. The darker area in the center is also a characteristic of a burned stripe in the fuser film. You should be able to see it if you remove the fuser and visually inspect it.

1. Search eBay for "hp 2550 fuser". Note the seriously overpriced replacement films. My guess is that's what you need, but you may need to look around for something more reasonably priced.
2. Ask the same question at:

You might get better answers in a printer specific forum.

1. Laser Printer printing defects:

1. If you're going to replace your own fuser film, you'll also need some really high temp PTFE grease.

Yes, that's $1 per gram.

A light leak, or a dirty corona wire, can do something like this. Light leaks usually mean a case part is not closed properly. The corona wire has a HV connection and is usually reachable (on some models it's in the printer, on some it's part of the cartridge). Alcohol on a cotton swab is appropriate.

Nope. A light leak will cause a blurry white stripe, not a gray stripe. Since it's not focused, it's usually a fairly wide white stripe. Unless the case is cracked, I haven't seen this on modern laser printer designs. I have seen it when operating a laser printer with the covers removed. The light leak is usually uneven, resulting in a change of print density across the page. I place a cardboard box over the printer to reduce the problem when running test prints.

A dirty corona wire will also cause a white, not gray, strip. Because it's not focused or in direct contact with the paper, it tends to create a blurry wide white stripe. The 2550L does not have the traditional corona wire. It's built into the toner cartridges and has morphed into either a corona strip or corona roller (I forgot which).

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See Fig E, which is what I think is the culprit.