Dell 5100cn 5110cn - Noisy And Not Printing Black Or Faint Black

If you have a Dell 5100cn or 5110cn colour laser printer that is noisy when printing and prints faint black or no black at all, check the black developer and the developer drive assembly.

The noise is not really like a grinding noise, it is just a louder than normal engine noise. If you print a black only page, the noise will become louder and higher pitched because the engine turns faster.

The cause of this problem is the black developer becoming stiff which then wears the gear on the developer drive assembly that drives the black developer.

To remove the developer unit:

1. Remove the image drum assembly
2. Remove the toner cartridge cover
3. Remove the four toner cartridges, being careful not to drop toner into the toner hoppers causing contamination to the different colours
4. Remove two screws at the front and release two clips at the back and remove the top cover
5. You can now fit the toner cartridges back in place if you want to seal the hoppers and prevent any stray toner getting into them
6. Remove the two side covers by removing the screw at the back and releasing the clip at the front of each cover
7. Pull out the two hinge pins and remove the imaging drum cover
8. Remove the high voltage power supply board by removing five screws and releasing the plastic clips on the right hand side. Disconnect the two cables at the top of the board. As you pull the board toward you, disconnect the cable plug on the other side of it. When you fit the board back in to the printer, don't forget to reconnect this plug. Also, make sure the plastic clips are clipped over the board
9. Disconnect the four tubes from the back of the developer units by pressing the latches in and pulling them out. These tubes have sealing mechanisms on them but it's probably a good idea to try and tape them, facing up, to the top of the printer because they will drop toner
10. Disconnect one connector at the top of the developer frame and then grab the handle and pull it up and out of the printer. You will need to keep the developer frame level or toner will drop out of the back of the developer units

 Once the developer frame is on the bench, you can remove the black developer unit by pulling the two white plastic clips up and the developer can be pulled out. If you tilt the developer up, toner will pour out of the back of it.

Grasp the gear on the right hand side of the developer and see how much force is required to turn it. Compare it to the other developers. You might find it is tighter.

To remove the developer drive assembly:

1. Remove the four cable clamps and remove the cables from the cable guide
2. Remove two screws and remove the cable guide from the printer
3. Disconnect the one connector on the developer drive motor
4. Remove three screws and pull the developer drive assembly out of the printer. As you remove it, note the position of the door switch at the top which will probably drop out

 With the developer drive assembly on the bench, find the gear that turns the black developer. Run your finger nail up it and you will probably feel a ridge where the teeth are worn. You might also see some white dust from the gear on both sides of the main frame where the drive unit mounts to.

Now would be a good time to remove all the loose toner that's lying in the printer using a laser vac.

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The part number for the black developer is M6091. I've had some new (?/refurbished/second user/second hand) developer units that are completely empty and after numerous developer cleaning cycles and printing many pages either won't put any toner on the paper or dump toner all over the paper.

A genuine developer unit from Dell will already have some toner in it and will have two sealing plugs in the back of it. Remove these two plugs before you fit it. You will find that these work first time without any problems.

Dell 5100cn 5110cn  Developer Drive Assembly

The part number for the developer drive assembly is:

Dell 5100cn H6702.

Dell 5110cn YD415.

After reassembling the printer with the new parts, the printer should be a lot quieter and the black will be printing normally again.

8 thoughts on “Dell 5100cn 5110cn – Noisy And Not Printing Black Or Faint Black”

 Anthony A

We have a Dell 5110CN printer that was being used at our switzerland office (different voltage.) We have since shipped the printer to our Canadian office but it will not power up. I was told that we have to switch over the voltage setting on the power supply but i cannot locate it. Do you know where this switch is on the printer?

admin

This printer doesn’t have a voltage select switch. It is sold as a 110 volt version or a 220 volt version. To convert the printer from one version to the other, you would have to replace both the power supply and the fuser. At least it just didn’t power up. If you had moved the printer in the opposite direction, it would probably have gone bang and/or tripped out the whole office.

J.B. Allen

OK…I managed to get the side panels off. Now, to remove the high voltage power supply I must remove 5 screws. Which 5? There are dozens of screws and I don’t know what any of them attach. Is there any way to send me a step by step guide with photos on how to replace the black developer and black developer drive assembly?

admin

I’ve put the following pages up explaining how to remove the high voltage board, developer drive assy, developer frame, and developer assy:
http://printers-repair.blogspot.com/2014/02/dell-5100-5110-high-voltage-power-supply.html
http://printers-repair.blogspot.com/2014/02/dell-5100-5110-developer-drive-assembly.html
http://printers-repair.blogspot.com/2014/02/dell-5100-5110-developer-frame.html
http://printers-repair.blogspot.com/2014/02/dell-5100-5110-developer-assembly.html
Hope this helps.

Shane

I have a grinding noise that is keeping me from printing anything from the Cyan toner. Could this be the same case?

admin

It’s possible, although I’ve only had it happen with black. It could be that the cyan toner cartridge is faulty, it might be stiff.

Shane

Replaced the cartridge, same issue with grinding. Don’t know what to do because its 6 years old, and no real repair places. I might tear it apart and look at it. Thanks.

admin

It could be the cyan developer has gone stiff. This might have worn the gear on the developer drive assembly or it might have just taken the teeth off the cyan developer. You will have to strip it apart and check it.

HP LaserJet 4250 4350 - Grinding And Knocking Noise

If you get a grinding and knocking noise from a HP LaserJet 4250 or 4350, the problem is the swing plate assembly and / or fuser. The swing plate assembly is a metal bracket with two plastic gears on it and drives the fuser.

The problem is that the teeth on one or both of the gears wear. You might also find that the plastic clip that holds the fuser in place cracks. The new swing plate assembly is modified to reduce the wear on the gears. It is also supplied with a modified two part spring loaded fuser gear. The new fusers are also modified with a metal insert inside one of the plastic clips to stop it from breaking.

The good news is that HP will send an engineer out to repair it free of charge even if it is out of warranty. Tell them it is making a grinding noise from the back of the printer and that you have tried reseating the fuser. If they tell you the printer is out of warranty, remind them that there is a service note that covers this fault.

Update

As of January 1st 2010, HP are no longer repairing this fault free of charge so you will have to do it yourself or take your printer to someone who can do it.

If you decide to repair the printer yourself, there's a right and wrong way to do it.

The one gear can be changed very quickly by removing the formatter cover, formatter assembly, rear door, and fuser. Behind the formatter, you will find a black screw. After removing this screw, the gear can be removed from the back of the printer.

The problem with doing it this way is the printer will still be noisy if the other gear that you can't see is worn.

The best, and correct, way to do it is to replace the whole swing plate assembly which requires removing the power supply board and is quite a lengthy process.

Briefly, what you have to do is; remove the top cover, both side covers, rear door, and fuser. Disconnect the cables from the power supply board at the dc controller. Remove six screws and an earthing screw holding the power supply board in. Remove the power supply board from the back of the printer.

The swing plate assembly can then removed from inside the printer by removing the three black screws. These are hard to get to and can be tight and are easy to round off. The swing plate is also tricky to get in and out of the printer.

If you get a genuine HP part, it should already have some grease on it. If you get a cheap compatable part, you might need to grease it yourself.

When you tighten the screws holding the power supply in place, pull upwards on the power supply. This moves the fuser gear closer to the swing plate gear.

Fit the new fuser gear supplied in the kit onto the fuser. Don't forget to check the plastic retaining clips on the fuser. If they are broken, the fuser will need to be replaced.

Hopefully, your printer should now work, and should be a lot quieter.

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HP LaserJet 4250 4350 Fuser

RM1-1082-090CN  Fusing assembly - For 110 VAC 

RM1-1083-090CN  Fusing assembly - For 220 VAC 

5851-2766 Swing plate assembly

5851-2766 Swing plate assembly

2 thoughts on “HP LaserJet 4250 4350 – Grinding And Knocking Noise”

Dave

Great post, maybe you could give us the part number of the swing plate?

admin

The HP part number is 5851-2766.
The description for the part:
Swing plate assembly – For Tray 2 paper lift assembly – Located between the main gear assembly and the fuser, just above the power supply – Contains swing plate assembly and new fuser pressure release gear .
is incorrect, it has nothing to do with the Tray 2 paper lift assembly.