I printed a 2-page color PDF file today, and the MF733Cdw never printed it, instead displaying "Correcting, please wait" continously, and spending a lot of toner, but never printing it.
It was stuck for almost an hour in the "Correcting, please wait" stage, making mechanical noises. I would have noticed it sooner had I been in the room when it was churning, but I simply printed the document from my phone over WiFi, expecting to read it later.
The printer was working so hard that I started smelling an odor. Not smoke, but just the smell of overworked electronics.
I powered off the printer, unplugged it, and looked at the toner cartridges, which were at 100%, having been replaced a month ago.
I noticed a piece of clear flexible plastic had fallen underneath the black cartridge (but I don't know whether it was originally from the black cartridge):
It was covered in toner (the photo above is after it was thoroughly cleaned).
I cleaned all 4 of the cartridges' rollers with microfiber, rotating and cleaning them until they did not display any more toner.
But in the end, there is still a large streak on every page:
I looked at each toner cartridge, and I cannot notice a scratch or something else which could explain that streak. I hope that the printer itself wasn't damaged.
I looked at each toner cartridge looking for a piece of flexible plastic which might have fallen out of one of them, but which is still present in the others, but I did not notice anything. The flexible plastic feels flimsy, like it wouldn't stick very easily to anything. I wonder what its function is. Is it a part of the "wiper" which removes extra toner?
I hope that replacing the toner cartridges will get rid of this streak. I'm surprised that a piece of soft plastic would fall out of Canon parts like that, and cause a lot of toner to be wasted, and that the "Correcting, please wait" process could be allowed to run continously for around an hour, perhaps because it is trying to autocorrect an uncorrectable hardware failure.
My printer is just under the 3-year warranty, but I am not able to ship or transport it, so unless it can be fixed at my site, or by replacing the toner cartridges, or by my following instructions, I'm afraid I'll have to scrap it.
> No good way for us to see what that piece of plastic is from your image... what it is, or where it might have come from.
Well, I thought that it was as good a photo as I could make. It was taken from the scanner tray. I can take photos at different angles.
Basically, a flexible piece of plastic, with one end slightly thicker than the other, fell underneath the toner cartridges. It was originally covered in toner. I presume that it is related to the sudden failure of the printer to print, and of the streaks on the pages. I never had a failure in the printer before.
> I think you should contact Canon. I know the 733 is a larger machine and heavy (54lbs).
Yes, it's too heavy to ship, or even to take to a local repair center.
I will try to fix it myself. If I don't succeed, it goes to the junk haulers. I go through a new printer every two years or so. So sad.
