Periodically your printer requires you to complete certain tasks to maintain optimum print quality. If several people are using the printer, you may want to designate a key operator to maintain your printer. Refer printing problems and maintenance tasks to this key operator.
Determining the Status of Supplies
Conserving Supplies
Ordering Supplies
Storing Print Media
Storing Consumables
Replacing the Imaging Drums
Replacing the Toner Cartridge
Replacing the Transfer Roller
Replacing the Fuser and Separator Roller
Cleaning the Automatic Density Control (CTD) Sensor
Cleaning the Imaging Drum
Adjusting Color Registration
If your printer is connected to the network, the Dell Printer Configuration Web Tool can provide instant feedback on remaining toner levels. Type the printer IP address in your Web browser to view this information. To use the E-Mail Alert Setup feature that notifies you when the printer requires new supplies, type your name or the name of the key operator in the e-mail list box.
On the operator panel, you can also confirm the following:
- Any supply or maintenance items that require attention replacing (However, the printer can only display information about one item at a time.)
- Remains of each toner cartridges
You can change several settings in your software program or on the operator panel to conserve toner and paper.
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Draft Mode in the Advanced
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This check box allows the users to select a print mode that uses less toner. When this feature is used, the image quality will be lower than when it is not used.
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The printer prints two or more pages on one side of a sheet. Values for Multiple Up are 2 Up, 4 Up, 8 Up, 16 Up, or 32 Up. Combined with the duplex setting, Multiple Up allows you to print up to 64 pages on one sheet of paper. (32 images on the front and 32 on the back)
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Double-sided printing is available. This allows you to print on both sides of a sheet of paper.
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You can order consumables from Dell on the Internet when using a networked printer. Type the IP address of your printer in your Web browser, launch the Dell Printer Configuration Web Tool, and click the Order Supplies at: to order toner for your printer.
You can also order toner by the following method.
- Click Start ® All Programs ® Dell Printers ® Dell Laser Printer 5100cn ® Dell Supplies Management System.
The Dell Supplies Management System window appears.
- If ordering from the Web:
- When you cannot get information from the printer automatically by two-way
communication, a window that prompts you to type the Service Tag number appears. Type
your Dell printer Service Tag number in the field provided.
Your Service Tag number is located inside the front door of your printer.
- Click Visit Dell printer supplies ordering web site.
- If ordering by phone, call the number that appears under the By Telephone heading.
To avoid potential paper feeding problems and uneven print quality, there are several things you can do.
- To achieve the best possible print quality, store print media in an environment where the temperature is approximately 21°C (70°F) and the relative humidity is 40%.
- Store cartons of print media on a pallet or shelf, rather than directly on the floor.
- If you store individual packages of print media out of the original carton, make sure they rest on a flat surface so the edges do not buckle or curl.
- Do not place anything on top of the print media packages.
Store consumables in their original packaging until you need to use them. Do not store consumables in:
- Temperatures greater than 40°C (104°F).
- An environment with extreme changes in humidity or temperature.
- Direct sunlight.
- Dusty places.
- A car for a long period of time.
- An environment where corrosive gases are present.
- An environment with salty air.
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CAUTION: Before performing any of the following procedures, read and follow the safety
instructions in your Owner's Manual.
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CAUTION: Never throw a used imaging drum into a fire. It could explode resulting in burns and
injuries.
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Dell cartridges are available only through Dell. You can order more online at http://www.dell.com/supplies or by phone. To order by phone, see your Owner's Manual.
Dell recommends Dell imaging drums for your printer. Dell does not provide warranty coverage for problems caused by using accessories, parts, or components not supplied by Dell.
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NOTE: Remove any print jobs from the center output tray, and close the multipurpose feeder cover before opening the front cover. |
- Push the front latch up and fully open the front cover.
- Push the button as shown in the following illustration and open the imaging drum cover.
- Grab the imaging drum by the handle, and pull it up and out.
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CAUTION: Do not touch inside the printer with your hands. Some parts may be hot. Allow time for
the printer to cool before attempting to remove parts in this area.
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- Remove the protective cover from the imaging drum.
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CAUTION: Make sure nothing touches or scratches the surface of the light-sensitive drum surface
(green-colored roller) or the transfer roller (black-colored roller). Scratches, dirt, or oil from your hands
on the imaging drum or transfer roller may reduce the print quality.
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- Holding the imaging drum by the handle with the flat part facing the back of the printer, align the plastic guides on both sides of the imaging drum with the slots in front of the arrows on the printer.
- Pull the protective cover on the imaging drum straight up to remove it.
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NOTICE: Do not touch the transfer roller (black-colored roller). Make sure that nothing touches or scratches the roller surface. Scratches or oil from your hands on the roller deteriorates print quality. |
- Close the imaging drum cover.
- Close the front cover.
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CAUTION: Before performing any of the following procedures, read and follow the safety
instructions in your Owner's Manual.
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In addition to the toner level indicator that appears each time you send a job to print, a message appears on the operator panel to alert you when it's time to order a new toner cartridge.
Dell toner cartridges are available only through Dell. You can order more toner online at http://www.dell.com/supplies or by phone. To order by phone, see "Ordering toner cartridges" in your Owner's Manual.
Dell recommends Dell toner cartridges for your printer. Dell does not provide warranty coverage for problems caused by using accessories, parts, or components not supplied by Dell.
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CAUTION: Never throw used toner cartridges into a fire. The residual toner could explode resulting
in burns and injuries.
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NOTE: Remove any print jobs from the outer front cover before removing the top cover. |
- Remove the top cover.
- Grip the levers at the ends of the toner cartridge that you want to replace and pull them up.
- Pull out the toner cartridge.
- Select the new toner cartridge whose color matches the cartridge carrier and remove it from its packaging.
- Shake the toner cartridge several times as illustrated to distribute the toner evenly.
- Align the toner cartridge with the corresponding cartridge carrier in the printer and insert it.
- Grip the levers at each end of the toner cartridge with your fingers, then push down firmly to rotate the levers forward.
- Pull the toner seal straight up to remove it.
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NOTICE: Pull the toner seal straight up. Pulling the toner seal diagonally may tear the seal. |
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NOTICE: If it takes more than five seconds until you remove the toner seal after inserting the toner cartridge in the printer, an error message may appear. In this case, perform step 4 again, or turn the printer off once and then on again. |
- Replace the top cover by inserting its front side into the printer first.
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CAUTION: Before performing any of the following procedures, read and follow the safety
instructions in your Owner's Manual.
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CAUTION: Never throw a used transfer roller into a fire. It could explode resulting in burns and
injuries.
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CAUTION: Do not touch the edge of the plate at the upper side of the transfer roller because it is
sharp.
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Dell transfer rollers are available only through Dell. You can order more online at http://www.dell.com/supplies or by phone. To order by phone, see your Owner's Manual.
Dell recommends Dell transfer roller for your printer. Dell does not provide warranty coverage for problems caused by using accessories, parts, or components not supplied by Dell.
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NOTE: Remove any print jobs from the center output tray, and close the multipurpose feeder cover before opening the front cover. |
- Push the front latch up and fully open the front cover.
- Grip the tabs at both ends of the transfer roller and gently lift it out of the printer.
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CAUTION: Do not touch inside the printer with your hands. Some parts may be hot. Allow time for
the printer to cool before attempting to remove parts in this area.
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- Unpack a new transfer roller and grip the tabs as shown.
- Align the arrow marks on the transfer roller to the marks on the printer, and gently push the roller into the printer.
- To lock the transfer roller into the printer push down the tabs until you hear a click.
- Close the front cover.
To avoid burns, do not replace the fuser immediately after printing, as the fuser gets very hot during this process.
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CAUTION: To prevent electric shock, always turn off the printer and disconnect the power cable from
the grounded outlet before cleaning the printer or performing maintenance.
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CAUTION: Before performing any of the following procedures, read and follow the safety
instructions in your Owner's Manual.
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Dell fuser are available only through Dell. You can order more online at http://www.dell.com/supplies or by phone. To order by phone, see your Owner's Manual.
Dell recommends Dell fuser for your printer. Dell does not provide warranty coverage for problems caused by using accessories, parts, or components not supplied by Dell.
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NOTE: Remove any print jobs from the center output tray, and close the multipurpose feeder cover before opening the outer front cover. |
- Turn off the printer and wait for 30 minutes.
- Push the side button and open the outer front cover.
- Lift up the levers next to both ends of the fuser.
- Grip the knobs and gently lift the fuser out of the printer.
- Unpack a new fuser, grip the fuser by the knobs, align it with the slots in the printer, and slowly push it in.
- Completely push down the fuser by holding the knobs at both ends of the fuser until the levers next to both ends of the fuser return to their original position.
- Close the outer front cover.
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NOTE: Remove any print jobs from the tray before pulling the tray out of the printer. |
- Pull the tray out of the printer until it stops. Hold the tray with both hands, lift the front slightly, and remove it from the printer.
- Press both tabs inward and hold while gently lifting the separator roller cover to the open position.
- Gently raise the separator roller assembly, and slide it to the left.
- Align the holes of the new separator roller with the projections in the tray and slide the separator roller until it stops. Then, release your hand from the separator roller.
- Close the separator roller cover.
- Replace the printer's tray into the printer.
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CAUTION: Before performing any of the following procedures, read and follow the safety
instructions in your Owner's Manual.
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CAUTION: Do not touch the edge of the plate at the upper side of the transfer roller because it is
sharp.
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When the printer's automatic density control (CTD) sensor is dirty, follow the procedure below to clean it.
- Turn off the printer.
- Push the front latch up and fully open the front cover.
- Grip the tabs at both ends of the transfer roller and gently lift it out of the printer.
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CAUTION: Do not touch inside the printer with your hands. Some parts may be hot. Allow time for
the printer to cool before attempting to remove parts in this area.
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- Gently wipe the automatic density control (CTD) sensor window with a clean dry cloth or cotton swab.
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NOTE: Do not allow anything hard to come in contact with the automatic density control (CTD) sensor window. Do not use excessive force to clean the window. |
- Replace the transfer roller. Grip the tabs as shown.
- Align the arrow marks on the transfer roller to the marks on the printer, and gently push the roller into the printer.
- To lock the transfer roller into the printer push down the tabs until you hear a click.
- Close the front cover.
- Turn on the printer.
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NOTE: Remove any print jobs from the center output tray, close the multipurpose feeder cover before opening the front door. |
- Push the front latch up and fully open the front cover.
- Push the button as shown in the following illustration and open the imaging drum cover.
- Grab the imaging drum by the handle, and pull it up and out.
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CAUTION: Do not touch inside the printer with your hands. Some parts may be hot. Allow time for
the printer to cool before attempting to remove parts in this area.
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- Place the imaging drum next to the print sample on which the colored dots appear to find the part that needs to be cleaned.
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NOTE: You must find the part to be cleaned yourself. |
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NOTE: The above graphic shows the parts, one to four, to be cleaned. |
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NOTE: To prevent the light-sensitive drum being overexposed, do the operation quickly. |
- Align the colored dots printed on the print sample with the corresponding part of the imaging drum.
- 1 indicates the lateral position of the colored dots.
- 2 indicates the color of the colored dots.
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NOTE: The graphic shows an example with magenta colored dots. |
- Determine the position where colored dots were printed. Then turn the transfer roller (black-colored roller) by rolling it with your finger on its left side to find the dirt.
- Clean any dirt from the roller.
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NOTE: Use a soft cloth, such as cotton for cleaning. |
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NOTE: Make sure nothing touches or scratches the surface of the light-sensitive drum (green-colored roller) or the transfer roller (black-colored roller). |
- Replace the imaging drum. Holding the imaging drum by the handle with the flat part facing the back of the printer, align the plastic guides on both sides of the imaging drum with the slots in front of the arrows on the printer.
- Close the imaging drum cover.
- Close the front cover.
To adjust the color registration when you first install the printer or after moving it to a new location, follow the procedure below. See "Operator Panel" and "Color Reg Adj" for information about the operator panel.
Use the operator panel to print the color registration chart.
- Press Menu.
- Press
until Configure appears, and then press 
or 
.
- Press
until Maintenance appears, and then press
or
.
- Press
until Color Reg Adj appears, and then press
or
.
- Press
until Correction Chart appears, and then press
.
The color registration chart is printed.
From the lines to the right of the Y (yellow), M (magenta), and C (cyan) pattern, find the values of the straightest lines.
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NOTE: You can also use the densest colors of the lattice pattern to find the straightest lines. The colors printed at the highest density are those next to the straightest lines. When 0 is the value nearest the straightest line, you do not need to adjust the color registration. When the value is not 0, follow the procedure outlined in "Entering Values". |
Using the operator panel, enter the values that you found in the color registration chart to make adjustments.
- Press Menu.
- Press
until Configure appears, and then press
or
.
- Press
until Maintenance appears, and then press
or
.
- Press
until Color Reg Adj appears, and then press
or
.
- Press
until Enter Number appears, and then press
or
.
The cursor is located at the first digit of the Enter Number.
- Press
until you reach the value (for example, +3) displayed on the chart.
- Press
once and move the cursor to the next value.
- Repeat steps 6 and 7 to enter all of the digits of the Enter Number, and then press
.
- Press
until Correction Chart appears, and then press
.
The color registration chart is printed with the new values.
- Color registration adjustment is complete when the straightest Y (yellow), M (magenta), and C (cyan) lines are next to the 0 line.
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CAUTION: After printing the color registration chart, do not turn off the printer until the printer motor
has stopped running.
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NOTE: If 0 is not next to the straightest lines, determine the values and adjust the printer again. |
