Treeing or paper wrinkling in humid environments

Issue description

A single tree or multiple trees appear on a printed page.

Solution

1. Check the condition of the paper loaded into the tray by removing the paper from the tray and look for the presence of waves or ripples in the stack of paper. If waves are visible, then load the tray with a fresh ream or stack of paper.



2. If it is not possible to load a fresh ream of paper, then try flipping the paper over and rotating it, so that the opposing leading-edge is feeding into the printer first.



3. Move the printer to a less-humid environment, or allow the paper to condition / acclimate (in an open ream) in the operating environment for more than 24 hours.

Explanation

High humidity environments and an uneven distribution of moisture absorbed by the paper creates these waves. The side effect is vertical buckling or folding of the page as it passes through the printer's paper path, and the tiny ripples or branches are finally flattened and ironed by the fuser.