Patent ID: 7593654

Claim:
A method of obtaining an AC charging actuator value for use during marking by a marking engine, the method comprising: powering an AC-biased charging device at a plurality of AC charging actuator values; applying a bias charge to a photoconductor with the AC-biased charging device powered at each of the plurality of AC charging actuator values; developing a toner patch on the charged photoconductor for each of the plurality of AC charging actuator values; measuring a density of the toner patch applied for each of the respective plurality of AC charging actuator values; determining an AC charging actuator value applied to the AC-biased charging device that corresponds to a knee in the plot of the measured toner patch densities; and setting an AC charging actuator value for use in powering the AC-biased charging device during a marking operation based upon the AC charging actuator value corresponding to the knee in the plot of the measured toner patch densities.