OT: Laser Printer problems

[Cornwalled]

Hey Guys,

I know this is horribly off topic, but I didn't know where else to turn. I tried posting to a "Repair your printer" forum, and the only advice I was given is "Throw the printer out at the closest dumpster". Thanks! Great help! LOL.

Anyhoo, I was given an HP Color Laserjet 5 printer because the previous owner didn't know what was wrong with it. Frankly, neither do I. It doesn't look like fuser or toner to me, which is the only things I know how to recognize. I enclosed two test sheets to give you an idea.

What I am referring to is these vertical bars on the side of the paper. It's not always at the same place on each page. Also, color seems to be overly dark/intense, almost like it's laying down too much ink. I couldn't find any adjustments in the print driver to tweak for this, so I'm assuming it's part of the same problem?

Hopefully someone here with computer/office equipment knowledge can chime in and give me a hint. I'm comfortable replacing parts myself, but don't want to just start buying things without knowing the problem. It's feeding paper smoothly at least, no strange noises or anything, so I'm guessing it's not too complicated.

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated! BTW, this is not a plug for EAW, it's just what I happened to have laying around in the printer bay.

Thanks,

Jon

[Cornwalled]

Second page...

[WMcD]

I'll state the obvious. But you didn't mention it: There is a troubleshooting section at hp.com for LJ5. They suggest using the latest driver, which seems to have adjustments.

I can't quite see how this would be a software problem. One would think the thing worked with the original drivers. Ya never know.

I wonder if the original owner managed to mis-set some internal setting. So if there is a return to defaults on a menu, that is worth doing.

Make sure all the toner carts are in place properly. Doors closed. Things that can be cleaned, are clean.

I've had good and bad luck with calling up manufacturers. It is worth a try. I believe you can email too. They start saying tech support will cost money or try to send you elsewhere. But if you say, "my problem is X, is that going to cost money?" They sometimes back down.

If all the carts are misbehaving, you have to wonder whether it can be a problem with the carts. So it might not be worth replacing all of them, which is what tech support might recommend.

In some printers I've played with, the toner costs a sizable chunk of a new printer. So I can see why people recommend a dumpster.

Best,

Gil

[Cornwalled]

Hey Gil,

Thanks for responding! This printer is most unusual in that it doesn't use the traditional four toner cartridges on a rotary turnstile that most color lasers use. Instead, it has a flip up door in the back, which reveals four toner resevoirs. The toner simply comes in little bottles that you click onto the top of the printer, and pull a lever, and the toner pours into the top. I'm afraid of this. Needless to say, toner refills are being done OUTSIDE.

I haven't found a toner level monitoring utility, but all colors are present, so I don't think it's a toner problem. I'm wondering if it's something like a roller, transfer belt, etc. I just don't know enough about laser printers. I'll check out the troubleshooting section on HP.com like you mentioned.

-Jon

[Marvel]

The first page looks like a paper jam in the drum. Pretty wierd. We have several Color LJ 4500 models. Or, even though the life of the parts shown on the self test indicate they are okay, I would say that the transfer belt is also suspect.

We currently have one that is giving us errors, has been repaired numerous times and is about ready to hit the dumpster. Especially since we just bought a new Color LJ for $350, with the network card in it. All the cartidges are in line, so the speed of printing and registration of colors is way improved. Given that a drum costs ~$80 and a transfer belt ~$200, the new ones are to be pretty inviting. The old models take forever to warm up if they haven't been used for a while (even after setting the power saving features the way you want them). The cost way more to operate than the new ones.

Bruce

[Jay481985]

as marvel said, it looks sorta like the transfer belt. It may also be in the fuse to long. But did you check the toner waste, the part that caries the waste toner powder away, that may be full.

[Cornwalled]

I'll have to see if I can find out where that is and try it.

as marvel said, it looks sorta like the transfer belt. It may also be in the fuse to long. But did you check the toner waste, the part that caries the waste toner powder away, that may be full.

[Marvel]

I just looked up the Color LJ 5 on HP's website. This is one of the older models, and looking through the documentation, I don't see a transfer belt listed. The layout is so totally different than the ones we have in our offices.

Good luck with it, anyway.

[DoubleJ]

Cornwalled:

Have you taken this printer totally a part and cleaned it?

I have seen this many times before in older HP Laser printers..color and non color. It's tired and needs some repair and cleaning.

I've had some success taking it totally apart and cleaning everything..rollers, mirrors, fuser, etc. There has been many times that it didn't work as well. This is no easy task because there are springs and parts that are not very easy getting back into place after taking it apart.

I truly believe that there are some internal parts that will need to be replaced, which won't be cheap and may cost you as much as a new one..

BUT!!! HP doesn't make laser printers like they used to. The single digit series (lj3, 4, 5, and 6 models) are built like tanks and can run for a long time before service is needed.

So, it may be worth putting a few dollars twords fixing it...but you will have to be the judge on where to draw the line. []

JJ

[Marvel]

BUT!!! HP doesn't make laser printers like they used to. The single digit series (lj3, 4, 5, and 6 models) are built like tanks and can run for a long time before service is needed.

So, it may be worth putting a few dollars twords fixing it...but you will have to be the judge on where to draw the line. []

JJ

Everything used to be built like a tank. Totally taking one of those apart is a pain. I've totally disassembled fusers and more on HP printers and they aren't much fun.

We have an LJ 5000 (monochrome) with over 1.2 million pages through it. The newer models aren't built as heavy, but it doesn't mean they won't hold up either.

A 5 series is probably close to ten years old. As you mentioned, there will need to be parts replaced. FInding them might be an issue.

[Jay481985]

the samsung new color laser printers are around 400 dollars now..... and their quick and fast!

[Cornwalled]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for your continued advice and support. I've been really busy this weekend, so I haven't had time to look at it yet. I've done two mixing gigs at a local theater. More about this in another thread in general: http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/760222/ShowThread.aspx#760222

Anyhoo, about cleaning it, I was thinking the same thing, as it doesn't cost anything. And I figure, since it's given to me free, I have nothing to lose if I booger something up. I have to find out where this toner waste collector is, and how to empty it. I have a shop vac, could I use that to suck out the waste toner?

About the drum, I have heard that it is sensitive to light, and should not be exposed to sunlight. If that is the case, am I damaging the printer every time I open it up? Just how much tolerance does this drum have to light before it's damaged? Are we talking hours, minutes? I had never heard of such a thing being that sensitive. Are you supposed to replace it in the dark with infrared night vision? LOL.

I actually saw another one of these with 19K pages on it on ebay for 14.99, within driving distance. Owner claims everything's working fine, so that might not be a bad way to go, except then I have TWO of the dang things..lol.

Sorry for all the questions, but this is a learning experience for me. If I at least use this printer as a learning tool, then it will have been worthwhile.

-Jon

[Jay481985]

The drum is light sensitive so I would say 5 minutes low light, 1 minute high light tops... Place in a black plastic bag or garbage bag and place inside a draw or kitchen cabinet.... You think that is bad.... My dad used to own a photo processing store and everytime the paper roll needed changing he would have to go into the bathroom with the door shut and lights off and do everything by touch and feel. If one lumen of light is present the roll of paper (around 60 dollars) is lost. BTW the paper roll was around 30 pounds and the plastic container it was in was around the size of a small end table in a bathroom the size of any commercial store.... meaning small....

[Cornwalled]

Hey Jay,

I took photography in high school, and can remember many tricky maneuvers in the dark with paper and film. Fortunately it was black and white only, so during certain stages of development/enlargement we could have a really low red light on, and once your eyes adjusted you could see alright. But the initial loading and unloading of the film from the canister was very tricky, and done in complete darkness. We had an interesting revolving door that kept the room dark all the time. Every time you came out you were blinded.

Best course I ever took. I think that's why I still enjoy photography and imaging today.

-Jon

[Jay481985]

yep! I took photo I and loved it. Was the door like a circle with one opening and you had to swivel it? We used one too! During the developing and processing phase you can use a low red/amber light as it does not affect the color saturation but for negatives its different, I think the color paper they used is more photo sensitive to light so when changing rolls, no light at all!!! Oh my dad used Kodak Royal paper because he was stubborn....... Cost and arm and a leg and customers complained cause it was matte instead of glossy like cvs.... silly people.

[Cornwalled]

Yep, the door was just like that. Very clumsy, and occasionally it would scrape and stop and you'd smack into the door. It was hilarious to watch.

In the class, all cameras were supplied. I used the Nikon F, cause it was big, awesome, and no one else could figure it out. Far and away the best camera there, had a huge lens, with a wide aperture opening. I believe it was the only camera there that went down to 1.4, most others were 1.8

I'd love to have my own developing chemicals and an enlarger. We learned with the pans and chemicals in the beginning, but switched over to a machine simply because of time constraits. Setting up the enlarger was a nice art though, I enjoyed it.

Now everything's digital anymore, hardly seems like anyone knows how to take pictures properly these days.

-Jon

[ScorpsFan]

Sounds like everyone has been giving great advice, I'll add one more piece, I have the HP 5p a B & W LaserJet and it does the same thing. Fixed it by running a cleaning program supplied by HP from their website, not sure if it will work, but it only ate up a few sheets of paper and some powdered ink, worth a try if your model has the same software available.

BTW here's a link to HP's support site about "smearing problems on printouts" and the cleaning instructions for a ColorJet 5 printer:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=110&prodSeriesId=25508&prodTypeId=18972&prodSeriesId=25508&objectID=bpl02384

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=125&prodSeriesId=25508&prodTypeId=18972&prodSeriesId=25508&objectID=bpl02647

Best of Luck!

[Jay481985]

Now everything's digital anymore, hardly seems like anyone knows how to take pictures properly these days.

-Jon

tell me about it.... The death of chemical photography...... And the birth of amateur photographers thinking they are pros cause they have a point and shoot camera compared to slr. I have a funny story where the guy was like I have this new 8.2 megapixel super duper digital camera and I had this 5.1 megapixel just for pocket digital that I keep. At the end of the day his photos overly bright or overly dark compared to tried and true methods I learned in the field of film photgraphy. He did not know what metering was and metered for the brightest object in the frame hence really dark pictures! He asked me how to take pictures and I went "trade secrets, sir. no computer tells me what my eyes see"

Anyways that HP software sounds like a good idea and worth a try.

[Cornwalled]

Thanks for the ideas Scorpsfan. I'm away from home right now, so I printed them out and will take home and refer to them as I work on it. The tricky thing is doing it in a way that I can see my way around, but that doesn't expose the drum to light [8-)]

-Jon

[Cornwalled]

I have to agree on this one. I seem to hear of more problems with their newer stuff. I have a monochrome Laserjet 5si with 912K pages on it and it's still going. Could use a fuser eventually, but otherwise is still great. Far and away the fastest printer I've ever seen, aside from it's warm up time, which doesn't bother me.

-Jon

DoubleJ said:

BUT!!! HP doesn't make laser printers like they used to. The single digit series (lj3, 4, 5, and 6 models) are built like tanks and can run for a long time before service is needed.