On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 21:05:02 +0100, T i m wrote:

I recently picked up a little HP Laserjet 5L from Freecycle and whilst
it did actually print the printout was about as dirty as the printer
itself (inside more than out).

Anyroadup, with no more than my trusty Philips No2 screwdriver I took it
to bits, cleaned it out and put it back together again. ;-)

The nice thing was it was obviously /designed/ to be serviced as many of
the parts simply clipped out and in, gears clipped onto shafts etc.

It reminded me a bit of my time with Kodak on microfilm and fiche
machines.

The 5L was one of the less satisfactory machines for servicing (or so a
long time HP service guy told me). And, indeed, I acquired one and found
that it wasn't *that* good. I agree it's better than most modern stuff,
though.

The repair guy said that the older HP printers were a lot better than the
5L (but bigger and more expensive). I have a number of LaserJet 4+{M}
machines, and they are wonderful....not trouble to service etc. I bought
the last two off eBay at 7 quid the pair, and it took under 40 minutes to
fix the faults on both of them. (yes, I know about shipping costs but
these were 20 mins drive away)

Oh, and I do have a monster fiche machine too (with printer). Haven't had
to fix it yet though.
--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor