"T i m" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 9 Sep 2010 21:39:35 +0100, "Spamlet"
wrote:


The next experiment might be to service / refill a toner cartridge.


Don't know the 5L, but the thing to watch out for is to empty the 'used'
toner reservoir, before adding a new charge of toner.

I just watched one being done on Youtube and it did seem pretty
straightforward (just a bit messy).

I've actually
refilled toner units on our 3330mfp several times - even recycling the
stuff
from the 'used' reservoir (my first copier actually had a worm drive to
accomplish this recycling). The used toner reservoir is not always
obvious,
and this is where a lot of people go wrong, and soon have toner spewing
out
everywhere.

In this cart it looks like it's behind a (scraper) plate in the back
half of the toner reservoir.

Whatever you do don't scratch the drum.

When I was doing such for Kodak we stored the OPC drum in a black
plastic bag and generally out of bright light. The guy on the Youtube
vid didn't seem to bother?

Also try to refill original
cartridges as I've noticed that the coating on the drums of some
commercially refilled items is very thin, and doesn't last much longer
than
the toner itself.

Ok.

You can buy an adapted soldering iron (a piece of 15mm copper pipe would
do
just as well) to make a fill hole in the side of some units, so that you
don't have to find how to get them apart (supposedly) but you'll still
have
to do this to empty the used reservoir. The cartridges on our mfp are in
two parts, articulating on short blind steel pins: I had to use a small
nail
to melt a hole behind these pins so that they could be pushed out.

Again, from the video it looks like this cart uses a similar concept
but the pins are visible and can be push in (then recovered and
re-used).

The problem with our all in one is the fuser unit, which blew at
Christmas,
and took a lot of negotiating before they would sell me another - or even
tell me what one I needed.

Years ago I 'serviced' the fuser on our work Canon LBP 8II and LJIII's
(same engine I think). I think a new fuser was about £120 at the
time, a recon 60 and the parts for me to do it about 20. ;-)


After all that, I still haven't got round to
fitting it as, most of the machine has to be dismantled to make the swap.

;-(

So HP things aren't *all* made to come apart easily: fusers obviously
*ought* to be straight swap jobs like toner units, but not on our model.
(Something to ask about when considering buying.).

From memory on the models I did it was a couple of screws at the front
and one connector and it just lifted out as a module.

I've been running some test prints though this 5L tonight and at seems
like it's got a bit of a pickup problem (either not or picking up a
few sheets). It looks like you can get the rollers and splitters on
eBay cheap enough so I might do this one and my mates (that's been
doing the same thing once the paper quantity drops back in the
hopper).

Cheers, T i m

If you have room, keep paper in the airing cupboard. I found the slightest
damp made a difference both to pick up and image quality - but nowadays we
generally get through paper pretty fast.

I recycling, it is the drums that are the main hassle: it only takes one
staple left in a bit of reused paper, and it's £50 down the drain!

S