Hi all,

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

Cheers, T i m

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

"T i m" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

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

Cheers, T i m

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'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.

Whatever you do don't scratch the drum. 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.

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.

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. 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.).

S

On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 21:39:35 +0100, Spamlet wrote:

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. 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.).

The HP LJ4 series are great for fusers...open the back door, loosen two
screes and pull it out. New ones aren't cheap, but the lamp is cheap if a
bit of a pig to replace. If the rollers are shot, it's a complete swap-
out job for the fuser though.



--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 9 Sep 2010 20:22:25 GMT, Bob Eager wrote:


The 5L was one of the less satisfactory machines for servicing (or so a
long time HP service guy told me).

I think what I liked about this is was that it was fairly small and
therefore 'simple' (U\I had the service manual before I touched it but
didn't look at it once for strip or rebuild). You could get all the
main rollers out without having to take any side plates off etc.

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.

Hmm, I've also got a couple of them (with paper-path issues) but they
are much bigger and heavier than this 5L.

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.

The most fun machine was Kodak's microfilm developer. Poke a roll of
exposed film on one end and a couple of mins later the film came out
the other developed, fixed, washed and dried and even picked itself
up on the takeup spool. /Loads/ of baskets of rollers and chemicals.
Great fun. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

In article ,
T i m writes:
Hi all,

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

Still have an original Apple Laserwriter (Mark I), which worked
last time I used it, but that was probably about 7 years ago.
These were based on a Canon laser printer engine, but with the
control board replaced with an MC68000 one produced by or for
Apple, with the printer firmware rewritten in fourth/postscript.
Main problem is it only has 1MB memory, which isn't upgradable*,
and not many apps nowadays produce Postscript programs which can
run in 1MB memory anymore.

*I took it to pieces to get to the circuit board to check. The
memory is all in DIL chips soldered directly on, and no spare
slots. I had to remove hundreds of screws to get enough of the
mechanism apart to actually get to the circuit board, and I was
completely amazed to get it all back together again afterwards,
and find it still worked.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

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

On Thu, 9 Sep 2010 22:03:19 +0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:


Still have an original Apple Laserwriter (Mark I), which worked
last time I used it, but that was probably about 7 years ago.

Dad might still have one in his garage.

These were based on a Canon laser printer engine, but with the
control board replaced with an MC68000 one produced by or for
Apple, with the printer firmware rewritten in fourth/postscript.
Main problem is it only has 1MB memory, which isn't upgradable*,
and not many apps nowadays produce Postscript programs which can
run in 1MB memory anymore.

Ah.

*I took it to pieces to get to the circuit board to check. The
memory is all in DIL chips soldered directly on, and no spare
slots. I had to remove hundreds of screws to get enough of the
mechanism apart to actually get to the circuit board, and I was
completely amazed to get it all back together again afterwards,
and find it still worked.

;-)

Because this one cost me nothing I didn't take quite the same level of
care had it been newer or more expensive (I was still carefullish).

I think there were only about 10 screws in the whole job and 5 of them
held the case on. ;-)

Still nice when it works again and I /enjoy/ learning more about
what's going on inside stuff (I knew how laser printers worked as
such).

Cheers, T i m

On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:03:19 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:


Still have an original Apple Laserwriter (Mark I), which worked last
time I used it, but that was probably about 7 years ago. These were
based on a Canon laser printer engine, but with the control board
replaced with an MC68000 one produced by or for Apple, with the printer
firmware rewritten in fourth/postscript. Main problem is it only has 1MB
memory, which isn't upgradable*, and not many apps nowadays produce
Postscript programs which can run in 1MB memory anymore.

They had the NVRAM with a limit of about 4000 write cycles. I had one for
a long time but didn't use it much as I was given my first LJ4, which
needed a new fuser bulb and that was all.

I think I just scrapped the LW in the end.
--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:05:10 +0100, T i m wrote:

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).

It's a very common failure mode on the 5L. I was given one that would
only feed single sheets, and I replaced the pickup pad and roller. It's
fine now.



--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

"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?

Sounds an odd thing for something that has a hugely bright light shone on it
everytime it cycles! Possibly, the black bags are reliably clean and dust
free inside.


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

"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

On 9 Sep 2010 22:21:55 GMT, Bob Eager wrote:

On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:05:10 +0100, T i m wrote:

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).

It's a very common failure mode on the 5L. I was given one that would
only feed single sheets, and I replaced the pickup pad and roller. It's
fine now.

Sweet, thanks. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

On Thu, 9 Sep 2010 23:40:58 +0100, "Spamlet"
wrote:


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?

Sounds an odd thing for something that has a hugely bright light shone on it
everytime it cycles!

Hmm, good point, however, wouldn't it generally be illuminated equally
that way whereas if it sat in the sun facing one side?

Possibly, the black bags are reliably clean and dust
free inside.

Possibly, however I do remember mention of 'avoiding exposure to
sunlight' in particular so maybe it's something in sunlight that isn't
good for it shrug.

Or maybe it was just /the/ and stuff is bore durable now?

Cheers, T i m

On Thu, 9 Sep 2010 23:46:06 +0100, "Spamlet"
wrote:


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.

Ok, I can put it alongside my welding rods. ;-)

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!

Ouch.

Cheers, T i m

On 09/09/2010 21:05, T i m wrote:
Hi all,

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

IMHO one of the nice things about owning an ancient Laserjet is the
plentiful supply of new, sealed, HP-branded toner cartridges for it on
ebay for under a tenner delivered...

On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:05:10 +0100, T i m wrote:

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).

Clean the rollers, you can get "platen clene" that should rejuvinate
rubber ones that have become hard and shiny. Multiple pickup might be
a function of the paper stack, eithera bit damp and/or so closely
squeezed to getehr from being packed/stacked that air can't get
between each sheet. Do you fan, flick book style to seperate the
pages, the end that will be picked up when you stick a stack into the
printer?

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:58:44 +0100 (BST), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:05:10 +0100, T i m wrote:

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).

Clean the rollers,

I did (I'd have to say it looks like new in there now). I even wiped
out all the crevices inside the case, not a nook left un-cleaned (once
I start I can't stop). Some white spirit removed any remains of sticky
labels from the outside then a final wipe over with the damp rag and a
drop of Cif (or did I use a Jif lemon, so easy to get those confused
g) and the jobs a goo§dun. ;-)

All the rubber rollers I wiped with a damp (lint free) cloth and you
can feel when they have that squeaky high-grip matte finish to them.
The pickup roller was quite worn though and a new one at £2.99
delivered is probably the best solution (already ordered, along with
the separator to sort the multi-sheet pickups).

you can get "platen clene" that should rejuvinate
rubber ones that have become hard and shiny.

I might look out for some of that as well as I think I'll dig out the
big LJ5's I've got somewhere and give them a going over. The guy on
the Youtube vid doing the cartridge refurb used a conductive grease on
the roller shafts and some sort of lube on the rollers and scraper
plate 'wiper'.

a function of the paper stack, eithera bit damp and/or so closely
squeezed to getehr from being packed/stacked that air can't get
between each sheet. Do you fan, flick book style to seperate the
pages, the end that will be picked up when you stick a stack into the
printer?

Yeah, generally and don't have any issues with the other printers
using the same paper stock but they are probably in a better shape.

Cheers, T i m

On Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:51:00 +0100, Lobster
wrote:

On 09/09/2010 21:05, T i m wrote:
Hi all,

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

IMHO one of the nice things about owning an ancient Laserjet is the
plentiful supply of new, sealed, HP-branded toner cartridges for it on
ebay for under a tenner delivered...


Well yes, I saw those (and may well get one / a couple) but in the
spirit of d-i-y (and only when I had a replacement cart ready g) I
thought I might like to strip / clean / refill one and see how I got
on. I tried the same with inkjet cartridges once but now the ip4000
ones are costing about £1 each ... ;-)

Cheers, T i m

On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:53:12 +0100, T i m wrote:

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.

Hmm, I've also got a couple of them (with paper-path issues) but they
are much bigger and heavier than this 5L.

Is this the concertina effect at the back end of the paper?



--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 10 Sep 2010 11:12:12 GMT, Bob Eager wrote:

On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:53:12 +0100, T i m wrote:

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.

Hmm, I've also got a couple of them (with paper-path issues) but they
are much bigger and heavier than this 5L.

Is this the concertina effect at the back end of the paper?

To be honest it's been a long time since I've fired them up and I
hadn't done anything to them since I was given them (I had 3 and gave
one to the guy next door to use). I'm not sure I remember any specific
faults but just sufficiently unpredictable to not risk a big double
sided print run.

I will fire them up again as I no longer have the easy access to a
plethora of printers I used to. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

On Fri, 10 Sep 2010 11:27:03 +0000, Huge wrote:

On 2010-09-10, Bob Eager wrote:
On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:53:12 +0100, T i m wrote:

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.

Hmm, I've also got a couple of them (with paper-path issues) but they
are much bigger and heavier than this 5L.

Is this the concertina effect at the back end of the paper?

My 5M does this, especially if printing a lot of pages. Is there a
straight-forward cure?

Replace the exit rollers (two shafts at the back). New rollers are pretty
cheap, and I have a document that I wrote which explains how to do it (a
bit easier to read than the entire service manual).

I've never had much success with messing with the old rollers, myself.

The place I used to get them seems to have given up on printers. These
people do them in a kit that includes the pickup stuff too:

http://www.click4spares.co.uk/acatalog/LJ4.html



--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

On 09/09/2010 23:50, T i m wrote:
On 9 Sep 2010 22:21:55 GMT, Bob wrote:

On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:05:10 +0100, T i m wrote:

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).

It's a very common failure mode on the 5L. I was given one that would
only feed single sheets, and I replaced the pickup pad and roller. It's
fine now.

Sweet, thanks. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

I've still got a 6L kicking around somewhere - looks identical to the 5L
(and probably is).

This had a pick up problem when the paper reservoir got low but was fine
if you kept plenty of paper in it.

Trouble was, of course, that it takes so few sheets to fill it that you
had to top it up qite frequently if you were using it a lot ...
--

Terry

"T i m" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 9 Sep 2010 23:40:58 +0100, "Spamlet"
wrote:


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?

Sounds an odd thing for something that has a hugely bright light shone on
it
everytime it cycles!

Hmm, good point, however, wouldn't it generally be illuminated equally
that way whereas if it sat in the sun facing one side?

Only if you are copying blank sheets of paper :-)

Possibly it's the immediate 'wiping' with high voltage that gets all the
electrons back in the right places; whereas in the sun they are ejected and
perhaps the coating deteriorates before they get back. Did read up on the
physics of all this when I stripped my first copier but that was a long time
ago...

Possibly, the black bags are reliably clean and dust
free inside.

Possibly, however I do remember mention of 'avoiding exposure to
sunlight' in particular so maybe it's something in sunlight that isn't
good for it shrug.

Or maybe it was just /the/ and stuff is bore durable now?

I'd say it is more fragile now and has to work harder. My first copier drum
was several inches diameter, and I think it had to be regularly given a wipe
over (IPA ?). Maybe only one or two turns for an A4 sheet, whereas today's
must do at least 4 I would imagine. I never wore out the drum on the copier
and it used to use toner by the litre. I just ran out of other spares in
the end: it was silicon rubber rollers on the fuser unit that kept getting
scored.

S

Cheers, T i m

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:05:10 +0100, T i m wrote:

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).

Clean the rollers, you can get "platen clene" that should rejuvinate
rubber ones that have become hard and shiny. Multiple pickup might be
a function of the paper stack, eithera bit damp and/or so closely
squeezed to getehr from being packed/stacked that air can't get
between each sheet. Do you fan, flick book style to seperate the
pages, the end that will be picked up when you stick a stack into the
printer?

--
Cheers
Dave.

Used to work in a place that made 'printing requisites'. Many of these were
basically IPA or White Spirit, with different coloured dyes in. 'Blanket
(rubber like your rollers) Cleaner', was IPA. 'Blanket Reviver' was IPA
with a bit of trichloroethane in, that made the rubber swell a little to
take the shine off.

Agreed on the paper issues. Also note that if your paper block has a burr,
one side will pick up better than the other. Probably would differ with
machines but I imagine a downward facing bur would be less likely to pick up
the next sheet down, than an upward facing one. Possibly this is why some
packs of paper have arrows on.

S

In article ,
Bob Eager writes:

Replace the exit rollers (two shafts at the back). New rollers are pretty
cheap, and I have a document that I wrote which explains how to do it (a
bit easier to read than the entire service manual).

I've never had much success with messing with the old rollers, myself.

I got a number of the old HP laser printers going again by
turning over the roller rubbers (probably model 3's, can't
recall if I did it on our model 4's). They were effectively
short stubby elastic bands, and if you turned them inside out,
you had a fresh new rubber surface again.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In article ,
Owain writes:
On Sep 9, 11:03*pm, (Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
Still have an original Apple Laserwriter (Mark I), ...
Main problem is it only has 1MB memory, which isn't upgradable*,
and not many apps nowadays produce Postscript programs which can
run in 1MB memory anymore.
I remember those taking about an hour to render/print one page of
kanji

PCW (magazine) did an article on postscript when the printer launched
(1985, I think), and I did quite a lot of playing with the one we had
in the office (which is probably the exact same one I have now, as I
bought it from my employer when they scrapped it some years later).

I found the whole idea of downloading a program to run in the printer
fascinating. One of the first things I tried was a postscript fractal
program to produce a mandlebrot image
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ma...riodicites.png

It took some hours to run, and the problem I initially had was that
other people looking at the print queue would see my tiny print job
had apparently hung the printer, and switch it off and on again;-)
The concept of a tiny spool file taking ages to print was completely
alien at the time to most people, who had no concept of downloading
a program to run in the printer. Eventually I ran it overnight, when
I'd worked out how to stop the security guards switchng the printer
off overnight.

I did occasional postscript programming through to the late 1990's.
One of the projects was printing CD faces where the printing
sections had very strange shaped bounding boxes (edge of the CD, and
edge round the centre hole), and the text required was different per
CD. The postscript program itself did all the word wrapping to fit
in the bounding boxes, plus choosing a font size so it all fitted
in. It's a shame most use of postscript today doesn't even scratch
the surface of its powerful capabilities.

Before the postscript printer, we used imagen (sp?) printers, which
used the same Canon printing engine, sitting on top of a filing
cabinet sized box of electronics to do the rasterising. I never
looked into what the imagen printing language looked like.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In article ,
T i m writes:
On Thu, 9 Sep 2010 22:03:19 +0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:


Still have an original Apple Laserwriter (Mark I), which worked
last time I used it, but that was probably about 7 years ago.

Dad might still have one in his garage.

I think mine's going to the tip this afternoon.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Andrew Gabriel wrote:

I found the whole idea of downloading a program to run in the printer
fascinating. One of the first things I tried was a postscript fractal
program to produce a mandlebrot image

I used to write small PosScript routines for features like adding bar
codes, Hazmat labels and the "DRAFT" markings behind the text. What
astonishes me, is how much code Microsoft need to achieve the same ends.

The PostScript printers I used in the 1980s were more powerful than the
computers attached to them.

On Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:37:39 +0100, Terry Casey
wrote:


I've still got a 6L kicking around somewhere - looks identical to the 5L
(and probably is).

I have a manual that seems to cover the 5 and 6L so I think you are
right.

This had a pick up problem when the paper reservoir got low but was fine
if you kept plenty of paper in it.

Yup, per my mates 5L.

Trouble was, of course, that it takes so few sheets to fill it that you
had to top it up qite frequently if you were using it a lot ...

Indeed.

I fitted the new pickup roller and separator pad yesterday and then
encountered a new paper feed problem. It seemed to pickup and separate
ok but also may have seemed slow to pickup in the first place and
generally hung / (timed out?) as the paper was still in the initial
feeder area. However, the odd sheet also went though ok (although ...
may have been printed a bit low (stuff missing off the top, suggesting
a delay somewhere)).

Running the thing with the lid off and toner cartridge out did suggest
is was sticking within the first feed area and long story short I
replaced the spring that came on the new separator heel plate with the
original (lighter) one and it seemed to be much better.

Now it feeds reliably but is a bit skewed.

I might leave the new pickup roller in but try the old separator
plate, once I've livened up the rubber a bit (the new strip is quite
rubbery and old one quite hard). I could also put the original side
pads back in etc.

Cheers, T i m

On Fri, 10 Sep 2010 20:20:58 +0100, "Spamlet"
wrote:


Used to work in a place that made 'printing requisites'. Many of these were
basically IPA or White Spirit, with different coloured dyes in. 'Blanket
(rubber like your rollers) Cleaner', was IPA. 'Blanket Reviver' was IPA
with a bit of trichloroethane in, that made the rubber swell a little to
take the shine off.

Looking closer at this printer you seem to have a rubber cam-shaped
pickup wheel that works against a spring loaded 'heel' that holds all
the other sheets back. On the new heel I got the strip is very
'rubbery' and the paper seems to be having difficulty actually getting
through this area, as if there is too much resistance 'grip' there
now. There are also the two small side pads, either side of the heel
but I'm not quite sure when these come into play? (I replaced the new
heel spring with the old (lighter) spring and at least it does work
now).

The machine as I was given it had two issues. Not picking up paper
(probably the pickup roller) and feeding multiple sheets (probably the
separator heel / pads).

However, there are two more rollers that pull the paper though the
pickup / separator area and they may also be worn (and may be party to
the current skewing issue, along with slightly too much drag)?

Cheers, T i m