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Author Topic: Laser printer problem Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 11-11-2003 08:34 PM                     Anyone know of a good way to clean a laser printer so it won't pull multiple pages of blank paper through it's feeder as it prints?  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 11-11-2003 09:08 PM                        I'm having that problem with a couple of HP "all-in-one" boxes. Yours wouldn't happen to be that brand, would it?  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 11-11-2003 09:17 PM                     Yup, HP Laserjet 3100. Fax/printer/scanner/copier  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 11-11-2003 09:25 PM                        Buy thicker paper. Seriously, most laser printers feed recycled paper, or anything below 20lbs like . Some HP models have an 'upgrade kit' to fix this problem. Basically it's a piece of cardboard with a piece of sticky plastic that you stick in the paper feed. The 1100 series LaserJet's had this problem (and available upgrade), along with a few others if I'm not mistaken. Any HP authorized dealer should be able to order you this, usually free, upgrade if they don't already have it in stock. http://h20015.www2.hp.com/hub_search/document.jhtml?lc=en&docName=bpl06042  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 11-11-2003 09:30 PM                     I've been using 20 and 22lb paper for the 4-5 years I've owned this machine. It's never been an issue until just recently. Heck, I'm even using genuine HP paper!  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 11-11-2003 09:33 PM                        I found that even thin paper stolen from the office works fine in my HP printer. Try stealing your paper and you will probably find that it works for you. Your printer won't screw up anything that you didn't pay for. Trust me, it knows!  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 11-11-2003 09:37 PM                        Try putting you paper in the freezer for an hour.  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 11-12-2003 12:48 AM                  4 or 5 years? Buy a new printer you cheap ass! It's worn out! BTW Joe, I stole a whole bunch of Brad's HP paper while at the Halloween gathering...it's been working great in my LaserJet. >>> Phil  |  IP: Logged Sean M. Grimes Expert Film Handler Posts: 247 From: Lunenburg, MA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 11-12-2003 03:21 AM                        If I remember correctly, on my old hp 5l there was a cork piece that would wear out every few years that would "take moisture away" before the searing effect of the printer head. There definitely was a kit available... I will search around for the part number and get back to ya. I had the exact same problem though, I believe. Sometimes one piece, sometimes twelve. Over 20lbs.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 11-12-2003 07:17 AM                        I think it's a heat and wear issue, too. I had an HP deskjet that was on the verge of becoming obsolete back in the late '90s. The time was coming to print out my PhD thesis for submission (5 copies of a 450-page document). Plan A was to print out one and get the others photocopied, but then I spotted a pile of ink cartridges in Dixons which they had knocked down to a fiver in order to get rid of. A quick sum revealed that printing the lot out would be about half the cost, and as money was tight at the time I went for it. Boy, was printing out 2,000 sheets on an ancient inkjet which takes about three minutes per sheet exciting! As the job progressed it did start sucking in multiple sheets at a time, especially after a few hours when the thing had got pretty hot. I think the rubber pinch roller which fed the paper through just got a bit sticky as it heated up. In the end I couldn't really leave it running for more than 3-4 hours at a time or else it would suck in a whole pile and totally jam. In the end a cartridge caught fire about half way through the last copy and that was the end of the printer! Given that it was a very old printer and the cheapest of the range even when new, I'm surprised it lasted that long.  |  IP: Logged Mark Ogden Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 943 From: Little Falls, N.J. Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-12-2003 10:40 AM                     I have had this issue with HP laser printers in the past, the problem was not cleanliness but wear. The part in question was a "separator pad" which somehow governs how many sheets get drawn into the works, as it wears out too many sheets feed at once (this was a notorious problem on HP printers in which the paper is fed in vertically, like the model 6L). The fix was about $80 at a local independent computer store. The a-holes at CompUSA gave me a quote of $325 and suggested I buy a new printer instead, when I demurred they tried to charge me $100 for the 'estimate'. They didn't get it (I paid by check, after which I went home and stopped payment on it. Schmucks! ).  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 11-12-2003 03:12 PM                        quote: Yup, HP Laserjet 3100. Fax/printer/scanner/copier That's the one(s) I have On the "wear" issue... I brought the second printer over from my office after the first one started doing this. The replacement had (maybe) 100 pages on it and was on its original toner cartridge. It started doing the same thing before the cartridge ran out. NONE of the other printers I have (or had) have done this. [ 11-12-2003, 04:20 PM: Message edited by: Jack Ondracek ]  |  IP: Logged Ian Price Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1714 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-12-2003 06:05 PM                     Our Lazerjet 3100 from HP does that too. But not often enough to worry about.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 11-12-2003 06:38 PM                        The HP site blames it on everything but the machine. I've used 4 different brands of paper, different weights, fanned it, didn't fan it, did their recommended "U" bend... cripes... I've never seen so much garbage about what paper to feed a printer. This thing sometimes pulls 8 sheets into it... sometimes actually making it through... othertimes jamming with much obnoxious beeping and squawking. My 5L was nowhere near the trouble... nor was my old Epson... nor are either of the Brothers that I have. A few weeks ago, I called a local printer repair/supply business about this problem. They didn't return my calls. Hmmmmmmmmm...  |  IP: Logged Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 11-13-2003 12:07 AM                     I have worked 27 years for a company that serviced office equiment. If that machine has printed the equivalent of 20 pages a week, you have far exceeded the reasonable life expectancy. Besides, any repair would be more costly than replacement. HP does make commercial machines that will serve much better than the home use crap sold in stores, it is more expensive and sold only thru serviceing dealers though. Throw It Away.  |  IP: Logged

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