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I read your comments on hpjl3, I have an hplj3, hplj4 and an
hplj5. From my experience and I do not understand why, good as the hplj3
was, and I agree with your comments, I cannot remember having a paper jam on
either the hplj4 or the hplj5. I have had 4 or 5 over many years on the
hplj3. I found a few years ago that I was able to get a hplj4 for about
$200 on ebay I would strongly recommend the hplj4 or Hplj5 over the hplj3
simply because I have never had any problem with either the 4 or 5 and I suspect
you will be able to get parts and toner for them for a somewhat longer time
period given the year of the manufacture. by the way from what I can see
the only difference between the 4 and 5 is speed.8 ppm vs 12 ppm.
Also I think I get somewhat more pages per cartridge from the 4 and 5 than from
the 3.
----- Original Message -----
From: J. R. Fox
To: xywrite@xxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2004 2:58 PM
Subject: Off Topic: Re: Non-XYW question. Printer > You mentioning the fuser is frightening, indeed. I noticed > that the toner is sticking to the drum (I think that that > is what it is called). This development happened after I > posted my initial query. A lot may depend on how much you like that printer, and if you are reluctant to replace it. I had an LJ-II for over 15 years. It was heavy, unwieldy, noisy, slow, and an electricity hog, but built like a tank (ultra reliable), and had the best paper path I've seen to this day in a laser. A good part of the reason I kept it that long was for Xy. I ultimately got rid of it, because I had long wanted the LJ-4 (possibly the last great model in that line), so I finally bought one on Ebay. It was in perfect cosmetic condition, came with a bunch of extras, and was supposed to be low-mileage and in excellent operating condition. After I had been using it for about a week, the paper advance mechanism gave out, which cost about $150. to replace, with the labor. I'm reasonably satisfied that the seller was unaware of this impending problem at time of sale. These things happen with used gear, but I plan to keep this printer in service for a long time. I don't like the flimsy plastic build quality of the many models that came later, whatever their other advantages may be. > At the moment the whole page is > grayish, although the letters on the page are quite dark, > and so things can be read. This grayish cast is a bit un- > even, in the sense that there are wide bars or lighter and > darker gray. If you have any ideas, I like to hear them, > because I don't want to buy a cartridge if it's the fuser. > If it's the fuser, I think I'll scrap the printer and get > a new one. That may not be necessary. I bought a spare fuser assembly on Ebay fairly inexpensively, and there seems to be a large quantity of spare parts for the HPs available, on Ebay and elsewhere. (I could probably dig up some seller URLs for you.) Of course, you would still be looking at the labor costs in many cases, though I recall the seller of my spare claiming that the fuser was something that a user who was lightly skilled with hardware could replace himself. For anyone planning to keep an HP-LJ any period of time, there are a couple of pocket-sized trouble-shooting guides that are well worth purchasing for around $15. They have all the HP error codes, and can give you a better idea as to what may be indicated by way of repairs. I'll try to flip through them soon, to see if your description pulls up anything. The drum is probably one of the last things that is going to go, usually after several hundred thousand copies. I think there is also a small brush that comes with many models (also with some HP laser toner cartridges) that is used to clean a couple of wires under the hood, and possibly the exposed portion of the fuser assembly (?). Please excuse my uncertainty on this, but typically years will go by in between the occasions when I need to brush up on this stuff. I'm going to put this on the List, in case anyone else might benefit from it. Jordan |