I've broken my 2 years old laser printer... Time to change! - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: R005T3r
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 11, 2016, 10:44:20 pm
content: As title says: it really sucks, especially when you are in the week-end and no copy center is open and I have an exam the next week...It was a canon lbp6310dn laser printer:http://www.canon.it/Images/i-SENSYS%20LBP6310dn_FRT_tcm80-982136.jpgThe printer worked flawlessly for 2 years up to now. See the attachments to say "yeah", after I've disassembled it in hope to repair it: When I've realized that it was compromised the whole fusor unit, I've said: "no, it's over"... I've had the confirmation when I've googled for a new fusor: It's code-protected and the replacement is almost the price of a brand new printer!Damn it! I've also bought 6 toners (fortunately not the originals ones) I've used 3 of them so far. Back in the days I've made a thought: "well, why I have to pay for an inkjet printer that is slow, clumsy, the ink costs more than gasoline, when you can get a decent printer that lasts for a decade whitout any maintenance, the toner is plug and play, and have an overall better resolution over the inkjets", and it proven false: the printer didn't last as expected, and what annoy me most is that the printer died for a stupid reason: A chip of metal picked up by a sheet cut the fusor rubber sheath and the other roller was deformed as the sheath started to fold up into an agglomerate of rubber that deformed it.What is my next printer? No one. Considered:a new printer is almost as 100/200 €paper: 6 € per reamtoner: 50 €And, considered that I've also lost other 3 printers in 6 years, it's more than 600/750 € per five years not considering the paper expanses and the binding ones (and yes, as a university student I use 6/7 reams per years)...At this point, I've decided to switch: using a tablet instead of mass-printing. As a result:1. making backups is easier than scanning the notes2. no need to print anything3. you can take notes at university lectures easier4. you may have your documents (all of them) with you at anytime, anywhere5. you can revise the things when you are on dead times (eg: waiting the bloody bus, at times happens you can't go home because there's a bus strike)6. you have an all in one suite, meaning that if you want you can also record and or insert audio notes on your documents7. the notes are editable..... and so on...Why I wrote this? To make a warn to anyone who is going to make my same mistake: Do not EVER think that high end printers won't break or last for a certain period of time, especially If you are using them regularly.

author: bitslice
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 11, 2016, 10:51:42 pm
content: I bought a mint condition Brother colour laser for £10,these things are hard to sell on eBay because they are collection only, just find one near you that nobody bid for.Personally I'd just get a new Canon for £99, you already have spare parts for one.Or find a scrap HP laser that uses the same RM1-6406 fuser.Tablets are great though, I'd think of one as an addition rather than a replacement for anything.

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 11, 2016, 11:15:16 pm
content: I bought an Epson that would handle the HP standards for most of the old test equipment. It must be 25 years old now and still prints fine.

author: Marco
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 11, 2016, 11:33:13 pm
content: I don't think it's ever been cheaper to get a good laser printer, maybe after the dot com bubble.750 Euros would buy me a whole room full.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 12:18:50 am
content: I'd look for an office laserprinter if you want some reliability. My first HP laserprinter lasted almost 20 years. My second one is an HP P2055dn (with a built in LAN connection so I can use it from any computer in the house).

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 01:49:09 am
content: I bought a Brother 2250DN printer years ago and hasn't caused me any problems. That model came with a built-in ethernet card and automatic duplex feeder. Replacement toner cartridges are fairly well priced for the number of pages you can get out of them. According to the test/status page, it has only ever had 6 paper jams in its entire life.

author: shawnb
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 04:56:34 am
content: I've found that the quickest way to ruin a laser printer is to use remanufactured/generic toner cartridges. A lot of people get lucky with them, but for me it's not worth the gamble. I have a handful of Dells and HPs at my office, a couple are 10+ years old with 50k+ prints, and never done any maintenance other than refilling paper and replacing toner cartridges. I also intentionally only buy "small workgroup" printers or larger, if you go by the specs they sound like overkill, but they are usually built better and have much lower OEM toner costs versus the entry-level "personal" printers so are worth it in the long run.That said, going paperless is cool too... good luck!

author: Towger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 08:56:08 am
content: I got an old HP4250 for £30 about 5 years. It is used by the kids every day. Still going strong. I replaced the toner cartridge it came with last year, it does 20k pages per cartridge. This will bring the printer up to its 100K service schedule. Which reminds me to be on lookout for the service kit on eBay.

author: R005T3r
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 09:17:54 am
content: Quote from: shawnb on June 12, 2016, 04:56:34 amNah, the kind of toner you use is not a major concern: I mean, it's only the temperature of the fuser roller that matters, and any toner (regenerated or not) composition is different, so any generic cartidge won't melt as good as branded toners. A good brand is the one who sticks perfectly to the paper: if you scratch it with an eraser it won't loose...50K prints is not that much... I've reached over 85K, so be warned, malfunction may be near.

author: R005T3r
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 09:41:18 am
content: Quote from: Marco on June 11, 2016, 11:33:13 pmThat's exactly what I said: it's impossible that you pay so much. Then I've discovered that there are a lot of taxes coming into place:1. copyright material tax (yep, my government since it's unable to counter this phenomena decided to put a massive tax on CD/DVD/paper/printers/hard drives/laptops and pretty much anything is an electronic device)2. RAEE contribution for dismantle3. VAT which is 22% of the priceAnd the list goes on. I've found that it may well be +50/60% of the production price... At this point I said that is not worth it anymore.Also, I've considered to take a day or two to expat and buy there the printer, and coming back, but there will be an overwelming charge at the customhouse.

author: R005T3r
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 11:21:47 am
content: Because toner is a mix of components and the manufacturer's one is patented to prevent other producer to be able to make the product.However, if you change a bit the composition, you have a totally different product, that in some cases won't work from printer to printer because, the printer will lack the ability to attract it's particles or the ability to properly melt it because the fusor will over-melt it (producing hazardous vapors coming from the polyesters and resins) or will under-melt it, and as a result when ever you scratch the text, will come loose.Also printer's ink is protected by copyright laws and the same thing happens: they vary a little bit the composition, the materials and everything and the product is different. (even better sometimes).So that being said, why the printer cannot tell the difference? Because your printer's fusor develops a melting temperature that is compatible with your toner.... With regenerated toners is always a good idea to wait for 5 minutes so the fusor will reach the exact temperature, so the toner melts correctly and as a result your print will be more durable and have an overall better quality (especially if you are going to print images or documents with a lot of toner on it).

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 11:28:24 am
content: Depends on the refiller, the one I use has given me no more hassles than buying OEM carts, which in the case of all are in many cases going to be a refilled unit in any case. That is why you get with HP or Canon cartridges made for the US market a preprinted postage paid envelope to recycle them.The good refillers refill the toner with good stuff, to the proper full mass, and also replace things like the OPC drum and the wiper blade when needed, so the print out of the cartridge is as good as original. I consistently get 20% more pages out of the refilled cartridges, and the density is as good as the OEM cartridges. Price of the refill is 30% of the cost of a new one. plus they are 5 minutes away.I would suggest getting a HP or Canon printer, if you are doing 6 reams a year even the low end ones like the HP P1102 I use. At work there is an earlier one which has given 5 years of use, going through typically 800 pages a month ( based on the refill time of around 4 weeks) and which still shows no signs of dying.Anybody want a HP3500n fuser kit, unfortunately the rest of the printer ate the plastic gearbox after the one hinge lock broke during printing, jamming it. Was due for a new fuser the following week as it was reaching the 150k page mark, which was new fuser ( and reset the counter) time.

author: PA0PBZ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 11:37:28 am
content: Quote from: R005T3r on June 12, 2016, 11:21:47 amModern fusers will not be turned on until you start a print job, so how exactly waiting 5 minutes will help I don't know.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 01:20:43 pm
content: The potential hassle with messing with non-original tones isn't worth it to me. I always buy quality paper and OEM toner because having to deal with a paper jam or replacing the printer costs me way more in wasted time alone.

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 01:34:35 pm
content: Myself, I picked up a Brother HL-1440 from a yard sale with a new cartridge about 2 years ago for $10 that is still working fine. However, I don't print massive amounts. I bought a compatible cartridge/drum combo and it works just fine. I network it with an old HP Jet Direct.If this one dies, I would look to get a used HP LaserJet 4000 series with the duplexer. They are reliable and in a home environment, are basically bullet proof and will last forever. Parts are also available and fairly inexpensive.As a side note, I have never had a jam issue with either my Brother or my Epson Workforce multi function inkjet printer and I don't buy OEM paper. I get the HP multipurpose paper at $5 USD a ream at Walmart and it works just fine. For the Epson, I get Hammermill paper from my company's Staples national account and it also works fine.

author: R005T3r
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 03:19:18 pm
content: Quote from: PA0PBZ on June 12, 2016, 11:37:28 amWell, my printer was an exception then... You could clearly feel the heat when you turned on the printer and waited a bit...

author: R005T3r
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 03:22:25 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on June 12, 2016, 01:20:43 pmYes, this can be done ONLY if you have a job or some sort of income... I'm a university student, so I'm poor...

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 06:38:55 pm
content: Quote from: wilfred on June 12, 2016, 01:52:07 pmBullet-proof to my fellow techs and I means that it simply doesn't break and always works when you need it.

author: meeder
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 07:03:41 pm
content: I thought about getting a laser printer as well but I ended up with a Brother MFC-J5720DW. A very sturdy device which is very reliable as well.As a bonus it can print on A3 media as well. The scanner is something I use a lot and it does full-duplex single pass scanning when using the ADF. It handles up to 50 sheets in the ADF for scanning.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 08:09:39 pm
content: Quote from: R005T3r on June 11, 2016, 10:44:20 pmWe had a color laser printer at home and it was just hustle, 4 large toner cartridges and all kind of other expensive disposables. Eventually, we got tired of it (while it was still working) and got instead a HP inkjet multi function. Maintenance is much easier now, first print comes out faster and it can even do double side printing and scanning. Couldn't be happier with it.

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2016, 08:36:45 pm
content: Get anHP 4100N, they last for ever !They were made for something like 100,000 pages per month or so and are ultra stable.I have several of them in use and never have any problems.

author: rrinker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 12:16:50 am
content: I will never ever buy another inkjet printer, I don't print with any regularity and I went through so many ink cartridges that weren't even half empty but too badly clogged with dried ink to be of any use. And expensive. With a laser it doesn't matter if I last printed 5 minutes ago or 5 weeks ago, it just works.I have an ancient HP 6MP I got free from work, I've had it some 8 or 9 years now. I upgraded the memory when I got it, plus as the M model it has Postscript. Only downside is finding a reliable USB to Parallel adapter, I've gone through 2 now. The printer isn't the fastest thing in the world, but it's built like a tank. I did just get a Canon color laser printer, which has an ADF scanner as well as copying and faxing (great, but I don't have a phone line). I sure hope it lasts more than 2 years.

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 01:27:42 am
content: Another who picked up an office HP laserjet some years ago, the things just last, came with an almost empty cartridge, $132 AUD for a full (think 36000 page cartridge), Its networked, and it goes to sleep when not in use so just gets left alone in a cupboard until we need it,From when the model originally came out it would have to be about a decade old,I will say i fed it some way too thick card stock for an event and it did take some time to regain itself after that, but it never jammed,Oh and B&W,

author: BradC
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 04:21:26 am
content: One more vote for second hand HP units.I have a CLJ5500, 2 x LJ2200 and a DJ750c (or two). The best part is available service manuals and most parts are still available either new or second hand.The 5500 has in excess of 220K prints on it now. The 2200's I paid $20 each for. Aftermarket toner is cheap/free and cost per page is negligible.The only printer that gives me routine grief is the DJ750. The ink tends to dry & clog because it only gets used intermittently. Still, when I need a set of colour A0's it's 10 minutes and some hot water to unclog them and a metric crapload cheaper than going to Officeworks.Everything else just sits there until it's needed and never gives trouble.I've never had a major problem with HP printers. I can't say the same for Brother, Samsung, Xerox, Oki and KIP. YMMV of course.If you don't need A3, then as previously recommended, the 4000 series HP are solid. If you don't need anything fancy then a 2200 (or 2100 if you don't use duplex) will cost sfa and last forever.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 09:58:48 am
content: Another Brother that will live forever. My HL-1240 is still fine even today. It was bought new in 1999. You just have to force the HL-1250 driver on it to get 600dpi otherwise it is stuck at 300dpi unless you have windows 2000 or something. I finally put it in storage because I was given an HP LJ 2100 that has a much lower standby power consumption.

author: JacquesBBB
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 10:39:06 am
content: As it was already said above, HP 4000 series (and especially 4050 ) are very reliable and very good deal at present. You can either get them for free if you are at the right place at the right moment, or at about 50$ on ebay.I have (I hope definitely ) solved my needs in BW printing by rescuing 2 HP 4050 from trash that are working as a charm with the duplex unit and network connection (one is stored as a backup). The toner are not chip protected, which is a bless compared to modern printers, but I dont even need to use non HP toner, as old stock cartridges for 4050 are regularly available on ebay at very cheap prices. I have a stock for the next ten years, with this setting, BW laser printing cost is close to zero (ie not much than the price of the paper).For color printing, this is another story. I have no good solutions. I have a Lexmark CS310dn but have troubletrying to refill the cartridges which are very expensivehttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/lexmark-toner-chip-ti046b1/msg925487/#msg925487

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 06:07:50 pm
content: If you want expensive I have a lovely fully working Tektronix Phaser 360 sitting on a shelf, complete with a lifetime supply of black wax blocks. I often used this printer to print reversed, with white and coloured text on a black background, simply because there is literally no cost difference in printing a plain white pages or the fully black one. Only reason it is sitting on a shelf is because of the cost of the consumables, a pack of wax cartridges went to $500 per colour ( black is free) for supplies that would last either a month with 200 pages printed, or 5 startup cleaning cycles if you powered it down.Interesting in that it has a complex set of mechanical scanners to generate the full page image on the oiled heated drum, using a piezo print head depositing droplets of molten coloured wax to build up the 300DPI image column by column by stepping the head every revolution, then transferring the image to the preheated paper or transparency and finally using a fuser to ensure it has adhered to the surface properly. Cleaning was done using a vacuum pump to suck the molten wax out of the nozzles after raising the wax block up to a higher temperature, then sucking it out into a silicone rubber tray and depositing this molten wax in the maintenance tray. Tray as well is a consumable, lasts 3000 pages then says change tray, unless you can figure out that the tray will actually do 10000 pages simply by resetting the mechanical flag.

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 06:14:10 pm
content: Quote from: wilfred on June 12, 2016, 09:45:54 amIt doesn't seem to be quite so much of an issue with mono printers but clone colour cartridges are a work of evil. I've seen many fuser assemblies and transfer kits ruined by 'cheap' toner.Remanufactured cartridges are rarely if ever back to factory standard and often give really crappy quality prints, regularly spewing toner inside the machines.For what it's worth, buy original.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 06:30:02 pm
content: Today came across a box inside which was a Canon inkjet, 7 colour photo realistic printing. It had annoyed me because it used a little of each colour ink every time it printed a page to clean, and thus you would get it not printing a black page because one colour or the other was empty. Solved that one a while ago by getting a cheap refill kit and filling all the cartridges with black ink, as I only used it to print black pages. Thus all 7 cartridges were now black, and after the system it was connected to ( phone management system) was retired, which was running Win98SE and which was sitting there unattended, with no issues for 20 years ( I did an upgrade from Win95 after 2000 as I had both a spare key and was tired of rebooting once a month, plus I really wanted USB to work on the machine) aside from a single hard drive failure which was fixed using a donor board from an identical drive as temporary fix.20 minutes later it was back in the box as scrap metal, and most was in the bin as plastic scrap. 100g of copper wire in the 3 stepper motors and single DC motor in it.plus a single board with everything electronic and all the switches on it. Might keep the power supply, as it has 3 switched rails, 5V, 11v and 28V, and is nicely cased.

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 06:31:33 pm
content: I have found almost all laser printers to be pretty reliable. They all have the same kinds of problems. Rubber rollers for paper pickup get hard over time. So after 15-20 years they stop feeding properly. Small plastic tabs on paper guides and such don't stand rough handling, so may lose effectiveness over time.The real life limiter is the print drivers. No one supports them after a decade or so. If you have a basic printer that can speak Postscript or HPGL you can continue to do basic print jobs, but accessing any bonus features like scanning, scaling, duplexing and the like gets harder and harder until it just isn't worth the effort.

author: poorchava
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 06:44:11 pm
content: I have a LaserJet 4000N and i wouldn't change it for anything. Bought it for 50Eur like 6 years ago, used. It's been going strong ever since and just now the toner starts showing some signs of an end nearing on it.Sent from my HTC One M8s using Tapatalk.

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 06:53:30 pm
content: Quote from: CatalinaWOW on June 13, 2016, 06:31:33 pmSo true.But the beauty is that for the HP LaserJet's you can get all the rubber rollers and other repair items for very little money and can replace them.http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=hp+laserjet+repair+kit+4100N&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xhp+laserjet+repair+kit+.TRS0&_nkw=hp+laserjet+repair+kit+&_sacat=0For some reasons, nobody wants these printers anymore and you can get them cheap.Adding 20 $ in parts and a new cartridge will make it almost as new.I just bought one more HP 4100N here in Germany a few month ago and I am extremely happy with it.Another beauty with these printers is the network card.Just plug in your network cable, let the printer get an IP from your DHCP and all PCs in your network have access.

author: Marco
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 06:59:43 pm
content: The wireless networking might not always be so hot with older printers though, my 1320NW was a no go with modern encryption (should support it in theory, but it was a mess). Nice printer once I just put an ethernet cable into it though.

author: JacquesBBB
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 07:40:59 pm
content: I totally agree with HighVoltage.6 years ago I got for free an HP 4050dn with the duplex unit and network card that was replaced for a more modern,color one (but not better in term of resolution).It has been running without problems since. As I wanted to be able to repair it in case of problems, I bought also anotherone for 50€ on ebay, which I keep in the basement. Then I got another 4050n that was send to the trash. Islightly revised it and gave it to a friend who is very happy with it.As I said above high capacity cartridges (10 000 pages) of genuine toner are available on ebay at low price as for examplehttp://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-C4127X-27X-GENUINE-NEW-Black-Toner-Cartridge-for-LaserJet-4000-4050-Laser-Jet-/152127934480?hash=item236b881010:g:PRkAAOSwbYZXXvTJThen I got a 4250dtn in the dumpster. Its problem was that it was getting jammed immediately, and always. After some searchon the web I could localize the problem which was due to a small solenoid actuator which was getting sticky as some rubber paddesagregated. I did not even had to change the piece. Just clean the rubber pad, replace it by some electric tape, andthe printer is in perfect order, with 100 000 s pages to go before changing anything. I keep this one inmy workshop.I must say that the 4250 is faster than the 4050, but as it go faster, it gets more easily jammed. My guess is that in term of reliability,the 4050 is probably at its peak at HP. All the 4000 series have also very good maintenance manuals.

author: m100
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 08:26:58 pm
content: Quote from: R005T3r on June 11, 2016, 10:44:20 pmAt under 300 Euro (amazon uk price) it's maybe towards the top end of pricing for a consumer grade item but not even remotely in the league of high end printers. Having said that it really should be easily capable of printing 1000 pages a month for five years with nothing more than new toner. But sadly everything is extensively cost engineered and that commonly means plastic bits will break, rubber bits go hard /soft and print quality will degrade far sooner than it should. Noises like squeaks and groans are 'normal'The golden age for laser printers was IMHO around 1995-2005, an HP 4000 series from about the middle of that era will almost last almost forever in a domestic environment, they were certainly damn reliable in office use and I'm aware of quite a few still giving good service at home producing hundreds of prints a month at very low cost.Personally I'd still be using an HP 6MP from 1995 if it wasn't for its lack of memory and ethernet port, the Dell 1320cn that replaced it is a load of rubbish!

author: ChunkyPastaSauce
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 08:41:00 pm
content: Definitely ink jet. Very affordability, convenience, reliability - unparalleled. Make sure it has at least 6 individual color cartridges, one with premium inks. You need at least 6000dpi. Also make sure it has date registered inks, so you know they are fresh. Perfect for work environment.saracasm

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 08:54:23 pm
content: Quote from: HighVoltage on June 13, 2016, 06:53:30 pmThey're a workhorse, the only way they really fall down is with intricate pages, they become very slow to process and they're a bit fussy about memory.I love my old HP4250N, I got it with 500 Sheet second tray, duplexer and a high cap toner for under £50 used, it's absolutely perfect for my needs and no way could I buy and run an inkjet for anywhere near the price.

author: ChunkyPastaSauce
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 09:11:10 pm
content: I have a dell b1265dfw bought new for $120 usd few years ago. Still on original toner, has flatbed scanner with document feeder, fax, wifi, lan, manual feeder, id scanner. Pain free print speed and print quality.

author: R005T3r
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2016, 09:41:44 pm
content: Quote from: m100 on June 13, 2016, 08:26:58 pmWell, I wouldn't say that a canon lbp6310dn is a consumer-grade printer: it was engineered to handle 25.000 pages per month: even if the specs is overrated and may not be the real performance, but still way more than 1000 per month. What's unacceptable is that the printer just broke up the fusor sheath and then broke up the other roller because some piece of filth scratched it, and that's unbelievable...I don't know, I don't feel to waste more money on printers and consumables: paperless is a better solution especially if you have a lot of things to print from pdf files... Also the notes you take are fully re-editable and erasable...I've also heard a lot of bad things about: Dell, Samsung, HP (expecially modern ones) and xerox, but I've had only for Canon and lexmark on my desks... Lexmark was a terrible experience, Canon was better, but the last inkjet printer didn't make me a good impression: just broke after 2500 pages printed and almost 500ml of ink used. After that I've decided to switch to laser printers...

author: kaz911
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 23, 2016, 06:52:53 am
content: I converted from HP to Brother lasers/MFS's and could not be happier. Software takes 1/10 of the space HP or Canon drivers / software does - and printer is nice a quiet.I do not do "home inkjets" as they usually end up more expensive than a laser. I buy big clone cartridges and never had an issue.I do have an old B/W HP Workgroup laser for PCB etch as color lasers are not super for that - but it only sees daylight when I have to etchand then only standard PCL driver....

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 23, 2016, 07:32:17 am
content: Quote from: SeanB on June 13, 2016, 06:07:50 pmWe had a handful of these at my old work. The print quality was great but slow compared to the Xerox copier that was sitting next to it. You would also run into problems with the printouts "scratching" or getting stuck together over time. I remember once having to spend hours fixing it after some moronforcedmade the wrong colour wax fit into the wrong tray by scraping/cutting away the keyed edges until it dropped in.I recall these Phaser printers also wasted a fair amount of "solid ink" as the waste tray always seemed to need emptying. Eventually they all died one by one and it was cheaper to replace them with a Lexmark with high capacity trays than it was to buy the replacement part (I think from memory it was the fuser unit they went in them).They were novel and kind of cool to play with, but not when consumables and parts cost so much. We ended up with boxes full of the wax blocks because we ran out of printers to use them in so they just got tossed.This is what the wax looked like:

author: bitslice
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 23, 2016, 10:10:54 am
content: Quote from: Halcyon on June 23, 2016, 07:32:17 amWe had to leave ours on 24/7 to keep the wax melted, otherwise it was an age to print anything, lovely quality though, colours were really bright.I expect you could use the wax as a etch resist.

author: rrinker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 23, 2016, 02:31:50 pm
content: I remember having one of those Tektronix printers at work years ago. The wax type made GREAT overhead transparencies. Another department had one of the dye sublimation types - insanely expensive consumables but absolute photographic quality images.I always likes the little extra touch of the wax bits being a different shape so even a colorblind person could refill it and not mess it up. The waste tray was always an interesting bit of art with the layers of different colors.

author: System Error Message
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 23, 2016, 05:47:59 pm
content: 2 year old and its broken :O? i thought laser printers last for years. What have you been using?There is no substitute to the quality of a laser printer compared to inkjet. With inkjet if it sits for a year doing nothing the nozzles become dry an clogged and you have to throw it away. With a laser printer that doesnt matter.I ordered one recently, going to see how it turns out. If you're going for a lower end laser printer take note of the duty cycle as cheap laser printers arent meant to be used too much.Dont forget there is dot matrix too but i was reading about making your own PCBs and one of the ways involved using a laser printer.Brother laser printers use cartridges you can refill and have the parts not integrated into each other so its cheaper to repair but first thing you should do with any inexpensive laser printer is dont get the newest model, get an older one and install newest firmware if it is mechanically sound. Open it and check for any debris or such as cheaper ones may be made in a cheap way so simple maintainance by cleaning and checking the inside can help.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 23, 2016, 07:14:30 pm
content: Quote from: Halcyon on June 23, 2016, 07:32:17 amMaintenance tray, which also had the waste wax tray in the top. contains 1l of silicone oil used to wipe the transfer drum, and has a mechanical page counter that simply advances a plastic flag across the front side till it comes into a window in the plastic, which first gives a "Maintenance tray low" error, but still will print, till it advances further and shows "Replace maintenance tray" and then does not print. I simply used to use a paper clip to hold back the plastic latch and wind the plastic flag back into the cartridge so it would work again. Those trays were bleeding expensive, and the empty ones would still have more than 0.8l of oil inside them in the bag. You could easily get 4 recycles out of it before it would run out totally.Wrote one off as there was a paper jam, and she pulled the power with the paper touching the drum, then plugged it back in and wrapped it around totally. Scratch one printer, as the repair cost was quoted at more than a new one. Was one of the older ones, Phaser 340, which had the free TSB upgrade to remove the desktop inferno heater and retrofit with a new version that did not have quite the same desire to do a literal "LP1 on fire" error.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 23, 2016, 11:53:32 pm
content: Here's some stats from the printers at work.Engine Cycle Count means number of pages printed. The "Not Supported" entries are Ricoh copier/printers. Check how many pages that 4250 on the bottom has printed...

author: R005T3r
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2016, 02:53:03 pm
content: Damn,mine was only 65,000 duplexed. However, as I said before, I'm going paperless: it's free and pdf are editables... Also, it was going strong even if the fusor sheath was broken.

author: R005T3r
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2016, 03:03:54 pm
content: Quote from: System Error Message on June 23, 2016, 05:47:59 pmLaser printers won't lasts for years: theoretically they say yes, but in practice, there are other factors to consider: my printer broke because a piece of something cut the fusor sheath and the rest you alredy knowYes, if you do homebrew pcbs and stuff like that, clearly yes: laser it's a winner over inkjets. For toner refill be advised that brand new chips are more expansive than getting a brand new toner cartidge, provided that you find an interesting seller. At this point it's better having an old printer, becasue printing to acetate sheets/ blue sheets may be not very healthy to your brand new printer.Also, now I'm going paperless: it's better and since pdf are fully editable as now, it works and it's free, for me it's fine.