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Light printing on LJ5

  • Thread starter Samuel M. Goldwasser
  • Start date
S

Samuel M. Goldwasser

Jan 1, 1970
0
This printer has served me well for several years since inheriting it
from a friend. It has always been rather light even on maximum dark
settings but is now getting to the point where I'm thinking of actually
buying (gasp!) a new printer.

The symptoms are that thin lines print very light while large areas
are solid black.

The toner cartridge and been replaced with no change.

It's not used very much, mainly for mailing labels and is clean inside.

It seems to me that there use to be settings for darkness in the LJ5 driver
but since upgrading (!!) to XP, they don't appear anymore. That improved
it a bit, though never as dark as it should be. But might be enough.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks!

--
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N

N_Cook

Jan 1, 1970
0
Samuel M. Goldwasser said:
This printer has served me well for several years since inheriting it
from a friend. It has always been rather light even on maximum dark
settings but is now getting to the point where I'm thinking of actually
buying (gasp!) a new printer.

The symptoms are that thin lines print very light while large areas
are solid black.

The toner cartridge and been replaced with no change.

It's not used very much, mainly for mailing labels and is clean inside.

It seems to me that there use to be settings for darkness in the LJ5 driver
but since upgrading (!!) to XP, they don't appear anymore. That improved
it a bit, though never as dark as it should be. But might be enough.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks!

--
sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
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Damp paper ?
Try passing some sheets through the system, so heated by fuser roller, and
then passing through again the other way up
 
S

Samuel M. Goldwasser

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jeff Liebermann said:
Beware of friends bearing free printers.

Yes, well, it has been adeqaute for my needs.
Is it an HP 5M, 5P, 5L, 5N, or 5Si. They're all quite different.

LaserJet 5
My guess(tm), is that it's the laser scanner assembly. The optics are
either full of filth, or the laser diode is low on output. I vaguely
recall that you know something about lasers. However, it's more
:)

likely that the rotating mirror or plastic optics are filthy.


I recall that this was the lightly used printer that I suggested you
replace about 9 months ago.

Could be, but I think I was only complaining about paper feed then, and
a good cleaning of the exit roller fixed that.
Depending on model, most have the adjustment. Make sure the
"economode" is off.
Off.


Get a new (used) printer.

In this case I tend to agree but might explore the scanner assembly, probably
after I get a new printer!

Thanks!

--
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S

Samuel M. Goldwasser

Jan 1, 1970
0
Can you switch to a different type font to keep on using the printer
for a few more months until the toner cartridge finally gives out?

In some cases that would work but for graphics and stuff like UPS/USPS
on-line mailing, there is no choice as far as I know.

Thanks for looking!

--
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S

Samuel M. Goldwasser

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jeff Liebermann said:
I really hate satisfied customers. It's really bad for my repair biz.


Ok, EX II series printer:


You might be able to get away with just a (dry) air hose cleaning. The
laser slot is at the top of the printer. Remove the toner cartridge
and you should see the slot. There's no window. Just blow some (dry)
air into the slot and hope that it removes the dust. I would give it
about a 30% chance of success. If not, remove all the plastic outer
case parts. When you get the top off, you should see the laser
scanner assembly. No need to remove it. As I vaguely recall, the top
is held on with one screw and some simple snaps (not sure). Once the
lid is off, clean the haze off the optics and mirrors.

I once had a customer with about 10 laser printers including several
HP5m models. Some of them required cleaning the scanner optics about
twice per year. It took me a while to figure out what happened. They
were using refilled toner cartridges. The cart vendor was applying
stickers onto the cartridge that eventually would just fall off. I
was wondering where the glue went. I eventually suspected that it was
being volatized and was coating the inside of the laser printers,
including the scanner optics. Wiping down the inside of the printer
and finding a thin sticky layer confirmed my guess. I told the
vendor, who initially thought I was nuts, but eventually thanked me
for solving a running mystery.

OK, well, cleaned the two large lenses with isopropyl, dusted off the scanner
mirrors, blew out the long mirror. Basically, no change.

Time for new piece of junk printer, but that should be adequate for my needs.

Thanks!

--
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Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
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P

PeterD

Jan 1, 1970
0
Yes, well, it has been adeqaute for my needs.


LaserJet 5

Sam, I think he's asking:

LaserJet 5M?
LaserJet 5P?
LaserJet 5L?
LaserJet 5N?
or
LaserJet 5Si

<g>
 
S

Samuel M. Goldwasser

Jan 1, 1970
0
PeterD said:
Sam, I think he's asking:

LaserJet 5M?
LaserJet 5P?
LaserJet 5L?
LaserJet 5N?
or
LaserJet 5Si

C3916A

--
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Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the
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S

Samuel M. Goldwasser

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jeff Liebermann said:
Were they obviously dirty?
Did you clean the laser lens?

They were just detectably dusty.

I cleaned both of the large lenses, the optic just after the laser diode
module, dusted off the scanner mirrors, and blew out any dust on the long
turning mirror. There is no window on the output (I seem to recall someone
mentioned something like that).

This is a LaserJet 5, C3916A.

Thanks guys, it's not worth the time to do more to this 12+ year old printer.

--
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Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
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D

David Nebenzahl

Jan 1, 1970
0
Yeah pretty stupid that alll the 5x printers I've worked needed just a
cleaning. I'm sure you've worked on tens of thousands of the fuckers
hell you probably designed and built them yourself right?

You *are* an asshole, aren't you?

Just checking.
 
P

PeterD

Jan 1, 1970
0
OK, well, cleaned the two large lenses with isopropyl, dusted off the scanner
mirrors, blew out the long mirror. Basically, no change.

Time for new piece of junk printer, but that should be adequate for my needs.

Thanks!

FWIW, I got, off of eBay, a really nice Xerox 5400 40 PPM duplex laser
printer the other day. Incredible performance, had about 33K copies on
the counter. Price? Well, 49.95, and I was able to pick it up and save
on shipping. I didn't complain about the fact it came with a brand new
toner cartridge, either. I still laugh whenever I look at it. <bg>

There are some good deals on higher quality printers right now, as
companies either upgrade, or go out of business.
 
P

PeterD

Jan 1, 1970
0
<http://www.office.xerox.com/printers/laser-printers/phaser-5400/enus.html>
I'm jealous. Nice buy. The problem I have with Xerox printers
(mostly Tek color Phaser models) is getting parts.

I guess then I done good when I got another one for parts at a cost of
$20... said:
Xerox does not
make it easy for independents to buy parts and pieces direct:
<http://www.xerox.com/go/xrx/template/018p.jsp?Xcntry=USA&Xlang=en_US>
I can get most of what I need from recyclers and eBay parts cannibals,
but it's MUCH easier with HP products, where original parts and clones
are common and cheap.


Shipping on large printers is usually the problem.

My favorite printer of the week is the HP2200dtn. They're fast,
duplex, network ready, and most important for me, don't make any noise
or suck power when in standby. About $100 to $175 on eBay. I
obtained a pile from the local recycler for about $25/ea. One problem
with the HP2200dn is decomposed foam on the solenoids causing paper
jams. Here's the fix:
<http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/hp2200/hp2200.html>

I picked the 5400 because I already have a GCC XL-40, which is the
same print engine, just different software. That made two of them, but
the GCC didn't have duplex. Then after getting the second one, I
figured 'spare parts would be nice'. OK, found a third one for $20,
and that one did have a duplexer. I pulled the duplexer and put it in
the GCC, and kept the rest fo the $20 printer for parts.

(The $20 printer was heavily used, so I didn't feel bad about parting
it out--the thought of cleaning it was too much! And I didn't need
three printers, either.)
 
S

Samuel M. Goldwasser

Jan 1, 1970
0
PeterD said:
I guess then I done good when I got another one for parts at a cost of


I picked the 5400 because I already have a GCC XL-40, which is the
same print engine, just different software. That made two of them, but
the GCC didn't have duplex. Then after getting the second one, I
figured 'spare parts would be nice'. OK, found a third one for $20,
and that one did have a duplexer. I pulled the duplexer and put it in
the GCC, and kept the rest fo the $20 printer for parts.

(The $20 printer was heavily used, so I didn't feel bad about parting
it out--the thought of cleaning it was too much! And I didn't need
three printers, either.)

I know it's cheating, but I bought a $99 HP P1006 on-line and it is actually
perfect for what I need - small, light weight, trivial install, decent print
quality. I know it will probably fall apart in a year from loneliness given
the amount of printing I do - mostly mailing labels and tax returns. :)
Between now and then maybe another friend will dump off a half-working printer
at my door step. :)

Thanks for all the comments!

--
sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
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