Tech Resources
Articles and Technotes
The HP LaserJet 5000 and 5100: Putting the ‘Next Generation’ in Perspective
Unfortunately, my son, a.k.a. “the
next generation,” is beginning to
look and act more like his father. I
can only hope that he improves with age
and manages to bypass the numerous
hereditary pitfalls inherent in his DNA.
Fortunately, improving on the next generation
of a printer in a R&D lab is a bit
easier than reversing generations of DNA.
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Whatdunnit? Diagnosing Image Defects in the HP LaserJet 5000
Colonel Mustard in the dining room with a candlestick ...
Mrs. Peacock in the conservatory with a knife ... .
Okay, so image defects aren’t the most dramatic of mysteries.
Yet, given the numerous components of a laser printer
and the many factors that contribute to image defects, technicians
must play the role of detective when a printer fails to
consistently produce clean, flawless output.
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OEM or Aftermarket?
How to distinguish the HP4000 separation roller...
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5 Simple instructions for you and your 5si Paper input unit
We have all enjoyed the sweet sounds of our 5Si laser printer, printing
page after page. At times (i.e., when printing those end of the month
reports) the sound of 24 pages printing a minute can almost be as sweet
as an Eric Clapton riff. On the other hand if your 5Si laser printer
‘jams’, the music stops and the headaches begin...
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Printheads Basics and Troubleshooting
Dot-matrix printers are commonly used in applications that utilize multipart paper. A receipt copy from a store is a good example. The store clerk gives a customer a receipt and he keep the other copy for store records. The printhead is the part of the dot-matrix printer that actually does the printing. It uses a series of vertically aligned pins to form each character...
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No Print or Poor Print Quality
Canon Bubble Jet, Customer Care and Preventive Maintenance. We all expect good ‘customer service’. Well here are a few tips on how the ‘customer’ can ‘service’ their own Canon Bubble Jet printer. The most common reasons you might be getting blank pages or poor print quality when printing from your bubble jet are as follows. The first is the most obvious...
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Pulled Parts, A Plague On Our Industry
There is an alarming practice growing in the service industry today - the practice of selling used or “pulled parts” under the title "remanufactured." The process starts out with the parts vendor purchasing used and defective whole unit printers in large lots...
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Paper Jam Solutions for the HP LaserJet 4000 and 5si Printers
Perhaps nothing is more frustrating for end users than seeing the blinking paper jam error button. They typically panic, harbor visions of spilling toner on their new shirt, and then either try to fix the snafu themselves or call a technician if it’s a recurring problem (or when they’ve made it worse after a bit of tinkering.)...
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Isolating Image Defects
Anyone using a printer––whether new or remanufactured––knows that familiar, disappointed feeling of discovering one or multiple image defects on a fresh printout. Signified by poor quality like flaws, streaks and spots, image defects are caused by numerous external and internal factors. Some of the most common culprits are faulty toner cartridges, the scanner assembly, controller board, high voltage power supply, fuser, transfer roller/wire and reflective mirrors. Like a team working to sabotage success, these parts malfunction to create havoc on the printed page...
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Common Paper Problems
Sometimes we focus so much energy on examining our printers and toner cartridges that we forget to notice the deceptively simple things like paper. Unfortunately, no sensible time frame exists to help you gauge when paper problems might occur. Some printers may function smoothly for 10 months straight, while others seem to flash error signals every other job...
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Making Preventive Maintenance Work For you
Most people in office environments don't really know how a printer works. They just know something magical happens when a blank sheet of paper feeds through a machine and voila', it exits full of print. However, most people care when their printer does not work. In fact, they care a lot. And they usually want it fixed...
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Scanner Errors... Communication Gone Wrong
Just when you thought you mastered your printer, along comes a problem with the scanner. Unlike other errors, scanner errors always occur as the result of faulty communication. There will be no mysteries; you’ll know immediately the source of the communication failure because the printer will display a signal. Let’s take a close look at the role of scanners, some typical error signals, and what you can do to correct them...
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