How to get a quick repair on your HP LaserJet - and why engineers sometimes call twice! (Hewlett-Packard)

Member Name: snootybutnice

Product:	Hewlett-Packard
Date:	26/01/09 (74 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Being printer savvy saves on your pocket

Disadvantages: Printers purchased for less than £150.00 often need disposing of rather than repairing

Firstly nothing is worse than a LaserJet that doesn't print.
However the fact is that many times it's one of the consumable items which causes the problem.

Consumable items are normally: toner, paper, fuser, drum, rollers and separation pads. Sometimes in larger LaserJets you'll need an engineer to fit the fuser because it's a screwdriver job - other machines it's just a "pull out and slot in" affair which you could do yourself!

Take TONER ISSUES for instance. Do you have annoying lines going down the page or shadowing? This can sometimes be corrected by replacing the toner. Simple and job done! (Of course if the lines are still there then simply pop your old toner back in and keep the new one until you need it). The point is by keeping a spare toner you could have saved yourself £100 in engineering fees - so it's worth a go!

Next, DRUM/FUSER issues: Sometimes you'll get shadowing or a repetitive image defect (i.e. a mark on the paper which repeats down your page). The engineer will simply measure the distance between these marks - and that should give him a good indication of what is causing the problem (it's all in his handbook!). When you're phoning an engineer with a repetitive image defect have the measurements (in mm) to hand for him. Depending on the distance between the two marks, he may need to fit a new drum, fuser or rollers. This is where it would be quite useful for you to have a maintenance kit on site too. The maintenance kit usually includes a fuser, separation pads and rollers. (Some machines have a combination fuser/drum - but for those that don't you'll generally have to buy the drum separately). The fuser is the more expensive item - and you can just buy spare rollers + separation pads if you're short on cash. Why am I telling you all this?

Well...if you already had the maintenance kit available you could always try to fit the fuser yourself (if its a simple slot in/pull out affair). Again this will save you £100 engineering fees if you manage to resolve the fault yourself - and if it doesn't resolve it you'll still have the fuser...which is bound to need replacing at some point in the future!

MAINTENANCE KIT issues: Often if your paper isn't pulling through the machine (ie it keeps getting stuck in the printer) it could either require a simple engineering service/clean of the paper path or it may need new rollers and separation pads.
Sometimes you could be using the wrong paper which causes too much paper dust and so requires the machine to be regularly cleaned. Rollers unfortunately start to get shiny with use, so after a while they are unable to catch and pull the paper through. The separation pads wear. If the rollers for your old LaserJet are no longer manufactured you can try using a very very fine polishing paper which takes the shine off the roller and allows you a bit more use - but don't use regular sandpaper whatever you do:-) !!

WHY AM I RECOMMENDING THAT YOU BUY A MAINTENANCE KIT, DRUM OR SPARE TONER?

Many people are amazed to find that their printer needs parts. "Oh my printer isn't printing...can you just come over and do a quick service please". Unfortunately from an engineering point of view a quick service is only used when someone's printer is working fine and they just decide that every year they have it serviced, so they'll have another service again. For those of you with a fault - don't tell the engineer it needs a quick service/clean. It's a bit like your car breaking down and telling the garage "Oh...it just needs a quick service/clean and it'll be fine"....yeah...right!!

If you have the spare cash (and some of us don't) then get all these things in stock. Nothing worse than being in the middle of a print job and running out of toner. Nothing worse than having deadlines and being told the engineer can only come out in 2 days time to repair your printer.

Bear in mind that MOST callouts on LaserJet printers are for maintenance kit items (toner, fuser, drum, separation pads) - although obviously there are many more parts on a printer which also break which may also need replacing. If you have the above items to hand then in some cases you can fix the printer yourself (and save yourself £100) or you can minimise engineering callouts because the engineer has the parts to hand that he can try using to resolve the problem. When they don't work it's time for him to order up more parts to resolve the fault.

WHY DOESN'T AN ENGINEER BRING ALL THE PARTS IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Aha...we all think this but it's an issue of practicality. The engineer has one small van. There are a hundred+ different printers he can fix - so in order to have every part available to him he'd have to be able to fit each whole machine into his van. One small van and hundreds of printers don't fit. A good engineer will check out the fault and try to take the appropriate parts with him if he has them in stock - but if he orders various parts up in advance, then if he doesn't use them he's left with it sitting on his shelf until someone else needs it. If he tries to send the item back to HP distribution there is normally a minimum restocking fee of £20.00. So...this is why most engineers come to assess the printer first - check it over fully - and then order those parts which not only resolve the issues that you are currently facing but also ensure that parts which are worn and/or failing are replaced so you don't need to call him out again in the next few weeks or months ahead.

I hope this mini-article helps!! The only main point I would add is that for those printers costing less than £150 you should really think hard about whether a repair is practical or not. If callout/labour is going to be £100.00 + parts a further £20.00+ then you are normally better off throwing the printer away and buying a new one with a 1 year warranty. Yes I know...it hurts me to say it too.

Summary: Help the engineer help you by giving accurate list of issues and having some parts on site