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Independent Laser Repair Inc.
623 N. 5th Street
DeKalb, IL 60115
(815) 756-9424
(815) 758-8360 Fax
On-Site Hewlett Packard Laser Printer Repair Service
Serving Chicago's Western Suburbs Since 1995
Error Messages
Most laser printers provide error messages when they
malfunction. On the Canon based printers there is usually a number associated with the
message. It is helpful if you write down this number and the message. Some error messages
allow you to continue with the print process while other ones demand that you pay some
attention to the printer.
I have found a simple action that is sometimes helpful
when working with laser printers. When you get an error message on the printer (Especially
50 SERVICE). Turn the printer off for at least TWENTY MINUTES. Then turn it back on and
see if the error message is gone. If it comes back you probably will need service from a
technician.
These pointers may help you get a few more pages out of
your broken printer until help arrives. This information was written for Hewlett Packard /
Canon based laser printer error messages.
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Marks on
The Top Side of The Page
A large portion of calls that I get are problems with
black marks of some kind on theTop of the page. While I love the idea of dropping by your
office and fixing your problem (along with submitting a bill for my services), I really
can’t. I want to repair printers not replace toner cartridges. The number one fix for
this problem (survey says) is CHANGE THE TONER CARTRIDGE.
Many customers will say "I just changed the cartridge". This is all the more
reason to change the cartridge. Many people think that if a cartridge is new (or newly
recharged) it is not going to fail. In an ideal world, yes, but who knows what this
cartridge has suffered between manufacture and arriving in your hands. Leave a cartridge
on the dashboard on a summer day in a closed car and it’s gone. What damage is caused
sitting shrink wrapped on a pallet on a loading dock in the summer? Get the idea?
If there is another printer of the same type around your office, you can swap cartridges
print something and if the problem goes away, then print on the other printer, if it now
has the problem, take the cartridge AND the example page, stick it in a cartridge box and
take it back to your rechargers or store (only if it’s a fairly new cartridge will the
store help you out. Any reputable rechargers will take care of you if the cartridge
isn’t almost empty).
[As an aside, realize that rechargers are very good at what they do and they know how much
a full cartridge weights and what an empty cartridge weights. They usually mark their
cartridges in some way and they have very good records of when they sold you the
cartridge]
If you only have another cartridge that is new in the box, open it and swap because
it’s cheaper than calling me up for a service call to open it for you. You can always
put it back in the box and use it later if it turns out that it isn’t the cartridge.
The above is intended to advise anyone who has a printer with a cartridge that has the
drum in it.
All Hewlett Packard, most Apple, all Canon, a good number of QMS, a few Brother machines
and a good deal of other brand name printers use this type cartridge. There are other
brands that have them too but they are quite expensive to purchase (cartridges). The idea
will above still applies. Some printers have a separate drum and toner cartridge. On these
machines, the above will not work unless you change the drum unit too.
If the above doesn't help, look at your fuser. This is the last major device that the
paper passes through in your laser printer. It's job is to fuse the toner to the paper. It
does this with heat. The fuser consists of two rollers one on Top of the other. The lower
roller is usually a rubber roller or some other substance which is firm. The upper roller
is the most important. It is an aluminum roller with a Teflon coating and it has a halogen
lamp running through the middle of it. If the non-stick Teflon gets scored and it exposes
the aluminum, a mark will occur on your page as the toner sticks to the spot (or line) on
the upper roller. There is usually a way to look at this roller. Warning it's HOT
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MP Load, PC Load or
LC Load
MP = Multi-purpose tray | PC = Paper Cassette | LC =
Lower Cassette Usually the correct paper type is not in one of the paper trays. This is
sometimes a tricky one. Your software will often tell the printer what type of paper is
necessary. Some printers have trays that auto-detect the paper size (in reality you set
the size by moving a paper stop) if you set it to A4 and want letter size, the paper will
fit in the tray (letter paper) and the tray will think you have A4 paper size. The HP IIP,
IIP+ and IIIP printers have two menu items that need to be changed when changing paper
type. One is Job size the other is paper size.
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Active Port
HP printers before the HP 4 printer could only have one
printer port active at a time. You have a parallel, a serial and an optional port on the
II, III, IID, IIID , a parallel and serial on the IIP and IIIP and a parallel port only on
the IIP+. But I digress, If you are looking at this part of this FAQ, you want to know how
to change the active port. On the II, III, IID and IIID:
Take the printer off-line, hold the menu button continuously until the LCD screen changes
to something else. Press menu until the screen says I/O= SOMETHING. Use the "+"
and "-" key to change the value to the port you want. Now to make it permanent,
press the enter key on the front panel. You should now see an "*" next to your
selection such as "I/O=Parallel*". That's it you're done.
For the applicable II/IIIP series:
Take off-line, press menu until the LCD screen (10 presses) says DEVICE CONFIG. Press
enter on the front panel. Press menu until the screen says I/O=Something. Use the
"+" and "-" key to change the value to the port you want. Now to make
it permanent, press the enter key on the front panel. You should now see an "*"
next to your selection such as "I/O=Parallel*". That's it you're done.
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13 Error / 13 Paper
Jams
13 error or 13 paper jam indicates that there is a paper
jam somewhere in the printer. It is usually obvious, but sometimes you will get this error
just as you turn on the printer. Check for a piece of paper in the fuser when this
happens.
Another time you get this error is when the paper fails to get picked up out of the paper
tray. The printer goes through the action, but the paper pick up roller slips and no paper
enters the paper path. You may be able to fix this temporarily by cleaning the roller(s)
with alcohol. Cleaning rollers can sometimes fix this problem for a while but I have found
in practice that replacing the roller or pick-up assembly is the proper fix in most cases.
Rollers wear from use and they also age from ozone and heat.
There are reasons for all paper jams. Usually replacing a roller or two will fix the
problem for the long term. Cleaning the rollers will sometimes offer a short term
solution. I’m not real keen on "cleaning paper" type products. Here are
some work-around solutions to use until a repair tech gets there.
HP II / III, Apple L / W / II Series , there is a rear door that will allow the paper to
pass out the back instead of having it turn 180 degrees to come out on the Top of the
printer. If you are getting a jam as the paper exits one of these type printers this will
offer a solution as long as you want to put up with having the paper come out the back.
On some printers if the paper jams because it never makes it out of the paper tray, you
can "help" the printer by using the manual feed and push the paper in as you hear
the paper pick up roller turn.
HP4 / 4+ /5, Rear paper jam / Accordion type of jam. If it is jamming as it comes out of
the printer, this is what I'm talking about. There is a assembly that needs to be replaced
and this offers a permanent repair. There isn't any temporary solution.
Envelopes: It’s amazing that they go through some printers at all. Envelopes vary in
size and paper quality. Watch for unusual printing on envelopes and the same for letter
head. I have seen some pretty wild and colorful letterhead and a lot of it has trouble
going through a printer. The ink provides a slippery surface for the paper pick-up roller
to deal with.
Raised Letterhead:
While we’re on ink, make sure that the ink on letter head stationary and envelopes is
rated for laser printers. Make sure you remember to tell your printer to use this ink when
refilling your letterhead order. The problem is that the wrong type of ink will melt when
the laser printer is fusing the toner to the paper. This melted ink will cause a build up
on the upper fuser roller. This roller is a Teflon coated roller. Teflon is a no stick
surface and once the ink from the letterhead sticks to it, the roller picks up toner and
will redeposit the toner on your page causing a repetitive mark (Ghosting) down the page.
The mark is usually the exact copy of a part of that same page. The fuser assembly must be
replaced to solve the problem.
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20 Error/Mem Overflow
This error usually means your Laser Printer has run out
of memory (or you have sent too much data to the printer for the memory you have installed
on it). With Windows 95 in the printer properties menu you can try setting the print spool
settings to start printing after the last page is spooled. Another good work around is to
reduce the file sent to the printer, if it is a picture, use less color. If it is a spread
sheet, define less area to the print page. You could also drop the resolution. If this
error occurs a lot consider adding more memory to your laser printer.
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22 Error
HP LaserJet 4, 4M, 4 Plus, 4M Plus, 4P, and 4MP Printers
- Error 22 Appears on Printer Display when Starting Windows 95. This is caused by a
software driver. It usually has something to do with a device that is (or was) on the
parallel port. When Win95 starts up, the printer gets some electronic info which was
supposed to go to this other device and the printer freaks out. HP offers this explanation
HP. To work around this, turn off the printer after you get the message and turn it back
on (leave the computer on). All should be OK. You'll want to get the offending driver
removed or updated for a permanent fix.
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41 Error
Momentary error, reset by pressing the (Continue) or (Go)
key. If it doesn't clear you will need service from a technician.
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50 Error / 50 Service
A 50 error or 50 service will not clear when turned off
unless you keep the printer turned off for 20 minutes. If it doesn't clear after 20
minutes, the problem is usually the Fuser or the A.C. Power module and will need service
from a technician.
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51 Error or 52 Error
A 51 or 52 error normally means there is a problem with
either the Laser Scanner or the fiber optic cable to the laser scanner and will need
service from a technician.
It could also be another problem. There is a small piece of plastic on the toner cartridge
that can break off and cause this error, so replacing the toner cart is a possible
solution.
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53 Error
Memory error. Some memory on the machine is bad. A work
around is to remove offending memory. This is something that can be done only to certain
types of memory on some printers and possibly will need service from a technician
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User Maintenance
The HP 3si and the HP 4si, will get this message every
200,000 pages. It means that a maintenance kit needs to be installed. I have personal
experience of these printers printing almost two million pages (and these printers are
still going!). The maintenance kit is part of the reason that they are able to do this.
The error will stay on the machine until it is reset when the kit is installed. You will
not be prevented from printing while this message is displayed. If you are close to the
200k page mark and are having numerous paper handling problems such as paper jams, the
installation of this kit will usually fix this problem. A thorough cleaning is also done
on the machine at the same time. If you take care of your 3/4si machine, it will take care
of you. Failure to install this kit will eventually result in down time. The HP5si also
has this kit. It's page count for the kit is every 350,000 pages
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