HP Laserjet 2430TN Making Terrible Noise

[gazfocus]

We have a big print job on at the moment so I bought a HP Laserjet 2430TN off eBay because I knew the toners had large capacities. The first one I bought developed a fault with the fuser after a couple of days so when I was looking on eBay for a fuser, I saw another printer the same for a good price (not much more than the fuser on its own) and as it said it was tested, etc, I bought it.

However, when the printer arrived today, I promptly plugged it in and turned it on and when it was starting up it made a terrible grinding noise. It also makes the same noise when printing anything. I have emailed the seller but not yet had a response but I was wondering if anyone here could suggest anything I could try to resolve the problem?

Thanks

[Big Al]

The 2400 series has a problem with a grinding noise any time the fuser/toner cartridge gear train is rolling when the page count gets high. The problem is that toner powder gets into the bearing surface of the nylon gears that drive the fuser and the toner cartridge. The fix is to disasemble the fuser and replace the plastic bushings with HP 3005 style bushings, polish the worn surfaces on the black fuser roller's aluminum shaft, grease everything up and reassemble the fuser. Next you need to look on the left side of the opening at the rear where you removed the fuser. There are several small white gears there. You need to remove these gears (keep track of where they came from), clean the bearing surface of the gears, lube them, clean the steel shafts they rotate on, lube the shafts and put everything back together. White lithium grease will do but there is a special grease that works better. It is about $10 a tube and you have to order three tubes and pay about $10 for shipping.

That is the bad news. The good news is that as long as the gray teflon sleeve over the heater in the fuser is OK you can let it run for a while as long as the noise is not too annoying. Eventually the fuser bushings will fail and the shaft will start rubbing on the sheet metal frame. Then you need a replacement fuser.

Send me a private message and I will mail you a write up on how to do this if you wish.

Al

[gazfocus]

Thanks Big Al, I have PM'd you.

As a side note, the printer keeps jamming when printing on A5 paper (it jams just before the paper reaches the output bin and crumples up by the rear door) - could this be part of the same problem or is it just typical of laser printers?

[Big Al]

No, if A5 is an optional size for that printer then it should work. The feed rollers that carry the paper out of the fuser and up and around may have lost their ability to move the larger sheet of paper. These rollers should feel like a new pencil erraser. May be time for a maintenance kit.

Al