HP LaserJet 3500

[Imprl59]

I got suckered in to helping a customer with a Color LJ3500 issue. I'm a computer tech so I know how to put paper in the printer but thats about all.

Original problem was a fuser error. I pulled the fuser and it looked well worn so I got a new one. The new fuser arrived in an HP box and appears to be unopened.

I put the new fuser and feed roller in and turned on the printer. It warmed up and went to ready. I then reset the counter and went to print a menu to see if it really reset. It picked up a piece of paper and started the process then there was a pretty loud electrical arcing sound followed by a mass exodus of all the smoke contained in the new fuser.

Finally... the question. Is it likely that I just got a bad fuser or is there something else wrong with this printer.

Steve

[redcow]

There might be something else wrong now.
Put the original fuser back in to see if you can get back to the original problem.
If you do and can't get back to previous, you'll never know if it is a DOA. Because now there are other problems.
You are going to have to replace the fuser, and possibly the DC Controller.
Look at the good in this, You are going to be a 3500 expert by the time you get this one working.

[Imprl59]

The original fuser was inop with a fuser error message on the display. It still does the same thing.

Is there some way to tell if it needs additional parts without cooking another fuser?

[cs_steve]

The good/bad news is, it's probably shipping damage to the new fuser. Unfortunately, we have seen this before as the fusers are prone to shipping damage. It's not very obvious at first, there are some bushings that are weak and crack easily.

You probably noticed how large the new HP boxes are; they ship in very large boxes so you would think they are safe, but we have heard of a ton of shipping damage with the OEM boxes. (At PrinterTechs we actually rebox the new fusers in different packaging because the bushings were prone to getting busted...)

I would ask for a warranty.