HP Laser Jet 3005n Formatter boards

[scottman99]

I have been replacing these problematic formatters on the HP Laserjet 3005 for some time now. Recently I discovered that the S/N and page count did not show up after swapping out the formatter board. I was told that I have to manually re-add the info to the new board. I've never had to do that on any formatter for this model in the past, now I need to? I was never told of this process, nor do I have any info on how to do this. Can someone shed some light on this issue.

Thanks.

[cs_steve]

Technically when you install a fresh board and wait a few minutes the DC controller is supposed to write the old settings to the new board. Sometimes there is a glitch and that automatic data transfer doesn't occur.

If the automatic programming doesn't occur you can manually program those values via Service Menu, but I wouldn't bother doing that because those kinds of settings are non-essential and won't affect printing. Also, you probably don't have a record of the old page count to know what page count to enter.

I hate to say it but you'll probably end up changing those same boards again down the road. Even the replacement boards are prone to failure; so we usually warn folks that it is more cost effective in the long-term to replace those printers instead of repairing them. (Unless you're only planning on using the P3005 printers for the short-term.)

There are some more stable models you could consider upgrading to, like the LaserJet 2400 series or the 4250 series. On both of those models the gears are better, the fusers are better, and the electronic boards are more stable. Also on the 4250 specifically you'd save some money on toner, with the higher-capacity cartridge.

Here are the specs on those series:
http://www.printertechs.com/printer/refurbished-hp-laserjet-2420.php
http://www.printertechs.com/printer/refurbished-hp-laserjet-4250.php

[scottman99]

Thanks for the input.

[ridered74]

You're supposed to do an NVRAM Initialization whenever you change the formatter. That will restore serial #.