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View Full Version : HP Laserjet 4000 Maintenance Kit - Instructions Wrong



safetyboy
06-28-2005, 03:52 AM
I recently purchased a Laserjet 4000 Maintenance Kit for a customer of mine who was having issues with image quality and pickup.

I bought part # C7852A - this is an Australian 240v kit.

The week before, I had done a maintenance kit for another customer with a 4000 series printer with no problems.

I ran into trouble at step 2-4 in the instructions - removing the old transfer roller.

The instructions say "Using a flat blade screwdriver, pry the right end of the metal shaft out of place, then the left end".

When I tried to do this, I heard a snap and a piece of plastic flew off.

It appeared to be something which held the white section down so the spring didn't force it out of place. I called HP, and as they don't have Bench service for the 4000 series, I had to have a technician come out to replace the Transfer Roller Holder.

When he came out, I showed him the instructions and what had happened to find out what went wrong.

He told me that there are two types of 4000 Transfer Roller Holders, one with a captive holder on the right hand side, and one without.

With the captive holder, you have to pry the left hand side out, then slide the rod out of the right hand side holder.

This was immediately clear to me after it was repaired. I went back to my other client, and sure enough they had the other type of transfer roller holder.

I have contacted HP in an attempt to not have the service call charged due to the fact that the instructions are incorrect, but so far have come up with completely unhelpful people. The last person told me that a maintenance kit should only be installed by a HP tech, and I should have had the printer (8 years old) under a Carepack that allowed for this - despite the fact that the Maintenance Kits are sold on the HP site as a consumer part.

What I want to know is if anyone else has come across this problem with the maintenance kit, has anyone else broken a printer following the instructions, is this a known thing to look out for. If it is common, I can't believe HP haven't issue an addendum to the maintenance kit to warn people of this issue.

Thanks in advance

C

ptjeff1
06-29-2005, 03:07 PM
I've never seen this happen. Our instructions mention to carefully pry the left and right end of the transfer roller up and out. http://www.printertechs.com/tech/mkinst/mk-4000-3trans.php

I don't recall seeing any 4000/4050 printers with tranfer roller holders with a closed end on the right. The 4100 on the other hand does. These are US versions, 110v.

ROBS1
07-01-2005, 02:45 PM
A few months back I was called out to a customers site for bad print on the left hand side of the page the printer was a LJ 4200. The printer was broken the same way as you discribed. HP tech support said they do not sell the part to fix this. I told them this printer is under a care pak, HP ended up replacing the printer. HP will not pay warranty or care pak money for ASPs' to install maintence kits. THIS IS CUSTOMER RESPONSIBLITY. I told the HP support tech that they now have to replace a printer because of this policy.

Maybe HP tells you guys down under a different story.

Rob S

LT2000
07-06-2005, 11:11 AM
A common saying we use around the shop is "if you have to force it, you're doing it wrong."

Next time, when you are trying to fix a printer, try not to force anything. If it isn't coming off, try another aproach.

Service manuals are frequently wrong. Try following the instructions for resetting the maintenance count on a 5si, or the same for the Lexmark Optra T 520. You'll soon find that even the OEM error.

safetyboy
07-07-2005, 09:19 PM
Thanks everyone for your answers.

I might try to go in there next week with my digital camera so I can post pics and show you the difference.

I agree that if you are forcing you are doing it wrong, but it was surprisingly little force to break the part - it was a very small bit of plastic that snapped off.

I wasn't really paying as much attention as normal, given that I had just done this maintenance kit the week before on another printer.

SB

JeffH
07-21-2005, 08:14 PM
SB,

Please do post the pics and the details. Thats how we all learn. I personally havent ever seen a transfer roller come out of the right side first on the 4000/4050

Thanks as look forward to the information.

Jeff