Our HP Laserjet 5 printers stink on warmup..Literally! Why???

[Justdoingmyjob]

Hi, I admittedly know zippo about how printers like this work, but I'm good at asking questions and I wasn't satisfied with the input from our IS department. So here goes... In my department we have a number of laserjet 5 printers, avg 5-7 yrs old, which have been real workhorses. Some of us however have real "stinkers". In that, when they sit for awhile, let's say overnight, and you attempt to print the first pages of the day the next morning, while warming up they emit the most obnoxious odor, an acrid stink (no smoke), that lasts for a good 10 seconds... It is enough to choke you out of your seat or wave it away with a folder so you can breathe. Our IS folks tell us that this is normal (if so, how come only some of them stink, not others?) Or may be related to the toner cartridges (we use brand new Lexmark #140198A cartridges) The printers then print, the stink goes away for the rest of the day as long as you're using them at least a couple of times over the course of the day... The next morning, they stink again.. the worst is on Monday mornings.. Is this truly normal? or are we breathing enough carcinogens to warrant lung transplants at age 40? Any input/advice would be appreciated. Also, this odor begins as the "warm-up" message appears on the display..

[ptjeff1]

The fuser is supposed to get hot and this is where the smell is probably coming from. Take the fuser out and see if there isn't a buildup of something on the rollers or elsewhere. I've never had a fuser smell like what you are describing.

[rapid refill]

Do you turn the machines off over the weekend?

If you do then the smell your getting is normal. It is the fuser that you are smelling. I would leave your machines on and that should help with the smell some, but on warm-up you will get that smell again.
Good Luck

Brent - RRI
www.rapidrefillink.com

[copyman]

If machine has a ozone filter i would change that first then if that dont work i would try a "OEM" toner cartd just for the heck of it to see.

[Justdoingmyjob]

Thanks to the three who have posted responses.. These printers are on 24/7, they just go into powersave mode over weekends or overnights. The smell is definitely associated with the warmup phase, i.e. running a print job after a period of inactivity, as you hear the machine rev up, this is when the smells begin. I will check the fuser in my machine to see what I find, then report back...

[raleighwholesale]

i got a lj5 from a gov auction that had mice droppings in the paper tray... never found a mouse though... and couldnt figure out how the mouse could have got in there... anyway, when I turned this printer on it stank like... like real bad.

[mattchall]

When were they last cleaned and serviced? Most likely it's a build-up of toner and dust on the fuser unit.