Lack of Simple engineering skills is horrendous -- printer fix

jimbo45 · Apr 12, 2023

Hi folks
I just cannot believe the lack of total basic engineering skills that abound these days. An office I saw was throwing out a Colour photographic quality laser printer -- approx cost around 3,500 EUR because the paper kept jamming and they couldn't get anybody to fix it for 5 weeks !!! and then the cost would be 300 EUR per hour plus parts.

I made an offer to buy the thing for 400 EUR, got it home and undid about 3 screws. Took out the toner cartridges (still 90% full) and removed via 2 simple screws the roller which directed the paper. Removed jammed paper and replaced. == Working brilliantly -- now have a photographic quality color laser printer at a really knock down bargain price simply because nobody had any idea of simple basic elementary engineering.

So if you have any basic skills -- build on them -- and take advantage. Banks might generate money for loads but when the infrastructure fails -- then they are all 100% hosed up. I never regretted basic engineering I learned as a kid. !!!

Beautiful quality printer -- would never have even THOUGHT of buying one if I had to pay the retail price !!!!.

Cheers
jimbo

kgarrett67 · Apr 12, 2023

It's also crazy stupid what techs charge to make a repair on a machine. It's unreal how much electronic equipment gets thrown away that could have been repaired simply, easily and inexpensively.

Ghot · Apr 12, 2023

jimbo45 said:
Beautiful quality printer -- would never have even THOUGHT of buying one if I had to pay the retail price !!!!.

MisterEd · Apr 12, 2023

jimbo45 said:
Hi folks
I just cannot believe the lack of total basic engineering skills that abound these days. An office I saw was throwing out a Colour photographic quality laser printer -- approx cost around 3,500 EUR because the paper kept jamming and they couldn't get anybody to fix it for 5 weeks !!! and then the cost would be 300 EUR per hour plus parts.

I made an offer to buy the thing for 400 EUR, got it home and undid about 3 screws. Took out the toner cartridges (still 90% full) and removed via 2 simple screws the roller which directed the paper. Removed jammed paper and replaced. == Working brilliantly -- now have a photographic quality color laser printer at a really knock down bargain price simply because nobody had any idea of simple basic elementary engineering.

So if you have any basic skills -- build on them -- and take advantage. Banks might generate money for loads but when the infrastructure fails -- then they are all 100% hosed up. I never regretted basic engineering I learned as a kid. !!!

Beautiful quality printer -- would never have even THOUGHT of buying one if I had to pay the retail price !!!!.

Cheers
jimbo

I would have expected the printer came with routine maintenance documentation. Have you looked at these to see if there was basic information on how troubleshoot paper jams? If so was it easy enough for the average person to understand?

If the documentation is designed for the average person to understand then it is up to the user to learn how to make the best use of this documentation. Unfortunately, too many of these documents are designed by engineers who don't know how to communicate with non-engineers.

jimbo45 · Apr 13, 2023

MisterEd said:
I would have expected the printer came with routine maintenance documentation. Have you looked at these to see if there was basic information on how troubleshoot paper jams? If so was it easy enough for the average person to understand?

If the documentation is designed for the average person to understand then it is up to the user to learn how to make the best use of this documentation. Unfortunately, too many of these documents are designed by engineers who don't know how to communicate with non-engineers.

Their loss is my gain !!!!

In any case there's loads of stuff on Youtube showing how this is done -- but I suspect many people these days would do an Olympic 400 metre sprint if they even looked at a screwdriver. !!!

Cheers
jimbo

Not Myself · Apr 13, 2023

MisterEd said:
I would have expected the printer came with routine maintenance documentation. Have you looked at these to see if there was basic information on how troubleshoot paper jams? If so was it easy enough for the average person to understand?

If the documentation is designed for the average person to understand then it is up to the user to learn how to make the best use of this documentation. Unfortunately, too many of these documents are designed by engineers who don't know how to communicate with non-engineers.

The paper jam instructions for my printer had a `minor' problem: To remove a jam from the single page feeder seemed rather simple, but that was not so for the main paper tray. The on-line instructions from the manufacturer included an image of the two levers that need to be manipulated for jam removal, and that is where the difficulty is encountered, as my printer has no such levers.

I have no idea who designed the documentation, but I had no problem reading and understanding them, but I simply could not use them for the main tray. Perhaps they were for an earlier version of the printer, one with the illustrated levers. One need not be an engineer to know that you cannot move that which does not exist.

cereberus · Apr 13, 2023

jimbo45 said:
Hi folks
I just cannot believe the lack of total basic engineering skills that abound these days. An office I saw was throwing out a Colour photographic quality laser printer -- approx cost around 3,500 EUR because the paper kept jamming and they couldn't get anybody to fix it for 5 weeks !!! and then the cost would be 300 EUR per hour plus parts.

I made an offer to buy the thing for 400 EUR, got it home and undid about 3 screws. Took out the toner cartridges (still 90% full) and removed via 2 simple screws the roller which directed the paper. Removed jammed paper and replaced. == Working brilliantly -- now have a photographic quality color laser printer at a really knock down bargain price simply because nobody had any idea of simple basic elementary engineering.

So if you have any basic skills -- build on them -- and take advantage. Banks might generate money for loads but when the infrastructure fails -- then they are all 100% hosed up. I never regretted basic engineering I learned as a kid. !!!

Beautiful quality printer -- would never have even THOUGHT of buying one if I had to pay the retail price !!!!.

Cheers
jimbo

Not quite as glamorous but my inket A3 printer yellow extension tube nozzle part of head that cartridge fits onto was blocked.

I have an air puffer used for cleaning fans on pc, but its nozzle was too big to fit into. the yellow distribution nozzle to puff it clear.

Thought about and "aha". I attached a spare hearing aid to to yellow distribution nozzle (was perfect fit with air tight seal).

I then inserted puffer nozzle on other end and squeezed hard puffing air through yellow nozzle.

Added new cartridges - all worked fine.

Saved me £200.

Re. office fixing things, they are often paranoid about somebody fixing something who is not an official repair person - if the person fixing it gets injured (or worse somebody else getting injured), they could be sued. So perhaps they were not prepared to take the risk.

Catnip · Apr 13, 2023

It's a sad symptom of our disposable society. Even techs these days are only trained to follow a manual and replace a card or a module. No one can fix down at the board level anymore. It's too easy to just replace a module, and often cheaper. As a result, we have landfills loaded with e-waste, or even worse, the stuff goes for recycling. I have seen videos of people in third world countries where this stuff goes, holding boards over burning barrels and removing chips to be recycled.

All of those recycled chips go into something. Probably your TV, your iPhone, your computer, etc. The chips are already compromised by the high heat needed to take them off of the old boards, it's no wonder our stuff fails so easily. Unscrupulous chip brokers make a killing selling "pulls" or chips that are recycled this way to unsuspecting or desperate businesses, and we only have ourselves to blame for this due to our throw away society.

MisterEd · Apr 13, 2023

Back in 1983 the place I worked bought a very expensive HP inkjet printer. After it wouldn't print they paid $1000 to have a head replaced. The tech said if we wanted to avoid this we would have to print something often enough so the heads wouldn't get clogged.

Steve C · Apr 14, 2023

jimbo45 said:
Hi folks
I just cannot believe the lack of total basic engineering skills that abound these days. An office I saw was throwing out a Colour photographic quality laser printer -- approx cost around 3,500 EUR because the paper kept jamming and they couldn't get anybody to fix it for 5 weeks !!! and then the cost would be 300 EUR per hour plus parts.

I made an offer to buy the thing for 400 EUR, got it home and undid about 3 screws. Took out the toner cartridges (still 90% full) and removed via 2 simple screws the roller which directed the paper. Removed jammed paper and replaced. == Working brilliantly -- now have a photographic quality color laser printer at a really knock down bargain price simply because nobody had any idea of simple basic elementary engineering.

So if you have any basic skills -- build on them -- and take advantage. Banks might generate money for loads but when the infrastructure fails -- then they are all 100% hosed up. I never regretted basic engineering I learned as a kid. !!!

Beautiful quality printer -- would never have even THOUGHT of buying one if I had to pay the retail price !!!!.

Cheers
jimbo

That doesn't meet the threshold of 'engineering skills'. We call it gumption in Yorkshire.

Lack of Simple engineering skills is horrendous -- printer fix

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