HP LaserJet 6P help

[Divarin]

I know printers is not a very popular topic but I'm hoping I can get some help here anyway.

A long time ago, probably early 2000's I picked up an HP LaserJet 6P printer from a local library that was selling off some stuff, I've used it for years with no issue.
About 2 years ago I put it in the attic and forgot about it. Now I have a use for it again.

The first test print I did looked not too bad except for some black smearing on one edge of the paper. However after that each subsequent print got darker.
Also there's a kind of ... ghost images of the print like it's repeated multiple times (see image below):


It looks like I tried to print on this sheet multiple times, but I didn't. This is just one print.

I opened it up and cleaned the rollers, and whatnot, and after doing that the next print was like the first. Not too bad except for some darkness on one side, then subsequent prints came out like this and got darker the more I printed.

I took it out of the office, down to my workbench in the basement, and use a Toshiba Libretto (win98) to push test pages to it. The idea was I would try cleaning various bits and then test printing without having to haul the printer up and down the stairs between workbench and office and worry about getting toner dust on the carpet in the office.

Anyway after about 4 or 5 test prints from the libretto it then stopped responding altogether. The lights on the printer don't indicate any kind of error but the computer just sits there for a long time trying to send the print job to the printer and eventually times out saying it's waited too long for the printer to respond.

Printers normally are just an expensive source of frustration which usually leads to kicking and bashing and a pile of plastic in the trash but this printer has been good to me over the years so I thought it's worth trying to get it going again if I can.

 

[Timo W.]

Probably needs a new drum and/or laser unit. Not sure if you can still get these for such an old printer.

 

[Divarin]

Hmm I'm not sure but I think the drum is a part of the toner cartridge on this unit, which might explain why they're so expensive.

 

[VERAULT]

the drum IS part of the toner cart and to me this looks like a cheaply refilled toner cart.. do you have another toner cart to test with? And toner carts for yhis model should be pretty inexpensive. I am all for using cheap refills but ocasionally sometimes a good deal is tooo good to be true.. try another toner cart.

And the amazing thing about HP laserjets is the parts are not too hard to find..i.e plentiful

 

[Divarin]

No I don't have another toner cart to test with. HP replacements (not 3rd party or "re-manufactuered") ones are around $150 on amazon or walmart and around $50 on fleabay.
A better option seems to be this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/185815845086 which is within driving distance to me, the only downside is it means this 6P is still not restored and destined for the landfill :/

 

[VERAULT]

No I don't have another toner cart to test with. HP replacements (not 3rd party or "re-manufactuered") ones are around $150 on amazon or walmart and around $50 on fleabay.
A better option seems to be this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/185815845086 which is within driving distance to me, the only downside is it means this 6P is still not restored and destined for the landfill :/

I have 3 laserjets in the house I use almost daily, I dont use HP brand unless I can get it cheap. AS I said repacked is fine, but sometimes you get a cheap dud. Just look around they avg $25.00 and up. Want HP only? Here is one for $50.00 https://www.ebay.com/itm/134499828972

You want a new used printer, its a new can of worms. The 6p is a better built machine by the way. But do whatever you want.... With everyone throwing around untrue statements like "there are no parts" or "All toner is expensive" it seems you already made up your mind...

 

[NeXT]

$150 for a genuine cartridge is totally reasonable considering the cartridge is rated for at least 2000 pages.
I've been on the same cartridge now for 11 years with my LaserJet 4M Plus and it's only starting to fail now, so consider the assembly a long-time consumable part, moreso when for the same number of prints an inkjet will cost you considerably more.

 

[VERAULT]

$150 for a genuine cartridge is totally reasonable considering the cartridge is rated for at least 2000 pages.

Most are 4000 to 5000. I didnt think it was 2000. Regardless Inkjet is a Total scam for suckers and I gave up on those back in 2002. Ink carts are engineered to dry out and they started using foam to displace the actual ink amount you were getting. You only get a paltry amount of ink from a cart before it dries out a few months later.

My daily printer is an HP Laserjet P2015DN. When I was still Active Duty NAVY they were just throwing these things out in droves to replace with a newer model (for no reason of course). I took one out of the trash heap, popped it in my SeaBag and took it home. Gub'ment waste and whatnot. Its got built in Jetdirect so Its hooked up to my home network for anyone to print to. BTW any old serial or parallel laser printer can be made "wireless" with a dirt cheap old external jetdirect hooked up to your home network/router. I just installed one on my friends network HPLJ 4p.
I found a lower print tray when I was still at YALE, and I added 128MB of RAM so this thing is pretty maxed out and holds 2 reams of paper.

Its been Laser for over 2 decades for me. Really, really fast.. (anything using a Laserjet 4 series or newer gives you 600+ DPI and most of us do not really need color.. Its the far superior way to go. The only issues I run into with laser printers is worn or dried out rollers (specifically pickup rollers). And on humid days your printer is well worn or older may have dificulty picking up the pages.. The pickup rollers or pickup pads only cost a few dollars but in many cases its pretty intricate to installing them.. But Youtube usually has a video on doing just that for all major brands..

 

[NeXT]

Yeah I have noticed that rebuild kits and fusers for the LJ4's are still available. Right now I'm working to get a LaserJet 4si to replace a failed all-in-one at our makerspace.

 

[VERAULT]

Yeah I have noticed that rebuild kits and fusers for the LJ4's are still available. Right now I'm working to get a LaserJet 4si to replace a failed all-in-one at our makerspace.

Sure I remember the 4SI, looked just like the IID and IIID. It was part of my job to do basic service on those in the mid to late 90's, I had a bunch of those models back them. IIP and IIIP and a II and III. I even had the first serial only HP LJ... I forget which model number it was. But they were large and had to get rid of them. I would have a small collection of vintage Laser printers if space allowed. But it doesnt. In fact I just gave away a new in box Apple Laserwriter to another member... I hope he gets that on his home network as its a good printer with a canon engine I think. Wouldnt mind having some older classic Laser printers now. Still find all the parts for them. I probably still have the HP service handbooks on my shelf.

I mean they are all built like 55 Chevy's you really cant go wrong but for the DPI a LJ4 is wonderful.

I would avoid the upright models like the 5L and 6L (and whatever other naming coventions that style became).. Those were badly designed and have pickup issues galore.

 

[Divarin]

$150 for a genuine cartridge is totally reasonable considering the cartridge is rated for at least 2000 pages.
I've been on the same cartridge now for 11 years with my LaserJet 4M Plus and it's only starting to fail now, so consider the assembly a long-time consumable part, moreso when for the same number of prints an inkjet will cost you considerably more.

true but since I don't know for a fact that my issue is in the cartridge it's a $150 gamble that it would get my printer going again. If I recall correctly this cartridge was only a few months old when I retired the printer to the attic.

 

[jafir]

Yeah I have noticed that rebuild kits and fusers for the LJ4's are still available. Right now I'm working to get a LaserJet 4si to replace a failed all-in-one at our makerspace.

When I was in college I picked up a IIIsi for free from a car dealership. It had printed nearly 1 million pages. They said it was no longer reliable and replaced it with a new printer. I got a maintenance kit on eBay to replace all of the rollers and I never had a problem with it. I even picked up a duplexer for it. I finally kicked it to the curb about 15 years ago because it was just too big for the space I had. I think the 4si is the same size. I replaced it with a free 1300 that I added a jetdirect network card. The only thing I miss is the duplexing.

Maybe one day I’ll upgrade to something color and laser.

 

[VERAULT]

When I was in college I picked up a IIIsi for free from a car dealership. It had printed nearly 1 million pages. They said it was no longer reliable and replaced it with a new printer. I got a maintenance kit on eBay to replace all of the rollers and I never had a problem with it. I even picked up a duplexer for it. I finally kicked it to the curb about 15 years ago because it was just too big for the space I had. I think the 4si is the same size. I replaced it with a free 1300 that I added a jetdirect network card. The only thing I miss is the duplexing.

Maybe one day I’ll upgrade to something color and laser.

Duplexing is nice Turns out both of my primary Laser printers had it built in and for years I didnt know. You just need to enable it in the drivers. My P2015dn and my Color CP3525dn (color laser). The color laser is a can of worms. Mine had a relay that arks and eventually gets a bad spot and fails and its really deep in the machine, hense I havent done anything with it.. its been down for 2 years.

 

[Divarin]

Well I picked up a replacement toner cart (still sealed) it was a 3rd party one that was around $30. At first the first test print came out fine, but then every subsequent print came out lighter than the last. So kind of the opposite problem from what I had originally.

 

[VERAULT]

Sometimes these toner carts are sitting along time. They recommend a vigorous and violent shaking (insert joke here). Give that a shot then print out about 8 to 10 pages and see what happens. If it keeps getting lighter seems like a fuser but I woudnt jump to that yet.

 

[Divarin]

okay so turns out the problem is that I'm an idiot and forgot to pull a tab out of the cart. so after doing that getting a bunch of toner dust on the carpet, vacuuming that up, now it works fine except for a little bit of a dark line on the farv left edge, probably a dirty roller.

 

[VERAULT]

Ahh the rip cord?

If you pull away the safety cover from the drum do you see the same dark line on the drum (a thick toner line?) If so try using a cotton swab to gently clean that line. If might be a bad drum or it might just be alot of toner. No need to worry yet.

 

[Chuck(G)]

I see these lines mostly when the drum has been scratched (by dust or a bit of grit in the toner, probably). There's not much that can be done about that, except replacement.

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

I just signed up for this forum as I have pretty much the exact same problem. I have a late 90's era HP LaserJet 6p that I mostly use as a label printer. As you can see, it's also "ghosting" like the original poster's.

I suspect the problem is with the toner cartridge. These results are with a newly-opened cartridge, but it's a cartridge that I've had around "forever". The very first print-out was fine, but then it immediately got worse.

I've read that perhaps just replacing the wiper blade on the cartridge might fix the issue, but so far I can't find anyone selling those. Worse case, I buy a new cartridge, but I'd need to know it's truly new rather than "new old stock".

Appreciate any input on the topic.

 

[VERAULT]

I just signed up for this forum as I have pretty much the exact same problem. I have a late 90's era HP LaserJet 6p that I mostly use as a label printer. As you can see, it's also "ghosting" like the original poster's.

I suspect the problem is with the toner cartridge. These results are with a newly-opened cartridge, but it's a cartridge that I've had around "forever". The very first print-out was fine, but then it immediately got worse.

I've read that perhaps just replacing the wiper blade on the cartridge might fix the issue, but so far I can't find anyone selling those. Worse case, I buy a new cartridge, but I'd need to know it's truly new rather than "new old stock".

Appreciate any input on the topic.

View attachment 1273974

hehe... someones eBayin'

Your guess of the toner cartridge is a good one. Getting a used cheap toner cart off ebay for not much money and seeing the print results and how they differ will give you the answer. The laserjet 5p and 6p are still good printers (The laserjet 5L and 6L are pretty much the only ones of the HP line I feel are inferior trash).