Laserjet 4L Code 52

[ratdude747]

Pulled an old beast out of storage (HP Laserjet 4L)... was intermittenly having issues but I was able to print test pages with some success.

Brought it home, and I keep getting service error code 52, which is described as:

A temporary error has occurred.
– Power cycle the printer.
The scanner assembly is improperly fitted.
There is a scanner cable problem.
The laser scanner assembly is defective.
The DC controller PCA is defective.

Source:

http://printcopy.info/?l=en&mod=erc&...ge=1&btnPage=y

Is there a common cause for this, or is something blown up? It already has issues leaving streaks/marks on blank/all pages (worn/old drum in cartridge) and it's more of a hobby than an in-use printer. So I'm not looking to replace major components.

Ideas?

[stj]

Re: Laserjet 4L Code 52

it's bullshit, you have dust on the mirrors.

pull the cover and you see in the center a black box.
open the cover and there are some mirrors, a lense for the laser and a spining mirror-cylinder with about 10 faces.
clean them all.

[ratdude747]

Re: Laserjet 4L Code 52

it's bullshit, you have dust on the mirrors.

pull the cover and you see in the center a black box.
open the cover and there are some mirrors, a lense for the laser and a spining mirror-cylinder with about 10 faces.
clean them all.

Good call... mine only had two flat faces (plus 2 curved faces), but cleaned them up... and bingo, it's printing again. Apparently where I stored it was where some home improvement happened, because it was full of sheetrock debris too.

[stj]

Re: Laserjet 4L Code 52

mess on the prints is probably caused by the drum in the toner cartridge,
but the foam transfer roller would also be a suspect.
you can wash it with cold water and dish cleaning soap to get stuck toner out of it.

[ratdude747]

Re: Laserjet 4L Code 52

mess on the prints is probably caused by the drum in the toner cartridge,
but the foam transfer roller would also be a suspect.
you can wash it with cold water and dish cleaning soap to get stuck toner out of it.

Who knows how old the cartridge is... I did clean a bunch of crap out of one of the rollers past the cartridge... the back of the paper is clean finally.

I think I see the streaking patter on the drum itself... darn, and the ancient cartridge still has toner left. Oh well. :hammer:

[ratdude747]

Re: Laserjet 4L Code 52

Did some more test prints. I have pictures in another thread:

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?p=879112