phil@RICE.EDU (William LeFebvre) (02/11/86)
To those of you with a Canon LBP-CX engine on your printer (Imagen 8/300, Laserwriter, etc.), here is some advice concerning maintenance of the print engine. We just had both fuser rollers on one of our printers replaced to the tune of about $180. These parts "just wear out", but the top fuser roller in our printer had actually been damaged---some of the surface had been eaten away. Talking with the individual who repaired it, I got some good advice. You know that "fixing assembly cleaner" you are supposed to replace every time you put in a new cartridge? Well, while you have the fuzzy green "fixing assembly top" popped up to do that, look at its underside. You will see four evenly spaced red tongs that point (more or less) down. These tongs snap down onto the top fuser roller when the fixing assembly top is closed. Their purpose is to separate the paper being fused from the top fuser roller at the appropriate time. Toner has a nasty habit of collecting on these tongs---especially on the part that faces toward the inside of the printer (so you might not see it at first). According to the repairman, this toner can eat away at the fuser drum if the printer is left on and idle for long periods of time (like a weekend). My advice is to clean these tongs every time you put a new cartridge in. Use the same Q-tip that comes with the new cartridge. But be careful and remember that the fuser drum is HOT! This probably won't prevent the top fuser roller from wearing out, but it will prolong its life! William LeFebvre Department of Computer Science Rice University <phil@Rice.edu>