Can we put paper through a laser printer twice, safely?

[eb7g]

Hi there

I'm wondering, if I want to conserve paper and use old paper that is
print on one side, but print on the back, is it safe for the laser printer?

The old paper can already have laser printed text on it. Alternatively
it may have injet ink on it.

I don't see a problem, of how it would wreck the drum, rollers, or other
internal mechanices.

anyone know?

 

[Peter R. Fletcher]

On the face of it, this is no different than printing documents
double-sided (by turning the even pages over and printing the backs)
in the first place, and should be perfectly safe. You will have
problems with paper jams, though, unless you keep your "waste" paper
very carefully and are fanatical about lining it up when you put it
back in.

Hi there

I'm wondering, if I want to conserve paper and use old paper that is
print on one side, but print on the back, is it safe for the laser printer?

The old paper can already have laser printed text on it. Alternatively
it may have injet ink on it.

I don't see a problem, of how it would wreck the drum, rollers, or other
internal mechanices.

anyone know?

Please respond to the Newsgroup, so that others may benefit from the exchange.
Peter R. Fletcher

 

[Bob Eager]

On the face of it, this is no different than printing documents
double-sided (by turning the even pages over and printing the backs)
in the first place, and should be perfectly safe.

The one issue is the moisture content of the paper. If it's already gone
through once, the moisture content will be lower and it may behave
differently.

And, as you say, make sure it is perfectly stacked and lined up for the
second run.

 

[Timothy Lee]

On the face of it, this is no different than printing documents
double-sided (by turning the even pages over and printing the backs)
in the first place, and should be perfectly safe. You will have
problems with paper jams, though, unless you keep your "waste" paper
very carefully and are fanatical about lining it up when you put it
back in.

I do a lot of this and don't have problems with paper jams.

 

[John Beardmore]

On the face of it, this is no different than printing documents
double-sided (by turning the even pages over and printing the backs)
in the first place, and should be perfectly safe. You will have
problems with paper jams, though, unless you keep your "waste" paper
very carefully and are fanatical about lining it up when you put it
back in.

Even with mangled paper this works fine on the HP Laserjet 4M machines
as long as you set duplex to 'none'.

Obviously beware of inks and paper finishes that melt in the fuser.
Apply common sense.


J/.

 

[Alan]

Hi there

I'm wondering, if I want to conserve paper and use old paper that is
print on one side, but print on the back, is it safe for the laser printer?

The old paper can already have laser printed text on it. Alternatively
it may have injet ink on it.

I don't see a problem, of how it would wreck the drum, rollers, or other
internal mechanices.

anyone know?

It's safe enough. Consider that duplex printers just feed the same
page back to print on the other side.
However, the paper after printing will have curled a bit, and more
likely to jam, which is why I don't do it routinely. Times when I've
wanted to duplex (by printing even pages, then restacking and printing
odd) I have to watch it carefully in case it misfeeds, or grabs two
pages, putting them out of sequence. But no damage to the printer.
I've done this with with HP LJ II, III, 4, 4L.

Couldn't vouch for inkjet-printed.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

It depends.

I do it all the time, and have few if any problems. Firstly, do make
sure the paper has no staples, paper clips, glue or other things
connected to it, as they can damage internal parts of the laser printer.

However, the other potential problem has to do with the melting
temperature of the toner on the laser printed or photocopied materials.

If the toner on the older printing is such that it melts at a lower
temperature than the toner used in your printer, there might be some
transfer of the old toner to internal parts during the final fusing
process. This could contaminate the fuser roller. If the laser output
if from the same printer you use now, that is unlikely to make an issue.

I would test the one sided printed paper and make sure the print doesn't
seem to be getting remelted and removed. In most cases, it is fine to
do. If the paper appears to be sticking (you can usually hear it as it
passes through the fuser section, or it will literally get stuck in
there) I wouldn't do it. Otherwise, it's probably fine. The inkjet
output is likely just fine.

Art

 

[Joe Hayes]

A ream of copier paper is only a few dollars at most. Stop being so cheap.

 

[jbuch]

Hi there

I'm wondering, if I want to conserve paper and use old paper that is
print on one side, but print on the back, is it safe for the laser printer?

The old paper can already have laser printed text on it. Alternatively
it may have injet ink on it.

I don't see a problem, of how it would wreck the drum, rollers, or other
internal mechanices.

anyone know?

I've seen workplaces where this is common.

If you don't know about it, you can think something was botched about
your print job, especially if you are used to seeing just the black page
backs come out of the printer into the tray.

I don't like to do it because it makes it easier to mess up reading a
bunch of documents..... when you turn one over after reading, there is
still more to read.....but it has nothing to do with your task..... and
you can't rely on seeing the printed side to tell you that the stack of
paper is "face up".

Jim

 

[Joel Kolstad]

A ream of copier paper is only a few dollars at most. Stop being so cheap.

Yeah, cut down twice as many trees! Support the timber industry! Yah!

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Paper is made from trees. Trees help to contain CO2, provide shade,
shelter, and a whole ecosystem within and below them. Cut down trees can
lead to damage to streams, pollution, and erosion.

If a person can save half the paper and some money, and the harm to the
printer is minimal or nonexistent, then why not do so?

Just because one can afford to waste something doesn't provide the moral
"right" to do so.

Art

 

[E. Barry Bruyea]

It's safe enough. Consider that duplex printers just feed the same
page back to print on the other side.
However, the paper after printing will have curled a bit, and more
likely to jam, which is why I don't do it routinely. Times when I've
wanted to duplex (by printing even pages, then restacking and printing
odd) I have to watch it carefully in case it misfeeds, or grabs two
pages, putting them out of sequence. But no damage to the printer.
I've done this with with HP LJ II, III, 4, 4L.

Couldn't vouch for inkjet-printed.

I had a large quantity of paper printed on one side when I first got
my HPIII (about 100 years ago). I used it for several years; the
trick is, keep a pile of about 200 sheets somewhere with a hefty
weight on it. This way, when you use it there is no curling. I don't
remember ever having a paper jam using this paper.

As to Ink Jet (HP5550), I've been doing a lot of double sided printing
recently, so I use the same method, putting a weight on what you are
going to print double sided. Usually, about an hour does the trick.

 

[Jay]

I'm wondering, if I want to conserve paper and use old paper that is

print on one side, but print on the back, is it safe for the laser
printer?

The old paper can already have laser printed text on it. Alternatively
it may have injet ink on it.

It has worked ok for me with previously-laser-printed text, I think. My
only reservation is that recently -- after 9 years of use -- my trusty ol'
HP LJ-5L started having output that's too light and muddy looking. I don't
really know if two-sided printing caused of this problem, though.

With previously-injet-printed text, I did have problems with the HP LJ-5L.
The injet ink got in the innards of the LJ, and got smeared over the next
few printed pages.