hp laserjet 4000 printing delays

[silent77]

I have a networked HP Laserjet 4000 that stops accepting print jobs
after 15-25 minutes. It prints fine for about 15-25 minutes and then
any jobs sent to the print queue will sit and then error out. If I
cycle the power, it starts to print again. I've replaced the
jetdirect, the hub it's connected to, the network patch cable, changed
drivers on the server, rebooted the server (win2k3) it is connected to
and the problem persists. My guess is I'll have to replace the
printer. Is there anything else I can try?

 

[Tony]

I have a networked HP Laserjet 4000 that stops accepting print jobs
after 15-25 minutes. It prints fine for about 15-25 minutes and then
any jobs sent to the print queue will sit and then error out. If I
cycle the power, it starts to print again. I've replaced the
jetdirect, the hub it's connected to, the network patch cable, changed
drivers on the server, rebooted the server (win2k3) it is connected to
and the problem persists. My guess is I'll have to replace the
printer. Is there anything else I can try?

The fact that a power recycle fixes the problem definitely points to the
printer, possibly the formatter.
One way to check this is to wait until you get the fault, do not cycle the
power, and do an engine test. There is a small hole on the left side of the
printer just under the fan vent, press the button inside that hole with a
non-metallic object. You should get a page full of vertical lines printed. If
the engine test does not work then you probably have a power supply or main
logic board failure. If it does work, does the internal test page print from
the printer control panel when the failure condition is present? If the engine
test works and the internal test does not work you have a formatter failure.
If you can find a cheap 4000 on E-bay or similar that has a large page count
(so the fuser is probably near to end of life) you can swap the formatter from
that printer to yours.
It is easy to do once you have the covers off. The other thing to try is remove
the covers and reseat the connectors, there are quite a few of them including
the formatter connectors.
Tony

 

[Bennett Price]

What happens to print jobs sent to its parallel port? Answer to that
will help narrow down the problem, let you rule in/out network issues.