laserwriter II paper out

[Gil]

My LaserWriter IIg was working flawlessly up until yesterday, when both the Power and Paper Out lights are lit when I turn it on. There is paper in the tray, and I've reseated the tray and reloaded the paper several times. So because the paper out light is on, the printer doesn't boot up all the way.

Any ideas?

 

[Dog Cow]

I've got a Personal LaserWriter NTR which has a similar problem. I have the Apple service manuals for the LaserWriter family. I looked them up, and mostly, the cause is board failure and the fix is to replace it. xx(

If no one else replies with the problem/solution, I can look up the IIg and see what it says.

 

[Gil]

I checked the I/O board, and the capacitors (3 of the can-type ones) are leaking. There are 2 large capacitors, but I haven't checked. The engine of my LaserWriter is dated January 1989, so it doesn't surprise me. I don't think the IIg board came very far after. Luckily my dad is interested in replacing them (he has soldering skills, I don't).

So LaserWriter owners - check your boards...problems may be related to leaking caps.

 

[Osgeld]

you should try and get some more solder time in, altho granted with your dad offering and rare pcb's at stake maybe not this one, but it is a really handy and honestly easy skill to have

 

[shred]

The LaserWriter IIg I/O board is notorious for getting bad capacitors, so you are not alone. The IIg did not exist in 1989 - I think it came out in 1993 or 1994. As such, your printer is most likely a IInt or similar vintage that has been upgraded to a IIg (it's just a straight I/O board swap).

Are both lights on all the time, or do they start blinking a little while after startup? Both blinking = fuser heater failure (but more often with really old printers, it's a false alarm generated by dried out electrolytic capacitors on the AC power supply board).

To see if the problem is the I/O board, or something else in the printer, try this: Remove the little plastic flap at the bottom of the back panel on the printer (i.e. the side opposite the status LEDs). Behind the flap, there should be a hole in the metal plate and small black push button behind the hole. Turn the printer on, wait a while for the fuser to get up to temperature and push the button. The printer mechanism should generate a primitive test page - it just has vertical stripes. If this works, then the basic printer is ok and the problem is more likely to be the I/O board, rather than the electronics or mechanical bits in the printer itself.

 

[Gil]

Yes, I've done the service test page and have already isolated the problem to the I/O board.

 

[Mike Richardson]

Tons of LaserWriters are going to be seeing leaking caps by now.

Does anyone have a list of what post-SMT Apple logic boards do not use electrolytic capacitors? I seem to remember the G4 motherboard only using tantalums. Unfortunately, at least some G5 motherboards use electrolytic SMTs. This may give old G4s unusually long life compared to other machines (and most of these will be pre-MDD due to the MDD's power supply problems).

 

[trag]

Tons of LaserWriters are going to be seeing leaking caps by now.
Does anyone have a list of what post-SMT Apple logic boards do not use electrolytic capacitors? I seem to remember the G4 motherboard only using tantalums. Unfortunately, at least some G5 motherboards use electrolytic SMTs. This may give old G4s unusually long life compared to other machines (and most of these will be pre-MDD due to the MDD's power supply problems).

The Mac IIfx seems to be all tantalum. At least the three or four logic boards I've seen have been.

 

[H3NRY]

Does anyone have a list of what post-SMT Apple logic boards do not use electrolytic capacitors?

In the case of Mac Portables, the original non-backlit model has a bunch of electrolytics, and they are failing nowadays. The backlit model is all or almost all tantalums. Unfortunately, the custom voltage regulator IC in the backlits is prone to failure, so most of them are dying as well. I've never seen a list of boards sorted by capacitor type. There are well-known problem children, however, like the iMac G5 power supply and PC board, the Duo Dock power supply, the Cube power supply, and the classic Mac analog board. Oddly, the oldest Apples, the Apple I and II, are still mostly OK.

My LaserWriter IIg has leaky caps too, tho it's still running, and one day I need to re-cap it. It also had an AC board failure a couple of years ago which resulted in the flashing LEDs.

 

[Gil]

I also just remembered that one of the fans, either the top or bottom, does not run. Any ideas what would cause that?

 

[H3NRY]

Fan problems are usually just mechanical - bearings out of oil or gummed up. Take it apart and oil it. A drop of synthetic motor oil for a car seems to work well. Petroleum oil will eventually evaporate & gum up. WD40 is a good cleaner, but will evaporate in a few weeks. Don't forget to clean the filter block next to the upper fan.

 

[shred]

It'll be the upper fan that's not running. It's almost always the upper fan. As H3nry said, lubricating the fan bearing will usually restore it to working order - for a while. There used to be a third party kit to replace the fan with a traditional axial flow unit - much more reliable, quieter, less expensive and better all round.

That "filter block" is actually an ozone filter. If it's so old that it needs cleaning, then it should be thrown out and replaced. I don't recall the recommended interval for replacing it, but it was something like every 50,000 pages or every 100,000 pages. Ozone will give you headaches if the printer is being used in a poorly ventilated area.

 

[Gil]

Thanks for the info. I cleaned out the Ozone filter in mine, less than a week after I got it. The I/O board has about 35k pages on it, but I was told that there was a previous board used in it (NTX I believe), so I have no idea how many pages are on the engines itself. Any ideas if you can still find unused Ozone filters anywhere? I think I'll replace the upper fan soon - any ideas what the specs are?

 

[H3NRY]

Printerworks has parts including fans & ozone filters for Canon SX based printers like the LaserWriter II series.

http://www.printerworks.com/Top-LaserJet-Parts-PrinterWorks/LJ-SX-Printer-Parts.html

 

[Gil]

My LaserWriter II is back in business! :b&w:

 

[pilgrim]

Got the same, or almost the same problem. In my case after I reseat 4 chips (what are they?) in different order, I was getting all 4 solid lights. Except, best I got to now, when reseated them in original order, I am getting solid green, solid paper out, and flashing paper jam. Got a feeling, it might be one of those chips. Wonder if they are to be get somewhere. Also IIg board has a slot for testing the board. anyone knows what tester is needed? I had to put in IINT board, which wouldn't be that huge problem, if I didn't have to get each time I need to print out of OS X to 9.2.2, because OS X will not even see IINT. Just need that ethernet port. BTW, anyone knows where can be seen schematic of the IIg board? It's not in a manual. Pilgrim

 

[Gil]

There are 2 banks of RAM slots on the IIg, Bank 0 and Bank 1. If you have varying amounts of RAM, the largest amount of RAM must be in Bank 0. Also, the service manual contains a list of the different LED error codes - it sounds like you have a bad RAM chip.

 

[pilgrim]

Sorry, I just did not put the problem down right way. As for the RAM. I might even give it a try, and change it, have enough 30 pin sticks. However I have a board max out (32MB), all same size, and did not have any problem before, but who knows. The chips I mentioned are right next to the test slot. They got a 32 pins each, there is 4 of them, and I just found, that next to each slot are markings: UU, UM, LL, LM. And just found out, that each chip has, among other markings, same UU, UM, LL, and LM on them. When I mixed them up, that was a reason, I am now quiet sure, why I was getting All LIGHTS ON SOLID. As I mentioned, when in proper order, I get solid green, toner light is out, solid paper out, and paper jam flashing. These are the chips I do not know what they are. Go to switch those ram sticks. It cannot hurt. And will see. Thanks for reply. Pilgrim.

 

[Gil]

The chips marked UU, UM, LL, and LM are ROM chips, and are NOT meant to be removed! Putting them in incorrect order could damage the board, the chips, or both.