Hewlett Packard Laserjet 4+

[Muse]

Free! I was just riding down the street on my bike and recognized it, a curbside special sitting on top of an old console TV! I've had an HP Laserjet 4 since February 1994. I bought mine barely used. It had a few prints on it, that's all, and it came with 6MB RAM (stock was 2MB). So all I had to do was buy the PostScript module and I basically had an HP4M. A few years ago I bought a used Jetdirect card for it and set it up as a network printer, connected by ethernet to my wireless router.

The HP4M, however, is not Energy Star. The Laserjet 4+ probably has some other enhancements. Otherwise, it looks exactly like my HP Laserjet 4M.

I'm wondering:

1. Is there some way I can hook this thing up to a laptop? The laptop I'm typing on right now doesn't have a parallel port, just ethernet and USB. Well, it has HDMI, but I don't figure that's a help.

2. How do I go about checking this thing out?

How'd I get it home on my bike? I have a big basket over the rear tire.

It looks decent, a little dirty, not like mine, which looks all but brand new (I've only gone through around 6 toner cartridges). I had a look at the toner cartridge and removed it (and replaced it) before I took it home. There's spilled toner in the cavity. I can clean it up, of course, inside and out.

 

[Muse]

This printer has several enhancements to my HP4M (from Wikipedia):

4+/4M+

The LaserJet 4 Plus (4+), released in 1994, was the LaserJet 4 with the improved Canon EX+ engine which increased printing speed to 12 PPM.[3] This also provided the option for duplex printing (automatic double-sided printing) with the purchase of an accessory (HP part number C3157A). The original 20MHz processor was also upgraded to 25MHz, with the addition of Hewlett Packard's Memory Enhancement Technology.[4] The printing mechanism was also improved to allow increased tones of grayscale [5].

These models also feature a 20-30W power saving (stand-by) mode, which was not included in the original Laserjet 4.
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I'm thinking that if this thing works OK, it will probably accommodate the 4MB extra memory from my HP4M as well as the Jetdirect card and the Postscript module. I could make it my network printer. Maybe I could even use the HP4 (assuming I move the PS module to the Plus model) with my laptop downstairs, assuming there's a way to hook it up to the laptop. :\ Also, I could look for a used cheap duplexing module (above it mentions that the Plus has this optional accessory). :awe: I've spent a lot of time _duplexing_ with my HP4M by feeding once-printed sheets into the manual feeder, often a very tedious process!

 

[PottedMeat]

How'd I get it home on my bike? I have a big basket over the rear tire.

jesus. that thing weighs about ~40 lbs right? plus it's got a pretty big footprint.

but yeah, you should be able to check it out with a jet direct card. i use a 400N card with my lj4 and it gives you all the stat data on a little java web page.

if someone threw it out it may be spitting out accordion pages or some other easily fixable problem.

 

[Muse]

jesus. that thing weighs about ~40 lbs right? plus it's got a pretty big footprint.

but yeah, you should be able to check it out with a jet direct card. i use a 400N card with my lj4 and it gives you all the stat data on a little java web page.

if someone threw it out it may be spitting out accordion pages or some other easily fixable problem.

Yeah, it's a heavy mofo. I was going home pretty slow on my bike. Didn't want to jostle it too much, the pavement's pretty bad around here plus they have speed bumps here and there. Footprint, yeah it's pretty big, I guess, but I'm used to it. If I can get it to work with my laptop (see OP), I'll stash it or my other one (the HP4M) under my kitchen table. My particular Jetdirect card is a J2550. It cost me a buck, $10 including shipping off ebay. Don't know what kind of stats that'll give me. I can get the print total off one of the test reports, assuming it will print.

 

[dbcooper1]

I've been running one of these with jetdirect and duplexer since it was new; keep waiting for it to break so I can justify replacing it with something smaller/quieter/more energy efficient. I keep finding cheap toner carts on CL and refilling and it just won't die. Hope you like the thing because you probably now have home printing capacity for 3-4 lifetimes!

 

[Muse]

I've been running one of these with jetdirect and duplexer since it was new; keep waiting for it to break so I can justify replacing it with something smaller/quieter/more energy efficient. I keep finding cheap toner carts on CL and refilling and it just won't die. Hope you like the thing because you probably now have home printing capacity for 3-4 lifetimes!

The HP4M described in the OP that I've had since Feb. 1994 is the only printer I have ever owned. I've encountered a variety of other printers both on the job and in people's homes. I've never felt envious. The one feature I do covet is duplexing (oh, and color would be nice, but I figure expensive). With this LJ4+, it looks like I can actually get duplexing if I find a duplexing accessory and the printer works (I have not plugged it in yet). This has me happy! The 12ppm instead of 8ppm that I have now is a bonus, plus the Energy Star feature.

Again, I don't know that it would support the Jetdirect card and PS module that's in my HP4M, but my guess is yes on both counts.

The noise and space eating and even energy eating qualities of these printers don't bother me too much. I know some people who live in such tiny quarters that they'd never consider these printers, but my house is pretty decent size, I've never had a smaller printer, and the noise I'm quite used to. Plus, I always turn the printer off when I'm done with my occasional print jobs, so the energy usage is basically a non-issue.

I do love the reliability and longevity of these printers. I was pretty much a newbie to the home computer scene when I bought my HP4M (I'd taken a few computer classes at a night school type institution, and had just bought my first computer, used), but from what I'd heard and seen my intuition told me that the HP4 was apt to be both a workhorse and would probably be well supported for a long time to come. More so than any other printer I was apt to find. Plus, the output was (and still is) stunning! Not color, but for B&W, WoW! Sharp as a tack. The 4L's output at 300dpi, was relatively crappy (and it was $600! That's a lot cheaper than the Laserjet 4, which cost me around $1300, plus I paid something like $300 for the postscript module, however I was hoping to get into home based desktop publishing, and the output of the LJ4 looked downright professional). I paid a lot of money, but I've always been happy with the result, plus I've never had to have it serviced! I've always been able to fix any problem using the error codes and the monster manual.

Edit: BTW, my last toner cartridge was bought and installed in January, new off Amazon (I've never attempted to refill a toner cartridge. I'm all but certain, though, that this cartridge was "remanufactured"):

XEROX 6R903 Toner cartridge for hp laserjet 4, 4m, 4 plus, m plus, 5, 5m, 5n, black
Sold by: The Price Pros (seller profile)

~$35, ~$43 shipped.

 

[dbcooper1]

I'm wondering:

1. Is there some way I can hook this thing up to a laptop? The laptop I'm typing on right now doesn't have a parallel port, just ethernet and USB. Well, it has HDMI, but I don't figure that's a help.

2. How do I go about checking this thing out?

You should be able to print a status page from the front panel to see if the engine is working. If it recognized your Jetdirect card, just give it a static IP and connect to your netork or laptop or you could get one of those USB to parallel converters I guess. If hit has a serial port, that's another possibility.

 

[MagickMan]

I love old HPs, I have a 5Si that I bought 5 years ago for $50 (the fuser was bad when I bought it so I had to install a new one). It had everything, all the optional trays, and an extra 64MB of RAM. It's just a beast, I almost crippled myself getting it into my house. Never given me any problems and I think it's still pretty damned fast.

 

[Muse]

I'm wondering:

1. Is there some way I can hook this thing up to a laptop? The laptop I'm typing on right now doesn't have a parallel port, just ethernet and USB. Well, it has HDMI, but I don't figure that's a help.

2. How do I go about checking this thing out?

You should be able to print a status page from the front panel to see if the engine is working. If it recognized your Jetdirect card, just give it a static IP and connect to your network or laptop or you could get one of those USB to parallel converters I guess. If hit has a serial port, that's another possibility.

Thanks. That's just the idea I was looking for. So, I can get a 2nd jetdirect card, install it in this 4+, and connect it with the laptop by ethernet (I presume). Then I can print directly to it with that laptop and I won't have to go upstairs and turn my printer on and off every time I print from that laptop! :awe: And with a duplexer, I'll be stoked. No more printing odd pages only and then feeding each even page into the manual feeder one by one when I print those big manuals!

 

[ultimatebob]

While my first choice would be a JetDirect card, I'd imagine that the printer would work with parallel to USB converter cable as well.

 

[Muse]

While my first choice would be a JetDirect card, I'd imagine that the printer would work with parallel to USB converter cable as well.

Probably cheaper too, is my thought.

Here's something peculiar:

On the top in front there's a sticker displaying the serial number. It looks very professional, glossy, perfect, IMO evidence it was in an institutional setting. However, that serial number does not match the one on the back of the machine!

S/N JPGK069778 <-- On top
Serial No. JPGL058700 <-- On the back (in two places, one being a UPC sticker)
Oct. 1994 NC1

What can this signify?

 

[Muse]

So, I clean the thing up (not thoroughly, but to a very considerable extent), put the empty tray back in, plug it in and turn it on and stand back. The familiar sounds and sights ensue as the machine warms up and after around 60 seconds I saw what I was hoping to see, flashing:

PC Load Letter

Edit:

I put a few sheets of paper in the tray, shove it in and turn it back on and after a few seconds:

Ready

:awe:

 

[Muse]

So, I lug this behemoth upstairs and hook it up by // cable to my 2nd PC box, add the printer and print a test page and it's practically perfect. Closer inspection shows a few tiny dots at the extreme left edge of the page. Other than that, perfection! Looks like I scored.

Edit: I printed a test page with my HP4M and the ultra-fine line test pattern is much cleaner with the Laser Jet 4+. As noted at Wikipedia: "The original 20MHz processor was also upgraded to 25MHz, with the addition of Hewlett Packard's Memory Enhancement Technology. The printing mechanism was also improved to allow increased tones of grayscale."

I do believe I'm going to make it my go-to printer. Will switch 4 MB RAM and the post script module to it, get it a jetdirect card.

The Self Test indicates that the page count is extremely low, almost as low as my HP4M:

HP4M: 18360
HPLJ4+: 20062

 

[Paperdoc]

We're using a LaserJet 4 at home, with an adapter that plugs into the Centronics Parallel port on the back (and its power "wall wort") to make it a wired Ethernet input with RJ45 connection. Could also do it with a wireless network adaption. See here for sample units.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...NG&amp;PageSize=20

 

[Muse]

We're using a LaserJet 4 at home, with an adapter that plugs into the Centronics Parallel port on the back (and its power "wall wort") to make it a wired Ethernet input with RJ45 connection. Could also do it with a wireless network adaption. See here for sample units.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...NG&amp;PageSize=20

For some reason I can't hit your link. I think it may have something to do with my system that I sometimes can't hit links in these forums. What I get is:
- - - -
Failed to Connect

Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at www.tkqlhce.com.

Though the site seems valid, the browser was unable to establish a connection.

* Could the site be temporarily unavailable? Try again later.
* Are you unable to browse other sites? Check the computer's network connection.
* Is your computer or network protected by a firewall or proxy? Incorrect settings can interfere with Web browsing.
- - - -
Mostly the URL looks like this, with http:// in front of it:

detonator.dynamitedata.com/cgi-bin/redirect.pl?user=u00000687&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newegg.com%2FProduct%2FProductList.aspx%3FSubmit%3DENE%26Description%3Dparallel%26%2337%3B20print%2520server%26bop%3DAnd%26Order%3DRATING%26PageSize%3D20"]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...NG&amp;PageSize=20

I don't know what that has to do with tkqlhce.com !!
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The jetdirect card I have in my HP4M (cost me $10 shipped off ebay) provides an RJ45 ethernet connection to my wireless router. Right now (I may get other ideas), I'm thinking to make my HP4M a local printer with my downstairs laptop and make the LJ4+ my network printer, available from all computers because of its extra speed.

I don't know about the duplexer accessory. I looked it up this morning and it looks like it's probably bulky and at first blush it looks expensive. I was hoping it would be compact and cheap!

 

[Muse]

We're using a LaserJet 4 at home, with an adapter that plugs into the Centronics Parallel port on the back (and its power "wall wort") to make it a wired Ethernet input with RJ45 connection. Could also do it with a wireless network adaption. See here for sample units.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...NG&amp;PageSize=20

Could you give me a search argument for Newegg for this? I can't hit your link. Maybe it has to do with my AdBlockPlus Firefox add on.

 

[Paperdoc]

On the newegg.com site in the search box at upper left I typed parallel and the pop-up menu had "parallel print server" as its last item. I used that.

 

[Modelworks]

I have a LaserJet 4P and 6P . They were made around 1997 so that makes them about 13 years old. They both still print fine. I did a diagnostic on one and it showed the print engine had print around 33 pages. The counter is 6 digits and had rolled over , so it is 1,000,033 pages printed and still working.

Shame they don't build them that way now.

 

[Muse]

I have a LaserJet 4P and 6P . They were made around 1997 so that makes them about 13 years old. They both still print fine. I did a diagnostic on one and it showed the print engine had print around 33 pages. The counter is 6 digits and had rolled over , so it is 1,000,033 pages printed and still working.

Shame they don't build them that way now.

:thumbsup:

Yeah, Wikipedia said they sometimes go over a million output:

...it is not uncommon to find units still functioning well after a million or more page impressions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_LaserJet_4

I really cleaned this thing up. It was a mess yesterday, today it looks new!

I determined that the slight imperfections in the prints are due to its cartridge. I swapped it out with the newish one I had in my HP4M, and the prints are perfect!

Shame they don't build them that way now.

That's a big reason why I don't indulge my curiosity every time I see a printer with more features than my HP4M, which has served me fine for almost 20 years, always been able to resolve difficulties myself with help from the manual. I figure a newer printer with all kinds of features will be more trouble, and trouble I don't need.

 

[Viper GTS]

I'm running a 4+ on my network as well, really spectacular printers. I picked mine up on Craigslist for $40 with double your page count (~40K). Still nothing compared to what they're capable of.

I wouldn't plan on the fuser lasting all that long, age tends to be hard on them even if the page count is low. I happen to have a spare for mine so whenever mine goes I'm set. Right now mine smells like burning oil every time I print so I'm pretty sure failure is imminent.

If you haven't found it already there is a defect ruler available that will help you easily identify the source of page imperfections by measuring the repetition distance. It's very handy to have, let me see if I can find a link...

Here I have the 4/5 service manual, might as well give you the whole thing:

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=...DAtODBkMy00NGNjLTgwMjMtMzUxMWQ5ZDU4NTE0&hl=en

Viper GTS

 

[dbcooper1]

If you find an inexpensive Jetdirect card for it, you can connect directly to it but you'll need a crossover cable if you don't go through a switch or hub. I use mine for most of my printing and installed a port to print to it wirelessly from anywhere around the house. It's almost impossible to use these as heavily as intended in a home or even home office environment. I've found unopened toner cartridges on CL for $10 and I fear this thing might run forever. Good luck with yours; sounds like you did really well.

 

[Muse]

I'm running a 4+ on my network as well, really spectacular printers. I picked mine up on Craigslist for $40 with double your page count (~40K). Still nothing compared to what they're capable of.

I wouldn't plan on the fuser lasting all that long, age tends to be hard on them even if the page count is low. I happen to have a spare for mine so whenever mine goes I'm set. Right now mine smells like burning oil every time I print so I'm pretty sure failure is imminent.

If you haven't found it already there is a defect ruler available that will help you easily identify the source of page imperfections by measuring the repetition distance. It's very handy to have, let me see if I can find a link...

Here I have the 4/5 service manual, might as well give you the whole thing:

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=...DAtODBkMy00NGNjLTgwMjMtMzUxMWQ5ZDU4NTE0&hl=en

Viper GTS

Ah, I smelled a funny smell, and now that you mention it I think it was like oil burning! I smelled that outside in my yard, where I first fired it up, but I didn't print out there, I just cleaned it up with it sitting on my patio table where I could have a good look at it. However, since cleaning it up and bringing it in the house and printing a number of pages I don't remember the smell. I imagined it was coming from the little grate at the top right edge, just behind the display. I vacuumed everywhere as well as I could with an 8 gallon wet-dry. Brushed, used two solvents (rubbing alcohol and naphtha) to clean it with paper towels.

What is a "defect ruler?" Never heard of that.

Thanks for the link to that manual! I downloaded it and I can use it for both printers. Is the user manual available online for the 4+? A PDF of that might be even more handy than a hard copy, in that it would be searchable. I suppose that for error codes (which is what I need the manual for more than anything else), it's probably similar to the Laserjet 4 in most cases, and I have the manual for that.

 

[Muse]

If you find an inexpensive Jetdirect card for it, you can connect directly to it but you'll need a crossover cable if you don't go through a switch or hub. I use mine for most of my printing and installed a port to print to it wirelessly from anywhere around the house. It's almost impossible to use these as heavily as intended in a home or even home office environment. I've found unopened toner cartridges on CL for $10 and I fear this thing might run forever. Good luck with yours; sounds like you did really well.

Those cartridges have a shelf life. I found out the hard way. I found a couple of new ones at a good price a few years ago and bought them and kept the 2nd on the shelf. Unopened they have a much longer shelf life, but it's still limited. Anyway, even if they stop manufacturing cartridges for these, there seem to be good remanufactured cartridges available. The Xerox I bought off Amazon is working perfectly.

Why would I need a crossover cable? Or a switch or hub? I've never dealt with any of these. I figured that I could run an ethernet cable from the Jetdirect card to the RJ45 connector on my laptop. That wouldn't work? I figured I could configure the laptop to see it if I gave it a static IP like I've done with my other printer. That one has an ethernet cable going to my wireless router and the printer works with any computer in the house (wirelessly from the laptops, by ethernet cable from the boxes, all through the router).

I'm actually going to swap the 4+ with my 4M because it's faster and I have an indication that it will do a better job in terms of resolution and clarity. Haven't done anything other than Test Menu prints, so far. I'm just hoping I can set up my 4M to print from my downstairs laptop so I don't have to run up and down stairs and etcetera every time I want to print from the laptop.

 

[RebateMonger]

The only problem with LaserJet 4+ printers are they were made during the eight years that HP couldn't design a reliable paper feed. I personally owned six HP printers and fax machines from that era that started double- (and more-) feeding, and had several others at work with the same illness, requiring third-party repair kits to make them feed paper properly.

Earlier printers like the Laser Jet 2 would go on for hundreds of thousands of prints with no paper feed issues.

Because of the HP paper feed problems from 1992 to 2000, I've never bought nor recommended another HP printer.

 

[Viper GTS]

The 'defect ruler' as I called it is in the service manual. All the parts in the image path have different diameters, so you can identify the source of a problem by the distance between repetitive defects on the page. For example, 2.5 inches might be one of the fuser rollers (obviously read the manual for the real values).

The jetdirect cards in these are very old, they almost certainly won't do auto mdi. You will likely need a crossover to connect to your laptop. Best solution of course is hook it into a wired port on your wireless router.

I would actually disagree on the 4+ having feed issues. I used to do support for hp lasers, the later stuff definitely can be problematic (say the 4000/4050/4100 era) but the 4/4+/5 were always very solid.

Viper GTS