Laser printer breakdown - Page 2

me too, olddude. Thanks tackle and harris.

Just began to breakdown a large printer. Didn't get far, but I did take off a side panel to get a peek. And WOW! This sucker has at least 7 motors, a handfull of green boards, and a hefty power supply board, thick cord and looks like a lot of steel. I will take some pics and try to post them(never posted a pic). I think it will be worth the breakdown.

Just as a reference, I broke down roughly 5000lbs of printers I bought on GovLiq. not counting selling a couple still working, they averaged .10/lb , they took a lot of labor. I would not actively pursue acquiring printers unless I could not find other materials

Although, my load was mostly midrange HP lasers. I had a few big weird old ones and like others have said, they had a lot more good stuff on average.

I don't know if this is common knowledge or not but i will mention it anyway.

If you get toner powder onto your skin or clothing, wash it off with COLD water.
If you use hot water, the powder will fuse to your skin and leave you "tattooed" for a week!
Been there, done that.

Best idea is to wear latex rubber gloves when handling laser printers.

Regards
Ballymoss

reason being the toner is heat activated

lmao...mech688...you made my day...attitude isn't coming on line as much as she used to...I miss her. Maybe she's lurking and just afraid we'll make fun of her hilarious posts !! Come baaaack newattitude !!! We miss you.

Yep, that was me! Black tonered hands for about 2 weeks before it finally wore off my skin. Ruined a pair of jeans too. and that was just from a small household printer. Oiy.

Now, i loved taking the 4 large printers apart I talked about on here, I didn't know where the toner was in those so i circled carefully before diving in that time!!

how long did it take you to break it down to this level

Originally Posted by directrecycle

how long did it take you to break it down to this level

I don't remember exactly as it was a little while ago now but I wasn't very fast. However it was the first thing I ever took apart for scrap, I took out every screw to separate the steel from the plastic neatly and was very careful about it all as I did it in my living room. If you just went to town on it taking out minimal screws and using a hammer to gain access to the goodies I would think it could be done rather quickly.

Wow! This was a PITA! Lots of plastic & lots of powder ink! But I did get 15 motors, about 50lbs of steel, 2lbs of aluminum, a few med. & high grade boards, 2 low grade boards with good chunks of copper. Also lots of steel & aluminum rods. If you got the time and space I think it is worth it though.