Worth trying to resurrect a Laserwriter 630?

[PeterB]

I have a Laserwriter 630 Pro that looks to be a department toss. So far, all I've been able to do is to get it to print a startup page, but...

1) The test print page is barely legible; seems to have a ton of haziness to it. Possibly fixable with replacement toner cartridge (which I haven't tried yet) ... but can't make out on the test page what the page count of this printer is.

2) It continuously jams, which I'm presuming is due to the exit rollers being worn out (looking at fixyourownprinter.com -- would require a $40 kit to replace).

What do you guys think... is this worth fixing?

[Paul F.]

I wouldn't bother...
If it was me, that is.

Too many bad memories of the Laserwriter 360 (different model).

However, I did get good at stripping it down to it's chassis to clean the optics (a common problem when you build a cooling fan to blow outside air directly across the optics in the laser assembly..).

How bad do you need a printer of it's capabilities?

[mattkime]

Its up to you. might just need a new toner cart & exit rollers.

depends upon how you feel about tech. a lot of people here will vote for getting a new printer when the toner cart is empty. my 630 will still be in great condition when they're on their third.

[Janit]

If you still have a machine running OS 9 or classic, you ought to be able to use the old Apple Printer Utility to read the page count from the printer memory.

[kj4btkljv]

I don't know if I would bother, since, if I remember correctly, the 6XX series of LaserWriters didn't have any power saving features. Meaning, they run, full throttle, the entire time they're switched on.

Jeff

[cbelt3]

If you decide to give up on it, LemSwap may find you a recipient. If you lived within 50 miles of NE Ohio, I'd take it off your hands. I'm looking for a donor so I can fix my 630 (mine doesn't jam, and has a FULL toner cart)

[cbelt3]

Oh, and BTW-

Open it up and vacuum it out, gingerly.
If you want to be brave, you can use an optical quality lint free cloth to gently 'clean' the drum (best done on drums that have already been 'written off')

You can remove the paper rollers and apply a skin coat of rubber cement.. again, best if you've already written off the beast.

[mattkime]

i'd clean the laser case (mirror??) that made a huge difference on mine.

[PeterB]

Thanks everyone.

I'll try changing the toner cart first, that's the most obvious, simplest thing to try...

If it's the exit rollers that are the problem, $40 doesn't seem too bad... but I don't really *need* another printer. I've already got a spare LJ4000N at home -- I was able to fix the problems I was having with that one.

[S.Taylor]

IIRC, Apple had a postscript file you could upload to the 630 to give it power saving features (or at least have it sleep after a certain amount of time). These settings were lost each time you cycled the power though. Seems like there were separate files to upload depending on the time before sleep you wanted.