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I've got an HP Laserjet 2430tn that supports a staff of approximately 15 people. It has over 207,000+ pages printed in its lifespan so far. It needs new rollers, as the paper jams more and more.

A "maintenance kit" for this printer looms around $200, to replace the rollers and the fuser. Is it worth it to get the whole kit with the fuser or simply replace the rollers for $30?

There are no problems with the printing when it doesn't jam, but I've never done a maintenance kit and I'm not sure if it's needed for almost half the cost of the printer itself.

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We have many HP printers that run at or near their monthly maximum duty and we keep an very close eye on our printing costs. Rollers will need to be replaced about at the maintenance interval (especially if you are seeing jams), and although you end up buying the whole kit, it is usually just the pick up rollers on the large tray needs replacing.

For the fuser, we easily get 30% more than the expected life out of a fuser. If you are not seeing print quality issues, I would hold off for another 50k to 75k pages before replacing the fuser.

Finally, I see someone recommended Printer Works for parts. I must add that we have had issues with that company refunding the core charge on fusers. I personally won't work with them anymore.

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  • Thanks for the info about Printer Works, that is good to know. We've used them occasionally (less than you it sounds like) and never had a problem, but I'll keep an eye on them in the future.
    – Aaron
    Commented Jun 4, 2009 at 9:56
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With 200k printed pages you want to get a maintenance kit when/if the printer is calling for it. The fuser might not seem to be going bad, but it will, and it is worth replacing now.

In the past I've purchased refurbished maintenance kits from The Printer Works. On newer printers I use genuine HP parts, but on older models that I don't want to spend as much on, I'll purchase refurbished parts. I've never had a problem with either.

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The real cost here is not $200 for the maintenance kit, but it's your time (what does that cost the company per hour?) dealing with jams and the lost productivity when staff cannot print. Next to staff costs, the risk that you are buying fuser a few months earlier than you need is minuscule.

So buy the maintenance kit or buy a new printer and don't think about it any more.

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Not convinced this is a SF question - but I'd be tempted to spent as little as possible - new replacement printers are cheap these days.

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how much is the fuser separately? If we accept the rollers at $30 then the fuser is worth the remaining $170. If you can get the fuser cheaper than that, get them separately. However; the fuser will fail one day; and it's always handy to have a printer maintenance kit ready when that day comes :)

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Get the maintenance kit if the rollers or fuser are are dirty/worn and causing jams. The last time I bought a maintenance kit (for a HP laserjet 9000) I only bothered to install the fuser because the coating on the fuser roller was damaged. The kit cost £60 off ebay.

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