I live in a city with a lot of colleges and students. I used to find these all the time on trash day or when school ended. They were always so easy to fix and half the time worked fine. I use to sand the rubber rollers down a little bit to make them stick better, then a little silicone lube on a Q-Tip. Also Rubber-Renue works wonders on the old rubber rollers too. Glad to see people still use them. They were in my opinion the best printer ever made.
When I bought mine I knew it would be obsolete sooner than later. So I bought several maintenance kits, toner cartridges, rubber rollers, fusers. I finally had to give it up when parts and consumables were no longer available. I went to CompUSA and bought a newer HP LaserJet. Those older printers are built like tanks.
Amazing printer. I first used one in 1993 at sixth form college. I then got a secondhand one a few years later(for my home office), and even installed the fax card(it got used a lot for faxes). It's still going strong, connected via wireless now on an adapter on the old parallel port. Those things gave great print quality - and boy were they built to last. Compare that to some of the ones I have to use at various workplaces over the years that gave up the ghost after a few years : Canon Inkjets, Epson and sadly even modern HP colour laserjets.
I just pulled a 4P out of storage I was given a couple years ago to send in as electronic scraps, I’m going to start working on it tomorrow and hopefully it’s still functional. Very glad I never throw electronics away unless I’m completely sure it has no usefulness.
I found your video about using Rubber Renew about a year ago, bought some, dis-assembled the rollers, applied the Rubber Renew and re-assembled. It worked OK for about 9 months then the problem recurred, so I did it again and it didn't work so well. So I took the rollers out again and this time I REALLY soaked them with Rubber Renew using a very small (2mm) artists paintbrush, several times until I could see that the Rubber Renew was not sinking in. Then I STRETCHED the springs that tension the upper and lower rollers - not too much, but quite firmly, before re-assembling. The printer is working fine now, I think re-tensioning the springs was an important part of the fix. I will post back to say whether it continues to work - if I live long enough.
I have one from 1993 (Firmware date), I bought it on Ebay for 2€ in 2008, and except normal maintenance, and a deep cleaning this year, never had any problem, still connected at my network, prints from Windows, Mac and Linux (to be honest it was not straightforward on w10 as the drivers are no more available at HP). In the same time, I "killed" 2 Canon inkjets, 1 Samsung laser, 1 Epson inkjet and 2 HP inkjets... and the venerable LJ4 is still working (and it's my main printer). In the past, printer were build to last, today they are just made to live till the end of legal guarantee...
Thanks for the good video Flo. A great printer. Cheapest thing to run and everything is easly repairable (And low cost for parts) New rollers were $15 *I put heatschrink tubing on the bad rollers and that worked ok also. Look for a jet direct board and you can just plug into your router and it slams out pages super fast. *Put a password on the printers TELNET connection.
I had a 1997 LaserJet 6p at one point. Worked well for about a month then, it started printing grey lines on pages, so I junked it figuring it was the fuser that went bad. I didn't have the time/$ to fix it then. It may have been something simple. I've always liked the Hp LaserJet 4 series design. Glad you could get your's up and running again!
After watching your video, it kind of makes me cringe thinking it could have just been the toner cartridge. I invested in a brand new Brother after the 6p.
Update: just found a LJ 4 at an estate sale. Test printed fine at sale. Got home, gray lines and multiple pages feeding through at once. Had pages in it from 2013, so maybe that’s when it was last used. Ordered a new cartridge. 🤞Hope it fixes the problem. Also, win 10 has removed the older printer drivers sadly. (Yes, I tired windows update menu). I ended up using a HP 3050 PCL5 driver and seems to work! I am using a parallel to usb. I will update once I get the new cartridge installed.
About 12 years ago, I found a 4L at a thrift store. And it was in service up until about a 1.5 years ago. It sat, unused, for two weeks, then wouldn't power up (still won't). Was connected via a PCI parallel card.
Could be just a faulty connection to the power supply assembly, which happens sometimes because of the way the various other subsystems connect to it. Disassembling the printer enough to remove and re-insert the formatter could be all it needs.
Yeah, I have seen comments on printer forums that are supposedly from experts, claiming that USB/Parallel adapter cables don't work. They say get rid of your dinosaur printer, and get with the modern times. However, I have used these cables, of various makes, on several different printers and Windows 10, and they always work.
After watching your video, now I want to go to the top shelf and get my LaserJet 4P that I bought in 1994, and give it a whirl, so thanks in advance for the backache, because I just have to see if those rollers need some rubber renew!
JJSHORT is a company that puts fresh custom molded rubber on rollers (ex. for printers, typewriters). I'm pretty sure they may be able to match the size.
That’s good it was a simple fix. Just curious as to why you would recommission your “LaserJet” printer on your current machine (I can understand more on a vintage system which might not have drivers for a modern printer) when you have the $5 Okidata machine?... Got further into the video and I can see how having one for text and one for colour might be good (save wear on the Oki machine). Looking forward to seeing the full video on the new Okidata.
Man u just solved this problem for me if one of those parallel/USB printer cables can work. But I have a mac, so I hope this could work? It should in theory no? if the driver is present? Do u know?
When I made this video in 2019, Windows 10 still had drivers for this printer. Since then, Microsoft needlessly removed them, and you can no longer use this or many old printers on Windows 10 or 11.
I just picked up a 4+ and a 4M+ for $10 for the pair, the 4M+ came with the lower tray and the 4+ came with what appears to be a ROM cartridge. Do you know what the ROM cartridge does? Additionally, are you aware of whether or not the C3157A duplexer can be installed along with the lower tray, or do they need to be separated? Mine appear to be bending the pages on exit, suggesting the final output rollers in the path are worn. They sure look and feel like plastic. Sadly, my 4+ does absolutely nothing when powered on. Not a thing at all. I think the fuse might be popped.
@@themaritimegirl I see, yes, it seems to be a font cartridge. It just says Check Micr and the name of a company which no longer exists. The plastic is very brittle and yellowed, it actually fell apart the first time I removed it - Inside are a bunch of empty sockets and two large unmarked EPROMs. Are there other font cartridges available? Where can I get them?
You can get a raspberry pi and install cups under rasbian and install that printer as a network printer anywhere in your house over wifi. I was doing that with my 1992 HP Deskjet 550c up to a few days ago when I moved the print server over to my new mini intel atom linux server and added a shelf above the 550c for my 1998 842c. I'm trying to track down one of those early laserjets to add to my networked retro printer setup I really dig the aesthetic of the Laserjet 1-4 series and the robust internals of these things. Heres a video of my 550c printing a text document and a windows 98 test page ua-cam.com/video/7bUL2pO1F8I/v-deo.html and a picture of my current printer setup cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/245706734390214656/575710720025559040/JPEG_20190508_114822.jpg
I know some people who have been told this printer is incompatable with Window 8 or 10. But it appears to me that drivers for several HP LaserJet 4 printers are included in the Windows 8 and Windows 10 operating systems. Perhaps you could make a video on how to install those drivers and demontrate how they work.
I am sure in indonesia there are bureaus and offices that still run with those so you basically need to watch ebay for those or check the trash in commercial areas
I live in a city with a lot of colleges and students. I used to find these all the time on trash day or when school ended. They were always so easy to fix and half the time worked fine. I use to sand the rubber rollers down a little bit to make them stick better, then a little silicone lube on a Q-Tip. Also Rubber-Renue works wonders on the old rubber rollers too. Glad to see people still use them. They were in my opinion the best printer ever made.
It's disgusting that people throw these amazing things out rather than make a cheap / free classifieds listing for it. eWaste like this is horrendous.
I had this HP printer 30 yrs ago! Thanks for sharing
When I bought mine I knew it would be obsolete sooner than later. So I bought several maintenance kits, toner cartridges, rubber rollers, fusers.
I finally had to give it up when parts and consumables were no longer available. I went to CompUSA and bought a newer HP LaserJet.
Those older printers are built like tanks.
I bought two toner cartbridges today!
Amazing printer. I first used one in 1993 at sixth form college. I then got a secondhand one a few years later(for my home office), and even installed the fax card(it got used a lot for faxes). It's still going strong, connected via wireless now on an adapter on the old parallel port. Those things gave great print quality - and boy were they built to last. Compare that to some of the ones I have to use at various workplaces over the years that gave up the ghost after a few years : Canon Inkjets, Epson and sadly even modern HP colour laserjets.
I just pulled a 4P out of storage I was given a couple years ago to send in as electronic scraps, I’m going to start working on it tomorrow and hopefully it’s still functional. Very glad I never throw electronics away unless I’m completely sure it has no usefulness.
I found your video about using Rubber Renew about a year ago, bought some, dis-assembled the rollers, applied the Rubber Renew and re-assembled. It worked OK for about 9 months then the problem recurred, so I did it again and it didn't work so well. So I took the rollers out again and this time I REALLY soaked them with Rubber Renew using a very small (2mm) artists paintbrush, several times until I could see that the Rubber Renew was not sinking in. Then I STRETCHED the springs that tension the upper and lower rollers - not too much, but quite firmly, before re-assembling. The printer is working fine now, I think re-tensioning the springs was an important part of the fix. I will post back to say whether it continues to work - if I live long enough.
You are an absolute legend for making this video, and the comments are a fantastic addition this amazing video too! I'm going to buy one.
I have one from 1993 (Firmware date), I bought it on Ebay for 2€ in 2008, and except normal maintenance, and a deep cleaning this year, never had any problem, still connected at my network, prints from Windows, Mac and Linux (to be honest it was not straightforward on w10 as the drivers are no more available at HP). In the same time, I "killed" 2 Canon inkjets, 1 Samsung laser, 1 Epson inkjet and 2 HP inkjets... and the venerable LJ4 is still working (and it's my main printer).
In the past, printer were build to last, today they are just made to live till the end of legal guarantee...
Thanks for the good video Flo. A great printer. Cheapest thing to run and everything is easly repairable (And low cost for parts) New rollers were $15 *I put heatschrink tubing on the bad rollers and that worked ok also. Look for a jet direct board and you can just plug into your router and it slams out pages super fast. *Put a password on the printers TELNET connection.
I had a 1997 LaserJet 6p at one point. Worked well for about a month then, it started printing grey lines on pages, so I junked it figuring it was the fuser that went bad. I didn't have the time/$ to fix it then. It may have been something simple. I've always liked the Hp LaserJet 4 series design. Glad you could get your's up and running again!
After watching your video, it kind of makes me cringe thinking it could have just been the toner cartridge. I invested in a brand new Brother after the 6p.
Update: just found a LJ 4 at an estate sale. Test printed fine at sale. Got home, gray lines and multiple pages feeding through at once. Had pages in it from 2013, so maybe that’s when it was last used. Ordered a new cartridge. 🤞Hope it fixes the problem.
Also, win 10 has removed the older printer drivers sadly. (Yes, I tired windows update menu).
I ended up using a HP 3050 PCL5 driver and seems to work! I am using a parallel to usb. I will update once I get the new cartridge installed.
They VFD tho, so nice!
About 12 years ago, I found a 4L at a thrift store. And it was in service up until about a 1.5 years ago. It sat, unused, for two weeks, then wouldn't power up (still won't). Was connected via a PCI parallel card.
Could be just a faulty connection to the power supply assembly, which happens sometimes because of the way the various other subsystems connect to it. Disassembling the printer enough to remove and re-insert the formatter could be all it needs.
I love this Printer. Its all easy to repair
Yeah, I have seen comments on printer forums that are supposedly from experts, claiming that USB/Parallel adapter cables don't work. They say get rid of your dinosaur printer, and get with the modern times. However, I have used these cables, of various makes, on several different printers and Windows 10, and they always work.
After watching your video, now I want to go to the top shelf and get my LaserJet 4P that I bought in 1994, and give it a whirl, so thanks in advance for the backache, because I just have to see if those rollers need some rubber renew!
Those old things go forever
Funny thing: I saw an ad for HP printers before this video!
JJSHORT is a company that puts fresh custom molded rubber on rollers (ex. for printers, typewriters). I'm pretty sure they may be able to match the size.
That’s good it was a simple fix. Just curious as to why you would recommission your “LaserJet” printer on your current machine (I can understand more on a vintage system which might not have drivers for a modern printer) when you have the $5 Okidata machine?... Got further into the video and I can see how having one for text and one for colour might be good (save wear on the Oki machine). Looking forward to seeing the full video on the new Okidata.
Thanks for the video! Great printer! Not able to find the link to the USB parallel adapter. Could you please link? Thanks!
Man u just solved this problem for me if one of those parallel/USB printer cables can work. But I have a mac, so I hope this could work? It should in theory no? if the driver is present? Do u know?
Going to try and ressurect one I have.
How did you get the drivers for Windows 10?
When I made this video in 2019, Windows 10 still had drivers for this printer. Since then, Microsoft needlessly removed them, and you can no longer use this or many old printers on Windows 10 or 11.
If you click "Check Windows Update" in the printer dialogue, it will appear in the list after a few seconds.
good for review again
Esta es solamente impresora o también saca copias
This printer may be print from MS-DOS?
Is there a way to rest the queue because I was print a bunch of pages then a error message happen and now it’s starting over how do I fix that?
Pretty cool
I just picked up a 4+ and a 4M+ for $10 for the pair, the 4M+ came with the lower tray and the 4+ came with what appears to be a ROM cartridge. Do you know what the ROM cartridge does? Additionally, are you aware of whether or not the C3157A duplexer can be installed along with the lower tray, or do they need to be separated?
Mine appear to be bending the pages on exit, suggesting the final output rollers in the path are worn. They sure look and feel like plastic.
Sadly, my 4+ does absolutely nothing when powered on. Not a thing at all. I think the fuse might be popped.
If the cartridge goes in the front, it's probably a font cartridge. Should say on the cartridge itself what it is.
@@themaritimegirl I see, yes, it seems to be a font cartridge. It just says Check Micr and the name of a company which no longer exists. The plastic is very brittle and yellowed, it actually fell apart the first time I removed it - Inside are a bunch of empty sockets and two large unmarked EPROMs.
Are there other font cartridges available? Where can I get them?
You can get a raspberry pi and install cups under rasbian and install that printer as a network printer anywhere in your house over wifi. I was doing that with my 1992 HP Deskjet 550c up to a few days ago when I moved the print server over to my new mini intel atom linux server and added a shelf above the 550c for my 1998 842c. I'm trying to track down one of those early laserjets to add to my networked retro printer setup I really dig the aesthetic of the Laserjet 1-4 series and the robust internals of these things. Heres a video of my 550c printing a text document and a windows 98 test page ua-cam.com/video/7bUL2pO1F8I/v-deo.html and a picture of my current printer setup cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/245706734390214656/575710720025559040/JPEG_20190508_114822.jpg
i would be interested to see her do that
These things were built like tanks.
I know some people who have been told this printer is incompatable with Window 8 or 10. But it appears to me that drivers for several HP LaserJet 4 printers are included in the Windows 8 and Windows 10 operating systems. Perhaps you could make a video on how to install those drivers and demontrate how they work.
USE 'HP 3050 PCL5' WORKS ON WIN 11!!
I understand the 4M's were compatible with Macs but can you use it on a Windows PC as well?
Yes.
HOLA, COMO PUEDO LIMPIAR EL RODILLO, LAS IMPRESIONES SALEN MANCHADAS
i cant find any driver on window 10 for this printer... can you help me please or can you make a tutorial?
Хороший принтер
I have a HP Laser Jet 4 but can not find the drivers in windows 10, could you please let me know what drivers you down loaded.
Did you find the drivers?
Do you know how to speed up this printer?
There is no speeding it up - thats impossible.
@@themaritimegirl I saw somewhere that was working fast :I
@@1328morteza You might have been looking at a 4 Plus. They use a newer, faster print engine than the 4.
@@themaritimegirl Mabe.tnx 😊
My new computer doesn't have the driver!!!! I don't know what to do
Try one of the drivers listed here: www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=HP%20LaserJet%204
Can you take another video to appreciate "PC LOAD LETTER" whatever the fuck that does mean?
PC LOAD LETTER
I am from Indonesia and I really want to buy this printer. how to buy it
I am sure in indonesia there are bureaus and offices that still run with those so you basically need to watch ebay for those or check the trash in commercial areas
@@ElNadaInLada Thank you