Fixing an HP printer - fixyourownprinter.com?
 

Does anyone have any experience with the aforementioned outfit (fixyourownprinter.com)?

I have the -- supposedly common -- no feed problem on an old HP LaserJet 5L. I'm not sure if they are legit, but I hear there are several such companies that offer up u-fix-it kits for printers.

I dealt with These Guys when my trusty LJ4 began regularly eating paper. The instructions weren't super easy (and I had to do a bit of improvisation), but the kit worked like a charm.

It's like I have a new printer for $20

Usually it's just dried up rubber rollers in the feed bay, happens to me quite a bit, a little rubbing alcohol and a tissue will usually solve that problem.

In most cases, no feed problems are a case of feed rollers worn out. On later HP printers the rollers are part of the maintenance kit the printer display tells you to replace every so many copies. I've never used anything but HP parts on our printers, but that doesn't mean the others are not any good.

If you take your time, it shouldn't be an impossible job to do, just remember the parts for the most part are plastic, so don't force them.

HP provided a free fix
 

At one point last year HP was providing a kit to "fix" that problem on a series of printers - my LJ1100 was covered, not sure about the 5. But HP sent the kit for free, no shipping. It took about two minutes and I've had the printer going for about a year now since the fix with almost no feed problems. The problem was without question a design flaw on HPs part, hence the free fix. Check the HP support site to see if the kits are still there.

Good luck,

Bruce

I got the kit specifically for the 5L. HP will provide the kit for free (or at least they used to), but I got it on eBay for a couple of bucks because it was much faster than waiting for HP to ship.

It's apparently a pretty common problem.

Re: fixyourownprinter.com - these guys seem legit, at least as far as the advice they dole out, though they can be pretty harsh on non-HP lasers. They sell a number of kits to fix various problems, but I have no idea of their relative price/utility, since I haven't had any of those problems yet. :)

It is definitely a very common problem. I had a HP 3100 OfficeJet, and it had the exact same paper feed problem. I installed HP's kit, and it fixed it for about 3 years. However the fix only lasted 3 years, and it died again last month.