Which of these HP laser jets?

[alejio]

After weeks of looking on CL and having at least 2 people answer my first email, then not follow up when I say I can come get it and have cash, then repost (3 times!!  ) I found 2 people that seem more reliable. By that I mean they got back to me more quickly. So, in a nutshell one is an HP1200 with toner still remaining for $40, the other is a 2100M for $25 and I think there is some toner remaining. Are either of these good for etching? Does anyone have firsthand experience? Any input is appreciated greatly. Thanks.

[kodiakklub]

just dont buy a brother printer. any HP printer with at least 300DPI will do you fine.

[chromesphere]

We recently upgraded our HP LJ at work from a 4200 to a 4510.  The new 4510 doesnt print as dark as the older 4200.  PCB Etches became difficult with the new printer, so i hung onto the 4200 which is now in my office and i use it for waterslides and pcb etches.  I would have once said "any HP" like Kodiakklub, but not after using the 4510.  I know "you gotta get the settings right".  Believe me, i turned every economy option off, highest dpi, dark print options, etc etc.  No avail.  Solid shapes do not print dark enough and i found no way around it.

Also, our HP fax machine M2727 has the same issue.  Its slightly better then the 4510. So in my case the OLDEST Laserjet has, by far, the darkest print quality.
Good luck,
Paul

[FunkyGibbon]

Hi Kodiakklub,

Do you have a particular gripe regarding a particular Brother printer?

[J0K3RX]

We recently upgraded our HP LJ at work from a 4200 to a 4510.  The new 4510 doesnt print as dark as the older 4200.  PCB Etches became difficult with the new printer, so i hung onto the 4200 which is now in my office and i use it for waterslides and pcb etches.  I would have once said "any HP" like Kodiakklub, but not after using the 4510.  I know "you gotta get the settings right".  Believe me, i turned every economy option off, highest dpi, dark print options, etc etc.  No avail.  Solid shapes do not print dark enough and i found no way around it.

Also, our HP fax machine M2727 has the same issue.  Its slightly better then the 4510. So in my case the OLDEST Laserjet has, by far, the darkest print quality.
Good luck,
Paul

Try to use the generic driver (HP Laserjet Series II) for the 4510. That driver works for just about any HP printer, just doesn't have all the bullsh!t that the regular driver has. May print darker for you?

I like the older HP laserjets, 1200 and the 2100 are good... If I had to choose I would go with the 1200, those are solid printers.. I still have one but the toner is gone and I ain't gonna spend $80.00 for a new toner cartridge. I have a bunch of toner cartridges for the 1200 and for my 1022n but they are all refills. The refilled/re-manufactured cartridges are about half the price but don't work for etching so beware of those! The toner doesn't stick good enough and just lifts right off the copper with the paper.. I use them for printing text, emails only etc and I have a "real HP OEM cartridge" for the 1022 and wouldn't you know it works perfect! 

[Pyr0]

I have a real old LJ5M - works great for etching PCB's, but just isn't dark enough for doing large area etching of enclosures. And I will echo what others say, there's a big difference when using genuine HP toner compared to refills.

[kodiakklub]

Hi Kodiakklub,

Do you have a particular gripe regarding a particular Brother printer?

not at all!  but many many sites around the net for the PCB etchers will say, and are correct, that Brother uses a completely different formula for their toner that doesnt work so well with press 'n' peel blue or Pulsar PCB in a box transfer medium. i can verify both. i have gotten brother toner to work with PNP blue but you have to do a lot with the sharpie after transfer. i just finally replaced my perfectly working brother laser all-in-one with an HP. toner transfers work perfect, but its functionality is a bit lacking compared to the brother.

[stevie1556]

Before you splash out on a laser printer, if you have a inkjet, check to see if it can print on transparency paper. If so, Jetstar make a special film for PCB artwork. My printer couldn't print on transparency (I found it out after I bought the film), so I had to buy a laser. If you do get a laser, try and get the one with some toner left. All 4 toners for mine cost £116 to replace, so they arn't as cheap as a inkjet by a long shot.

A few months ago I was in the same situation as you, looking for a printer to do PCB artwork. I was looking for a cheap black and white laser printer, but ended up getting a 4 colour one (it was end of line and last one in stock so got about 70% off).

Hope that helps.

[FunkyGibbon]

Thanks, Kodiakklub,

I've been etching using the inkjet photo paper method with a Canon laser printer for years. I just replaced it (as it broke) with a Brother based on specifications and overall cost per print. I didn't even think about how the toner formula might effect PCB-making. I'll give it a try over the next few days and report back.

Christopher

[defaced]

Hi Kodiakklub,

Do you have a particular gripe regarding a particular Brother printer?

I'll chime in as well.  I have a Brother HT-2040 and have spent many hours over the past 6 years trying to get consistent results without any luck.  I have completely abandon the toner approach in favor the photo-resist techniques.  It's got its own little quirks, but they are much easier to deal with given my skill set.  

[deadastronaut]

samsung ml1660 mono laser,  here...

150gsm photo paper...

no problems...

[Mustachio]

I just picked up a Canon LBP 6000 for 50 bucks! Just got here yesterday actually I haven't even set it up yet. But I've been wanting to try using a laser printer for etching resist for a while now. I've been doing positive photo method and hand drawing with a circuit marker. I'll let you guys know how this printer works. I think I read back in the picture thread that Slade used a canon LBP 4500 or something so hopefully this one is close to the same.

Maybe hoping to get some tips from Rob  I like your etches they always look clean!

[mremic01]

Hi Kodiakklub,

Do you have a particular gripe regarding a particular Brother printer?

I'll chime in as well.  I have a Brother HT-2040 and have spent many hours over the past 6 years trying to get consistent results without any luck.  I have completely abandon the toner approach in favor the photo-resist techniques.  It's got its own little quirks, but they are much easier to deal with given my skill set.  

I've got a Brother HT-2040, or possibly a 2041. I don't remember the exact model number, but it works fine for etching. The trick is to have a fresh toner cartridge. For some reason, even if there's plenty of toner left, it won't go on as thick. You can get knock-off cartridges on Amazon for 10-12$ and so far those have been working better for me than the Brother cartridges that cost 30-40$. I've been getting consistently thicker toner and near perfect results for much longer than I was with the Brother ones.

[deadastronaut]

@jim, yep..no problemo.

[JebemMajke]

I have my eye on Samsung ML-2160. Anyone used it for pcb's? It's supposed to have 1200 dpi. My guess is that's good.

[defaced]

Hi Kodiakklub,

Do you have a particular gripe regarding a particular Brother printer?

I'll chime in as well.  I have a Brother HT-2040 and have spent many hours over the past 6 years trying to get consistent results without any luck.  I have completely abandon the toner approach in favor the photo-resist techniques.  It's got its own little quirks, but they are much easier to deal with given my skill set.  

I've got a Brother HT-2040, or possibly a 2041. I don't remember the exact model number, but it works fine for etching. The trick is to have a fresh toner cartridge. For some reason, even if there's plenty of toner left, it won't go on as thick. You can get knock-off cartridges on Amazon for 10-12$ and so far those have been working better for me than the Brother cartridges that cost 30-40$. I've been getting consistently thicker toner and near perfect results for much longer than I was with the Brother ones.

I had always wondered about using a knock off cartridge, but never got around to trying it.  I had success getting etches, but it usually took 4 trys to get a good transfer, and any large pours were pitted to varying degrees from poor coverage.  Thanks for the heads up though; I'll give it a try if/when I go back to toner transfer. 

[stevie1556]

I have my eye on Samsung ML-2160. Anyone used it for pcb's? It's supposed to have 1200 dpi. My guess is that's good.

I was looking at that one before I got a Samsung colour laser. Good DPI (you only need 300 DPI but more is always good), prints on transparency paper/film, good reviews, good price, toner prices arn't too bad, should be ideal for it.

[kodiakklub]

if you have a brother printer, there is a trick to get another several hundred pages of toner out of the cartridge once the printer says it's empty. there's a little clear window at one end of the cartridge. just put a small piece of black electrical tape over it, and boom, another few hundred pages. havent looked at my new HP if it does the same thing.

and i never thought about trying aftermarket toner with my brother to see if the third-party stuff would have worked better with etching. dangit. oh well.

[Tony Forestiere]

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=93000.msg797966#msg797966
Interesting thread about etching enclosures.

[J0K3RX]

I am lucky... I have been an IT admin since 95 so I have acquired all of my laser printers for free. Companies usually do upgrades every 5 or 10 years and I have been lucky enough to work for companies who like to throw away their old stuff! At one point I had over 100 printer believe it or not... They were going to pay a company $10,000 to dispose of them so, I said I will get rid of all of this stuff for nothing, they said ok  I had a friend with a computer business help and gave him half the stuff.. had battery backups BIG ONES, servers, desktops, monitors, switches, racks... everything. Some stuff was broken so I used parts from this one to fix this one etc and sold the rest on CL.. nice bonus! Wife was not happy with the semi load of printers but she got over it when she pocketed the $$ from selling a few