Printers

Cracking Open an HP LaserJet 1300

By // August 19, 2008, 4:48 AM PST // erikeckel

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  • The HP LaserJet 1300

    The HP LaserJet 1300 is a workhorse desktop laser jet printer. Featuring 1200 x 1200 dots-per-inch resolution, the printer shipped with 16MB of RAM (expandable to 80MB) and is capable of printing 20 pages (black) per minute.

  • HP LaserJet 1300 Right Side View

    The HP LaserJet 1300 boasts clean, contoured design lines. Here, too, you can see an air vent on the unit's right side.

  • HP LaserJet 1300 Rear View

    The back of the HP laser jet printer possesses few ports. At the bottom left you can see a power switch and the standard AC plug.

  • USB Port

    At the bottom right, the printer's USB connection sits above a port reserved for HP LIO connectivity (used to accommodate HP's print server technology).

  • Toner Cartridge Door

    The HP badge, and LaserJet 1300 label, sit atop the unit's toner cartridge door.

  • Status LEDs And Go Button

    The printer's status indicators and control panel (a single "Go" button) are very simple. The top LED is the Ready light; the bottom LED is the Attention indicator.

    The oval-ish button to the right of the LEDs, meanwhile, is the Go button used for manual print jobs and to print demonstration and configuration pages.

  • The HP 1300 Toner Cartridge

    With the printer's front cover opened, the unit's 13x toner cartridge is visible.

  • The 13x Toner Cartridge

    The 13x toner cartridge (Q2613X) can produce as many as 4,000 pages during its lifespan.

  • HP 1300 Minus Toner

    Here's the HP LaserJet 1300 with its front cover opened and the toner cartridge removed.

  • Model Information

    Specific model information appears on this HP label, which is affixed to the inside of the toner cartridge door. The unit's product and serial numbers are found here.

  • The 13x Toner Cartridge

    At just over two-and-a-half pounds, the 13X high-capacity toner cartridge can produce 4,000 pages (when print density is set to 3 and the printer's EconoMode is set to Off).

  • Paper Input Tray

    Here is the paper input tray (with the corresponding top cover in place), once removed from the laser jet printer.

  • Opening The Left Side Cover

    To remove the left-side cover assembly, HP designed a groove (shown here) into the case. By pulling with one's thumb on this notch, the left-side assembly cover can be removed.

    Users needed to remove this cover in the event they wished to add additional memory to the printer.

  • Left Cover Assembly Removed

    Here's a look at the HP LaserJet 1300's left side with that side's cover assembly removed. The additional RAM slot can be seen in the image's bottom-left quadrant.

    The single DIMM memory slot holds either an 8-, 16-, 32- or 64-MB RAM chip.

  • HP LaserJet 1300 Bottom View

    Here's a look at the bottom of the HP LaserJet 1300 printer (with the left-side cover assembly removed).

  • Removing The Lower Front Cover

    To remove the HP's lower front cover, Philips head screws (such as this one revealed by the removal of the left-side cover assembly) must be removed.

  • Lower Front Cover Removed

    Here's how the 1300 printer appears with the lower front cover and paper input tray removed.

  • Lower Front Cover

    Here's the lower front cover, once removed from the HP printer.

  • Removing The Right Side Cover

    To remove the right cover assembly, the tab shown in this image must be depressed. I used a simple small screwdriver to depress this tab and help separate the two components.

  • Removing The Right Side Cover

    With the tab depressed, you can separate the right-side cover assembly by moving it away from the main printer body.

  • Right Cover Assembly

    Here's the right cover assembly, as it appears after removing it from the main printer body.

  • Inside The 1300

    Here's a look inside the HP 1300 with the right cover assembly removed.

    To the top left you can clearly see the black cooling fan.

    To the top right is the large 69-tooth gear that's part of the right-side plate assembly. Ultimately, these gears work to guide paper through the paper pick-up and fusing mechanisms.

  • Cooling Fan

    Here's a close up look at the printer's cooling fan.

  • Fuser Gear Assembly

    In this image you can see the many gears that drive the unit's fuser (fixer) assembly.

  • Right Side Plate Assembly

    Other items found on the right plate assembly include the tension spring (seen here toward top-left-center), assorted gears that help drive the paper pick-up assembly and the blue solenoid that engages the paper pick-up roller gear and corresponding clutch assembly.

  • Screw Removal

    To continue disassembling the HP LaserJet 1300, additional screws must be removed. The Philips head screw shown here to the right secures the printer's right side plate assembly to the unit's top cover.

  • Disassembly Continued

    In order to continue disassembling the 1300, additional Philips head screws on the unit's left-side panel must be removed as well.

  • Top Cover Removal

    With the Philips head screws removed, the printer's top cover can be pulled free of the unit.

  • The Laser/Scanner Assembly

    With the HP LaserJet 1300's top cover removed, the laser/scanner assembly is visible.

  • Data Ribbon Cable

    Here's a close up view of the data ribbon cable that enables communication between the printer's electronic brains and the laser/scanner assembly.

  • Disassembly Continued

    Dozens of Philips head screws must be removed to disassemble the LaserJet 1300. Here two more can be seen behind the open rear cover.

  • Rear Cover

    With additional Philips head screws removed, the unit's Rear Cover separates from the main printer body.

    Note the back cover assembly's top third is composed of a hinged door (here pictured closed) that serves as the unit's straight-through output door.

  • Back Cover Reverse View

    With the back cover laid on its back (here you're viewing the internal side typically secured to the main printer body), the hinged straight-through output door is more readily identifiable.

  • Rear Cover Removed

    With the printer's rear cover removed, the unit's motor assembly (bottom left), DC Controller board (bottom) and the paper pick-up assembly's black backside are visible.

  • Disassembly Continued

    Next I removed the toner cartridge door. Officially, this is HP part number RM1-0543-000.

  • Guide Assembly Removal

    Removing components of the paper guide assembly requires the removal of several more Philips head screws, as shown here.

    Note that, at the top center of the image, you can make out the status LEDs and Go button.

  • Plate Assembly Removal

    Removing the right- and left-side plate assemblies also requires additional Philips head screws be removed.

  • The HP LaserJet 1300's Cooling Fan

    Here's the printer's cooling fan, once it's been removed from the right-side plate assembly.

  • Disassembling The Right Plate

    Disassembling the right-side plate requires the removal of numerous additional Philips head screws. In all, several dozen of these fasteners had to be removed to disassemble the unit and its guides, boards, covers and other components.

  • Printed Circuit Board

    This printed circuit board feeds the HP's laser/scanner assembly's operation.

  • Laser/Scanner Links

    Pictured here is the data ribbon cable (and power connector) that connect the HP's laser/scanner assembly to the unit's formatter assembly board. Officially, the formatter assembly board receives HP part number Q1890-60001.

  • Removing The Formatter Assembly

    The formatter assembly (with its available extra RAM slot) is hidden behind this metal cover.

  • Formatter Assembly

    With several Philips head screws removed, the metal cover falls away revealing the HP-manufactured formatter assembly board.

  • Formatter Assembly Connections

    Here's another look at the formatter assembly's electronic connections (including the data ribbon cable that links with the laser/scanner assembly).

  • Left Plate Disassembly

    Pictured here is the left plate assembly, minus the formatter board.

  • The Formatter Assembly

    Here's a closer look at the formatter assembly by itself. The straight black vertical bay accepts an additional DIMM memory chip, while the rectangular silver metal housing to the bottom left accommodates the model's LIO connection.

  • The Laser/Scanner Assembly

    The laser/scanner assembly is pictured here by itself. At $80 to $160 or more on the used parts market, this is likely the printer's most expensive component.

  • Disassembly Continued

    With the paper guides, side, top and front covers all removed, the HP LaserJet 1300 is becoming bare. Visible here are the black metal and plastic fusing (fixing) assembly components.

  • Disassembly Continued

    Yet even more Philips head screws must be removed to continue disassembling the HP LaserJet 1300. Here a screw is being removed that secures a side plate assembly to the DC controller support pan.

  • DC Controller Board

    With the screws removed that secure the DC controller pan support to the main printer unit, the DC controller itself is clearly visible.

    This control board (the orange-beige printed circuit board to the left) carries model number RM1-0564. Manufactured in China, this component serves as the power supply and control board for the printer.

  • The DC Controller Board Connections

    Here's a closer look at several of the cables that connect the DC controller board and help power various printer components.

  • The DC Controller Board

    Here's the DC controller board by itself. Note that the DC controller board still sits inside its support pan (part number RC1-1813).

  • Rubycon Capacitor

    Particularly prominent on the HP LaserJet's DC controller board is this 200v Rubycon capacitor.

  • DC Stepper Motor

    Here's the DC stepper motor HP installed in its LaserJet 1300 series printers. The unit's electronic board possesses its own (albeit small) capacitor (the black-ringed silver cap toward top center).

  • Right Plate Assembly

    Here's the right plate assembly, with just a few gears and a lone tension spring remaining.

  • The HP LaserJet 1300 Disassembled

    So many components compose the HP LaserJet 1300 that I could not neatly fit them all in the picture. That said, I was able to stack all the various boards, covers, guides and assemblies on this table to create this disassembled image.

The HP LaserJet 1300

The HP LaserJet 1300 is a workhorse desktop laser jet printer. Featuring 1200 x 1200 dots-per-inch resolution, the printer shipped with 16MB of RAM (expandable to 80MB) and is capable of printing 20 pages (black) per minute.

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Printers Hardware Innovation

By Erik Eckel

Erik Eckel owns and operates two technology companies. As a managing partner with Louisville Geek, he works daily as an IT consultant to assist small businesses in overcoming technology challenges and maximizing IT investments. He is also president o...