Transcript
A piece of paper on an old printer (a laserjet 4050 to be specific. It says: "Hello, My name is LaserJet 4050 and I was made in 1999. I’ve been doing my job printing your documents for many many years, however I think the motor that powers my paper feeder is bad. This makes me sad because I’m not able to do my job very reliably. As such, I am formally presenting this document as a letter of resignation. IT is working on finding a replacement for me, but for the time being, I apologize if I tell you I have a paper jam. Please allow me to refer you to my coworker, LaserJet 3390. 3390 resides outside of Ray’s office and can be reached at: Please accept my sincerest apologies for failing. Thank you for replacing my toner and restocking my paper tray. It’s been a wonderful 14 years of working together. Much love, LaserJet 4050
I mean, electric motors are pretty standard. If the problem with the printer is a bad motor then you could probably just replace that part. The main question would be how easy it is to disassemble the printer to get at the motor.
These printers are getting so old that Windows doesn't ship drivers anymore. I had a LaserJet 5si, and I took that as a sign that it was time to go. Yes, I could have done some tricks to extend that out, but if Windows doesn't have drivers, then spare parts are going to be increasingly difficult to come by.
I wouldn't be surprised if OP's IT department is making a similar judgement.
I can recommend trying to connect your old printer to a raspberry Pi and seeing if linux printer drivers can prolong the life of your printer. Worth a shot keeping these beauties out of the landfill.
It's long gone now. I did consider that option, but the spare parts issue is why I didn't.
oh that's a shame