I have always wanted to do this, in every office job I had…

I’ve had this printer for more than 10 years, it was ratty when I got it, and it became increasingly reluctant to print on the other side of the paper without screwing it up if I fed it through again. Further investigation after it jammed all the time  showed the paper jam to be mid-printer, and applied either to the manual feed or to the tray feed.

I have repaired printers before, but anything involving the paper feed seems to be so finely balanced between running right and jamming that I figured I had zero chance of success – the fault wasn’t obvious, like something broken off or loose. Getting spares for something 10 years old isn’t that likely either.

So I extracted the memory and jetdirect network card, and took the opportunity to vent thirty years of frustration at recalcitrant office equipment by taking the bugger outside and smashing it on the ground, then laying into it with a spade. I do recommend taking the toner cartridge out first Yes, I did end up with a lot of small pieces to sweep up, but I felt so much better. And it all fitted into the bin after smashing it up too.

In every office job I’ve had I’ve wanted to do this to the printer when the damn thing jammed with some report that was meant to be in yesterday, and now the itch is scratched. Office printers seem to have a knack for knowing the most inconvenient time to break down and a perverse dlight in using it.

Funnily enough the HP Laserjet 5P that I originally bought in the last century for £600 (!) is still in service after more than 15 years with only one roller kit replaced. What will take that sucker down is the fact it only has a Centronics parallel port, and I haven’t seen one of those on a PC for years…