The main goal of the teardown is 2-fold. First: to remove anything we don’t need so we have space to mod stuff. Second: fire prevention. Laser printers have many high-heat-generating surfaces in them capable of acting as an ignition source (as my friend learned the hard way – a $600 mistake… ouch). The best practice is to remove ALL non essential parts if possible. So we started with the basics. We have removed the rear access panel and fuser in the printer. The fuser is where the toner is bonded to the paper. This occurs under high heat. If fine paper pieces were able to accumulate, there would be a fire for sure.

Next up, we will be removing the side panels from the unit. There are a few components to locate and remove: any form of computer processing unit, power supplies, and in this case the stepped motors, as they would be impractical to get running independently on a budget. Items we want to watch for and keep are items like relays and solenoids. Our printer has 3 solenoids, but other printer’s only one. This part is the most important item to keep intact to make this project work.

Next is the other side of the printer. This side is where the active cooling (oxygen providing) solution to the printer can be found, as well as the connections and high voltage contact points for the toner cartridge. Remove these items also.

By removing the top we can dig in further and find the laser unit as well as more wiring that needs to be removed. The toner cartridge should be removed at this point if you haven’t done so already. Now with this printer, the toner cartridge actually contains a feed roller that is critical to our solution, so we will be saving the toner cartridge and replacing it in the printer/shredder before operating it.

With the toner cartridge and laser unit removed you can see just how much room we have in this printer for tinkering. Remove all circuit boards and wires so there is no chance of them falling into the feeder. While watching this item cannibalize itself might sound super fun, it turns out that it's not very safe or cost effective in the long run.

Remove all the fans, circuit boards and wires as well from the side panels of the printer. Remove the main processor unit for the printer and all associated wiring as well. Finally, replace the top cover and side panel on the side with no motors under them, and be sure to screw them down.