I told people to skip the manual for 10 years, then a Tuesday night HP printer changed my mind

Mark Gonzalez · 2026-09-10T07:00:06.316101+00:00

For about 10 years I have been telling everyone the same thing: skip the manual, just figure it out, you'll learn faster. Last Tuesday around 2am I was fixing an HP LaserJet at a small clinic here in Fresno and it kept throwing a 59.F0 error, which is a fuser motor jam. I had already pulled the fuser, checked the gears, swapped the motor, nothing. Then I finally opened the service manual and there it was on page 340, the error is usually caused by a worn swing plate assembly, not the motor. I felt like a dummy. Ten years of telling people to ignore the docs, and the docs would have saved me 3 hours at 2am. I still think you learn a lot by digging in yourself, but now I tell the newer techs to skim the manual first, then dig. The clinic manager said she was glad it was quiet so I could work, but honestly I would have been less grumpy at home. Anyone here ever flip hard on the manual thing after one bad job, or are you still team no-docs?

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I told people to skip the manual for 10 years, then a Tuesday night HP printer changed my mind | Computer Technicians - Discusd