HP LASERJET PRINTER FUSER ERROR | 50 Fuser Error

The Fusing Assembly is a vital component of the HP Laserjet printer. The HP Laserjet Printer relies on the fuser assembly which is mainly a heated roller that bonds the toner to the paper with heat. The HP Laserjet fusing assembly consists of one heated roller and a pressure roller. The pressure roller will press up the paper against the heated roller.

The printer will produce an image on a sheet of paper with static electricity. The toner (image) is floating on the paper and during the final step in the printing process, the paper will pass through the fusing assembly bonding the toner to the sheet of paper.

Fusing Assembly Sleeve and Roller
In the course of the Fixing Assembly melting operations, the media is pulled through the fusing assembly. One of the rollers (heating roller) is extremely hot and melts the toner powder onto the media. The heating roller is often made of aluminum with an outer Teflon coating or alternative non-stick material. As time goes by the heating roller will wear down and require replacing. One of the most seen problems is the outer coating of the heating roller will come apart for the Aluminum inner tubing. The other roller within the fuser assembly is known as the Pressure Roller. This is commonly a solid tube with a rubber coating. The fuser assembly is sold separately as an assembly by HP and is also usually included in the HP Laserjet printer maintenance kit. The fuser assembly will melt the toner powder, binding the powder to the media. There is a thermostat built within the Fusing unit that will verify the unit will not exceed a specified temperature.

Heating Lamp
The heating roller is tubular and will have inside a meal heating element that heats up to a specific temperature. The melting point for toner powder (particles) is typically 482 degrees.

The following error codes are temperature related for the HP Laserjet printer.
50.1 Fuser Error (Thermistor 2)
50.2F Warm up failure
50.3 Fuser high-temperature error
50.4 Fuser Error (Thermistor 1)
50.8 Fuser Error Low Temperature (Thermistor 2)
50.9 Fuser High-Temperature error (Thermistor 2) Thermistor

The HP Laserjet Fuser will usually have two thermistors built into the fusing assembly. Each thermistor controls the heat within the fusing unit. When the specified temperature is achieved, each thermistor will send a signal to the heating element to turn off the heat. If the fuser assembly fails to achieve the specified temperature the fuser will display a 50.x error. Thermostat A Thermostat is built into the fuser assembly that will not allow the fuser to overheat. Electrostatic strip At the exit area of the fuser assembly will be a metal strip with metallic tassels to discharge electrical status from the media upon exiting the fixing assembly.

Often time hints the fuser is failing, are frequent fuser paper jams and poor print quality (PPQ). You will see noticeable smudges along the edges of the media. Smudges are signs the fuser is not reaching the proper temperatures to bond the toner to the paper properly. Frequent, paper jamming is also a sign the media is not aligning correctly through the fuser assembly, and the rollers are deteriorating meaning the fuser needs replacing. If the printer is displaying a 50.x fuser error is another sign the fuser is failing and would need to be replaced.