HP Laserjet bumper sticker remover

Something just crossed my mind... Is it possible that the adhesives in the stickers attacked the ABS? That might explain why Goo-Gone doesn't work.

Paintball goo yields to boiling water from a kettle.

That would probably damage the "textured" plastic finish. Sandblasting soft materials, like plastic, causes the sand to imbed itself into the material. I learned this the hard way when I tried to sandblast a brass welding torch. The sand is now a permanent part of the handle.

Well, I have a Paasche air brush. Looks exactly like mine, except it has a sand bin attached. I really don't want to run sand or glass beads through the tiny nozzle. It also seems like it would take several hours to do the job and probably won't remove the rubber goo. My guess(tm) is that it will simply mix some sand into the rubber surface goo, without actually removing anything.

Yep.

That's because most of the paintball goo is fish oil, glycerine, and wax, all of which will melt nicely at fairly low temperatures. The stuff I'm dealing with is probably a permanent pressure sensitive adhesive, possibly self vulcanizing rubber plus an accelerator, which is why it seems to be insoluble. Breaking cross link vulcanization bonds is not easy. It's much like trying to remove RTV with solvents, which won't work.

Could you take it to a commercial blaster? Any of several techniques might work: bead blasting, bicarbonate blasting, CO2 pellet blasting. These ought not to leave a residue, and I'd think that bead blasting could reproduce a consistent surface texture across the exterior.

Good grief, no indeed! The air eraser is airbrush-like in its operation but the nozzle has a carbide throat and a larger opening.

Hmmmm... maybe use some freeze-it spray to harden the goo?

If the adhesive has chemically bonded to the underlying plastic, your only option may be to just prime / sand / prime / repaint. There are crafty tricks with sponges (black anti-static foam may be just right ;-) to get a textured surface.

Well, then ... ... get a handful of bumper stickers that appeal to _you_ and slap'em on. :-)

Jonesy

Contact paper. I bet they still make fake woodgrain.

My suggestion: take off the case parts, drape with paper towels or rags and drizzle with soybean oil. Let soak for a while (a couple of hours, depending on how stiff the glue is). Wipe off the softened gunk. Then wash the parts with dish soap. Repeat...

Yea, we eat the stuff.

Mark Zenier snipped-for-privacy@eskimo.com Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

I would put money on using naptha, it doesn't seem to affect most plastics and dissolves almost all sticky ceMent residues. I USE IT FOR EVERYTHING.

It's probably residue from a sticker that they put on demo units in the retail stores. The sticker lists the features of the printer, and maybe the price. I have a Laserjet 8100 in the office that has leftovers from the demo sticker that I have not been able to remove for years. The coverage isn't nearly as great as that on your printer, and it's out of the way, so nobody cares.

Over the years, the glue seemed to dry out and is now almost a powder, but even the usual solvents won't break it. There are a few deep scratches from someone trying to scrape the residue off.

Since this is a REPAIR group, you could actually replace the plastic exterior pieces. You can find a comprehensive selection at PARTSNOW.COM. I have ordered many internal parts and some cosmetic pieces from them over the years.

Thanks.

Remove the BALONEY from my email address.

----------------------------------------------------- Matthew Fries Minneapolis, MN USA snipped-for-privacy@baloneyvisi.com

"Quit eating all my *STUFF*!" - The Tick

Nope. This printer has printed 160,000 pages. That must have been a really long term demo. Judging by what little was left of the actual label, it was probably a vinyl bumper sticker or multiple smaller stickers.

I've seen those on inkjets, laptops, and desktops. The stickers are little better than graffiti. Many stickers seem to use some form of "permanent" glue.

I've also seen the same thing with some labels. The glue turns to dust and the label falls off. However, the residue left on the printer is difficult or impossible to remove.

I buy most of my printer parts either on eBay or from Printerworks. In this case, the top cover is $33.

Seems expensive, but I may do that if I can't get the crud off.

I didn't work on the printer today as I was doing service calls.

That's Coleman camp fuel or white gas. Possibly a bad idea for ABS.

Chemical Compatibility Database

Select "ABS plastic" in the left column. Select "Naptha" in the right column. Click on "See Results" The results say that it's a bad idea.

Another ABS chemical compatibility chart at:

says that naptha is ok when cool (20C), but will severely attack ABS when hot (60C).

I could do that, but I would need to blast all the covers in order to make the surface finish match. There are also some smooth surfaces involved, which would need to be masked. I don't know the price of sandblasting, but I suspect it might approach the cost of replacement.

I have a small sandblaster kit and air compressor. I've done plenty of metal parts, but have never tried plastic. I'll see if I can find some to sacrifice. Unfortunately, all I have handy is some fairly coarse hard sand.

isn't naptha lighter fluid from a smoke shop?

After reading this thread, I'm inclined to feel that nothing can be done. Specifically, the adhesives have so deeply attacked and/or bonded with the styrene component of the ABS, that Nothing Can Be Done.

You can get a 4M cheap. Mine is 20+ years old and still running fine. It's not as fast as newer machines, but the quality is impeccable. You should see the way it prints the eensy-teensy text on Disney discount coupons. And it's PostScript, which means that finding a usable driver is no problem.

Ye of little faith. I think it's cleanable because I've cleaned similar sticky rubberish goo from plastic in the past, without much difficulty. The difference here is that the plastic surface is textured, and seems to be trapping the goo. Cleaning a textured surface is a problem that I see all too often. However, my quest for the ultimate solvent may be futile. What I probably should be looking for is a better technique or tools. I'll be investigating brushes, rags, microfiber, mild heating, and such today. I think the various label remover products are adequate.

The LJ 4m is ancient. It's basically a repackaged LaserJet 4. 8ppm is much too slow for my customers. The 2300 is 24 ppm and starts printing about 8 seconds from standby. The 2300d will print on both sides of the page at 1200dpi (with the PCL6 driver). It also does Postscript 3. However, these are not why my customers buy my rebuilt

Typical cost for a 2300d from eBay is $100. I replace all the rubber parts for $15. A clone 10A 6000 page toner cart is about $25. Jetdirect network card is $10-$50 depending on type. 128MB additional RAM for $10. Total expense is usually about $150. I usually spend about an hour cleaning it. Time to retire the LJ 4m.

Jeff Liebermann wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

what may happen is that the goo may act as a stencil,and you end up etching all around the goo.

I wonder if you used the mineral spirits or GooGone with a plastic fiber pad or "pot scrubber" and some elbow grease,if that would take the goo off.

or maybe it has to be "hot tanked"; soaked in a tank of heated solvent.Maybe the stuff auto shops use to clean auto parts.....

he

's

see

it's

stick with the STIFF toothbrushes, they have rounded bristles and don't seem to scratch much