HP ColorLaserJet 8550N, tricking a drum?

[dmrivet]

So my boss installs a used drum on his HP ColorLaserJet 8550N, which it says the drum life is out. He got it used (yeah..) and told me i had better find a way to trick the printer.

My thought is.. it's an HP... more less its a printer, it will automatically just do its thing... I've been surprised before. Maybe its not really out? Anyone out there have any suggestions or opinions on what to tell him? Thanks, users.

[UnlimitedBT]

Man, you're in the wrong forum. Try Copytechnet.com or Smarka.com
I fix this things for a living, besides printing but this particular printer is soooooooooo old, Last time I had to touch one of these was like 4 years ago and even than it was considered to be a dinosaur. Well lets see if I can help you... This machine is pre-chip era. I think the way machine knows that drum is expired is when Waist toner container is full. It has Photo-pair (transmitter+receiver) on the frame and clear plastic window on the drum. When light stop passing trough because waist toner is full machine assumes Drum is done.
The way to reset it is to clear the window or push the sensor away so it does not look trough that window. Or best idea is to get a brand new one from Ebay - they must be dirt cheap these days.