HP LaserJet 4200n - Check Printer

[M94]

Hey guys long time no see, I've been a bit busy lately. But I finally got another callout and I think I'm basically on top of it but I wanted to check myself just to make sure and reinforce or deter my habits as necessary.

That being said this is fairly straightforward I think, the HP printer that's in the title is what the customer has been using to print checks for a very long time. It has a smear strip along the left edge that's rough to the touch and in my mind that pretty clearly indicates the fuser. They are also looking to replace this device soon as it's a fairly old device and while onsite I mentioned that there's enough unpleasant noise coming from it's guts that needing more work done soon is a strong possibility.

So this boils down to two questions;
1) Am I on track with assuming that the fuser is the likely culprit? (scan of test linked at bottom)
2) Since I'm going to be trying to pitch a Kyocera replacement where do I find out if they can use MICR toner? I hadn't thought of it before but I don't ever remember seeing that listed on the spec pages of various MFPs

Thank you guys in advance for the help\suggestions. I don't know what I'd do without you guys, I so desperately wish I had an experienced tech nearby I could be learning from

Test Page

[FrohnB]

People LOVE these machines.
Yes, most likely a fuser. Have you tried a different print cartridge? Those are the only 2 things that would leave something like that.
Have you taken the fuser out and inspected it? Pretty easy to get to.
We've had many customers who are on their 3rd or 4th or 5th fuser drive gear assemblies, and other various innards. Machines that have gone WAY over their expected lifetime, but still run well, and the customers refuse to give up on them!

I don't think those MICR cartridges are recommended for ANY printer, but I've seen people run them in Lexmarks, HP's, and Brother printers. I would assume somebody makes those cartridges for kyocera. Where do you or the customer get the cartridges for their current machine?
Not a fan of MICR's!

[M94]

People LOVE these machines.
Yes, most likely a fuser. Have you tried a different print cartridge? Those are the only 2 things that would leave something like that.
Have you taken the fuser out and inspected it? Pretty easy to get to.
We've had many customers who are on their 3rd or 4th or 5th fuser drive gear assemblies, and other various innards. Machines that have gone WAY over their expected lifetime, but still run well, and the customers refuse to give up on them!

I don't think those MICR cartridges are recommended for ANY printer, but I've seen people run them in Lexmarks, HP's, and Brother printers. I would assume somebody makes those cartridges for kyocera. Where do you or the customer get the cartridges for their current machine?
Not a fan of MICR's!

The customer informed me that they had just replaced the cartridge recently with no change to behavior, so if those are my two most likely I'm thinking fuser is a safe bet. I should have pulled it out and inspected it but customer couldn't figure out printer model before I headed in there and I don't like guessing my way through a disassembly with hovering clients. Granted fusers are usually so basic I probably should have just gone for it.

I didn't realize they were just aftermarket cartridges... I guess I figured that had to be a common enough use case that manufacturer's would support it. That makes this less pleasant, because if I set them up with a contract or something anything caused by those carts wouldn't be covered. Anyone know if there's an OEM solution for the MICR stuff?

[M94]

For anyone else that finds this thread looking for authorized solutions the only one I can find is Troy Group. They are partnered with HP and sell printers that have been modified with additional security features as well as the correct fonts for MICR. Only one I could find that doesn't void HP's warranty with the use of their MICR toner. They are marked up healthily so you will spend 2x to 3x as much on one of their devices but for the sake of keeping the whole process as above board and clean as possible they appear to be the only real option. Their customer service rep was also very forthcoming and transparent with me which I always appreciate from a company. They also have their own onsite service with the printers which they even claim extends to Alaska, although I don't necessarily trust that until I see it.