HP Original Cartridges

Formatter

Reliable Remanufactured Cartridges

One of the merits of the P4014 against a new printer is the low cost of good re-manufactured cartridges.

HP CB437-69002 Formatter for the HP P4014 Printer.

HP Part CB437-69002 is the formatter for the P4014 base model only - the one without the network capability.

All the other printers in the series, the P4014N, P4014DN, P4015N, P4015DN, P4015TN, P4015X, P4515N. P4515TN, P4515X and P4515XM use CB438-69002. The difference is the omission of the network circuit. At least one vendor says a P4014 can be upgraded to P4515 performance (62 ppm) by swapping the formatter and can use the bigger cartridges if the upper cartridge guide is removed from the top cover of the P4014 RM1-5250. However whether there is much practical use for this upgrade we doubt a bit. To get network connection use a JetDirect or a USB print-server instead.

The formatter is the circuit board in the right rear of the printer. The formatter cover RC2-5757(P4014) slides off and the formatter enclosure lid swings open for memory upgrades. The whole formatter enclosure is actually removable, held by two thumb screws at the rear. A connector on a bracket connects it to the DC Controller RM1-4582. The CB437-69002 is the cicuit board within the enclosure, refurb suppliers might also provide the metalwork but the part number seems to apply to the circuit board. The board has a USB square connector at one corner and the 32 way formatter to DC controller on the other. There is a large black connector for one EIO slot. Some memory in installed at the top edge of the board and nearby there is a single 144 pin DIMM slot. The board is dominated by the large Coldfire chip. Underneath the processor is a flash chip. There is a battery suggesting a real-time clock and a header for some sort of add-on. The main position for options is a USB connector for adding flash pens containg fonts, forms or special applications.

The DC controller supervises the workings of the printer, operating the motors and solenoids. The formatter is responsible for turning the print language received by the interface into the image that will be displayed on the page.

The formatter is a moderately powerful processor, a Motorola Coldfire V5e running at 500MHz. There is 96MB RAM on the base model and a 144 pin DDR2 DIMM slot.

Experience suggests the formatter is unlikely to go wrong. Like most printer processors it is not greatly under stress and it self-tests at startup. If the formatter is changed with a used replacement then the SERVICE MENU should be used to record the page count, maintenance count, serice ID and serial number of the printer.

If a new formatter is used the existing memory DIMM should be installed on the new formatter. Turn the power on and wait for 5 minutes after the printer gets to the ready state.

If there does seem to be an issue remove any expansion memory and try the printer without it. Also try removing the entire formatter and use theengine testbutton to verify that the DC controller works properly.

The formatter is designed to be replaced rather than repaired. The most likely fault is connector mis-seating either for the whole enclosure or for an accessory within it. Other possible faults are capacitor or solder failure.

The only parts likely to be involved in a problem with the formatter are the DC Controller as already suggested and perhaps the power supply RM1-4578. It may be an idea to check the voltages with a multimeter before concuding a fault is related to the formatter. Any accessories like additional memory or USB font memory plugged into the formatter might also be suspect.

HP Information

Checking HP Partsufer in August 2013 gave

CB437-69002 Formatter (main logic) board - For base model only

HP LASERJET P4515TN PRINTER
HP LaserJet P4014 Printer

... we don't think it does go in the P4515TN.

Icecat didn't give an EAN/UPC for CB437-69002 when I looked - and there had only been 3 product views.

There don't seem to be any alternate product codes or part numbers.

The CB437-69002 fits the P4014 non network version only.

Web Research

A Google query on the code CB437-69002gave About 15,200 results and a list of vendors:

Partshere no price given, Alibaba (Guangzhou Powershow)no price given, Memory4less (refurb) $551.32 discounted to $413.49, Alibaba (Guangzhou Powershow) again, AliExpress (D&H Industry) $77, Amazon (Zar systems)£189.00, Amazon product pic, Morecomputers £46 with free shipment but zero stock, Newfuser RFQ only, SLon technology $80, Sears $388, Everprint $ 288.40 USD, Lambdatek £97.85, Marketpoint no price, Ballicom £99.19 but no stock, Tradebin 12 vendors 8 claiming new product, Emprgroup (RFQ), Brookparts no price, IDNS no price, Mival 1487.99 RON, buyhpupgrades $466.00 discounted to $388.00, toner2print no price, stockinthechannel (page not found), gedat-spareparts 157,07 EUR, officekind (Guangzhou Powershow) no price, hpq-parts refurb $275.64, alibaba (Guangzhou Powershow again), markit 138.67, geminidigital (https with invalid certificate). ...

Prices noted are for a new item without tax. The list is as encountered. We haven't bothered with currency conversion - half of our readers are outside the UK and are more interested in dollar prices. But you get the general picture - page after page of catalog enties with no information beyond what HP Partsurfer or the distributor lists say.

Fitting Intructions

A replacement formatter requires use of the SERVICE menu to set information from the old formatter if possible (of course, if the old formatter died without leaving a configuration page the only things that can be set are guesses, the cold reset paper size and the serial number from inside the cartridge lid. According to the service manual a new formatter requires a 5 minute wait after power on whilst the NVRAM updates. Any DIMM from the discarded formatter might also need to be fitted - it seems that the P4014 does not have firmware on a DIMM as earlier printers did but there may be early versions that do. Changing the DC controller as well requires the formatter to be changed first. See the Service Manual section Reinstallation notes, formatter. Note that the formatter and any DIMM are electrostatically sensitive - use protective measures and at the least touch a grounded surface before touching electronic components.

If you must change the formatter get the service manual. Search online for Part number: CB506-91004 Edition 1, 8/2008. We repeat - changing the formatter is not a frequent procudedure. Problems that seem to be the formatter such as error 49 are much more likely to be bad firmware, settings or drivers than a hardware issue in the formatter.

Supply Situation

This kind of device usually has one global manufacturer ... It seems unlikely that a compatible manufacturer would attempt to make a component of this complexity and small market profile. It would be difficult to tool up and get the firmware. The presence of "Guangzhou Powershow" and other Chinese producers is a puzzle - perhaps they are stripping parts from printers but they seem to be advertising new product.

In August 2013 these parts were listed by two UK distributors neither holding any stock. That reamined true when we revisited the subject in June 2015. Parts would presumably come from HP on a 3 -7 day lead time.

No refurb parts were listed by UK distributors but they probably are obtainable from brokers.

It is possible to replace the formatter quite easily - the service manual suggests it is a user replaceable part, Users don't usually have a service manual to read the procedure. It is also quite easy to be sure a problem is formatter related - if the printer performs engine test correctly but won't respond to any ordinary print that suggests so. Nevertheless we think demand for the part will be very low.

We can provide these parts when required. New HP spares would be about £109 new in June 2015 - a bit higher than in 2013. Refurbed parts are probably available for around £60 although we found non listed in distribution at the time of writing.

Stock numbers in the UK seem to indicate there is not much call for the part. There is a puzzle about Chinese manufacturers - who one earth would gear up to make a part nobody is ever likely to need? Was there surplus product available at the time?.

Copyright G & J Huskinson & MindMachine Associates Ltd 2013, 2015. Some pictures derived from HP User and Service guides. These technical pages do not constitute an offer for sale; just our knowledge at the time of writing. See the catalogue. Sales pages on this Web site use cookies to store user information. We also use Google Analytics to track site usage patterns.