CX PARTS CATALOG

Information for
New Catalog Users

Quick Scroll

• About CX and CXD Laser Printers
• Navigating the Catalog
• Ordering and Checking Your Shopping Cart

About CX and CXD Laser Printers

The CX engine has proven itself to be a real workhorse. Canon conservatively rated the engine life for only 300,000 pages, but many have printed over a million pages and are still going strong. Of the approximately half million CX engines originally manufactured, we have no good estimates for how many are still in use. We know many were taken out of service because the controller boards were no longer compatible with modern software. Some may have been replaced because people wanted better print quality. Unfortunately, most users wrongly thought that the CX engine could not produce the good solid black areas. Actually, the problem has always been that Canon and HP never improved the toner as they could have, having standardized on a low grade of toner and drum. With a new long-life super drum and the right kind of micro-fine toner, the CX engine can produce very solid black areas with sharp edges just like the newer SX, LX, and NX engines.

Included in the group of CX engine printers are:

Apple: LaserWriter and LaserWriter Plus

Canon USA:LBP-8A1, LBP-8A2

Canon OEM: LBP-CX-VDO and LBP-CXD-VDO

Data General: Models 4557 and 4558

Federal Express: Zap Mail Printer

Hewlett-Packard: LaserJet, LaserJet Plus, LaserJet 500 Plus, LaserJet 2686TA

NCR: Model 6416

QMS: Lasergrafix 800, Lasergrafix 800 II, SmartWriter, SmartWriter 80+,
SmartWriter 8/3X, KISS, Big KISS, PS 800, PS 800+, PS 800 II, PS Jet, PS Jet+

...and other similar printers

The engine specifications are basically the same for all Canon CX and CXD printers. On the inside, what makes each CX model unique is the page formatting controller or lack thereof. Printers with internal controllers generally had a second power supply installed to provide extra current for the logic board. When this power supply was the heavy transformer-based unit designed by Canon, the printer was too heavy to ship UPS under the old regulations. Some manufacturers used small lightweight switching power supplies instead. Another common difference is the control panel. Many models have unique control panel circuit boards, but most use one of the standard LED or 7-segment displays, with only a unique membrane overlay.

Except for the Apple LaserWriter, all CX-based printers look pretty much the same from the outside. The Apple LaserWriter uses a unique cover set that is more square and box-shaped on top than the others. The colors are also pretty much the same, with the exception of the HP LaserJets, which are slightly lighter. The wildest color ever used was the plum purple produced for the Federal Express Zap mail printer, integrated by NEC.

Navigating the Catalog

• The CX Parts Catalog is one of a series of catalogs being constructed by The Printer Works at this site. The white buttons at the top of the page are links to the rest of the series or back to the Catalog Selection page.

• The orange buttons (found at top and bottom of every page) let you move about within the CX Catalog itself. Go to the Contents page, move forward or backward one page, flip two pages in either direction, get Ordering information.

• You can access any of the CX Assembly Diagrams from the Contents page. If you do not know the name of a parts assembly, but you do know where it is in the printer, try the Assembly Location Diagrams. Warning: these diagrams may take a long time to download the first time.

• Each Diagram Page contains a graphic representation of the assembly and a table of part numbers, descriptions, and compatibility. Many also contain pertinent information about the various printer models, which is found below the parts table. Note: Some of the diagrams are large and take a while to download the first time.

• In every Parts Table, you can select any part number to learn the item's price, whether there are compatible alternates available, and for an opportunity to place the item in your electronic "shopping cart".

• Access a Text Only version of this catalog, including parts tables, by using the buttons at top and bottom of this Welcome page, from the Table of Contents, or from the Parts Table heading on each Diagram page.

• You can always return to our Home Page by selecting the blue and white logo at the top of any page.

Need more input? Click on the button to the left. Our Help page covers everything from what the buttons are are for to tips on searching.

Ordering and Checking Your Shopping Cart

Clicking on the colored Ordering Info/Policies button at the top and bottom of any catalog page gives you a page containing detailed information on how The Printer Works handles on-line orders. The Ordering Information page also contains a shopping cart link you can use to check your current order if you have been shopping. The shopping cart checker link also appears on catalog Contents pages, on the Current Specials page, and on pages that are generated during the ordering process.

The catalog pages are best viewed with Netscape 4.x.
Note: Some of the diagrams are large and take awhile to download the first time.
You can also select a TEXT ONLY version.