Printing Letterhead On Laser Printer ?

Q: We had a fuser go early (burned on image in the middle of the drum) on an HP LaserJet 8100 at only 90,000 pages. I was told by one tech person that printing on letterhead paper is the likely cause and that we should make sure we have letterhead designed for laser printers. I really don't think this is the cause as we don't print much on letterhead (maybe 5 pages/week) and printing to an HP5 on letterhead has never caused this premature failure of the fuser. I have never heard of this paper issue and would appreciate and feedback by someone that has experience with this issue.

A: -The usual issue with pre-printed papers in a laser (or copier for that matter) is that the paper itself will warp (causing jams) or shed (creating a LOT of paper dust). I can see how use of the wrong ink (like one of the new rubber-based inks), especially on

a tight weave paper or a coated (glossy) stock could create problems with the drum. I have to say though, that in 13 years experience in the printing industry, I have never seen an Ink trash a laser printer. Paper? Sure, but not in the way you describe. -More plausible causes for fuser failure can be attributed to: (a) Bad luck; (b) No maintenance or clean-up with toner replacement; (c) Extremely heavy and constant use; (c) Poor ventilation to dissipate heat, among others. The only other causes for fuser failure, to my knowedge, is poor paper quality resulting in tearing of the teflon coating *and* copying to transparencies which are not suited for a laser printer.