Fax/Printer Tip Archives
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1220c DeskJet
Problem:  Wont feed out of tray.
Solution: I found that the idler gear on this system would get sticky. The print head is what actuates this idler gear and it looks like a timing problem. The way to know this is the problem without taking it apart is you will see the tray never lifts up to feed the paper. A little spray of WD-40 will free it up and feeds like a charm. You can find this idler gear on the left side of the printer. To remove the covers, start with the two-torx screws on the top; remove the left cover after the screws are removed. It gets a little tricky because HP has put a lot of snap tabs on the inside. You may have to remove the back cover first. Once the covers are off, just a squirt of oil on and around the idler gear will solve the problem   

3si, 4si - Jamming at fuser entrance guide
Upon finding toner buildup on the fuser entrance guide, inspect testpage to see if the lead edge registration is at least 3-4 mm away from the lead edge of the paper.  If not, check the clear rubber (now yellowed probably) 'bumpers' that are on both ends of the beam-to drum mirror behind the cartridge.  They will become compressed out of shape over time and cause the mirror angle to shift, thus altering the registration.  These 'bumpers' are C-shaped (w/square corners) and are glued to the mirror housing.   Remove the old bumpers and install thin cork replacements of approximately the same width and this should bring the registration back to normal.  This keeps toner from scattering onto the fuser entrance plate, which will build up and cause the jamming.

Laserjet 6P
If the jam light stays on and there is no jam in the unit check for a
sticky paper jam sensor in the fuser section.

3si/4si jamming
On the HP3si (and 4si) the jamming at the reg. assembly can be corrected. The jamming often occurs not only on the rebound from a duplex, but also often from a feed from the lower cassette. To correct the problem, first remove the reg. assembly. The optical sensor directly under the reg. assembly is mounted on a metal plate (about2" x 2").   With a solid screwdriver, GENTLY bend the plate downward or upward VERY slightly. Put the reg. assembly back in (without screws or with two screws), and try it out. Print repeatedly from lower tray. If it doesn't work, retry the adjustment; It will usually work.  Jamming only from the duplex could also be caused by a dirty re-feed assembly. Clean with Fedron (tm) or replace. To get to the refeed assembly, the main input assembly must be removed. The refeed will be then be readily visible.

6L
Problem: DC Controller Problem
Along the same lines, press the long button at the bottom of the idiot lines, and after the lights dance, one remains on, usually the top one. This indicates dc controller problem. Unplug the cables from their various outside location (after you remove the printer covers, of course) start at the top (laser scanner motor, etc). It should work, if it does not, once again whip out the credit card. But do make sure the cables are marked with masking tape.

6L
PRINTER STICKS IN SLEEP MODE
Since this printer goes into a sleep mode when not in use, but all of a sudden it does not respond and when you press the button at the bottom of the idiot lights, remove the covers, remove the various cables and reseat them. To make it easy, and before you get your stubby fingers to remove the cables from the control board, try this: Remove the cables from the various components (laser scanning assembly, control panel, heating assembly, etc) and reseat them. This saves getting a new and expensive dc controller. If this reseating does not work, THEN whip out the credit card, but make sure you label all the cables with masking tape.

Cleaning and Clogs

Clean the sensor strip with Windex that has ammonia in it. Also use on the ink cartridge to help break up clogged ones. Spray it on a rag and wipe the cartridge underside with it. Works great on getting old ink off case. Make sure it has ammonia in it and the old ink will just run off.

All HP SI Series
Duplex Jams
The  units run fine out of the cassettes but when duplexing there is intermittant jamming at the registration rollers.  Problem is the registration switch actuator wearing down.  The angle the paper comes in from the duplexer makes the paper miss the actuator and creates the jam.  Paper comes in at a differant angle from cassettes and the jamming does not occur. 

ALL HP PPF
Poor copies and TX faxes, optics check clean. Clean the white strip of plastic opposte the contact glass under the doc feed cover.

INKJETS

CLICKING NOISE
If the printer is making a clicking noise while printing sometimes the printer will still work and other times it will stop and flash all lights at you. One of the way to fix the problem is oil the slide bar. DONT wipe bar clean.

OUT OF INK
Plain water or Spit are safer cleaners for ink cartridges and detector circuit arrays. Alcohol will eat away the adhesives and also some of the metal. Also, if clogged cartridge is a refill, replace cartridge. Don't waste your time, you'll be back shortly. (Large sheets of old ink settle at nozzle.)

OUT OF INK MESSAGE
If you look into the head cleaner unit right where the ink sensor is... there is often a stalagmite looking build up of ink. It grows taller and taller untill it blocks the ink sensor. Simply break it free and trow the little 'ink stick' away.

CLOGGED CARTRIDGES
If you have alot of problems with cartridges getting clogged,normally it,s from lack of use .What you can do is make a copy of something every day or two or if you have a fax modem tell your customer to program their computer to send a test page to it daily.

CLOGGED CARTRIDGES
Many times you can unclog an inkjet simply by standing it up on a wet cotton ball overnight. This loosens the clog. Dry the print head off with a lint free cloth before re-inserting into machine.

INK TEST
To turn off the ink test: Enter service mode #1. Enter the function
parameter # (063) and press start. Enter 1 to turn off, 2 to turn on.
Press start to store selection. Press stop to exit.

300
PRINT QUALITY
IF THE TOP AND BOTTOM HALVES OF LETTERS DO NOT LINE UP,  CLEAN THE PLASTIN STRIP THAT THE PRINTER BOX TRAVELS ALONG WITH PLAIN WATER.  ALSO, DISASSEMBLE THE PRINTER BOX AND CLEAN THE OPTICAL DEVICE THAT THE BAND PASSES THROUGH WITH WATER FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY WITH AN ELECTRONIC CLEANER THAT DISPERSES WATER AND DRIES QUICKLY.  ALSO, WIPE CLEAN WITH WATER THE FACE OF THE CIRCUIT STRIP THAT THE INK CARTRIDGE CONTACTS. BE CAREFUL WHEN DISASSEMBLING THIS BOX, CERTAIN PARTS THAT SNAP IN AND OUT LOSE THEIR SPRING TENSION AND ACTUALLY BECOME BRITTLE FROM THE INK.

Hp Officejet 300 Series And 500 Series.
If you get error codes and trouble with cartridge carrier, clean encoder strip with water.  If it still persists, replace.

HP Fax 300, 900 series
PARTS
These faxes can be almost impossible to get parts for. You can get most common parts from Panasonic, as they market these machine with cosmetic changes. I get my Panasonic parts from Matsushita, the parent company of Panasonic.

HP Fax 900.
Error 316. Yes, encoder strip requires cleaning, as head does not completely return to home position. If print is slanted (Usually to the right) then it is an indication of the encoder not being read properly. Remove the flex cable from the head and clean the sensor at the end of the flex cable. If still have problem fit Panasonic Flex Cable Repair Kit, Part no C2144-67930. This contains all parts to CURE the fault.

Fax 900
ERROR 316
To cure error 316 and other print-related failures, try cleaning the encoder strip. Also remove the plastic diaper cup located under the inkjet's home position and clean ink buildup off the sensor and board on the left side of the diaper cup. Often the diaper cup does not exhibit an unusual buildup of ink, but you have to get the cup out of the way to see a small circuit board behind it that apparently shorts out if covered with ink.

900 / 950
OUT OF INK
Problem: Out of Ink being displayed on screen after self test.
Solution: Check ink cartridge. If problem continues. Remove ink detect sensor board and clean it with alcohol and with a toothbrush. I recommend putting the board in a bath of alcohol overnight. The next morning all the ink has been removed from the board. Use the air compressor to dry the board.

NOT FEEDING DOCUMENT
Solution: Replace spring clutch on main roller assy. All it is a spring that has broken in half. The spring can be purchase at any Panasonic dealer that is willing to sell it to you.

1150C - Paper jam.
If office jet does not respond to reset when client attempts to remove paper jam, remove top cover, remove the platen by using #20 torx and remove the left side cover.  You will see the black actuator clutch.  Move it slightly to the left, power on printer, depress the cover detect switch (small piece of plastic).   Printer will then recover and go into warm up stage; easy money, charge one hour labor. Run test copies to show client - you will be a sweetie. Sending it to hp will cost client shipping and time.

4050N - Black Squares on LED Panel
When turning on printer - LED intermittently goes blank with black squares (in place of the numeric output) on screen. LED may be half black squares and half blank.  Printer may or may not print out POST or Internal reports.    Check the output to LED display from the FORMATTER BOARD.   Although the problem may simulate a power output problem, or CONTROL PANEL problem - the FORMATTER BOARD needs to be replaced.

HP LX engine based machines(HP-IIp,IIIp,Canon L-700 laser faxes.)
Problem: Constant jamming at the drum-transfer roller area. 
Solution: Replace the cartridge drive unit(its the clutch thing on the right side), part # RG1-1777.

LJ 2 and 3

Printing a Status page on the HPLJ II and III

To print a status page on a HPLJ II and III:

Run a 05 SELF TEST by taking the printer offline and then holding down the PRINT FONTS/TEST key (about three seconds) until 05 SELF TEST is displayed. After the self test finishes, the status page will print.

HP 2&3 Paper Control PCA repair.
When the foam pad on the feed solenoid rots away the prints begin to run off the page. Instead of buying new boards, get a roll of 3M double-sided tape at your hardware store. They have a 1/4" wide roll. Cut a narrow piece and place it on the solenoid so that the metal clapper sticks it near the end. This restores the boards and will not fall out!  

II /III
SERVICE CODE 50
For service code 50 that is not a thermal fuse, lamp etc. Try replacing the triac (transistor) in the AC power supply. (the box where the power cord plugs in). It is a $6.00 item at the electronics store and cheaper than replacing the whole power supply.

A code 50 on the HP II's & III's takes about 20 minutes with the printer turned off to clear.  Rather than wait, remove the bottom cover exposing the DC controller and short out capacitor C211 near the bottom of the board to clear the error code.  I use the tip of my pocket knife.

LaserJet III / II error code 50
For HP LaserJet III / II who display error code 50 fuser malfunction, this is the tip:   Change two condensators from PCB, which is in contact command board for fuser lamp.  There are two little condensators who lose their capacities in time. These condensators command the relay that is inline with fuser lamp.    This tip is verified and checked for this type of printers, and for another type of printers who display fuser malfunction, check the cons from fuser PCB.

HP II/III Print too low on the page (running off bottom of page)
This is usually caused by sticky pads on the paper control PCB solenoid that is visible by the registration assy. clutch when you look into the printer.   Ozone has dissolved the pads.  You can replace the PCB for $25 and half an hour to pull the DC power supply... OR you can just jam a pinch of cotton from a swab down where the pad on the solenoid has turned to goo.  I use about 1/4 the cotton of one end of a regular Q-tip.  If you use too much, the solenoid can't function. This takes about 15 seconds and seems to be a lasting fix.

HP SERIES II/III  Paper jams and envelopes not feeding 
First change separation pad and feed wheels assembly,  same with iid and iiid.  Bottom tray feed wheel assembly comes out of right side frame, 3 screw and 2p connector.

IIP, IIIP
ERROR 52
This is usually caused by the scanner motor assembly. An IC chip on the scanner motor board burns up and the motor assembly must be replaced. The part number is RG1-1771-030.

HP 4J LP
Service code 55
replace the scanner motor assy 99 times out of 100

HP Laserjets
If you encounter a "50 SERVICE" code and the thermistor, thermal fuse and fuser lamp all test O.K. - Replace the A.C. power supply.

Office Jets
RX TROUBLE
If the HP-OfficeJet is having trouble receiving faxes, remove the modem from the bottom of the machine and plug it back in.

MISCELLANEOUS
Problem: Paper jams, loud grinding sound,or ink cartridge assy will slam again leftside of unit.
Solution: Clean the encoder strip. If that don't correct problem check gear assy on left side of unit. There is a clear gear that breaks. Good luck in getting one from HP.


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