Your printer won't pick up paper....

[D2Cat]

I have an HP printer that suddenly quit picking up the paper. Kept saying it was out of paper, and it had a stack of 1/2" of paper.

Figured it's time for a new one, but because I'm (a boy) I had to start digging into it to see how it was made and how it might be made into something before it got thrown away.

Found this YouTube video. He explains where the problem is, and shows the simple remedy. Way too simple and probably caused to many printers to be trashed, I'm sure. Just take a quick look (at about 1 min. mark) and when your printer gives up, you might be able to get it going again. One dot of 5 min. epoxy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n5Fwn4hwik

 

[sheepfarmer]

Thanks D2 I have spent a lot of time in the past trying to clean rollers on old printer. Don't remember what happened to it in the end.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Thanks Len!

My HP inkjet is 13 years old and when it goes, I am thinking about going simple laser B&W.

 

[Yooper]

You gotta thank the people who take the time to post these solutions! They have saved me time and money more than once.

 

[D2Cat]

I want to keep the old HP working because I can refill the cartridges easily, quickly and inexpensively. $25 of ink will last me years!

Are their new printers that allow the cartridges to be filled?

 

[Russell King]

There are printers called ink tank printers (Epson Eco Tank for example) that are refillable


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Len,

I am like you. I have been refilling cartridges on this old HP for years. Third party companies make printer tanks for some models that eliminate the standard cartridge and replace it with exterior tanks and a series of hoses to get the ink to the print heads.

I am waiting for regular old tanks the size of printer cartridges that are built into the machine. Problem is, the printer companies make most of their money on replacement cartridges. And, for designs like the HP, the actual print head is part of the cartridge. I had a print head fail on an old Canon (that I still have) and the four color head was as much as the printer. Thankfully, it failed right before the warranty expired.

 

[100 td]

It's unfortunate that the manufacturers are getting better at foiling attempts to get longevity and cheap use from their products.
I used to buy wholesale aftermarket replacement ink cartridges and distribute them to a small farming community 25 years ago, before the availability of ebay etc. Back then I had Epson 740, 1160 and others, and I have continued using epson since, buying printers just before, or as they are superceded so that the aftermarket suppliers have had time to make cheap ink for them. The manufacturer is now changing the chips on cartridges even in the same model line to stop the use of aftermarket cartridges. I currently have 3 epsons all using aftermarket, one is 9 years old. The additional thing now is that they are incorporating the waste ink counter pads into the software so that you can't change/reset the ink counter yourself, you have to take to a service agent and pay for the reset and pads, more than a new printer. There are some cracks and hacks online for around $10 to get past this, but I think it's disgraceful that they do this. I have been paying $2 per cartridge delivered for the last 10 years, had I paid the epson price of up to $30 per cartridge, I'd be broke. A blatant ripoff when you buy a printer for $40 and it costs $120 to put 80mls of ink in it!
I had a fantastic little canon printer years ago, it broke the paper pickup drive mechanism, I pulled it apart to find out why, when it ran out of paper, the rubber pickup roller would bind on the tray base exerting huge strain on the mechanism and would break it, a poor design, best don't let your paper run out! I think this could apply to some printers today, so keep your trays full folks, just in case!

 

[Borderdec]

Yeah, it's unfortunate. My Brother printer has stopped working after 2 years of exploitation. The attempts to repair it failed and I can't even return the money because the warranty has already ended. Sick. The problem was with ink cartridges, but the replacement costs a lot of money. It's better to buy a new printer. I've found at https://www.mrdepot.ca/products/samsung-ML-2165-toner some info about Samsung ML toner and printer, that were highly recommended by my friend. I'm going to have a look at them, but not sure if I want to mess with printers any longer, lol.

 

[mikester]

There is something wrong when it's cheaper to buy a new printer than to replace the ink.

Replace 4 ink cartridges for color laser printer $400+
Brand new color laser printer $180 delivered

 

[D2Cat]

There is something wrong when it's cheaper to buy a new printer than to replace the ink.

Replace 4 ink cartridges for color laser printer $400+
Brand new color laser printer $180 delivered

Yep, pretty much been that way for a long time. Kodak would sell the camera so cheap you'd thing you couldn't go wrong. Then you had to buy THEIR film forever.

 

[johnjk]

Lots of good tips online to check before you trash old electronics. I have an old HP Photosmart 6520 that rarely got used pre Rona. When I did go to use it, print heads were clogged up. In the past I’d Chuck and buy new. Found a good print head cleaning kit on Amazon and tried that route. Called Best Printers. Put a few drops on the head and let it soak through. Had to do two or three treatments but it works great now. Have to have color for the wife so a simple laser printer is out. Also get 3rd party cartridges from Sotek that are cartridge chip compatible. Prints great and four XL cartridges are less than one HP black cartridge. Worst case when you install the printer says unsupported ink cartridge. Click OK and it works.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I've never liked inkjets since they came out, though I made a lot of money fixing them, prefer DMP and LASERs. HP 4's were/are virtually indestructable, easily get 600-750,000 prints from them. Got a 5 in the basement ,coming up 550,000. I have no need for colour,even my 'all-in-one' machine is just a B&W LASER