HP 3820 problems

[Thomas Johnson]

Am rather frustrated trying to fix an HP deskjet 3820 printer. It has
printed nice pictures for almost two years with my XP system but it has been
acting up for two days. At first it complained that the carriage could not
move freely. But when restarted, the carriage moves freely back and forth
and a page is fed through the spindles. An empty black cartridge was
replaced; the USB cord was replaced; the software was removed and
reinstalled twice; the connectors above the ink cartridges appear to be
intact (a problems I found at HP FAQ site); the power plug was removed - no
burn marks - and reinstated; and the inside has been cleaned and there are
no broken parts or cables.

The two bottom lights flash continuously and the unit does not want to
print, although it will run a piece of paper through when turned on. It
will not do a test print, but it will run a piece of paper through and move
the carriage back and forth. No printing.

Any ideas are appreciated. Thanks,
Tom

 

[Trevor Pavitt]

Am rather frustrated trying to fix an HP deskjet 3820 printer. It has
printed nice pictures for almost two years with my XP system but it has been
acting up for two days. At first it complained that the carriage could not
move freely. But when restarted, the carriage moves freely back and forth
and a page is fed through the spindles. An empty black cartridge was
replaced; the USB cord was replaced; the software was removed and
reinstalled twice; the connectors above the ink cartridges appear to be
intact (a problems I found at HP FAQ site); the power plug was removed - no
burn marks - and reinstated; and the inside has been cleaned and there are
no broken parts or cables.

The two bottom lights flash continuously and the unit does not want to
print, although it will run a piece of paper through when turned on. It
will not do a test print, but it will run a piece of paper through and move
the carriage back and forth. No printing.

Any ideas are appreciated. Thanks,
Tom

I'm having exactly the same problem with my 3822 and, like Tom, would
welcome any suggestions as I have just spent over 50 ukp on new cartridges!

 

[ogye]

Hi, i'm having the same symptoms with the same printer... a guy in the
UK some time ago offered the solution to fix this type of printers.

"95% of all genuine faults with this printer are caused by the failure
of a small cog in the ink cartridge service unit.
The purpose of the cog is to connect the service unit, which cleans
the printheads, to the paper feed drive hence avoiding the need for
an extra service unit motor."

This should be the problem, since there are no spare parts for the
printer, the solution would be to re-manufacture the cog...

However i did'nt get to dissassemble the printer so i'm waiting any
suggestions...

Solution was offered at http://fixmybrokenprinter.co.uk/ but the site
is offline.

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