Solution - HP Photosmart and 'Out Of Paper' Error

T

theintrepidfox

Hi

Hope the following will help everyone fixing their HP Photosmart and
'Out of Paper' error message.
I got all of this information from the web and must credit the
authors. I just put it into a more 'compact' post as it took me quite
a while to figure out the background cause and collect all of the
remedies from the other groups and websites.

Peripheral:
HP Photosmart series printer.

Error:
'Out of Paper' when there is actually enough paper in the tray.

Background:
There's a serious flaw with the paper feed rollers in some HP
Photosmart series printers. This happens to brand new devices, devices
which have been used only a couple of times and some which have been
working fine for some time. In this particular case it happened to a
brand new one after six prints.
Most devices which are affected have grey paper feed wheels. These
have been replaced by black wheels later on.
To see what wheels I'm talking about, remove the back cover of your
printer. Take a torch and shine into the paper tray. To your left
towards the back you will spot to wheels. These are the parts which
are causing the problem by not having enough grip to push the paper
out of the tray upwards.

Solution
======

Preparation:
Take a CD case and some very fine sand paper or 'wet & dry'. Cut a
square the size of the CD case out of the paper and glue it onto one
side of the CD case. Let it dry.
Order some AF Platenclene online like from http://www.oyyy.co.uk I
ordered with them at 4.50pm and it arrived by courier at 12.30pm next
day. Brilliant company. Don't get your hopes up to find it in your
local shop such as PC World or Ink Cartridge place. I tried several to
no avail.

Fixing it:
Remove paper from tray and push the CD with the sandpaper coated side
upwards all the way back into the tray to the right so that the two
wheels in question will rest on the coated surface of the CD. Check
with flashlight that they do.
Hit the 'Copy' button, press '1' and then 'Start' (Black Copy).
You will year some noise with the wheels in question spinning to times
in sequence. Then you will again get the 'Out of Paper' Error. Ignore
and press 'OK'. Wheels spin again followed by error. Press 'OK' until
like in my case you have done it around 25 times, depending on how
fine your sand paper is.

Remove CD from tray ,switch printer off and hoover any dust out. Best
accessible from the back. You may pick up the printer and skake it a
bit with the back facing downwards to get left overs and other dust
out.
If you shine the torch on the wheels you should see that they now look
a little bit 'rough' ;-)

Next step is to get the spray into action. Switch printer on. Whilst
shining the torch in the back and repeating the copy process, spray
the wheels whilst they turn. Be quick. They turn only twice per copy
attempt. I did this approx 5 times for each wheel. I also sprayed the
four rubber wheels at the top just in case.
Don't overdo it but make sure that the wheels surfaces are covered in
spray. Have some dry cloth handy. It's tricky to get all the way to
the wheels but I folded a small cloth and positioned it on top of one
wheel and keeping it in place with a screwdriver whilst repeating the
copy process around five times to soak up any excess spray. Remove
excess spray from the four rubber wheels at the top too. Leave to dry
for five minutes.

Replace back cover. Load some 50 sheets of paper and attempt the copy
process. Don't be disappointed if it doesn't work straight away. There
might be still excess spray, making the wheels slippery. If you remove
the paper you can probably see oily spots. Replace the oily sheet with
a fresh one andd repeat till there are no marks left on the paper. At
some point the wheels will get a grip and feed the paper.

Remove stained paper sheets. And replace with fresh ones.

In my case I have run a black and white copy of 100 sheets afterwards
without any further problems. Ran like a new machine and as supposed
as in the first place.

Conclusion:
HP really screwed up in Quality Assurance. They offer a repair kit but
it doesn't work on Macs. The above solution is simple, even works if
you got a Mac. You also spare yourself a nervous breakdowns by having
to call their incompetent technical support.

Cost:
CD Case free
Sandpaper 50 pence
Spray £11.50 incl VAT and delivery

Hth,

Martin
Invent2b Group
 
R

Rob

theintrepidfox said:
Hi

Hope the following will help everyone fixing their HP Photosmart and
'Out of Paper' error message.
I got all of this information from the web and must credit the
authors. I just put it into a more 'compact' post as it took me quite
a while to figure out the background cause and collect all of the
remedies from the other groups and websites.



OK this may not apply to the HP printers BUT I have a plain paper fax.
This over time will not load paper. What I found is to use different
paper to enable the rollers to grip.

Conclusion - This maybe a coated paper stock problem which has
highlighted the lack of grip.

Your fix is also helpful to reduce the grip problem.
 
T

theintrepidfox

OK this may not apply to the HP printers BUT I have a plain paper fax.
This over time will not load paper. What I found is to use different
paper to enable the rollers to grip.

Conclusion - This maybe a coated paper stock problem which has
highlighted the lack of grip.

Your fix is also helpful to reduce the grip problem.

Roller grip issues are obviously not limited to the Photosmart. If you
have a roller grip issue like your fax, AF Platenclene spray by itself
should do the trick.
It restores the grip, cleans them, and prevents the rollers from
drying out. I'm amazed what a little bit of spray did. No exchange of
rollers etc which can be very costly and doesn't justify the expense.

With regards to using different paper. Some glossy super fancy paper
can cause problems as does transfer paper and it's a good idea to use
other paper indeed.
But if it comes down to this you might as well as give it a good clean
and spray and eliminate it for once.
 
W

Warren Weber

Hi

Hope the following will help everyone fixing their HP Photosmart and
'Out of Paper' error message.
I got all of this information from the web and must credit the
authors. I just put it into a more 'compact' post as it took me quite
a while to figure out the background cause and collect all of the
remedies from the other groups and websites.

Peripheral:
HP Photosmart series printer.

Error:
'Out of Paper' when there is actually enough paper in the tray.

Background:
There's a serious flaw with the paper feed rollers in some HP
Photosmart series printers. This happens to brand new devices, devices
which have been used only a couple of times and some which have been
working fine for some time. In this particular case it happened to a
brand new one after six prints.
Most devices which are affected have grey paper feed wheels. These
have been replaced by black wheels later on.
To see what wheels I'm talking about, remove the back cover of your
printer. Take a torch and shine into the paper tray. To your left
towards the back you will spot to wheels. These are the parts which
are causing the problem by not having enough grip to push the paper
out of the tray upwards.

Solution
======

Preparation:
Take a CD case and some very fine sand paper or 'wet & dry'. Cut a
square the size of the CD case out of the paper and glue it onto one
side of the CD case. Let it dry.
Order some AF Platenclene online like from http://www.oyyy.co.uk I
ordered with them at 4.50pm and it arrived by courier at 12.30pm next
day. Brilliant company. Don't get your hopes up to find it in your
local shop such as PC World or Ink Cartridge place. I tried several to
no avail.

Fixing it:
Remove paper from tray and push the CD with the sandpaper coated side
upwards all the way back into the tray to the right so that the two
wheels in question will rest on the coated surface of the CD. Check
with flashlight that they do.
Hit the 'Copy' button, press '1' and then 'Start' (Black Copy).
You will year some noise with the wheels in question spinning to times
in sequence. Then you will again get the 'Out of Paper' Error. Ignore
and press 'OK'. Wheels spin again followed by error. Press 'OK' until
like in my case you have done it around 25 times, depending on how
fine your sand paper is.

Remove CD from tray ,switch printer off and hoover any dust out. Best
accessible from the back. You may pick up the printer and skake it a
bit with the back facing downwards to get left overs and other dust
out.
If you shine the torch on the wheels you should see that they now look
a little bit 'rough' ;-)

Next step is to get the spray into action. Switch printer on. Whilst
shining the torch in the back and repeating the copy process, spray
the wheels whilst they turn. Be quick. They turn only twice per copy
attempt. I did this approx 5 times for each wheel. I also sprayed the
four rubber wheels at the top just in case.
Don't overdo it but make sure that the wheels surfaces are covered in
spray. Have some dry cloth handy. It's tricky to get all the way to
the wheels but I folded a small cloth and positioned it on top of one
wheel and keeping it in place with a screwdriver whilst repeating the
copy process around five times to soak up any excess spray. Remove
excess spray from the four rubber wheels at the top too. Leave to dry
for five minutes.

Replace back cover. Load some 50 sheets of paper and attempt the copy
process. Don't be disappointed if it doesn't work straight away. There
might be still excess spray, making the wheels slippery. If you remove
the paper you can probably see oily spots. Replace the oily sheet with
a fresh one andd repeat till there are no marks left on the paper. At
some point the wheels will get a grip and feed the paper.

Remove stained paper sheets. And replace with fresh ones.

In my case I have run a black and white copy of 100 sheets afterwards
without any further problems. Ran like a new machine and as supposed
as in the first place.

Conclusion:
HP really screwed up in Quality Assurance. They offer a repair kit but
it doesn't work on Macs. The above solution is simple, even works if
you got a Mac. You also spare yourself a nervous breakdowns by having
to call their incompetent technical support.

Cost:
CD Case free
Sandpaper 50 pence
Spray £11.50 incl VAT and delivery

Hth,

Martin
Invent2b Group

I do a lot of photo printing on a HP 1220c.After a while it won't grab
paper. I think the finish on photo paper makes the rubber rollers slick. My
cure is to moisten a cardstock with ammonia and run through several times.
This seems to clean rollers and then works OK.
 
T

theintrepidfox

I do a lot of photo printing on a HP 1220c.After a while it won't grab
paper. I think the finish on photo paper makes the rubber rollers slick. My
cure is to moisten a cardstock with ammonia and run through several times.
This seems to clean rollers and then works OK.

Hi Warren

That's a new one and thanks for the suggestion. I heard that some had
the same success using high-percetage houshold alcohol but some other
users were concerned that this will dry out and damage the rubber by
time. I'm not into chemistry but wonder if ammonia is as bad as
alcohol for rubber? Anyone? ;-)

All the best,

Martin
 

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