HP Printer Paper Jams and Mis-feeds- Other Culprits and Causes
HP 4000 4100 4200 4300 4250 4350 4345 Printer paper jam and misfeeds not so obvious causes.
When trouble-shooting technical issues on HP LaserJet Printers, a good rule of thumb is to start with the obvious questions first before getting into anything too specific. Many times, simply listing the symptoms of the problem will lead to a very common solution, saving the technician time or wasted effort.
Sometimes, however, the obvious answer doesn’t work, and other options have to be looked at. Such is the case with an issue our technical support department commonly sees pop up on the HP LaserJet 4000/4050, 4100, 4200/4300, and 4250/4350.
The problem is a common one: the customer is trying to print from tray 2 or 3, but experiences frequent paper jams, blank pages, or paper size errors—as well as several other paper feed errors that occur just as the paper gets outside the cassette tray. The technician’s first instinct is to change the pickup rollers and feed rollers, but after doing this, the problem remains.
In this scenario, these laser printer errors do not occur when printing from the multipurpose (MP) tray, an interesting piece of information that leads us to the cause of the problem: the paper feed assembly*.
We know this because this part is located just in front of tray 2 and just below the MP tray, meaning it is only part of the paper path when printing from trays 2 or 3, not the MP tray.
The HP printer's paper feed assembly functions similar to the paper input unit found in other HP printers. After paper is picked up by the pickup and feed/separation rollers, it is fed to the paper feed assembly, which is supposed to feed the paper to the registration assembly.
If the printer's rollers on the paper feed assembly are worn, it will not feed the paper through the paper path, causing the paper jam and feed errors. Unfortunately, these rollers are not available by themselves, meaning you must replace the entire paper feed assembly to solve this problem. Part numbers for each model are shown here;
HP Printer Model Part Number
HP LaserJet 4000/4050 RG5-2651
HP LaserJet 4100 RG5-5086
HP LaserJet 4200/4300 RM1-0012
HP LaserJet 4250/4350 RM1-0012
To replace the paper feed assembly, we recommend you use a service manual, as the instructions are quite detailed and involve removing several covers and assemblies simply to get to the paper WHEN feed assembly.
It is also important to note that these paper feed assemblies are not inter changeable between printers. For example, the assembly for the 4100 has a round solenoid; the solenoid on the 4000 series and 4200/4300 series assemblies is square (Figure 2). Other differences include an extra ground strap on the 4200/4300 series assembly (Figures 3 & 4), gears with different tooth counts, and connectors with different numbers of pins.
Other Helpful HP LaserJet Printer Support Resources
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