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HP J6480 Officejet

Im getting the "Paper Jam" error message when I know that there is NO paper jammed

 

I took the printer apart visually, meaning... I understand exactly how the paper is fed, how the mechanism works. after learning about how everything works in my printer, I realized that this part had fallen off or broke inside of my printer. When I was looking in the area of the ink, which where I thought my issue was NOT a paper jam. I took off the right side access panel (because I couldnt not take off anything else, I need a special tool, thanks to HP) immediately I saw this black piece that looks like some type of gear. I had no idea where it goes.

 

#1 when I put the part back on the printer, it will not stay, it will work itself back off

 

#2 there are 2 gears on this part but there seems to be a place for a 3rd gear, (but no one shows a good enough image for me to be sure if its 2 gears or 3) from my best guess, it appears to be a gear missing.

 

#3 how was the customer supposed to know what the part name or number is? and this is NOT an accident that many people are having the SAME EXACT issue.

 

no one has a solution, pointing me to another website is NOT a solution. so why say that the issue has been resolved when it has NOT?

 

There is nothing wrong with printer, there is something wrong with the printer design. This is obviously a faulty part that HP does not support.

 

j6480 GEAR.jpgHP J6480 BROKEN GEAR.jpg

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z64x-QLUmq4

 

 

These HP representatives really insult your intelligence.

 

(none of these suggestions for the same issue will resolve a broken gear)

 

this is there solution for "Paper Jam" error message:

#1 clean the feeder and rollers

#2 update firmware / download new drivers

#3 check the printer for a paper jam (the dumbest suggestion ever)

#4 upgrade the printer

#5 find used printer parts

 

There are more than I can count messages/discussions with the SAME exact issue, but each post has a different subject or title and the solution is the same exact solution but the HP employees either dont know the solution OR they try to avoid the real solution.

digitalblackfilms #christianrobinsonmusic #christianrobinson #canon #70d #90d #filming #premierpro #logicprox #fcp #finalcutpro #protools #hp #officejet #j6480 #printer #problem HP officejet J6480 All-in-one printer paper jam displays a paper jam but there is NO paper in none of the feeders or ...
10 REPLIES 10
HP Recommended

Hi @J6480_GearBroke,

 

I understand that your HP Officejet J6480 Printer has a broken part and you're wondering if you can get this part to fix it. I would like to help you.

 

I am not aware of any known issues for this printer, this printer is a older model and possibly over time the part could have worn out. The HP Support Forums offer technical support, we do not have the ability to order or send out parts.

 

To my knowledge HP does not sell individual parts like the one you're looking for.

To check part available, go to the HP Part Surfer:http://partsurfer.hp.com/

 

HP may offer you a discount towards a trade-in on a replacement unit. You can Contact HP Support for further assistance. Fill in the model number and the form to receive a case number for quicker assistance.

 

Have a nice day! Thank you.

Gemini02

I work on behalf of HP

Click the Thumbs Up below to say “Thanks” for helping!
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I had exactly the same problem with a similar printer from the same series, Officejet J6410 aka CB029A. The 15 tooth gear of the clutch gearbox did not bear up the workload and got cracked. Since the clutch should actuate the paper feed drive and the round marked transparent sensor when the printer head is parked all the way to the right in the spittoon, without this gear the paper feed is impaired thus triggering the paper jam sensors.

The gear is 3 mm thick, 14-15 mm (4/7") outside diameter and with such a bore size that should make it stay press-fitted on the 4 - 4.8 mm diameter clutch without snapping, possibly 4 mm (1/6").

My printer's clutch gearbox had only 2 gears, the 15 tooth clutch gear and a 10 tooth link gear.

Get a replacement gear:

If you're lucky you might find an exactly same gear in your very AiO, inside the scanner pickup assembly - so you can try swapping 2 gears to fix the problem and extend your printer's life.

 

Or check a recycling centre for any Officejet printers, the broken gears plague makes them regular visitors. At a recycling centre in the small city I live, an HP inkjet is dumped every week. These printers are stuffed with gears, and you might find same size as yours. Old toner cartridges are also full of goodies. I got 4 identical gears from an OJ 8500, only they were thicker; I sanded one down in a couple of minutes by sliding it in circular motion onto fine grit wet paper placed on a flat hard surface. Problem fixed

Good luck, hope you'll bring back your printer back to life soon!

 

If you have the ability to fabricate a cut/molded replica in brass/epoxy/, a zoomed-out photo is below - consider the shadows, the slight larger dimensions due to the crack, and that the bore diameter is 4 mm to fit the shaft. The grid is 5 mm.

 

HP OfficeJet J6410 15t spittoon clutch gear

 

Home-made replicas are sold around the world (ex. look for "engranajes impresora hp" on mercadolibre.com.ar) although might be for different OfficeJet, and with a different thickness. Same part you can get from http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:203837 where you can download the STL file for your 3D printer, if you can use a stronger material than PLA - but check and adjust the model dimensions to your original, especially bore diameter and thickness.

 

An entire identical looking clutch assembly replacement might be available on aliexpress or eBay (if you still trust the quality sold there...). The advantage of replacing the entire assembly is that the gear comes factory press-fitted, which should fix the problem and extend your printer's life.

 

Hope this helped anybody facing false paper jams on an HP Officejet inkjet printer. Kudos for the thanks!

HP Recommended

The center gear on the part that you Show is striped and doesn't turn when the shaft turns you align the ink cleaner.you can purchase the hole unit where the center drive gear is pressed onto the shaft.

That's why you keep getting the paper jam error.

HP Recommended

The part that keeps coming off has a drive gear right in the center of it and it's originally pressed onto the shaft do to constant Wear it fails and just the shaft sound and the print cleaning tray does not home so the printer See's it as a jam. My printer is doing the same thing and HP wasn't any help as they don't sell parts for there small printers. I'm going to try and epoxy it in place and if I don't get too much epoxy on it then it might work for a while. 

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You can get a set of 10x replacement 15t gears on Aliexpress for US $5.50 +shipping ("clutch gear carriage lock for HP4580 4660 4500 C3180"), or one complete clutch for US $7.80 +shipping ("New cluth gear for HP 7000"). The advantage of replacing the entire clutch assembly is that the gear comes factory press-fitted, which should fix the problem and extend your printer's life.

 

Or check a recycling centre for any Officejet printers, the broken gears plague makes them regular visitors. These printers are stuffed with gears, and you might find same size as yours. Old toner cartridges are also full of goodies.

I got 4 identical  gears from an OJ 8500, only they're thicker - I sanded one down in a couple of minutes by sliding it in circular motion onto fine grit wet paper placed on a flat hard surface.

Good luck, hope you'll bring back your printer back to life soon!

HP Recommended

Have the  c4280 that recently developed ALL these symptoms. One day it was printing fine...the next, irratic behavior and a constant pape jam error message. Instead of heading to a HP service center.....I decided to take the unit apart physically and have a looksy inside...Pretty basic stuff with just your few usual components. During the tear down...I noticed the metal clip that holds the clutch gear assembly together rolling around. Didnt really know what or where this thing came from at the time....but along the way, I did discover a gear in the clutch housing assembly with a missing tooth was the culprit. Was a able to find another 15T gear  and order as others have shown right on ebay for a leterally a couple of bucks. It took longer researching the solution than finding the part. With all due respect to HP service folks ... this was an easy and quick repair.

 

HP Recommended
Dear HP support members, please stop recommending to throw a couple of years old defective printer, which only needs a small plastic piece to work again. Advices to buy a trade-in will only help you and HP. Focus on how users can recover their losses due to cheap designs. If HP is really that environment friendly, get your policy makers to change their mindset - like partnering with vendors that can ship these small plastic parts for free. You know that LEGO support send pieces for free, no questions asked?
HP Recommended

Hi, "S Tiberiu." I want to thank you for providing such great directions for replacing the broken plastic gear in the Officejet J6480 printer's "paper feed clutch assembly", which was the culprit of a false paper jam message. I, too, experienced the same false message on my J6480, and would have been clueless about what to do without your advice.

 

With your guidance, I purchased a set of five replacement plastic gears through Aliexpress for UNDER $5 (including shipping), and it only took one of the gears to repair my printer--which again works great. Had I not come across your directions for diagnosing the fasle paper jam message and replacing the gear, my printer would be still sitting idle--due to a simple broken plastic gear that cost less than $1 to replace and was a fairly simple job. Had I brought the printer to a professional repair shop, the repair charge would have surely exceeded the $50 I bought the printer for (used) several years ago.

 

While I'm on the subject of the J6480, I want to mention that I broke off both of the mouting arms on the ink cleaning station cover while removing the cover in order to diagnose the paper jam message. (The cover swings foward and up when the ink cartridges position themselves in the cleaning station for cleaning.) I repaired the broken arms with thin mending plates and screws/nuts, but the tolerances in the printer are so narrow that the repair interfered w/ the operation of the cover.

 

My printer operates fine without the cover, but I'm sure the cover serves a purpose (probably to keep dust and debris from accumulating in the ink cleaning station), and I'd like to replace it. Any ideas where to go searching for a replacement cover other than searching through an electronics recycling center? I've attached a photo of the repaired cover below.

 

Thanks again for sharing you repair expertise and for encouraging people to repair rather than replace.

 

Brian Foran (aka DoggyDaddy)HP OfficeJet J6480 Ink Servicing Station Cover.jpg

HP Recommended

This is a known problem for thousands of owners of these printers.[edited] You have a tiny gear fused to a metal rod and it's bound to break down, there's no question that it's a manufacturing defect.  Instead of offering a solution, HP  denies that there's a problem and decides not to fix this problem.  

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