URGENT - HP Envy 4500 - Bought today, every print folds and rips paper

[Xatonia]

I just bought the HP 4500 all in one printer today because I needed to print some documents for a new job starting tomorrow and didn't want to go to an internet cafe. Apparently this was a bad idea.

I've bought the printer, set it up wirelessly to my computer etc. It prints the sheets fine, but EVERY piece of paper it prints is folded at both corners and ripped. Sometimes it comes out (butchered as mentioned), sometimes it causes a paper jam. Either way the folding is the same.

NOTE: I can HEAR it crumpling the paper as soon as it feeds it in. Its that fast feed noise and instant crunch. The rest must happen after that.

I've cleaned the rollers, including the smaller one that the HP videos deem the most important. Nothing.

Solution please?! I need this for tomorrow, and am frustrated! I bought HP because they're supposed to WORK. Surprised theres no fix for this online, even though a lot of review report this folding / ripping paper issue. 

[Xatonia]

Additional - I tried doing a hard reset. No progress.

[8lives]

Hi, did you follow the steps in this link?

[akemz]

I just installed my Envy 4500 today too and the top-right corner is also severely bent on every document tried. I've troubleshooted by following HP's recommendations and it's still no help. Are there any other solutions, please?!

[Xatonia · Accepted solution]

Hi,

I'm the original poster on this. Good news - it does get sorted. Bad news - I can't remember quite what I did. 

What I do remember was that it was NOTHING software / driver / install related. I took it apart (only the bits that you're meant to take apart, pulling the tray out from underneath etc, removing the rollers, nothing else) and put it together again. 

I THINK what was causing the issues for me was the bottom plate. I think - and may be wrong, it is a long time since I looked at the instructions - that it suggested you slightly pull out the bottom tray, or plastic bit, when printing. To make my printer stop creasing / ripping, I now just don't pull anything out. All I do is flip down that hatch at the front, but leave everything else fully contained inside the unit (and make sure the bottom plate is pushed in as far as it will go to the back of the unit), and it works perfectly.

If this works - post a message here so that other people know it works too? Save some others some pain! Weird that HP don't just rethink this design as so many people have this issue and its a fine printer otherwise! Frustrating. 

[GregDashaway]

Hi,

I had the same problem with an HP Envy 4500, and I can tell you how I solved it. I think I know what the original poster did.

I bought an Envy 4500 in the summer of 2013. It is a basic printer, copier, scanner with good features for a good price. It installed easily, and I have had no problems with it.

When my high school son wanted a printer nearly two years later, I told him to get an Envy 4500 because there is nothing that can go wrong with it. We bought one a week ago, installed it, and when we tried to print we got paper jam after paper jam. In each case, the leading edge of the paper seemed to have one or both corners tucked under. I was surprised, shocked, and saddened because the first printer worked so well.

I spent a week trying to solve this, searching the internet for a solution. The original poster is the only one to have found a solution, but he couldn’t remember what he did. He does provide a clue. Try this:

Unplug the printer to be safe.

Carefully turn the printer on its side.

Observe the bottom of the printer. Using a flashlight will help a lot. You will see that the bottom of the printer is actually the bottom of the paper tray. Take a look at the leading edge of the paper tray in the back and just observe.

Now, carefully pull the paper tray out. It will stop half-way. You will be able to see the inside bottom of the paper path. Double check for any stray pieces of paper, because you probably did not check this area during your previous paper jams.

If the area is clear, slowly push the paper tray back in. The paper tray needs to be completely flat. Observe the leading edge as it reaches the last inch before the tray clicks into place. The tray is made of solid but thin and slightly flexible plastic. In my case, as it reached the last inch of its travel, it began to buckle slightly upward in the middle. It clicked into place, but there was now a sort of hill in the middle of the leading edge that pushed upward into the paper path. The paper was getting pinched in the middle, while the sides tried to move upward, which caused them to fold.

Pull the paper tray back out. Now push it again toward the back with one hand. With a finger of the other hand, keep the leading edge of the tray flat as it reaches the back of the printer. This is not difficult, but be careful not to pinch your finger as the tray snaps into position. There should be a solid “snap” sound, and the back edge of the printer tray should now be perfectly flat. It may take several tries.

You should now be able to print without the paper jamming. In the future, you might want to leave the paper tray in its pushed-in position as the original poster suggested. You can easily slide paper in and out without pulling out the tray. I hope this works for you. It worked for us.