Laserjet 2300 paper jam in top cover

[Tom-DKO]

It's an old printer with a low page count. It always ran fine, only last year it had some paper feed problems. I replaced the pick-up rollers, separation pads and transfer roller which solved the problem. 

Recently however I get a paper jam (13.02.00) on EVERY print job. The paper leaves the tray, runs through the fuser, but it stops at the moment it leaves the printer to enter the output bin. The leading edge of the sheet is just visible at the output and the trailing edge is still in the fuser. Exactly at that moment a paper jam is triggered. Nothing really seems wrong however; the paper is not folded or torn. It just stops.  The error message indicates that "media did not pass the top-of-page sensor (PS103) within the specified time".

I tried almost any suggestion I could find on the internet:

-paper feed looks fine 

-I checked the paper path for pieces of paper or dirt. 

-I tried paper feed from tray 1, 2 and 3 

-I swapped the print cartridge (genuine) 

-I checked the fuser and the back door area 

-all visible parts of the mechanism seem to move correctly 

-I checked all the flags in the paper path. These can move freely and or not damaged. 

-I cleaned all three solenoids. I found on the internet that the adhesive of the damper could make the solenoids sticky, thus introducing a time delay. This was indeed the case, but removing the adhesive did not solve the problem. 

Unfortunately I have no spare fuser unit for swapping. 

I'm running out of options now. What could be wrong? Any more ideas?  I think one of the sensors is faulty or there is some kind of timing problem. How can I test the sensors and the fuser (other than swapping)? 

I hope someone can set me on track to solve this annoying problem. 

[davidzuts]

Is there any print on the page and if so it would mean the top of page has registered and the jam was caused by a fault with the sensor/flag in the fuser. Also if you cleaned off the solenoids did you put new material down? If you did not, then the solenoid "L" arm becomes magnetized and causes all sorts of issues. Also have you tried feeding with the back door open so the paper comes out faceup. This should help narrow down where the jam is occuring. If there is no print on the paper, then the issue is either the solenoid or the registration sensor.

[Tom-DKO]

Thanks for helping me narrowing down the possible causes. 

1) yes page seem to be printed normally

2) no I did not put new damping material on the levers of the solenoids. The article I read suggested to leave if off to prevent any future problems with adhesive. The downside would be perhaps just a little more noise, according to the author. Before removing the adhesive, when I pressed the lever against the coil, there was a noticeable delay between letting go and the actual release of the lever.  After removing the adhesive the release happened instantaneously. 

3) yes I tried printing with the backdoor open. This made no difference, the interruption happens at exactly the same moment. When the printer stops, the sheet of paper is still partly in the fuser. If I take the cartridge out, I still can see the sheet of paper from the inner compartment. So the flag of the fuser is still engaged I suppose.

Error msg 13.02.00 indicates that media did not pass the top-of-page sensor within the specified time. This is the sensor beneath the metal strip just before the transfer roller right?  Is there a way that I can test the proper functioning of these sensors, that you know of? (e.g. with a Fluke multimeter) 

[davidzuts]

I do not think it is the registration sensor since even if that flag did not return in the specified time more of the sheet would have come out the printer. Odds are the sensor flag which I think is inside the fuser is not working so the printer does not think the paper has reached the fuser.

[Tom-DKO]

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@davidzuts wrote:

Odds are the sensor flag which I think is inside the fuser is not working 

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If I only knew a way to test this (other than buying a new fuser).   Anyone?