M4345 : Paper Jam everywhere, All the time!!

[pyrrhon]

Hi

I keep getting paper jams. Either in the area of the toner, the fuser, the paper tray...

At one point I did a cold reset and was able to print like 40 sheets...

Few days ago it was working perfect, I printed a 530 pages PDF doule sided without any problem in one go.

So I am now considering two ideas :

Either It is over heating (but if it can’t handle 40 sheets?? ) I have it on the floor in a corner of a room, ventilation issues??

Or could it be the paper being difficult?

I used to think paper is paper but my old inkjet kept getting paper jam saying the paper wasnt made for duplex... could it be the same now? Maybe I should just buy another brand? It is right now Xerox paper (from the Action, maybe a cheap import)

Thanks!!

Cheers

Jb

[John_Getzke]

> I keep getting paper jams. Either in the area of the toner, the fuser, the paper tray...

Paper jams are a result of a physical issue on the printer.  Normally the jams occur because of a roller slipping or gripping too much which sends one side of the paper into the paper path and eventually jams up.

Best practice for consistent jams is to purchase a roller kit and swap them out.  Otherwise you can test your luck by grabbing a damp lint free cloth and wiping down all of the rollers in this area.  There might be some light dust or other crud on teh rollers that is causing the paper to slip/grip.

[pyrrhon]

But it was working perfect 2 days ago...

I can't believe all the rollers got soft over night!

[John_Getzke]

See my previous post.  Your rollers arent necessarily "bad" to the point where they need replacement.  There might be some crud or dust covering them that is resulting in jams.  This could be the result of a coworker sednign something through the laser that they maybe shouldnt have.

Check and clean the rollers and confirm if it has an impact on the problem.

[pyrrhon]

Thank you! My problem is that right now I have a horrible jam between tray 1 and tray 2... I honestly don’t know how to remove it, I can see the paper through tray1 but I can’t reach it, I miss a few millimeters...

Any idea? 😕

I am afraid I have to pick a screwdriver!

[John_Getzke]

See the guides on roller maintenance here:

http://www.printertechs.com/maintenancekit-instructions/hp-laserjet-4345/359-hp-laserjet-4345-tray1-...

[pyrrhon]

So! I unjammed it!

Cleaned the rollers...

After 30 sheets I got a jam in output area again, then for the heck of it I started a 144 pages PDF without the duplex, worked in one go (Tho, it is funny, after it spitted out the page 144, it got a bug and jammed in the pencil area, page 145 didnt exist..)

Because the  seperation roller and the other blu and grey are same model, I swapped them, didnt help.

so, What do you think? Shall I get only a new separation roller or a full duplex unit???

But I never get a jam in the duplex unit itself, just around it, output area or fuser...

[John_Getzke]

Glad to hear you were able to clear the jam.

Its definitly interesting that you are receivng more frequent jams on duplex jobs than on simplex.  This suggests something is wrong with the duplex unit.  Perhaps one of the duplexer rollers is the problem.

In my opinion its cheaper and easier to swap and troublehsoot rollers than to swap whole large features like a duplexer.  but if somethign is damaged in teh duplexer then perhaps a duplexer swap is the only or best way to repair that damage.

I would run a few more tests to validate your theory with the duplexer.  Run the printer in simplex-mode for a day or two and observe how often the machien jams.  If simplex continues to work without problems then examine the rollers in teh duplexer for any defects and clean/swap them as it seems appropriate.  Last step would be to swap the duplexer with another or a new one.

> But I never get a jam in the duplex unit itself, just around it, output area or fuser...

A little more isolation work may be necessary then before you start swapping parts. Make sure you are confident in the area of the most frequent jams and examine that area in greater detail.  Jams usually are caused right before the area of the actual jam.  Its usually best to check on the rollers that send the paper into that area.

[pyrrhon]

Thanks!

Here is an interessant thread I found:

https://fixyourownprinter.com/posts/59833

Lot of information!

[pyrrhon]

Hi

I tried something that didnt work :

I updated the firmware, hadnt been done since 2009

At least it might fix my issues of the computer restarting on its own... 

😕