Paper drawer broken

[Howard841]

My paper drawer seems to be broken. Plenty of paper but found small broken piece of white plastic underneath printer

[Hawks_Eye]

Hi @Howard841 

Welcome to the HP Support Community! We're here to help you get back up and running.

My sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused to you. We'd hate for you to be stuck in a situation like this. Because you matter to us.

It looks like we may have to raise a service order for the same. 
 

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Hawks_Eye

[Samrit26]

Hello,

I’ll explain what broke, what still works, and what your real options are.

---

What that white plastic piece almost certainly is

On HP printers (especially Smart Tank, DeskJet, OfficeJet, LaserJet home models), the paper drawer has small white nylon parts that do one of these jobs:

1. Paper-present sensor flag
   → tells the printer “paper is loaded”

2. Tray lift / pressure tab
   → pushes paper up to the pickup roller

3. Tray alignment stop
   → keeps the stack at the correct angle

When one of these snaps:

• Printer thinks no paper is present

• Or pickup roller spins but can’t grab paper

• Or you get constant “out of paper / busy / load paper” errors

This matches your symptom exactly.

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Why this happens (so you don’t blame yourself)

Common causes I see:

• Tray overfilled once (even slightly)

• Tray pushed in at a slight angle

• Paper caught and tray forced closed

• Plastic fatigue over time (very common on white nylon parts)

This is not misuse — it’s a known weak point.

---

Quick checks you can do now (safe)

Do these without forcing anything:

1. Remove the paper tray completely

2. Look inside the printer cavity with a flashlight

3. Check for:

   • A loose dangling plastic arm

   • A spring with nothing attached

   • A sensor flag missing from its slot

If the printer now cannot detect paper at all, that confirms the diagnosis.

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What you should NOT do

• ❌ Do not glue the piece back (superglue ruins sensors)

• ❌ Do not tape anything inside

• ❌ Do not force the tray in

• ❌ Do not keep retrying prints (can damage pickup rollers)

---

Can this be repaired?

Here’s the honest mentor answer:

🔧 Home / consumer HP printers

• Paper tray internals are not field-repairable

• HP does not sell tray actuator parts

• Repair requires full base disassembly

➡️ Only supported option = depot repair (ship to HP)
➡️ If out of warranty, replacement is usually cheaper

🧑‍🔧 Commercial HP LaserJet / Enterprise

• Some trays are replaceable as an assembly

• Still not user-repairable at component level