My Deskjet 840c (ancient) printer cartridges have jammed.

[Elle007]

Can any one help? The cartridges of my Deskjet 840c printer have jammed to the right. When they've done this before I've manually moved them and it's freed them up but this time they are determined to jam on the right whether they are manually moved or not. Any other suggestions, please? 

[DavidSMP · Accepted solution]

@Elle007,

Good Day.  A warm welcome to the HP community. I reviewed the case regarding issues with cartridge jams on the printer. Superb description, brilliant troubleshooting and terrific observations made before posting. Kudos to you for that. 🙂

To assist you with accurate information I would require more information regarding this:

• Did this happen after a recent power outage or surge?
• Did you remove and reinstall one cartridge first and then the other?

For now, let me keep you posted about a few things here. It looks like a hardware issue with the printer and it requires a replacement or an upgrade. I am being candid about it by keeping your best interest in mind without beating around the bush.

For a start please perform a hard reset on the printer by following these steps:

• Turn on the printer.
• Wait until the printer is idle and silent before you continue.
• Disconnect the USB cable from the rear of the printer. If your printer has a network or wireless connection, leave it connected.
• Remove the ink cartridges from the printer.
• With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the rear of the printer and from the wall outlet or power strip.
• Wait at least 60 seconds.
• Plug the power cord back into the wall outlet.

   NOTE:

HP recommends connecting the printer power cord directly to a wall outlet.

• Reconnect the power cord to the rear of the printer.
• Turn on the printer, if it does not automatically turn on.
• The printer might go through a warm-up period. The printer lights might flash, and the carriage might move.
• Wait until the warm-up period finishes and your printer is idle and silent before you proceed.
• Reinsert the ink cartridges, and then close the ink cartridge access door.
• If you receive a prompt to print a calibration page, do so.
• If you disconnected the USB cable, reconnect it to the rear of the printer.
• Try to print.

If it still does not work, then try some troubleshooting and check if there is a carriage or paper jam using a flashlight and a magnifier. Please follow instructions from this user guide http://www.hp.com/ctg/Manual/bpd07427.pdf which is for a different Deskjet printer. But the steps are valid for your printer also.

Refer to pages 25-32 and pages 35-45 of the user guide for more information in this regard.

Now check if the issue gets fixed. If it continues, then it is a faulty printer and has run its course. It requires to be upgraded. I will send you a private message to assist you with the next course of action. Please check your forum private message box next to the bell notification icon on the upper right-hand corner for a private message from me for further assistance.

Perform all these steps patiently as it is critical to resolving the issue. Good luck to you. I will keep a watch for your response.  Please note that I am not overloading you with steps but instead, giving you more information to work with. We are as eager as you are to get the issue fixed. I request you to perform all these steps till the issue is fixed.

Let me know how it goes and you have a great day!

To simply say thanks, please click the "Thumbs Up" button to give me a Kudos to appreciate my efforts to help. If this helps, please mark this as “Accepted Solution” as it will help several others with the same issue to get it resolved without hassles.

Take care and have a blessed week ahead. 🙂

[Elle007]

@DavidSMP

Hi David and thanks for your response. In answer to your questions it did not happen after a power outage or surge. And when I did manage to force the cartridge carriage back over tto the middle, I only took out and replaced the black cartridge not the colour one. It promptly shot back to the right and jammed again.

I have followed your troubleshooting guide as far as "remove the ink cartridges"  as I cannot - the carriage and therefore the cartridges are jammed tight to the right where I can't get at them.

So, thank you for your help but I think I may just have to bite the bullet am  buy a replacement printer. 

[DavidSMP]

@Elle007,

It has been a fabulous experience working with you. 🙂 I thank you greatly for accepting this as a solution.  You've been simply amazing with your technical expertise and thanks again for giving me the privilege to share this platform with you. 🙂

I hope the unit works great and stays healthy for a long time.

To simply say thanks, please click the "Thumbs Up" button to give me a Kudos to appreciate my efforts to help.  

Please take care, stay healthy, keep smiling big and do have a blessed year ahead. 🙂