Rubber bands in printer

[Reston34]

Greetings!

I am needing clarification to find out if I killed my bride's printer and/or what issues may arise from my "fix" of an issue we were having.  The printer now works, but I am wondering what the future consequences will be (I.E.  Do I need to buy a new printer before my bride finds out some function she needed is no longer there.)

Are the paper rollers in the back paper feed of the DeskJet 2635 supposed to have rubber bands in them?  If so, what are the consequences and/or limitations to functionality if they were ehhh...say...ripped out of the printer? (see picture for images of the dead!).  What I am trying to determine is if the rubber bands I found in the printer were the result of my young kids dropping something in it or if Daddy needs to control his technological frustration needs a little better next time.  

Below is a summary of the incidents which led to the crime.  Thank you for your help.  And, yes, this is a real question I have (the writing is a calming device I am using to subside my technological frustration).

The Case of the Broken Rubber Bands:

My wife purchased the wireless printer and everything worked great for a while, then we kept getting E4 paper jam error messages.  I checked all areas to make sure that there was no paper jams or parts of paper anywhere in the printer.  We have read all the hp print doctor, help posts, virtual tutorials, videos, etc...no luck.  She has done everything she could think of - prayed, exorcisms, bargained with it, threatened it - nothing.   Finally, after taking a more thorough look, I noticed that the paper roller in the bottom of the paper feed seemed to be skewed (instead of being horizontally level at 180 degrees, the right end had an upward angle of about 15 degrees). As I investigating closely, I saw a little green object wedged in the right side.  Using tweezers I secured the object and yanked...uhhh, I mean extracted it.  The rubber band came out unbroken and looked used and old.  Believing this couldn't be from a newer HP product with limited use, I concluded that it must be something my seven-year-old "accidentally" let fall in.  As I did this more rubber bands popped their evil little heads up under the roller.  Not allowing myself to be taunted by there gang, I began to rip more out.  The next band I pulled out broke.  These objects were stubborn, but I was determined not to let office supplies have the victory. I finally maneuvered them to where I could get a large batch of them together and liberated them from the printer. My premature victory dance was interrupted when I noticed that these interlinked rubber bands (tan, green, black) were connected to a clear c-shaped plastic piece.  This potential evidence of the intelligent design of this grouping has raised my concern that I may have lobotomized my bride's "pretty" printer.  

Help me HP gurus...you are my only hope (of hiding the evidence...there is still time to blame the kids 

[TEJ1602 · Accepted solution]

@Reston34, Welcome to HP Support Community!

Ideally, the printer will not have any rubber bands in it. You can see rollers and levers instead 😛

Refer to this User Guide for help.

Now that the rubber bands are out and the printer is working fine, it should not cause any issues further.

Ensure the printer is kept away from foreign objects to avoid any damage in the future.

Keep me posted for further assistance.

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post answered your query, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!