Paper Jam

[AZOldTechie]

HP C8180 and similar printers can have paper jams and misfeeds caused by a broken gear in the paper feed assembly.  

When frequent paper feed problems or paper jams occur and you need to remove the rear panel or duplexer, if installed, to remove a sheet of paper and clear a jam, you might want to check whether the problem is caused by a mechanical failure of the gear driving the feed rollers.  

With the rear access panel removed, you will find a steel shaft running across the opening with 4 rubber rollers and a small plastic gear on the left end of the shaft.  If this gear is broken and slips on the shaft you will encounter repeated problems with paper not feeding into the printing area or jamming.  

To test for a failure of the gear, simply hold the gear in place by placing a finger firmly on the gear.  Then try to rotate the shaft turning one of the rubber rollers.  If the roller and shaft assembly can be turned while holding the gear in place, the gear is cracked.  Depending upon whether or not the gear has slipped of the knurled portion of the shaft will determine frequently the misfeeds or paper jams will occur.

Out of 3 paper feed assemblies for C8180 that I have examined, all 3 had a broken gear.  This appears to be a cronic problem with this series of Photosmart printers which use the HP-02 ink cartridges.  I am investigating whether I can get new gears made and what they will cost.  

I am curious if anyone else has discovered this problem and has looked into finding replacement gears.  As a last resort, the gears might be repaired with Plastic Steel Epoxy, J. B. Weld, or something similar, but the repaired gear would not be as strong as the original and the hole in the gear would have to be enlarged slightly so that the gear would not break again when pressed onto the knurled shaft.  Any missing teeth would also have to be hand filed as part of the repair.

And my last question is whether people would actually want to repair this printer or would they just go out and buy a new inexpensive printer to replace it.