25 May
2002
25 May
'02
2:44 p.m.
Chad Fernandez wrote:
I was given a an HP Deskjet 540. I bought a rebuilt
ink cartidge for
it, which is over 20 dollars, so I'd like to get it working if I can.
The thing tells me it's out of paper even when it has paper. It just
doesn't want to grab it.... it doesn't even try. Is this something that
is easily fixed, or do I need to toss the printer?
Just a suggestion: I saw a Canon BJ200 that had a similar symptom,
and I put it under a strong light to have a closer look. It
immediately started to work properly, so I worked out after a while
that one of the slotted opto-sensors had failed. The phototransistor
wasn't quite getting enough light to switch "on" when the slot was
open, so the printer thought the mechanism had jammed with the
slot closed. The external light made just enough of a difference!
Are there any slotted opto-sensors in your printer's paper feed
mechanism?
--
John Honniball
coredump(a)gifford.co.uk