Host: In this lesson,
we're going to talk about print feed issues.
Now, when it comes to print feed issues,
there are two main types that you're going to come across.
These include paper jams and grinding noises coming
from inside your printer.
First, let's take a look at paper jams.
When we talk about a paper jam,
this is any time that there's a sheet of paper
that becomes lodged somewhere inside of the printer path.
Now, if you're using a laser printer
and it's capable of doing 30 or 40 pages per minute,
that means it has to be able
to print a lot of data really quickly,
and to be able to do this,
it has to be able to feed that paper very quickly as well.
So if you're doing something like 30 pages per minute,
which a lot of black and white laser printers can do,
that means every two seconds, there's a new piece
of paper going through that machine.
Now, this means there's a lot of moving pieces,
and a lot of that is happening
in a really fast amount of time,
so there is a possibility that jams will occur.
In fact, paper jams are probably one
of the most common things that you're going to come across
as a technician and you're going to be asked
to solve when it comes to a printer issue.
When it comes to dealing with a paper jam,
it's pretty straightforward.
The first thing you need to do is look
at the control panel on that particular printer.
Most printers do have a digital display
on the front of them that we call the control panel,
and from here, they will tell you where the jam is detected
or they'll show you a path
of how the paper travels through the system
and be able to indicate where that jam has been detected,
and this makes it really easy to figure out exactly where
to start your troubleshooting.
Now, when it comes time for you
to start taking that jammed piece of paper out,
you're going to need to first take out the paper tray
to be able to see if the paper is stuck
at the initial part of the path.
If it is, and you can reach the paper,
you can try to slowly pull it out,
applying even pressure and slowly backing that piece
of paper out of the path, clearing that jam.
Now, if the jam is actually more inside of the machine,
you may have to take out other components and parts
to be able to reach that jam.
For example, in a lot of laser printers,
you may have to remove the toner or the drum, or both,
to be able to reach the area
where that paper jam is occurring.
Oftentimes, you'll also find that it's not just one piece
of paper that's causing this jam,
but multiple pieces of paper.
This is especially true in large multifunction devices
where they have two or three or four pieces
of paper working through the track all at the same time
because they're printing in this very high speed environment
of 30 to 40 pages per minute.
Because of this, even if you take out the paper tray
and identify a piece of paper jammed
at the entrance to the path,
this doesn't mean it's the only piece of paper,
and so it's a good idea to still be able
to check the entire path and make sure there is no debris
or paper that is existing inside of that track.
Another thing to be worried about is,
as you're pulling out that paper trying to clear the jam,
you can actually cause that paper to rip.
If this happens, you'll be leaving smaller pieces
of paper behind, and those can actually cause issues
inside that paper path as well,
because they're blocking the path
or they're blocking the sensor,
and the sensor then thinks there's still a jam
in that machine, even though it's only a very small piece
of paper that is blocking that sensor,
so keep that in mind as well as you're going
and clearing the entire path and verifying
that that jam is completely gone.
Once you've done that, you'll put the printer back together,
turn it back on, and it will do a self-check
to verify its path is fully clean at that point.
If it is, it'll start reprinting again,
and if not, you'll have to go open it up again
and look through that path
and verify there is no more paper jamming that path
or any little bits left behind
that are blocking the sensors.
Now, when it comes to inkjet printers
and dot matrix printers, it is a lot easier
to see if there is a jam, because these systems tend
to have a more direct paper path
as it goes through the system.
When you're dealing with laser printers,
the paper is going to wind its way through the system,
generally making two or three or four turns throughout,
and there's a lot of places for it to get caught,
but with an inkjet, it is usually a fairly straight process,
going straight from the paper tray into the printer,
up behind the inkjet printer head and then out the top,
and it gives us a nice, direct path
and is less likely to jam as it's going through the system.
That being said, jams do still occur
with inkjet printers and dot matrix printers,
and so you'll have to identify where that paper is jammed
in the printer path and remove it
to be able to clear that paper jam.
Now, another issue you may have
is not necessarily a paper jam,
but it is still a paper feed issue,
and that's when more than one piece
of paper is being selected at the same time
and brought through the printer.
This can happen because you're using the wrong type
of paper, either by the incorrect size
or the incorrect weight of paper.
When you're dealing with paper,
there are different weights to it.
There are thinner pieces of paper
that are considered low weight,
and thicker pieces of paper that are considered high weight.
For example, if you've ever gotten
a printed out certificate, this is usually done
on a high-weight paper, and so it's a thicker paper,
almost like a card stock, and this can cause more jamming
to happen as it feeds through the system.
On the other hand, if you have very lightweight paper,
you may actually be picking up two, three, or four pieces
of paper at one time as it's being fed into the system.
When this happens,
the image can then be spread across multiple pages instead
of being on one singular page like it's supposed to,
or this can lead to paper jams
as it's working its way through the system,
because there are multiple pieces of paper
that were being fed at one time,
and the printer is not designed to do that.
So, if you have this type of an issue
where multiple pieces of paper are being grabbed
and fed through the printer at once,
verify you have the right paper size and weight,
and verify that none of the paper is creased, bent,
damp, dirty, or anything like that,
because that can cause the pages to stick together
and get fed through the system multiple pages at one time.
If you've checked your paper and it looks normal
and to be the right size and the right weight
but you're still having the issue
of multiple pages being fed at once,
this could actually be an issue with your pickup rollers.
The pickup rollers are designed
to only pick up one piece of paper at a time,
but if they become worn over time,
they can slip and be able to feed multiple pages at once.
So, in this case, you'd want to replace those pickup rollers
inside of your printer using parts
from your maintenance kit.
The final thing we need to talk about in this lesson is
when you hear grinding noises coming from your printer.
Now, this can mean different things depending
on what type of printer you have.
If you're using an inkjet or an impact printer,
this could be because you're having an issue
with the carriage mechanism.
Remember, the carriage mechanism is
what brings the print head across the page
in an inkjet or impact printer,
so if there is an issue with the gears
that are moving it back and forth,
that will actually cause this grinding sound,
and it could cause that printhead to not move
to the right position at the right time,
leading to garbled prints and things like that.
Alternatively, if you're using a laser printer
and you start hearing a grinding noise,
this actually indicates there's a problem
with your toner cartridge, fuser, or some of the gears
and rollers inside of the system.
To be able to identify the specific source of that noise,
you're going to have to listen carefully
and figure out which part
of the printer is making that noise.
Once you've identified where the noise is coming from,
you can check all of your different components
and make sure they're properly seated in there,
or if the noise is coming from one
of those specific components,
you could replace that component,
such as putting in a new toner cartridge, a new fuser,
or replacing the gears or rollers inside
of that laser printer using the parts
from a maintenance kit.
Now, when it comes to print feed issues,
remember there are really two main issues
you're going to be dealing with.
The first is paper jams and paper mis-feeds,
and the second is going to be grinding noises coming
from your inkjet, impact or laser printer.