My HP Photosmart started having trouble with a carriage jam and I don't know how to fix it

SOURCE: Issues with my HP Photosmart PSC 7280

I had the same problem. You can access the carriage from the back of the printer. I actually had a jam , however just as you exposing the carriage from the front I did not see a thing.

SOURCE: HP C4180 says carriage jam but no jam and tried everything

uninstall your printer and then reinstall

Starnley Johnwells

• 1031 Answers
• Posted on Jan 05, 2009

SOURCE: carriage jam on hp photosmart printer

The print carriage may get stuck on either side or in the middle of the printer. The Carriage Jam: Open Door, clear carriage jam, and then press OK to continue error message may display on the front panel of the all-in-one.

Solution
The print carriage is the device which contains the print head and moves left to right during printing.
Figure 1: Carriage Assembly

To resolve this issue, follow the steps below in the order presented.

Step one: Print a Self Test

Follow the steps below:
1. Press the Setup button.
2. Select Print Report and press OK .
3. The self-test page should print. If it prints a test page, there is no need to follow the remaining steps, as the error message may be false. Make sure the printer now prints from the computer (if installed on one). If it does not print, proceed to the step two.

Step two: Clear the paper path

Follow the steps below to clear the printer of any jammed paper and reset the printer.
1. Leave the printer on and then disconnect the power cable and the USB or Ethernet cable from the back of the printer. Do not reconnect them until instructed to later.

NOTE: Make sure the printer is on before disconnecting the power cord. Failure to disconnect the power cord from the rear of the unit can cause damage when removing jammed paper.

2. Open the top access door.

Figure 2: Opening the top access door

3. Make note of where the carriage is stuck and look for jammed paper. A paper jam can cause the error message and the carriage stall. Some paper may be jammed in different locations than those shown in the photos below.

Figure 3: Paper jammed on the left side

Figure 4: Top view of paper jammed on the left side

Figure 5: Paper jammed on the right side

Figure 6: Top view of paper jammed on the right side

NOTE: Do not use any tools or other devices to remove jammed paper. Always use caution when removing jammed paper from inside the unit.

If the carriage is stuck on the right side:
a. Check for any paper or object that may be restricting the carriage.
b. Move carriage all the way to the left side.
c. Check the paper path all the way to the right side and remove any paper still in the printer.

If the carriage is stuck on the left side:
d. Check for any paper or object that may be restricting the carriage.
e. Move carriage all the way to the right side.
f. Check the paper path all the way to the left side and remove any paper still in the printer.

If the carriage is stuck in the middle:
g. Check for any paper or object that may be restricting the carriage.
h. Move carriage all the way to the left side.
i. Check the paper path all the way to the right side and remove any paper still in the printer.
j. Move carriage all the way to the right side.
k. Check the paper path all the way to the left side and remove any paper still in the printer.
4. Remove the rear access door or duplexer (if installed) from the back of the printer.
5. Check for and remove any paper still in the printer.
6. Replace the rear access door, and close the top access door.
7. Reconnect only the power cable. If the printer does not automatically turn on, press the Power button.

NOTE: The printer may go through a warm-up period of up to two minutes. Lights may flash and the carriage may move. Wait until this warm-up period is complete before going to the next step.

8. If the Power light is on steady, print a self-test page as done in Step one.

If the Power light is not on steady and the carriage is still in a stalled position, proceed to the next step.

Step three: Plug the printer directly into a wall outlet

Verify that the printer is properly connected to a suitable power source by following the instructions below.
1. Verify that the computer and the printer have a three-prong power plug.
2. Remove the printer cable from any power strips or surge suppressors, and plug it directly into a grounded (three-prong) wall outlet.
3. Try the print job again to see if this step resolved the issue.

NOTE: If the printer prints when plugged directly into a wall outlet while disconnected from any power strips or surge suppressors, the power strip or surge suppressor may not be allowing sufficient voltage to reach the product.

4. If this did not resolve the issue, proceed to the next step.

Step four: Service the product

If you have completed all of the steps listed above and are still experiencing a problem, service your product.hope this helps

SOURCE: Carriage Paper Jam in Photosmart hp c6180 all-in-one-printer

Here's what you do. Take a look at the photo below.
Open the cover of the printer, where the ink cartridges are located. Behind the ink cartridges is the carriage, which is a box that moves side-to-side on a pair of rails. It's the thing that sprays the ink onto the paper.

You have to reach in with your hand and slide this thing to the center. Then, look to the very sides, left and right, for any bits of paper. If you look at the second picture, you can see my finger pointing to a small bit of paper that tore of and got jammed into the side. See the little crumpled bit of paper? It's preventing the carriage from sliding all the way to the right. You could have little bits on the right or left side. I had to reach in with needle-nose pliers to grab the paper bits out, but maybe your fingers are small enough.

Once the little bits of paper were out, I was back in business. Good luck!

SOURCE: carriage jam on HP photosmart 3310 all in one

Here is the actual solution from the HP website for a carriage jam...click on the link:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00786043&tmp_track_link=ot_faqs/top_issues/en_us/c00786043/loc:12&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=439491