Why does it display "clear carriage jam" message when there isn't any paper issue?

SOURCE: error - carriage jam message

My Photosmart 2610 just started having this same problem today. As many of you have done, I also went to the hp support website and tried just about everything. Finally I discovered the answer to my problem on my own. Here's what I did (you might want to have a wet rag handy to wipe the ink off your fingers):

1) With the printer on, I pressed "okay" to clear the error message. You should immediately hear the sound of the carriage (the contraption that holds the cartridges) moving inside.

2) Open the print cartridge access door (the main access point for the cartridges) and confirm that the carriage is indeed moving.
If the carriage won't move at all, I'm not sure that this solution will help you. However, if the carriage moves from side to side after you press "okay", please read on.

3) This is unorthodox, so bear with me: when the carriage moves away from it's "resting place" (in my printer it's on the right hand side) and is near the center of the printer, unplug the power cord from the printer. The purpose of this is to free up the undercarriage (which was the part that actually was jammed on my printer).

4) Ensure that the carriage moves freely from left to right and right to left by pushing gently on its sides.

5) Move the carriage to left side of the printer so you have room to access the undercarriage.

6) It might be helpful to have a flashlight or some other light targeting the undercarriage for this next part. If you look directly underneath the undercarriage, you should see a foam/spongy product resting in the base of the printer. The purpose of the sponge is to absorb any ink that escapes from the cartridges. Herein lies the problem: over time, as the undercarriage adjusts to enable the carriage and its cartridges to do their work, the undercarriage gets caught on the inky sponge. Note that the undercarriage is fragile, but is moveable by gently pushing it toward the front or back of the printer.

7) Adjust the undercarriage so you can see the sponge and the "axel" (for lack of a better term) that turns to move the undercarriage forward and back. It may take some detective work, but you should be able to determine where the sponge is supposed to lie. Your goal here is to push the sponge down as far as it will go so that it won't obstruct the movements of the undercarriage.

8) On my printer, there was also a small amount of sponge wrapped around the "axel" that prevented it from moving smoothly. I unwrapped it and double-checked that nothing else was obstructing movement.

9) Final step: leave everything where you moved it, shut the lid, and plug it back in. A little prayer never hurts either. Good luck! AIM ID if you need more help: GnarlyVeaux

Posted on Mar 10, 2008

SOURCE: How to Clear carriage jam

Dear it's the carriage jam error. so it mean that your carriage is jam not paper. so open the printer where you insert the cartridge. check whether it is jam or what . cartridge carrier is jam kindly turn off the printer and try to move the cartridge head by hand very gently and if seems to be stuck than check for anything which abort him to move freely so than might be anything like dust or else. when you get success in moving the head put some machine lubricant on the rod on which head moves and check it ok.

Posted on Dec 04, 2008

SOURCE: Paper Jam

I have exactly the same printer, here's how to remove jammed paper.
1. Unplug printer from mains and your computer. 2. Turn Printer around 3. There is a darker-grey panel with a knob in the middle of it. Turn the knob anti-clockwise to release the panel 4. The jammed paper should loop around the roller. Gently pull on the loop slowly until it has released fully. 5. Put the panel back on the printer and turn knob anti-clockwise to lock it into place.
Hope this helps.
BurntLime

Posted on Jan 05, 2009

Starnley Johnwells

• 1031 Answers

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

Posted on Jan 05, 2009

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!

Posted on Apr 20, 2009