HP 401dn laser printer paper jam errors that aren't

Anyone here a real HP laser print guru?

I have had this printer for say 5 years now, and on and off I get these error messages about a paper jam in the cartridge area. But when I remove the cartridge, there is no paper jam there or anywhere else in the printer. This is a home office printer that does maybe 100-200 sheets a month. I buy a new box of paper more than 1 year apart.

I have RTFM, or it's modern equivalent, which is lots and lots of web pages, from HP and other sources, but no real help. A replacement printer with the same/better specs is way more than I what I paid for this printer.

No I'm not a HP guru. Just a 30 year HP printer user that finally bought something other than HP last year.

It sounds to me like the logic boad in the printer is flakey. That's what sends the message to the computer about the condition of the printer. When you remove power from the printer, it resets that board's brain until the next time it gets scrambled.

Like I said, With multiple computers in the house, I owned probably 20 HP inkjet printers and was a die hard HP user until the last 3 I bought. They were only lightly used, no more than 50 pages a month, and they weren't low-end printers. The logic board went out on all 3 within a couple of years. Funny thing I'm still using a 20 year old Laserjet 1020 that looks like a train wreck, but has never missed a beat. It was originally used in a dentist's office and I pulled it out of their trash bin with a broken paper eject tray. No telling how many thousand pages it has printed. This printer was so good they're still selling as reconditioned at a premium price.

Some boards can be replaced. Some can not. The problem is finding a replacement and it's cost if you can find it. Chances are you would not be able to find one for a 5 year old printer.

Have you made sure the paper feeder is clean?

glasskuter said:

No I'm not a HP guru. Just a 30 year HP printer user that finally bought something other than HP last year.

It sounds to me like the logic boad in the printer is flakey. That's what sends the message to the computer about the condition of the printer. When you remove power from the printer, it resets that board's brain until the next time it gets scrambled.

Click to expand...

Not what I wanted to hear.

glasskuter said:

Like I said, With multiple computers in the house, I owned probably 20 HP inkjet printers and was a die hard HP user until the last 3 I bought. They were only lightly used, no more than 50 pages a month, and they weren't low-end printers. The logic board went out on all 3 within a couple of years. Funny thing I'm still using a 20 year old Laserjet 1020 that looks like a train wreck, but has never missed a beat. It was originally used in a dentist's office and I pulled it out of their trash bin with a broken paper eject tray. No telling how many thousand pages it has printed. This printer was so good they're still selling as reconditioned at a premium price.

Some boards can be replaced. Some can not. The problem is finding a replacement and it's cost if you can find it. Chances are you would not be able to find one for a 5 year old printer.

Click to expand...

I replaced the formatter board a year or two, no problem. Yikes, I just learned that the formatter board IS the logic board. So i know how to do that, but I'm concerned that the problem lies elsewhere, because removing and replacing the cartridge several times fixes the problem. Where I don't know. And how many is "several?"

glasskuter said:

Have you made sure the paper feeder is clean?

Click to expand...

Oh yes. For sure, many times.

@x509


There's a sensor that gives a paper jam error, when it's blocked by a piece of paper.
It can also give a paper jam error if the sensor gets dirty.

I would inspect the cartridge area carefully. The sensors will be located somewhere on the path the paper takes through the printer.
The sensors will be small... like less than an 1/8th of an inch.

Ghot said:

@x509


There's a sensor that gives a paper jam error, when it's blocked by a piece of paper.
It can also give a paper jam error if the sensor gets dirty.

I would inspect the cartridge area carefully. The sensors will be located somewhere on the path the paper takes through the printer.
The sensors will be small... like less than an 1/8th of an inch.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I realize that, but identifying these sensors is above my pay grade. I may need to take the printer to a printer service guy I have used before. I was hoping that there was a DIY sollution for me.

x509 said:

Yeah, I realize that, but identifying these sensors is above my pay grade.

Click to expand...

Not so, the paper feed sensor is part #5 in Figure 2.14 on page 86 of this manual.


Should be easy enough to find, and to clean it.

Bree said:

Not so, the paper feed sensor is part #5 in Figure 2.14 on page 86 of this manual.

https://www.laserexpressinc.com/manuals/HP/hp-lj-pro-400-m401-repair-manual.pdf

Should be easy enough to find, and to clean it.

Click to expand...

OK. Thanks. I'll have to try it "soon." meaning after I do the stuff on my "honeydo" list.