HP OfficeJet 4500 is Broken

[CaptainDirk]

I don't think it can be fixed but I figured I'd post here anyway. My HP OfficeJet 4500 is about 3 years old. Started making a big racket when it first started to print so I found online that there is a transparent little band inside that must be cleaned. So before I did that, I took a regular house fan and opened the ink tray door and "fanned" it thinking I was l cleaning it.

Then I did the cleaning procedure with the transparent little band and the big racket noise is gone.

But the printer is in a terrible mood since then. Sometimes it takes in a piece of paper halfway and then just sits there. Other times it does nothing. Other times it I print and it says "printing" but just sits there (half an hour I waited) and does nothing.

I figured out that if I try to print with no paper and then let it tell me to add paper, THEN it prints. but just once then I must reboot it.

I'm guessing I must just buy a new one, but if you have any ideas how to fix it. let me know. It's not SO expensive so it's not a big deal.

Thank you.

 

[thx1138v2]

You probably blew dust into the mechanism with the fan and now it is blocking some kind of optical sensor. It probably checks that sensor, acts as if the problem is real, and, when you remove and replace the paper tries again.

So see if you can remove the outer housing and blow the dust out of the machine rather than into it.

 

[CaptainDirk]

This was a great idea. I tried and then it printed one page twice perfectly. After that, it returned to it's broken state however.

Thanks.