On Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 09:40:01AM -0700, Denis Heidtmann wrote: > > Thanks for all the replies. The printer is sitting not connected to any > computer. It goes through the alignment test, where the carriage moves > across the paper and a light shines down. I assume that this is locating > the paper edge. It then goes back and forth a couple of times, then > abruptly changes to self-test. After 10 or 20 more seconds it changes > to Initializing, ejects the paper, then goes back to the alignment test with > a request for loading paper. No ink appears on the paper. This endless > loop gives me no opportunity to try anything other than power-off. This > leads me to discount computer drivers, etc. as the issue.
This is surprisingly like the behavior of my HP2605 color laserjet after we moved. The BIG MISTAKE was moving it with the toner cartridges in it. ( Three moves equals one fire, as the saying goes, things get broken and lost in the chaos of moving ). The second mistake was using a refurb toner cartridge from Office Max, which spewed little grains of red toner everywhere. Most importantly, a grain got into an optical calibration path, a pair of millimeter-diameter holes running through one of the plastic assemblies to an LED and a phototransistor. IIRC, my laser printer has four of these, and uses them to detect paper size and make tiny dots on the paper, which are measured to precisely align the colors. I am insane, so I took it apart down to the hundreds of pieces level ( color laser printers are complicated ), cleaned everything, and got it working again. Before cleaning the holes, the printer would calibrate repeatedly, then give up, with the colors misaligned by 5mm. After cleaning, it is lined up within a hairwidth. I doubt there are as many sensors on a cheap inkjet, but optical sensors are easier than switches, so HP may be using the same trick (and have the same vulnerabilities). If the former owner has dust or shedding cats, then the blockage may be something besides dried ink in a cartridge. Consider asking free geek if they will loan or sell you some partly used cartridges for this beast, for testing. But first you may want to do a deep cleaning. Cut-apart egg cartons double-stickied onto a board can hold all the little fiddly bits. These compartments correspond with notes in a notebook. HP sometimes has detailed service manuals. I've considered making many digital photos during disassembly, but so far sketches in a repair notebook have been adequate. Keith -- Keith Lofstrom [email protected] Voice (503)-520-1993 KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon" Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
