Printer Error Codes

[Doretta Castoe]

Printererrors are various messages displayed on the LED display of printers. Whether it's a number or a term displayed, printer errors inform the user of what is not functioning properly. There may be many reasons why, for example, you have a paper jam at tray 2. However, the number displayed will point you in the right direction.

When you have an error, reference the PrinterSupplies.com web site and look on this printer errors page for your number. Under the various codes will be a list of the possible reasons for this occurrence. It will list the most common reason to fix first, and then proceed with a process of elimination until your problem is corrected.

A common problem with this printer is feeding multiple sheets of paper. The solution is the replacement of the pickup roller assembly and paper separation pad. Cleaning may work for the short term but will not solve this problem. You may find inexpensive fixes but the answer is replace these parts.

Manual Feed - waiting for you to add sheet of paper for manual feed from single sheet slot. Load paper and then press and release front panel button. Manual feed controlled by software

Printer is in sleep mode or unplugged. Press front panel button to wake up printer. Try printing an engine test (sheet of vertical lines) by pressing the engine test button located behind the access hole on the lower front of the printer.

Printer service error - no further operation possible until problem resolved. Press front panel button to see secondary indicator pattern. See information on secondary patterns below.

This LED pattern, shown while pressing the front panel button, indicates a fuser error. Measure the resistance between pins one and two of connector J102 - they should read 30 +/- 10 ohms. If open, the fuser ceramic heating element will need to be replaced.

This LED pattern, while pressing the front panel button, indicates a laser scanner error. Power cycle the printer by unplugging from the power source. If error persists, scanner may need replacement. In rare instances a defective DC controller may cause this error.

This LED pattern, while pressing the front panel button, indicates a formatter error. Power cycle the printer by unplugging from the power source. If error persists, remove printer data cable and power cycle again. If error persists you will need to replace the formatter PCA.

Paper tray empty or not seated correctly. A buildup of toner on the edges of the tray which slide into the printer can sometimes cause problems. Take a sharp tool, like a razor blade and scrape the buildup off these edges.

Sensor Arm Stuck or Broken - check for free movement of the sensor arm. On the LJ4/4M/4+/4M+ the sensor flag can get knocked out of place when a paper jam occurs and the tray is pulled out abruptly. Most times this can simply be reinstalled. If it's broken, you will need to replace the sensor flag.

Defective Tray Size Sensing or Configuration - Most trays have tabs which depress a series of switches when installed. Verify that the tabs aren't damaged and that the tray switches located in the printer are not damaged. You can depress these by hand and hear them click. Occasionally the contact for the micro switch will get bent and will have to be replaced. Also verify the configuration through the menus on the printer.

Check the paper, make sure it meets the paper specifications for your printer. Tractor feed paper with the edges ripped off doesn't seem to work very well. Extremely heavy or thick paper is also a problem. Check the HP paper specification guide for more info. Be careful with labels, use only labels designed to take the heat generated by the fuser assembly. Regular labels my "ooze" adhesive as they pass through the fuser assembly and literally gum up the works! Also check for any partially peeled labels, this can be a disaster if they come off inside the printer.

Check the paper path for toner or paper dust buildup. Look for bits of paper lodged in the path particularly around the sensors. 4L/4P printers can have paper stuck in the pickup area which is accessed by removing the screw over the oblique roller cover.

You may have a worn pickup roller. Common on the LJII/III series is a worn input pickup roller. Sometimes you can clean these and get a few more miles out of them but when you start to get jams with a smudge on the top middle of the page, it's time to replace both the input pickup roller assembly and the cork paper separation pad. On the IIP/IIIP you can wipe toner/paper dust buildup off the roller and also remove the separation pad (small cork pad) and clean it as well. If the rollers are glazed or you see cracks, replace the roller or assembly. Replacing the pickup roller and separation pad on the IIP/IIIP will quiet the chatter associated with a worn separation pad.

Is the paper size correct? Is the software set for the size you're using? Is the menu set for the size you're using? Check these items. If the software tells the printer to expect a different size (legal, A4, COM10) than the tray available, you will get an error. This can happen when printing a FAX document formatted for A4 size paper.

Make sure the paper cassettes are installed correctly. A buildup of toner on the edges of the tray which slide into the printer can sometimes cause problems. Take a sharp tool, like a razor blade and scrape the buildup off these edges.

Bad paper pickup solenoid. On the LJII/III series the rubber damper on the clutch release solenoid can degrade and become sticky and gummy. You can remove it and replace it with a piece of adhesive backed felt. Note: A sticky solenoid can also be the cause of text appearing lower on each successive page.

HP IIP/IIIP and Apple Personal LaserWriter's that pickup the paper and then crunch it up at the toner cartridge usually have a bad drive gear assembly. If the paper crinkles right at the toner cartridge it is most likely the drive gear located on the right side of the printer. If you fold down the right side cover, you will see a white gear/clutch assembly. Replacing this should solve your problem. You need RG1-1777, Drive Gear Assembly. Take a look at the white gear - if it looks as if it has twisted on the shaft that is the problem. You can remove it and rotate the inner white gear - it should exhibit a one way clutch action and rotate smoothly. The outer gear should rotate in one direction only with a spring action which limits it rotation.

No toner cartridge or cartridge not fully seated - pull it out and install it again. On the IIP/IIIP the connections for the high voltage are made on the left side of the printer so you may want to favor that side as you install the cartridge.

On the II and III Series printers, this error message can be caused by a faulty paper control PCA. This is the board mounted to the DC power supply which is in the right front corner of the printer. Press the spring contacts and listen for the micro switches. You should hear a definite clicking.

On the II and III Series and the IIISi/4Si, make sure at least one of the two drum sensitivity tabs are present. These are small rectangular blocks of plastic which contact the switches in the printer.

Toner cartridge is empty or toner in cartridge is not distributed evenly. Gently shake the toner cartridge both from side to side and from front to back. This can generally get you 100 or so more pages.

IIISi/4Si check the door open sensor flag, PS1. Also check the toner level sensor and the toner cartridge itself for damage. It can also be caused by a defective DC controller. You can verify this by substituting a known good DC controller if possible.

A large print job has exceeded the memory capacity of the printer. Verify that the SIMMS or memory cards are seated. Add more memory or simplify the print job. Remember the original HP Laserjet has only 128K of memory available, the LJ+ has only 512K and neither one is really upgradeable.

4L Same thing with to much data or the page is to complex. Simplify the print job. Turn the image adapt and page protect to ON or AUTO either from the control panel or from within HP Explorers Remote Control Panel.

4+/5P/5 The computer and printer aren't talking because of improper signal protocols. Could be a bad cable or loose connection or just a poor quality cable. Reseat the cable and use only high quality IEEE 1284 compliant cables.

ALL PRINTERS The I/O card is not accepting data. May not be connected - check cabling - or it may be defective. Reseat the card and if available, swap with a known working card. Watch the termination's on the network cabling.

The print job is too complex to be processed. Laser printers are page printers and require the entire page to be processed before beginning to print. Simplify the print job by removing font changes and/or graphics. Add more memory.

Error 30 PS Error XX - ALL PRINTERS PCL file was sent to the printer while in PostScript mode or the PostScript file contains bad data, or you have experienced and application error (crash). You need to check the configuration of your printer and drivers, reset the printer, try issuing an initialization command from within the application. May need to reload your PostScript print driver file.

This indicates a communication problem between the formatter PCA and an optional interface installed (such as a network card). Remove and reseat the optional interface card. If the problem continues, remove the optional interface card and set the printer for standard parallel interface by taking off-line and holding down "Menu" key for 5-10 seconds. Scroll through items until "I/O =" appears and use the +/- key to display parallel and the enter key to select. Then put the printer back online and send a test job from the host computer via the parallel cable. If this is successful, you have a problem with the optional I/O card and should replace it or reset it

Temporary Error: Power off for 20 minutes to allow the capacitor on the DC controller to fully discharge. If you don't allow this capacitor to discharge, you will still get a Error 50 even if you have fixed the problem. This may clear the error - either temporarily or permanently. If it clears the error it was most likely caused by a low power problem i.e. low line voltage causing the power supply circuits to drop out of regulation. Low/unstable power (low line voltage, brownout condition). If it doesn't clear the error you may have one of the problems listed below

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