Laserjet 5 - load paper message with paper still in the tray.

My LJ5 is occasionally asking me to load paper despite the fact that there
is already paper present. It seems to do this before the pickup roller has
moved (I may be wrong, I had a brief look today). Is there a paper sensor
that senses whether paper is in the tray, and can this act up?

"Doki" wrote in message
...
My LJ5 is occasionally asking me to load paper despite the fact that there
is already paper present. It seems to do this before the pickup roller has
moved (I may be wrong, I had a brief look today). Is there a paper sensor
that senses whether paper is in the tray, and can this act up?

PS:

I have cleaned the pickup roller with IPA, this seems to be to no avail, and
pagecount is somewhere around 69000.

On Mar 31, 6:40*pm, "Doki" wrote:
My LJ5 is occasionally asking me to load paper despite the fact that there
is already paper present. It seems to do this before the pickup roller has
moved (I may be wrong, I had a brief look today). Is there a paper sensor
that senses whether paper is in the tray, and can this act up?

The fold down tray, or one of the lower trays?

On Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:40:53 UTC, "Doki" wrote:

My LJ5 is occasionally asking me to load paper despite the fact that there
is already paper present. It seems to do this before the pickup roller has
moved (I may be wrong, I had a brief look today). Is there a paper sensor
that senses whether paper is in the tray, and can this act up?

Yes, and yes. Unless you're referring to the MP tray, in which case it's
more likely to be the separation pad or the pickup roller.

--
Bob Eager
begin 123 a new life...take up Extreme Ironing!

Silicon Sam wrote:
On Mar 31, 6:40 pm, "Doki" wrote:
My LJ5 is occasionally asking me to load paper despite the fact that
there is already paper present. It seems to do this before the
pickup roller has moved (I may be wrong, I had a brief look today).
Is there a paper sensor that senses whether paper is in the tray,
and can this act up?

The fold down tray, or one of the lower trays?

The lower tray, ie, the one that's normally used for A4/ Letter paper (PC in
the HP book), not the manual feed tray (MP tray in the HP Book).

Bob Eager wrote:
On Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:40:53 UTC, "Doki" wrote:

My LJ5 is occasionally asking me to load paper despite the fact that
there is already paper present. It seems to do this before the
pickup roller has moved (I may be wrong, I had a brief look today).
Is there a paper sensor that senses whether paper is in the tray,
and can this act up?

Yes, and yes. Unless you're referring to the MP tray, in which case
it's more likely to be the separation pad or the pickup roller.

It's the PC tray. What's to be done with the paper sensor?

On Tue, 1 Apr 2008 08:07:28 UTC, "Doki" wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:
On Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:40:53 UTC, "Doki" wrote:

My LJ5 is occasionally asking me to load paper despite the fact that
there is already paper present. It seems to do this before the
pickup roller has moved (I may be wrong, I had a brief look today).
Is there a paper sensor that senses whether paper is in the tray,
and can this act up?

Yes, and yes. Unless you're referring to the MP tray, in which case
it's more likely to be the separation pad or the pickup roller.

It's the PC tray. What's to be done with the paper sensor?

Take the tray out and look underneath. As I recall, the paper sensor
swings down and touches the stack of paper. See if it's dirty/stuck.

--
Bob Eager
begin 123 a new life...take up Extreme Ironing!

Most laser printers do indeed have paper sensors that detect paper in
the tray. They are usually positional switches which change angle when
the paper is no longer blocking a hole or valley, allowing the switch
"handle" to drop down further. The the paper is in the tray, this
valley or hole is covered by the paper and the handle can;t drop as far.

(I don't know the specifics of your printer, there are other methods of
accomplishing this, including optical sensors looking for light
transmission, or using reflection off the paper surface). Usually you
can see how the device accomplishes this with a good flashlight to see
the mechanics near the paper tray.

Paper sensors of all sorts can and do fail, and sometimes the switch
pops out of place or the handle can break off on the mechanical lever
types.

Art



Doki wrote:
My LJ5 is occasionally asking me to load paper despite the fact that
there is already paper present. It seems to do this before the pickup
roller has moved (I may be wrong, I had a brief look today). Is there a
paper sensor that senses whether paper is in the tray, and can this act up?

"Bob Eager" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 1 Apr 2008 08:07:28 UTC, "Doki" wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:
On Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:40:53 UTC, "Doki" wrote:

My LJ5 is occasionally asking me to load paper despite the fact that
there is already paper present. It seems to do this before the
pickup roller has moved (I may be wrong, I had a brief look today).
Is there a paper sensor that senses whether paper is in the tray,
and can this act up?

Yes, and yes. Unless you're referring to the MP tray, in which case
it's more likely to be the separation pad or the pickup roller.

It's the PC tray. What's to be done with the paper sensor?

Take the tray out and look underneath. As I recall, the paper sensor
swings down and touches the stack of paper. See if it's dirty/stuck.

Not stuck, so it seems the opto sensor thingy isn't happy.

"Doki" wrote:
"Bob Eager" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 1 Apr 2008 08:07:28 UTC, "Doki" wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:
On Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:40:53 UTC, "Doki" wrote:

My LJ5 is occasionally asking me to load paper despite the fact that
there is already paper present. It seems to do this before the
pickup roller has moved (I may be wrong, I had a brief look today).
Is there a paper sensor that senses whether paper is in the tray,
and can this act up?

Yes, and yes. Unless you're referring to the MP tray, in which case
it's more likely to be the separation pad or the pickup roller.

It's the PC tray. What's to be done with the paper sensor?

Take the tray out and look underneath. As I recall, the paper sensor
swings down and touches the stack of paper. See if it's dirty/stuck.

Not stuck, so it seems the opto sensor thingy isn't happy.

Opto sensors on HP printers almost never fail, I'm not saying never but I have
never seen one fail over thousands of printer repairs.
Does the error message ever appear at printer power on before you attempt to
print?
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging