edited by Earl on Nov-25-2009
originally created on Sep-02-2008
I've had this laser printer for four years, since July 2005.
Over
time, an error has become more and more common: "Media Jam".
As of today, no matter what kind of paper I put in the tray,
it
always says "Media Jam". I opened the top and there is no
paper
inside. The printer would not pull the paper all the way
inside
the printer, so there is no way it was jammed. Instead, the
printer simply cannot pull the paper up to print to the paper.
I searched online and finally found a website
with the answer.
I decided to try it and document the steps with photos to
make it
more clear what the fix is. Here is how I fixed this issue...
at
no cost! No purchase required! And it takes just a
couple
minutes.
Step 1: Open the top of the printer.
Step 2: Look for a green handle and pull the printer drum up
and out of the printer.
View of printer with the drum removed:
Step 3: Locate the paper feed (also called a feed tire) and
remove it. Read warnings below.
In
the above photo, I outlined the paper feed with a blue square.
The paper feed is a dark gray piece of
rubber
stretched across black plastic, shaped like a half circle or a crescent. Be careful removing it as
plastic
is cheap and fragile.
Warnings
"To get the wheel out you simply just
slide
it to the right. I though the arm was a spring latch and almost broke
it by squeezing." - John
The part can break when you put it back in, too.
"in
trying to get it back in, I broke the little roller legs."
- Matt
"Here is a picture to help clarify the removal of the pickup roller..." Scott S
Click for larger view.
So,
use care when taking the paper feed out and when putting it back in.
The part did not break when I re-installed it a few different
times so I know it is possible to keep the part safe, but it is fragile
plastic, so keep that in mind when handling this. But hey, if
your printer is not working anyway, what have you got to lose? If
you break this piece, a replacement might cost you around $20 or so if
you include shipping.
Here are a couple views of the paper feed removed from the printer,
sitting on top of my desk:
Step
4: Clean it. I sprayed a little "all
purpose
cleaner" on it to dissolve any grime... the same stuff we use to clean
the kitchen. Then I cleaned it under the
faucet, letting running water wash it off and then dried it off with a towel.
Honestly, the part
didn't even look dirty before I cleaned it, but I thought I would give
it a shot.
Step 5: Pop the paper feed part, carefully, back into the
metal bar inside the printer.
Put the drum back inside the printer...
...and close the lid.
Immediately, my printer began printing with no more paper jams!
Conclusion
I have two ideas why the steps above got rid of the paper jam error.
1.
The paper feed had poor traction because of some foreign
material
build-up on the rubber paper feed. Cleaning it gave the paper
feed more traction to push the paper.
2. Simply removing
the part and putting it back in may have changed the height of the paper feed
on the metal bar
just enough to push better on the paper.
The good news is that this was a simple and free solution and the error
is gone... for now.
If the rubber piece has lost tread and needs to be replaced, I found a
place that sells it online for $20: precisionroller.com.
I would shop around before actually buying it from this
store,
but since my paper jam problem is gone, I'll wait before
buying
anything.
Comments
Len - Sunday,
September 28, 2008 at 2:31 PM
I had the same problem.
What a joy it was when I found this!
Thanks!
Earl
- Sunday, September 28, 2008 at 9:10 PM
Thanks for the feedback, Len! I was happy to know that
somebody was able to use this. Hopefully you were able to fix
your printer problem. As of today, about a month after using
the
steps in this guide, my printer is still printing like a charm with no
paper jams. I was happy to fix my own printer and hope others
are
able to do the same.
KennG
- Monday, September 29, 2008 at 2:24 PM
Same here and more thanks for the post!
Earl
- Monday, September 29, 2008 at 9:04 PM
Thanks, KennG!
Patrick
- Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 1:14 PM
Worked right away, so far so good. Thanks.
Earl
- Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 8:52 PM
Glad to see your post, Patrick. I'll make a quick update on
my printer while commenting here. I performed the cleaning
procedure documented above two months ago. The printer lasted
that long without getting the "Media Jam" error. However, I
did
just get the error again a couple days ago for the first time since
cleaning the paper feed. The paper was a heavier stock
(for wedding shower invitation cards), so the paper
was
thicker with a different texture than typical paper. The
paper
feed had trouble picking up the cards. It wasn't
a "Media
Jam" at all as the error stated, but rather the paper feed could not
push the cards into the printer. It was annoying to go
through
the steps to remove the error, by opening the printer door and pulling
the drum out, then replacing the drum, and closing the door.
I
feel silly going through those steps repeatedly to remove a dumb error
message. So, I followed the procedure I documented above to
clean
the paper feed. I actually opened up this very web page to
remind
me how I did it. I cleaned the part again, in just a few
minutes,
and then we were back to printing with no more "Media Jam" errors.
So, the first time doing this gave me two months of
printing without the error. I'll try to remember to make a
note
here the next time I get the error message. Hopefully the
printer will last more than 2 months this time.
Eventually,
I probably will have to replace the paper feed.
Col
- Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 12:09 PM
Many thanks, worked like a charm. All other suggestions utterly failed
to have any impact on the problem.
cheers
John
- Friday, February 20, 2009 at 12:40
Amazing how well this worked for me too. I pulled the wheel out and
though that it felt clean as a whistle. Rubbed it down with a little
dish soap and water and put it back. Grabbed the paper instantly. I
would add to your "how to above" - that to get the wheel out you simply
just slide it to the right. I though the arm was a spring latch and
almost broke it by squeezing.
Thanks for unselfishly posting this.
Earl
- Friday, February 20, 2009 at 1:54
Thanks, John, I edited the guide to include your observation.
Matt
- Friday, April 17, 2009 at 2:01 PM
WORKS GREAT. I had some issues ; in trying to get it back in, I broke
the little roller legs (see notes about brittle plastic, be careful!)
Superglue didnt fix it - so after some hunting I found them here...
...
where they are cheaper than the precision roller link above
(5$ each) but they have a 15dollar minimum order plust 10S&H.
so I bought 3 - gave one to a friend with the same printer and will
sell the extra on ebay. (check there too). After installing
the replacement, the printer feeds like a champ. Thanks so much for a
great site!
Earl - Friday,
April 17, 2009 at 3:40 PM
Thanks for sharing that, Matt. I added a portion of your observation to the
guide also, to help warn others.
Derek - Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 22:26
I have been having this problem for the past couple years now, and had I known
the solution was as simple as this, I would have done it long ago.
Like
you said before, the paper feed wasn't picking up the paper. I've ignored the
problem for so long because in the past, I was able to get the printer to work
by simply trying a few times. however, tonight I was trying to print out some
wedding invitations (thick card stock) and no amount of retries was doing the
trick.
I took some soap and water to it and washed it with my fingers.
Dried it off good, put it back in, and it grabbed the first card right away.
Thank you so much for this!
And also thanks to those above who broke
their feeders and then told the story so that I would know how to get mine in
and out without breaking it!
Earl - Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 10:10 PM
Glad it worked for you! And I appreciate your feedback.
Mich - Tuesday, June 16, 2009 12:56 PM
Worked like a charm. Thank you for your detailed description with pictures!
Low End Dan - Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love this printer - still on the original
toner after years of light use. However, the printer was going to "error" every
time I tried to print - card stock or plain paper. Your solution fixed it,
making my Magicolor useful once again!
Terry - Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Thanks so much!! I followed your wonderful illustrated instructions with great
success.
Tommo - Wednesday, August 26, 2009 at 03:16
Fantastic!! I was dreading having to haul the thing to a repairer and then be
fleeced of a few quid. This worked a treat. Thanks!
Judy - Wednesday, September 2, 2009
What a relief to find this solution online. Tried it last night after spending a
frustrating day with the Media Jam error message. So far so good!! Thank you so
much for this advice. Hey Konica...are you listening?
TL- Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 23:02
Worked absolutely perfect. Used some denatured alcohol to clean and no jams.
Thank you.
Happy - Saturday, September 12, 2009
Just another VERY happty person. It worked as promised. Also thanks to those
how posted the warnings on breakage. I would have broke it for sure without the
warning.
Earl - Saturday, September 12, 2009
Thanks to everyone for your feedback. :-) I originally used
this cleaning procedure over a year ago and my printer is still working
fine. Just printed some things a few days ago. Haven't seen
the Media Jam error in over 10 months. Never did purchase any
other parts to fix it, either. Hopefully you all will have
similar results.
Rosie - Thursday, September 17, 2009
I just tried this after I got a paper jam error and it seems to be working fine
now. Thank you very much for posting this online.
YES - Monday, September 28, 2009 at 12:43 PM
I have had minolta printers for years and have had this problem in them all.
Thanks for such a simple fix, I could not even get this information from
Minolta. THANKS
Steve M - Tuesday, October 13, 2009
thanks....I can't believe this worked! I've had this problem a couple years and
just kept trying until something printed, but this was a great solution! You
have scores of good karma for posting this.
Rob Kinnear - Friday, October 23, 2009 at 04:39
Just hope Minolta read this - got my printer up and running again in 10mins
after 5 months of lying inhardware limbo...
Technerd - Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 15:19
I am soo glad that you posted this information on how to fix the media jam
issue! I have had this issue for about a year now and would clean this feed
tire with an alcohol swab. This would solve the issue for a few days, but it
would recur again and again. Cleaned the feed tire on both my Magicolor 2430DL
and the Pagepro 1330W I have. Both are working like a charm now!
Scott S - Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 17:17
I found this website after i broke my roller. Here is a picture to help clarify
the removal of the pickup roller http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/y8aMKCpKTw53P3WGqb_etA?feat=directlink
, guess I'm stupid and need a better visual aid. Also shown in pic is a temp
repair I did in order to finish printing some important documents. I rolled the
rubber of the roller back and zip tied the plastic part of the roller to the
metal bar. I used a very small zip tie to do it and as you can see it makes the
rubber part of the roller stick out. Worked in pinch and actually ive printed
30+ pages and its still working. By no means a permanent solution, but it does
work. Possible better solution to removing the roller every time might be to
clean it in place with a qtip and isopropyl alcohol, but I have not attempted
this yet. Shipping from national parts is $10 for 3, have extras if anyone
needs, or ill end up ebaying them. Scott
Earl - Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 10:21 PM
Thank you, Scott, for sharing what you discovered. I added your
note to the warnings section. Sorry your part broke, but good job
improvising with the zip tie and getting your printer back to work!
Bret - Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 20:30
I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to help others. I was about to go
Office Space on this thing. Merry Christmas!!
Keith - Sunday, January 3, 2010
Excellent information. I really like my 2430DL printer. Have had it for two or
three years now and use it to print a four page newsletter, 20 + copies monthly
and the media jam was driving me crazy. Hopefully this will take care of that
little aggravation for awhile.
Thanks for the info
Keith
Sam - Wednesday, January 27, 2010
It really worked like a charm for me too. This issue was driving me
crazy.
Thanks a ton for posting it on web.
Dale - Monday, February 1, 2010
Thank you!!! So much for sharing! I just bought this used and this problem
occurred! I read so much of people liking this machine and now I really
do!
Appreciate your "Go-Give" Attitude~
Matt - Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Fab. have had problems with media jams for years and it drives me crazy! Just
given the wheel a clean and so far it's working again! Thank you!!!
yucan2 - Wednesday, February 3, 2010
This info. is positively priceless. Thanks a bunch.
gracie - Monday, February 4, 2010
fantastic - i've been having this problem on and off for ages and in minutes its
fixed. it was so bad i even bought a spare printer off eBay (for 1p!!) now they
both work!
Rich - Monday, February 22, 2010
Unbelievably helpful! I've been trying to figure out how to fix this problem on
my 2400w for almost a year. I was just about to buy a new transfer unit for
$150 when I found your fix. Took less than a minute - no more paper jams!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Lkay - Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Just wanted to say that I have never had such a nice experience solving such an
annoying problem. Your photos are clear, your steps explicit, and best of all -
it actually works! Thanks so much! -lk
Would you like to add your comment? Enter your message below and it
will be posted on this site if appropriate.