# Printer complains about a carriage jam when there doesn't seem to be one **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 6, 2007, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printer-complains-about-a-carriage-jam-when-there-doesnt-seem-to-be-one/406990 "2007-06-06T14:42:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Engywook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bc8723/32.png) [@Engywook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engywook)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printer-complains-about-a-carriage-jam-when-there-doesnt-seem-to-be-one/406990/1 "2007-06-06T14:42:24Z")
My HP1610 All-in-One has been having intermittently claiming to suffer from a carriage jam. When I pop open the hood, the carriage moves easily when nudged. There does not appear to be any obstruction. And, when I turn the printer off and on, I can hear the carriage moving. Most of what I’ve seen online seems to reply to problems where the users’ printer never works. Mine does more often than not. Perhaps oddly, I’ve never seen it get a carriage jam mid job. The sites also say I should watch the carriage trying to move. But I don’t see a way to get it to do that with the door open… is there a way to trick an HP1600 into thinking the door’s closed? Any experience with this or ideas? I really hope I don’t have to get this thing serviced, but if that’s the only way it would be good to know that now. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printer-complains-about-a-carriage-jam-when-there-doesnt-seem-to-be-one/406990/2 "2007-06-06T14:56:24Z")
[QUOTE=Engywook] …is there a way to trick an HP1600 into thinking the door’s closed? [/QUOTE] Look where the door is hinged to the machine. There’s probably a slot in the machine with a sliver of plastic on the door that slips into that hole, then depresses a bypass switch inside the unit. (Is that a convoluted enough explanation? Try this: think of how the light switch in the refrigerator works, only recessed into the machine.) Slip a paper clip into the slot, and the unit should work with the cover open. ---
**Author:** ![Engywook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bc8723/32.png) [@Engywook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engywook)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printer-complains-about-a-carriage-jam-when-there-doesnt-seem-to-be-one/406990/3 "2007-06-07T18:23:11Z")
Thanks, that worked. Still can’t figure out why I’ve been getting carriage jam errors, but for the time being the printer is working. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printer-complains-about-a-carriage-jam-when-there-doesnt-seem-to-be-one/406990/4 "2007-06-07T19:30:37Z")
You also get error messages like this if the paper doesn’t feed smoothly. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printer-complains-about-a-carriage-jam-when-there-doesnt-seem-to-be-one/406990/5 "2007-06-08T02:45:05Z")
I’ve had problems like this for years with my HP Officejet 600. Buggy software is the cause. Sometimes the message says the carriage won’t move, but usually it says paper/document jam. Fortunately I don’t use the printer much. Disconnecting the printer from the computer and unplugging the printer for several minutes, then restarting the computer and connecting everything once again will allow a few more pages to be printed. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printer-complains-about-a-carriage-jam-when-there-doesnt-seem-to-be-one/406990/6 "2007-06-08T09:14:12Z")
PC load letter? What the fuck does that mean? ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2007, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/printer-complains-about-a-carriage-jam-when-there-doesnt-seem-to-be-one/406990/7 "2007-06-08T12:52:37Z")
[QUOTE=Sitnam] PC load letter? What the fuck does that mean? [/QUOTE] This is really common. Your PC printer driver thinks that you are sending **US Letter** sized pages to the printer, but the printer is loaded with (usually) **A4** paper. So the printer asks you to load the appropriate paper (letter) into the cassette. You can usually hit a button on the printer to force it to print on A4. Si