# Were the pages before the paper jam faxed?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-pages-before-the-paper-jam-faxed/666486>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 17, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-pages-before-the-paper-jam-faxed/666486 "2013-08-17T13:08:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-pages-before-the-paper-jam-faxed/666486/1 "2013-08-17T13:08:48Z")

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Quick question: I’m sending a multi-page fax (like 20 pages). After 10 pages, the 11th page jams and the machine disconnects.

Were those first 10 pages sent, or do I have to resend them?

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**Author:** ![Buffalo\_Bilious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e99b99/32.png) [@Buffalo\_Bilious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buffalo_Bilious)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-pages-before-the-paper-jam-faxed/666486/2 "2013-08-17T13:53:17Z")

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Depends on the complexity of the content on the pages. Simple, sparse and clean type on white paper is easier for the fax machine than heavy text, graphics or photos.

Fax machines have a memory cache that stores the images while scanning and prior to transmitting. Everything else being equal, I’d imagine that it sent a number of pages before it crapped out.

But there’s no way to tell unless the sendee tells you what they received. Depending on the quality of your fax machine, it may be best to just resend the whole shebang, perhaps in batches (i.e., four transmissions of five pages each)

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**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-the-pages-before-the-paper-jam-faxed/666486/3 "2013-08-17T14:27:49Z")

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depends on your equipment.

an old machine might have sent everything but the line it jammed on.