HP 2300 41.03 errors

[macgvr]

Weird problem. Keep getting this 41.03 error, randomly. Could go a hundred pages, could go two. It doesn't matter which tray, the built in 250 sheet or the optional 500 sheet. The error pops up and also indicates that you need to put letter size paper in the tray. Hit the Check mark Key and it starts up again. Can't see where it is double feeding. Doesn't send out two sheets after hitting the button. Thought it was a separator pad problem but new pad didn't change it. Thought it might be a Top of page sensor that was dirty. Aired it out, not fixed. Tried Cold reset, still nothing. Any ideas?

[Big Al]

If the paper tray is adjusted properly then try cleaning the pickup roller. When they get old and/or covered with paper dust then sometimes the paper will be a little slow getting out of the tray and give an error. What is the page count? May be due for a new set of rollers?

Al

[macgvr]

It "appears" that the firmware was corrupted. Didn't want to let me upgrade it through the browser interface either so had to update through the LPT1 port. That seemed to have resolved the issue, for the moment. We'll see.

[redcow]

These printers don't have 'paper size' sensors in the trays. The printer depends on you to load the correct size paper and for you to set the correct size paper for the tray via the control panel.

If different sizes of paper are being used, make sure that you set the tray for 'any size'.

Don't know if this pertains to you, but there are other users out there that should keep this in mind.

I couldn't find anything in the firmware that had anything to do with correcting the 41.3 error

[macgvr]

True, this printer doesn't have a paper size sensor in the paper tray. It uses the Top of Page switch that is found just before the transfer roller. The printer detects when the paper hits that switch and when it leaves the switch and calculates the paper size from the length of time the switch was held open. Apparently the firmware can affect the reliability of that calculation. The printer was not multi-feeding sheets and hitting the GO button would start the print job again after the error was displayed. Never did two sheets come out, either prior to the error or after the GO button was hit. That leaves one of two choices, maybe three. First, per tech support, the firmware, second, the switch itself could be failing, after that, and this is me speculating, maybe one the logic boards is failing.

This was very erratic, sometimes it would fail on a 2 page print job, sometimes it would print over a 100 pages and then fail. After the firmware update I printed 200 hundred pages without error. Still waiting to see if it remains stable.

[macgvr]

Well, the firmware update did make it more reliable, but not completely. It does a lot more pages before it fails. Unfortunately, I am not a HP trained tech and they won't sell me the top of page sensor. That means we would have to send it out for repair. The printer is 6 years old has printed 549,000 pages so we are questioning whether to have it repaired or replace it.

Any feed back on the 4100 printer and how it compares? The 4050 was an amazing work horse and dead reliable. Wondering if the 4100 is the same since it is based on the 4050.

[Big Al]

We have a lot of 2300's here but none with a page count that high. I would say that 2300 does not owe you anything. The 4000, 4050 and 4100 are all much better printers than the 2300. My suggestion would be to nurse the 2300 along until you use up all your toner then replace it.

Al