HP m4555 41.03.0 errors from all trays? Replace lift assemblies?

[thec3llc]

Hey guys,

New to these forums, hoping to get some input here and maybe be able to offer some of my experience in turn.


Just looked at a 4555 that's getting size mismatch errors from all trays. Service manual says to check the sensors which i did and they all seem to be working properly. However, the errors persist and the service manual says to replace the lift assemblies for the affected trays. Seems to me that there is probably something else going on since it is happening steadily from both trays 2&3 and I saw a couple tray 1 entries in the event log (though not as many). Oh and this is supposedly a brand new printer...

Any ideas?

[ridered74]

Hey guys,

New to these forums, hoping to get some input here and maybe be able to offer some of my experience in turn.


Just looked at a 4555 that's getting size mismatch errors from all trays. Service manual says to check the sensors which i did and they all seem to be working properly. However, the errors persist and the service manual says to replace the lift assemblies for the affected trays. Seems to me that there is probably something else going on since it is happening steadily from both trays 2&3 and I saw a couple tray 1 entries in the event log (though not as many). Oh and this is supposedly a brand new printer...

Any ideas?

That's weird that the manual would suggest that. The lift mechanisms have absolutely nothing to do with paper size detection.

The first thing you should check is that the default paper size is set to "Letter". That can be found in the Paper Handling menu. You don't mention whether the errors are occurring when printing from the control panel, from a computer, or all of the above, so I am assuming that the errors are happening every single time you print from either the control panel or from a PC.

If that is set properly to letter size, I would look at how the paper trays are set. I believe on that model (never seen one in person so I could be mistaken), you can select either Letter or R-Letter on each tray, and if you do not set the wheel on the front of the tray to match the way you have the paper set up inside the paper tray, it will generate the 41.03 error.

When in doubt, a cold reset is never a bad idea on a weird problem like this assuming neither of the above are your problem, just make sure you print a config page and a menu map beforehand so you have all the settings that you may need to restore.

[thec3llc]

That's weird that the manual would suggest that. The lift mechanisms have absolutely nothing to do with paper size detection.

Well, on this particular model they do. Basically the paper size switches are built into that particular assembly which is why it says to just replace the whole dang thing. Problem is it doesn't go into what could cause this error beyond that...
As for how it works, when you slide the paper guides back and forth in the tray it moves a plate with different hole combinations back and forth. When you slide the tray in there are 3 switches on that lift assembly and a combination of which ones depress selects the paper size. I don't remember seeing anything on the front of the tray that would need to be set as well. There were 2 guides, one for length and one for width...

Unless someone else comes up with any suggestions i may tray that cold reset you mentioned just for giggles sake. Thanks for your input. Always nice to have a second opinion.

[ridered74]

Maybe that's their new style? I couldn't find a good picture of the actual trays in the manual to see any good details, but I would think it's extremely unlikely that that assembly would go bad in both trays. It's got to be a setting.

If you print a configuration page from the information menu, does it have letter size listed at the bottom right for each tray? Have you tried setting the size to ANY in the paper handling menu?

[thec3llc]

That was my feeling as well with it coming from all 3 trays. Or that something else was causing it. Ok, so i did figure this out yesterday... here's what happened.

Did not even try using the lift assemblies...
Again, it was happening from all trays. 41.03.0(1,2&3) errors...
It would print 1 page, throw up the error, spit out a blank page, then try from another tray and do it all over again...
Ran an engine test, was told that if the test ran normally then the formatter would be to blame. (makes sense since that bypasses the formatter)
If the engine test failed then it was either the DC controller board or a sensor somewhere inside the printer.

Engine test resulted in same symptoms, would print 1 page fine then a blank and fail. Engine test is supposed to run continuously.

Because it printed one full page before throwing up the size error that led us to believe it was likely a sensor.

Using the manual sensor test i began to widdle down through all the sensors starting in the registration area. The culprit turned out to be the PS 106 switch which was a paper width sensor. Per the manual if either of the 106/108 sensors goes bad then the whole unit needs to be replaced.

Apparently there is an optical component to the sensor flags. It is a possibility that toner got spilled in this printer and made its way down in there and is blocking the sensor. Unfortunately i couldn't get it cleaned up... Price of using 3rd party toners...


Hope this helps someone in the future!

[ridered74]

That was my feeling as well with it coming from all 3 trays. Or that something else was causing it. Ok, so i did figure this out yesterday... here's what happened.

Did not even try using the lift assemblies...
Again, it was happening from all trays. 41.03.0(1,2&3) errors...
It would print 1 page, throw up the error, spit out a blank page, then try from another tray and do it all over again...
Ran an engine test, was told that if the test ran normally then the formatter would be to blame. (makes sense since that bypasses the formatter)
If the engine test failed then it was either the DC controller board or a sensor somewhere inside the printer.

Engine test resulted in same symptoms, would print 1 page fine then a blank and fail. Engine test is supposed to run continuously.

Because it printed one full page before throwing up the size error that led us to believe it was likely a sensor.

Using the manual sensor test i began to widdle down through all the sensors starting in the registration area. The culprit turned out to be the PS 106 switch which was a paper width sensor. Per the manual if either of the 106/108 sensors goes bad then the whole unit needs to be replaced.

Apparently there is an optical component to the sensor flags. It is a possibility that toner got spilled in this printer and made its way down in there and is blocking the sensor. Unfortunately i couldn't get it cleaned up... Price of using 3rd party toners...


Hope this helps someone in the future!

The HP 4250's and 4350's have a similar issue. If you have a can of canned air with the 4" long super skinny attachment that you jam into the nozzle, you can aim the nozzle down into the sensors and blow the toner out. It has worked every time I've had to do it with those models, might be worth a try on yours.