Clear a Paper Jam in the Copier

Clear a Paper Jam in the Copier

Clear a Paper Jam in the Copier : Multi-thousand tips to make your life easier.

Solving a paper jam is quite easy. Many people try too hard to remove the paper jam, and that is why many of them end up destroying their beloved copier.

They’ve tried using pliers, coat hangers, and even screwdrivers just to get the paper out of the copier. The first rule here is to never try too hard. If you can’t fix the paper jam, then ask a technician to do it. It is better to spend some money for the service fee than put your expensive copier at risk.

The steps below are the proper ways to take care of this paper jam problem:

• Don’t get jammed, too. Remove dangling jewelry like necklaces, bracelets, watches, and earrings. Neckties and scarves should be removed, too. Roll up long sleeves as well. Without doing these, you might find yourself part of that jam.
• Check the copier’s control panel. Most copiers are pretty smart and nice. They’ll let you know what’s wrong and on which part this problem is. A flashing light should indicate where the paper jam is.
• Access the point. You now know where the jammed paper is. Open the copier machine. Most machines can be easily opened by swinging the front panel to the side. Open the stapler or the collator also if your copier has that.
• Where is the jammed paper? Be extra careful when looking because the machine is hot, especially if you’ve been using it for hours. See if the problem can be solved by pulling out the drums and rollers. There are release latches on the machine that could help you pull these things easily. The latches are usually clearly labeled so it should be easy to look for them.
• Pull the jammed paper out. Be very gentle when pulling out the paper using your bare hands. If possible, pull it out moving in its direction. As much as possible also, pull the paper in one piece. It is easier to solve a paper jam if you can pull the thing in one piece rather than try to remove it in many small pieces.
• Reset the copier machine. The flashing lights should be gone by now. And if so, you can start with your printing job again. But in case removing the paper did not solve the problem, it’s now time to call the technician. Perhaps the problem is not really the jammed paper. Or maybe, that jammed paper has touched a sensitive sensor and now it’s not working well.

Calling the technician is also advised in case you can’t pull out all of the pieces of paper. Even a small piece of paper stuck in the machine can cause a lot of trouble.

Never attempt to remove some machine parts. Let the technician handle the job. He might take the copier apart. But at least, he knows how to do it without voiding your warranty. The technician can bring the parts together, too. The important thing here is that you tried what you can do to solve this paper jam problem. Now, it’s time for the technician to do his job.