Dell 5100 Cn printer - paper jam - trying to reach llynster

Hey Jim,

Sorry for the delay..... been out'ta town.

Pictures speak a thousand words. Can you take a digital picture of the problem area and post them with your reply. Use the "Insert Media" icon to locate the file on your computer and upload to include with your reply. (obtw.... max image width is 550 pixels)

And By The Way.... not a good idea to show your email address in the posting..... definitely not your phone number :emotion-3:

This forum is web search-able and you provided your email address to the world. Happy spam !! (hopefully, the admins caught it quickly)

Jim,

Long time, no hear...... Can you tell me what the error code is when you get the jam? We'll have to start there.

Follow up with my Dell 5100cn printer that continues to show a printer jam. I have used air to blow out everywhere I could - looking for any small piece of paper. I have never had a jam before and that is not why it shut down. I also took out some of the parts to try and get to the sensor. I don't know if I took enough things out to get to the sensor. Any other ideas on why it shows a printer jam everytime I try to print? Thank you.

Jim

Hey,

SO, there is no "3digit-3digit" error code at all?
In any case, I think you have a problem in the registration sensor area. Do you know how to access the Customer Diags mode using the control panel?
If so, run test DI-3 and slide a business card (as shown in the following image) in and out of the area shown:
(this view is looking straight down inside the opened printer with the drum assy removed) 

As you insert the card, pull it all the way out, insert the card, etc., the display should change from DI-3 L to H to L.... and the end number should increment.

Let me know how it goes.

Dell Printer 5100 cn printer jam.

No there is no error code - it just says "Paper jam" "check tray"

I am somewhat familiar with using the control panel on the printer but have not seen anything about a DI-3 test? Where do I find that in the control panel - can you walk me through it? Thanks.

Hi Jim,

Reading thru this tread before replying, I believe you had disconnected some wires down in this area. Did you ever get them reconnected correctly, or do you need help with that? If it's the wires I think they are, one of these connections IS for the registration sensor and can give you this error. Can you take a digital picture of the area you're referring to?

Anyway, to test the sensor using DI-3:
1. Power off the printer and disconnect all data cables.
2. Press and hold the UP and DN arrow keys while powering on the printer; the buttons may be released when the LCD indicates "Diagnosing"
3. LCD should indicate "Customer Mode" and "ESS Diag"
4. Press the DN arrow to display "IOT Diag"; press the ENTER button
5. LCD should indicate "IOT Diag" and "Digital Input"; press the ENTER button.
6. Repeat pressing the UP/DN buttons until the desired DI-xx is shown, then press the ENTER button to execute the test.

Dell printer 5100cn paper jam issue.

Hi again - was able to do what you asked as far as using a business card and changing theD1-3 to H to L - the numbers did incrementally change - we stoped at 21. We turned off the printer and it still gave me - Paper jam - check the tray... Let me know if you have any other options - very frustrating... thanks for your assistance.

TO YOUR SUCCESS!!!

Jim

Hi Jim,

When you pull the tray out to check for a jam, was any paper moved at all? Or is it still flat in the drawer?

Time for more tests......
(all covers and doors must be closed for this test)
1. Using the same method to enter diagnostic mode, this time when it says “IOT Diag” and “Digital Input”; press the down button.
2. The display should indicate “IOT Diag” and “Digital Output”; press the Select button.
3. The display should indicate “Digital Output” and “DO- 0  READY”; press the "Select" button to start the Main motor (you should hear it running)
4. Remove the paper tray.
5. Use the up or down buttons to find test "DO-56"; press the "Select" button to activate the tray-1 feed clutch.

With the tray removed, look inside the tray opening (about 6-8 inches back along the top); is the tandem pair of rollers turning?

These are the main paper feed rollers. If these do not feed the paper, the printer will report a jam because paper did not "arrive" at the registration sensor within a pre-determined period of time. In other words, the printer assumes a jam occurred before it arrived at that sensor. Paper arrival and departure at each sensor in the path is timed to a "Tee".

...... AND to your success as well :emotion-2:

Good Morning -

I basically only print postcards on the Dell 5100 CN printer - so a paper jam is not very common - and pieces of paper never come off becasue it is thicker paper. I tried what you suggested but DID NOT see those rollers moving. I did get the motor to run and took the tray out but didn't see the rollers moving. Any other ideas? Is there something that might be diconnected etc.? All of a suddent the printer just gave me the Paper jam - check tray error. Thank you for all your assistance.

TO YOUR SUCCESS!!!

Jim

To clarify, you printed Post Cards feeding from your Paper Tray (Tray-1)? If you had to guess the paper weight, how heavy do you think it might be? Basically, card stock is not recommended for use in the trays, only from the MPF (which should still be usable for you) You might have gotten away with it for a long time, but you were lucky.

The symptoms you reported after these last tests are not good. If the rollers I described do not turn, you'll never feed paper from the tray. To confirm, these are the rollers you checked?

The gears and clutch that drive the rollers for tray-1 are buried in the machine. See the circled area in the following image. To get access to the tray-1 feeder mechanism, you will need to remove the low-end side cover.

Once you get the cover removed, take a bunch of digital pictures of the assy and how each gear is positioned, and pictures of the orientation of each gear and part as you remove them. I suspect you'll find the gear hubs and shafts are "gunky" Clean the inside of each gear and the shafts with 91% Isopropyl alcohol. DO NOT oil when you re-assemble. Also, do not use alcohol to clean the feed rollers. Use plain water and a mild soap solution, then clean again with plain water. An old clean tee shirt works good for this. Do not use cotton balls or swabs as they can leave cotton filaments behind.

Good luck !!

Sorry, more info...

The paper does get picked up, but does not seem to make to the sensor you had him test above... is there another sensor before that one?  and what DI number does it correspond too to try to test?

Thanks.

 vs-tech,

Sorry but llynster has retired from the Dell Community Forums.

If you try searching your problem in the search peripherals

and after your problem type

llynster

you might find a thread that will help you solve your problem, unless one of the other nice members can share the information that llynster provided to them.

Rick

Hi Lynster,

I am having the same problem only our feed rollers do turn.  I tried the tests that you had mentioned, for the paper sensor and the rollers and it passed both of those.

I have cleaned the rollers, replaced the paper feed rollers, and have tried to blow out all the sensors.  I get the jam error on both the main tray and the mpt tray..... I see no debris in the printer...

Any thoughts?