Wife's HP Photosmart c310 false out-of-paper alarm. Cannot overcome it !!

[DennisT]

HP Photosmart Premium c310 printer pops up out-of-paper alarm every time we try to print.  Can find no paper jam or even fragments in machine, front, top or back. Have loaded std. paper in stacks and singles.  Have tried smaller photo paper.  Have tried to print from wireless and from the direct connected computer.  All rollers are free and clean.  Have restarted machine, plus did hard power re-set, checked for, "jobs waiting," (none), etc.  Did search here and no references.  On general Google search there seems to be a lot of folks with this problem, but few solutions and none that worked for us. 

Thoughts?

Thank you, Dennis

[Geek-9pm]

Let me be frank. 
If the printer is over a year old  and out of warranty, you are stuck.
Not just my thought. Read this from Amazon:

I am going to cut to the chase here; under no circumstances should you buy this printer. Feature rich, the printer sounds great on paper, and for the most part, many of the features work as advertised. The big problem with this printer is it does not print reliably. Don't take my word for it though, read the other 1-star reviews and visit HP's own Support Website forums...

Review of HP  HP Photosmart Premium Wireless e-All-in-One (CN503A#B1H)

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Only 6 left in stock

Guess why only 6 left in stock?

IMHO you need to buy a new printer and hold onto the warranty. Over the years I have spent lots of $$$ on printers and the all fail. Except this very old 810 that still works very well. And very slow.

[DennisT]

Hi Geek:
Thank you.....I think, (grin).  I have not been a fan of HP printers.  My wife has...hence, this one.  So are you suggesting it is un-repairable, or a lemon/poor choice that takes a lot of maintenance?  If the latter, I need to find a fix or work-around. 

And, yes, it's well over a year old and she doesn't use it much.  Dang thing looks new inside.............

Dennis

[Geek-9pm]

Well, you might even by a new one of the same mode and see if you get a good one. Then sell the one one for parts.  The odds of getting another bad one are not very high. But it might happen. The review I gave from Amazon shows at least one person was very unhappy. And you also did a search and found not good answers.

To illustrate. A consumer product may and a return rate of maybe 3% and the retailers may allow that if it is a high price item. But when the price drops down, it gets harder for the manufactures  to keep the quality up and the price down. When you see some models not being re-stocked, you can guess what is going on.
Overall, HP has good products. But hey have some hard competition from many big names in the printer business.
IMHO, it pays to buy a printer from a local vendor and get an extended warranty Getting two good years from a printer is  worth it. A  warranty may add 15 % to your price. Check around.

[DennisT]

Thanks again.  Well, I have no intention of buying another one of these.  Seems like throwing good money after bad. 

But reading between the lines of your posts, once our printer has done this, you are saying there is NO hope for it.     ?  It's now throw away or parts??

Dennis

[Salmon Trout]

These printers were getting bad reviews on Amazon 3 to 4 years ago. There is nothing you can do with an old ink jet except dump it.

[Geek-9pm]

Your hope is in the warranty.
In the past I have either fixed  printers myself or found a technician  that can do it.  For example, on the West Coast of California major cities  have areas where expert techs are available. But tease guys have to charge by the hour and parts.  (Did you know the cost of living is so high in San Francisco that school teachers can not live there.)

So the  high end printer is worth repair. For cheap, buy new.

As a rule of thumb, if the printer is worth over $600 it is repairable. A two year warranty is likely less that the cost of one shop repair. So any business user should either thank about a warranty and atomizing the cost.
Even a individual will benefit if the warranty is under 15% of the retail price.
If you buy another printer of the same make and model, you have a source of spare parts. If a failure turns out to be just a part, you repair it yourself and hold on to the warranty for a future  time.

If my time is $25 per hour, I can not afford to pay myself for 3 hours of work. That would be more than the cost of the warranty.
Hate  to say  it, but we live in a world of waste .  

[Salmon Trout]

My Canon monochrome laser cost $60 in 2008 and is still on the original toner cartridge.