Lobster wrote:
I currently have an old LaserJet 5 printer - bought it off ebay for
about £35 delivered a few months ago and have been delighted with it
(not least of which because I can get original HP toner carts for it via
the same route for a tenner - many thousands of sheets of paper later
and I'm still on the first cart - what's not to like?!)

Unfortunately it's just developed a paper jam error and I'm wondering if
any of the IT gurus here might be able to advise? It's gone straight
from never jamming at all, to doing so 100% of the time: the paper is
picked up OK but jams just before it enters the fuser assembly. I've
asked a couple of commercial outfits locally but they tell me it's not
worth the cost of them even looking at it, which nearly makes my hair
bleed - I'm convinced the problem is going to be something really
trivial to someone who knows what to look for, and I'm appalled at the
thought of just skipping the printer, as advised.

I've been trawling the net for solutions; best site appears to be
www.fixyourownprinter.com which (I think) seems to be suggesting paper
sensors; if that's the case I can't find them! (I can't relate the
photos at http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/ref...des/sensors/ex
to my own machine TBH).

Any ideas, anyone? Does the paper sensor thing make sense?

I had a 5L and as you say, it would print forever. I e mailed
fixyourownprinter and got back a pretty amateurish CD that showed what
to do, some paper 'guide' parts and a new pick up roller and ended up
with the same problem you did. The paper was picked up perfectly, but
fell about 6 mm short of the rollers to get it into the fusing roller.
In the end I gave up.
Later, I found that HP printers are notorious for paper pick up
problems, with age.
I was given an HP 2575 all in one about a year ago, with paper pick up
problems. After cleaning the pick up roller, it still wouldn't pick up
the paper reliably, so I fed it a sheet of 150 grit sandpaper and held
on to it until it said paper feed error twice. This printer is now fine
and still working more than 12 months later.

I have a suspicion that the diameter of the pick up roller was below the
right diameter. But as I have now dumped the printer, I can't be certain.

Sorry I can't be of any help to you.

Dave