printer's 'no paper in paper tray' problem

There is this printer that I got(hp deskjet693c)that whenever Iam printing says that there is no paper even while there is alot of paper in the tray and sometimes it prints just only one page.I have tried to work it around with no success I downloaded the correct driver the day and installed.any suggestions

troubleshooting-hardware

Do the lights change colors. On my printer it does something similar and the lights change colors. To make it print i just press the "force" print button.

There's a little plastic piece on that printer that is at the printer end of the paper tray, if you look carefully with a flashlight, you can see how the thing works.

Either that little plastic piece has broken, (fairly common), or gummed up, (less common), or the microswitch it presses on when there is no paper inside the printer has failed and is stuck to on, (also fairly common). The piece of plastic is commonly black, (though I've seen them blue as well), and slightly angled out into the 'paper bed'.

Possible fixes: Reach in and move it manually, be sure that the thing isn't 'stuck' or gummed up. If it isn't, and seems to be moving well, and undamaged, then either the plastic thing that presses the switch inside has broken, or the microswitch is broken.

If you feel brave, you can try taking the printer apart, but I wouldn't bother. Bubblejet printers are quite cheap, and print better than ever today.

If you do bother to take it apart, you can just disconnect that microswitch. The printer will no longer know when it's out of paper if you do this, but its better than nothing.