Handling paper jams
There are two imperatives to remember:
- Do not rush and do not pull the paper out backwards. Rushing often results in torn sheets, and the last thing you want is irretrievable snippets of paper left behind in your equipment, waiting for a critical print job during which to jam your gears. The reason not to pull paper out backwards is that many printers are carefully designed to only feed paper through in one direction. If you force the components to move backwards, you may damage the equipment and are more likely to increase resistance that in turn leads to tearing. If you keep getting jams, you may need to clean the unit. Consult your manual (most manufacturers make manuals downloadable in PDF format) for specific instructions on how to do this. And don't be nervous, this isn't brain surgery.
- Alternatively, you may be getting paper jams due to high humidity. Before you put a new stack of paper in the printer, flex the ream so that air can briefly get between the sheets.