Epson printer not working

seert

I have an Epson printer XP-322 which i bought in Argos in July 2015.
I have had a few issues with it, like the print not being straight on the page and running off in a slant, I spoke to them a few times about it and tried various methods they gave to me but it never came back to printing straight.
Within the last week, i tried to print and the paper wouldn't feed into the printer, i tried everything i could think of, then the printer tried to load the paper but it was jamming at an angle on the way in and then the following error message appeared 0xF1.
I contacted Epson and they said something must be stuck and causing the paper to jam, switch everything off, disconnect all the cables and try and see if you can see anything that might be causing the problem, once i had that bit done, once i had that bit done i then had to open the lid and push the printer carriage right over to the right hand side till i heard a clicking sound.
Did this, put everything back together and still not working properly, paper is jamming on the way in.

I reported back to them and within a day they came back asking what date did i buy the printer.
I supplied the purchase date information to them and they came back and said the printer needs serviced, it was out of warranty, the charge is £99 which includes courier cover charge and also 6 months warranty.

Couple of things
Does anyone know a solution to the error code 0xF1
Should this printer not last longer than two and a half years, i have the printer in a spare room and it certainly does not print everyday or even every other day
The printer cost £44.99 and they want me to pay £99 to fix it
Im not the wealthiest and could do without having to try and get out and purchase another printer

I would appreciate any help supplied

Neil_Jones

The £99 is not worth it, you can get a new printer for a third of that cost.

Nine times out of ten on printers that don't feed paper properly is something has fallen down where the paper goes, even something as small as a paperclip can cause this. The old etch-a-sketch fix comes in useful here - aka turn it upside down and shake it.

0xF1 is Epson code for paper jam. It can also be caused by a ripped piece of paper somewhere in the mechanism that's sitting on the paper sensor so the printer thinks there is a paper jam. The easier solution is get a piece of cardboard and feed it manually through the back where the paper goes and if it goes all the way through without stopping it's usually clear. You can usually do it the other way from the bottom upwards if its catching on something when you feed the cardboard downwards.

seert

UPDATE

Many thanks to Neil Jones, followed his advice and tried the shaking method, didn't see anything come out. I then got a piece of cardboard and with some fiddling around managed to get it to feed part of the way from the bottom up through and low and behold i heard this rattle and it turns out to be the top of a pen had got stuck down inside.
Put the printer back together again and its running great.

As i said at the start many thanks to Neil, hopefully his idea will help others who may be in same position

Yours
John

LHW99

Not just a solution for Epson printers - had the same item stuck in a Canon inkjet - wouldn't print until the pen top was out!