Spent 4 hours trying to fix a printer that just needed a paper clip

My office printer kept saying "paper jam" when there was nothing there. After 4 hours of pulling it apart and watching YouTube videos, a guy at the repair shop said to check the sensor arm. A tiny paper clip had fallen inside and was blocking it. Has anyone else had a dumb fix like that waste your whole afternoon?

3 comments

3 Comments

jadej5027d ago

Hold on, let me play the other side here for a second. That 4 hours you spent was probably a GOOD thing because now you know exactly how that printer works inside and out. Next time something goes wrong, you'll be way faster at fixing it instead of just calling a repair guy and paying $100 for a paper clip removal. Plus, getting your hands dirty and actually troubleshooting builds real problem solving skills that you just don't get from looking up the answer online. Sounds like you learned a lot about sensors and mechanical parts that you'd never know otherwise. Maybe that time wasn't wasted, it was just an annoying but valuable lesson in patience and persistence.

the_paul27d ago

That's the weird thing about modern life right? We hate the hassle but those stupid frustrating moments are literally the only way we actually learn anything anymore since everything else is just a quick google search and forget.

gavin36527d ago

Yeah it's like how EVERYTHING seems to be this way now - you spend forever fighting something dumb and realize the fix was so stupid it makes you mad, but now you've got this random niche knowledge you'd never have gotten by just googling it.