Panasonic Panafax DX-800: "tray missing" error

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tim C
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Tim C

I have a Panasonic Panafax DX-800 that I was given; it displays code 011,
"paper tray missing" in the window and, of course, it doesn't print.
(For lack of better description, it's a glorified black and white laser
printer/fax/scanner.)

However, I have the tray inserted, and it looks like it's fitting fine.
Since it was free, I don't know when it stopped working, etc., and the
prior owner just wanted to be rid of it and so probably wouldn't appreciate
me hassling him about what happened. :)

I have two clues:
1) the original complaint was that it didn't detect there was paper.
This may have been his way of saying the tray wasn't detected...
2) the prior owner took it apart and verified that everything looked
mechanically okay... but certainly could have jostled something
loose in the assembly or disassembly. This leaves the paper
problem (#1) if indeed it was different.

The main question is, how is the paper tray detected? There are
two plastic pins on the end of the tray that go into two holes in the main
assembly, and there is a swinging (and apparently free-rotating) widget
that hangs down, I presume to check paper level but maybe also for tray
detection. There could certainly be other things that I didn't notice
or that aren't coming to mind.

If it's impossible to fix the tray detection, is there some way to trick
the device to think there's _always_ a tray inserted? I have a fair
collection of surface-mount devices, if necessary. :)

I'd like to get this working since it would be really nice to have a good
fax machine. I'm relatively handy, and since it was free I wouldn't mind
doing some... interesting... things to it. Just the same, guidance would
probably make the effort more successful and is much appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
-TC
 
Tim C said:
I have a Panasonic Panafax DX-800 that I was given; it displays code 011,
"paper tray missing" in the window and, of course, it doesn't print.
(For lack of better description, it's a glorified black and white laser
printer/fax/scanner.)

However, I have the tray inserted, and it looks like it's fitting fine.
Since it was free, I don't know when it stopped working, etc., and the
prior owner just wanted to be rid of it and so probably wouldn't appreciate
me hassling him about what happened. :)

I have two clues:
1) the original complaint was that it didn't detect there was paper.
This may have been his way of saying the tray wasn't detected...
2) the prior owner took it apart and verified that everything looked
mechanically okay... but certainly could have jostled something
loose in the assembly or disassembly. This leaves the paper
problem (#1) if indeed it was different.

The main question is, how is the paper tray detected? There are
two plastic pins on the end of the tray that go into two holes in the main
assembly, and there is a swinging (and apparently free-rotating) widget
that hangs down, I presume to check paper level but maybe also for tray
detection. There could certainly be other things that I didn't notice
or that aren't coming to mind.

If it's impossible to fix the tray detection, is there some way to trick
the device to think there's _always_ a tray inserted? I have a fair
collection of surface-mount devices, if necessary. :)

I'd like to get this working since it would be really nice to have a good
fax machine. I'm relatively handy, and since it was free I wouldn't mind
doing some... interesting... things to it. Just the same, guidance would
probably make the effort more successful and is much appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
-TC
Click to expand...

Tim
I don't know this FAX but the toggle you describe is probably just the paper
detector. Usually there is another sensor that detects whether the tray is
present or not in laser printers and sometimes they also detect the paper size
depending on the tray construction.
This can take the form of a protrusion(s) on the side of the tray that operates
a switch or maybe one of the pins you refer to operates a switch inside the
body. Unfortunately these compact FAX's are usually tricky to dismantle, the
covers can be difficult to remove without breaking bits. I know of no way to
bypass the missing tray report.
www.manuals4you.com have a CD with the service manual on so you may consider
that a worthwhile investment. the manual should give troubleshooting tips with
luck and will almost certainly explain how to remove the covers. If you decide
to buy the CD e-mail the website and request a download of the actual manual
you need and they will arrange that while the CD is in the mail.
Tony
 
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