question:

designjet 450c starts normally, all lights normal, at "load media" when i feed in
a sheet (sheet button selected) it is taken in and checked for alignment, after
aligning, the carriage assembly moves over near the right hand side momentarily
and then returns to its home position on the left side and the paper is ejected.
"load media" light comes on. i dont see any red light coming on to sense paper.
what are possible causes?

answer:

this may be related to the line sensor. you may be able to clean the line sensor
on the carriage.
to do this:
1. turn the printer off.
2. slide a thin piece of damp, lint-free cloth under the line sensor (on the right
side of the carriage).
3. move the carriage back and forth to clean the sensor.
next, perform the accuracy calibration as follows:
1. turn the printer on in service mode 2 by holding down the media source key
while turning on the printer.
2. contine holding down media source for 3 seconds after power on.
3. load a sheet of 24 x 36 media in portrait orientation. the media can be larger
but not smaller.
4. press reprint to begin printing the calibration pattern.
5. after the pattern finishes printing. remove it from the printer and cut along
the line.
6. rotate the printer so that the arrows are pointed in to the printer.
7. load the sheet. the printer should begin reading the pattern automatically.
this could take several minutes.
8. when complete, turn the printer off and back on.

if the above steps fail to resolve the issue, you may need to replace the carriage
and run the accuracy calibration (again).
parts and diagrams can be obtained at partsurfer.hp.com