The carriage in an HP deskjet printer is the component that slides back and forth to print the paper. The carriage can jam, causing the printer to misprint, stop printing or seem broken. If this happens, you’ll hear a grinding noise when the carriage tries to move but is unable to do so. This indicates that the actuator arm is stuck, which prevents the carriage from sliding back and forth as it normally should. Fixing the issue is only a matter of lifting and releasing the actuator arm, then moving the carriage again.
