CP2025 Won't Pick Paper from Either Tray

[GreyGold]

I have a transitory (as opposed to intermittent) problem with my CP2025dn. When it fails, it fails consistently and repeatedly; then when it clears up, it works properly for an extended period. I'm hoping to get enough insight into the issue to enable me to do some intelligent troubleshooting the next time it occurs.

A few days ago, I printed test copies of two single-page documents. One was on standard 8-1/2" X 11" plain paper from tray #2. The other was on 5-1/2" X 11" card stock from tray #1. Both printed correctly, after which I attempted to print the multiple copies I wanted. At this point, the printer would not pick paper from either tray. It would continually attempt to pick, with mechanical sounds similar to but slightly different from when picking was successful. While observing the throat of tray #1, I could see that the mechanical movement that took place during successful printing was not happening. For both trays, the printer re-tried picking endlessly. After a minute or so and a few dozen picking attempts, I had to manually cancel the jobs. No error messages were issued.

After several tries, the printer went into calibration mode. Both LEDs illuminated, but nothing else happened. I could not cancel calibration, nor could I turn power off. I had to unplug the power source, then plug it in again. I then tried printing again (both my own jobs as well as a demo page), with the same failed results as above.

I set the printer on a bench for further troubleshooting and spent a half hour or so reading through the service manual. I then removed the right cover to see if I could find anything out of order, but all seemed well. I then tried printing a demo page while watching any activity from the opened cover. The demo page printed properly.

The printer is now back in service and, so far, behaving properly. I expect that in time, I'll see this same failure again, and I hope someone may have experienced similar behavior and can suggest the likely cause.

[cs_steve]

I have a transitory (as opposed to intermittent) problem with my CP2025dn. When it fails, it fails consistently and repeatedly; then when it clears up, it works properly for an extended period. I'm hoping to get enough insight into the issue to enable me to do some intelligent troubleshooting the next time it occurs.

A few days ago, I printed test copies of two single-page documents. One was on standard 8-1/2" X 11" plain paper from tray #2. The other was on 5-1/2" X 11" card stock from tray #1. Both printed correctly, after which I attempted to print the multiple copies I wanted. At this point, the printer would not pick paper from either tray. It would continually attempt to pick, with mechanical sounds similar to but slightly different from when picking was successful. While observing the throat of tray #1, I could see that the mechanical movement that took place during successful printing was not happening. For both trays, the printer re-tried picking endlessly. After a minute or so and a few dozen picking attempts, I had to manually cancel the jobs. No error messages were issued.

After several tries, the printer went into calibration mode. Both LEDs illuminated, but nothing else happened. I could not cancel calibration, nor could I turn power off. I had to unplug the power source, then plug it in again. I then tried printing again (both my own jobs as well as a demo page), with the same failed results as above.

I set the printer on a bench for further troubleshooting and spent a half hour or so reading through the service manual. I then removed the right cover to see if I could find anything out of order, but all seemed well. I then tried printing a demo page while watching any activity from the opened cover. The demo page printed properly.

The printer is now back in service and, so far, behaving properly. I expect that in time, I'll see this same failure again, and I hope someone may have experienced similar behavior and can suggest the likely cause.

The key is to observe the pickup rollers during failure -- if the rollers are touching the paper and spinning but the paper is not moving, I would replace those rollers as they are losing grip. These rollers are common replacement parts, so if you haven't replaced them recently there is a roller kit available that would probably be worth installing. https://www.printertechs.com/shop/roller-kit-for-hp-cp2025

If there is some mechanical noise but the rollers from neither Tray are spinning, that would be an unusual problem because the pickup assembly for Tray 1 is separate from the pickup assembly for Tray 2 and the likelihood of them both malfunctioning at the same time, and then returning to working order at the same time, would be low.

All of this to say it could be a fluke thing that won't happen again. There is a formatter board, which is the main logic board of the printer, which could cause issues. In a rare case if the printer receives a corrupted print job or if the formatter was flaky it could get stuck on an endless loop without actually executing the job.

[GreyGold]

The key is to observe the pickup rollers during failure -- if the rollers are touching the paper and spinning but the paper is not moving, I would replace those rollers as they are losing grip. These rollers are common replacement parts, so if you haven't replaced them recently there is a roller kit available that would probably be worth installing. https://www.printertechs.com/shop/roller-kit-for-hp-cp2025

If there is some mechanical noise but the rollers from neither Tray are spinning, that would be an unusual problem because the pickup assembly for Tray 1 is separate from the pickup assembly for Tray 2 and the likelihood of them both malfunctioning at the same time, and then returning to working order at the same time, would be low.

All of this to say it could be a fluke thing that won't happen again. There is a formatter board, which is the main logic board of the printer, which could cause issues. In a rare case if the printer receives a corrupted print job or if the formatter was flaky it could get stuck on an endless loop without actually executing the job.

For the benefit of others, I found the solution to the problem here:

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/LaserJet-Printing/CP2025-quot-Sticky-Solenoid-quot/td-p/7450718

I imagine there are other solenoids on this printer that will experience the same issue in the future. I've searched everywhere, but have yet to find any guidance on how to locate and remove them for service. If anyone can help, I'd be most appreciative.