CM1312nfi MFP too frequent self cleaning

[Itsaplane2]

After printing just a couple of pages, the printer goes into cleaning mode. After it finishes it asks yo to press the OK button to continue the print job — then it repeats the last one of the two pages I just printed.  How can I make it stop self cleaning so often?

[ALS-77]

This typically happens when the paper pickup/feed roller is either dirty or is worn out. There should be a ripple type of textured surface on the roller. As it wears down the surface becomes smooth and can't pick the paper from the tray reliably any more. Whenever it fails to pick the paper correctly, it will notice the paper timing is off and will go into a cleaning routine each time. Try cleaning the roller with a lint-free cloth dampened with warm water or alcohol and check the surface for wear. If it's worn out, cleaning may help it for a bit, but the roller should be replaced or reposition the rubber on the roller to an unused section for the pickup lead edge of the roller. Do a Google search for the procedure to remove the roller and reposition the rubber. You should be able to find instructions and YouTube videos as well.

[Itsaplane2]

 Thank you for your posting. It was enough for me to do a search the internet (found http://www.lbrty.com/tech/tarticles/taCM1312roller.pdf) and go to YouTube (found https://youtu.be/auByS1pAGEk)  to clean the two rollers.   It wasn’t too difficult to return remove them and clean them well with alcohol. But, upon reinstallation the printer does the same thing.    

I suppose the next step would be to replace those two rollers (or just the big one?)  — but (now that I am an expert at getting inside this machine 😉  are there other things that could be causing this problem?   Are there other things that I should clean? Thanks again for your help with this.   Eric

[ALS-77]

Cleaning them was a hope, but if they are worn smooth, it's not going to help a lot. Replacing them both (Roller Kit P/N: CC430-67901) would be the ideal fix. But, as a temporary possible fix, you can take out the large roller, release the clip holding the rubber in place and re-position the rubber on the plastic hub so that the unused part of the rubber is on the leading pickup edge of the plastic hub which should give you pretty good use for awhile. Place the unused rubber section on the outside of the hub that has the U looking tab on the side (that's the pickup edge), and the smoothest part on the rubber into the inner loop that isn't used and reinstall the clip. The smaller (separation) roller is what it is and you can't do anything with it, but it can still cause problems if it is smooth as it will cause the paper to stick to it too much and also cause jams sometimes.

Here's an okay video on how to do it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WEq081UYnc

There really isn't anything else to clean on or in the printer.