HP Laserjet 1200 series paper double feed & jam

[mooreotco]

HP laserjet1200 series; paper sheet feeds and as printing,  before print of page is complete, a second sheet feeds and overlaps the first sheet and jam occurs. This happens every time printing is attempted.  If I feed one sheet at a time, it prints fine.

Sheet position sensors seem to be failing.

[Repairatrooper · Accepted solution]

Most common causes of this are a worn separation roller or a sticking pickup solenoid. There are plenty of tutorials on Youtube on how to fix the solenoid issue and is most likely the problem based on age of the machine. If you hear the pickup roller rotate several times on pickup that would indicate that the solenoid is sticking. A worn pickup roller is also a good possibility on a device this old.

[mooreotco]

Repairtrooper,

Your sticking solenoid diagnosis was spot on !!  But you failed to mention how easy the fix is.  I did further research and discovered the "Black Tape" fix.  1) Find the solenoid; Remove right side cover and look for the part.  Toward the front at mid-level. 2) Remove the solenoid (small philipshead screw) just far enough to remove the plate that the magnet activates to release the nylon wheel (i.e., leave wires attached).  3) Detach the movable plate after removing the very tiny spring at the base of the plate. (Treat the spring like gold, because if you loose it, your printer becomes JUNK! (or you buy a replacement solenoid, just for the spring)) 4)  Clean off the adhesive remaining on the movable plate & opposing surface of solenoid housing using tissue & concentrated alcohol (isopropyl or ethyl >90%). 5) Wrap the contact tab on the housing tightly with two layers of black electrical tape, trimming to only cover the tab. This acts as a cushion and noise suppressor. 6) reinstall the moveable plate & spring after putting a very tiny bit of grease at the 2 hinge points of the plate where it pivots on the housing. 7) reattach the solenoid assembly to the base plate from which you removed it with Phillips screw, making sure that the latch hook on the moveable plate is properly located on the white nylon geared wheel that it is intended to limit its rotation cycle. 😎 replace the right cover & all other items that you removed to gain access to the solenoid, obviously in reverse sequence.  Return printer to its resting place, plug it back in, load the blank paper and try it out.