Color Laserjet CP2025 issues

[Edo4]

Recently I'm having trouble with my CP2025 Color Laserjet. when I switch it on after a night of being off it works fine for a few pages. Then all of a sudden it won't pick up the paper anymore. You can hear it click though but it's like some motor is not running and when i was investigating this I can clearly see the paper pick up roller is just sitting idle..doing nothing.

(I removed the plastic front from tray 2 to look inside)

Funny thing is it endlessly clicks..an error message will not be displayed. I just either have to cancel the job or power cycle the printer. The same goes for calibration: the colors are not aligned properly. I did a calibration from the menu...it started but it never finished (no errors displayed), I had to power cycle the printer. second time it went through and it sounded different too again like some motor was not running the first time

I think this is not a mechanical related issue but perhaps something with either the DC controller or formatter board especially leaving it off for a while cures it for a moment.

One other thing I noticed is that the display can display some garbage characters when just switched on but after it has booted up everything looks normal.

Steps I've taken so far are: reset defaults, updated firmware, reset NVRAM. but the problem remains. Sometimes it does work normal for a while but then it starts again,clicking and no paper pick up and no pickup roller activity and NO errors.

Last but not least: If I put paper in tray 1 (manual feed) it will feed the paper all the way through but no print out except for a horizontal line on top side of the paper.again no any error messages.

My question is here: Where to start..replace formatter or DC board? Does the formatter board tells the DC board what to do?

Hope anyone can shed some light on this. Thanks in advance!

[davidzuts]

First off how many pages has the printer printed. This printer develops issues where the pickup roller is worn and has difficulty picking up the paper. I know you say you watched the printer roller and it did not turn, but odds are it did but you did not see it. The reason is the click you are hearing is the solenoid activating and releasing the cam that stops the pickup roller from turning. It will try 3 times before you get the jam message. Take a flashlight and with the tray removed lift the printer up at the 45 degree angle and shine the light on the roller. Most times you will see smooth rubber on the edges with a little tread left in the middle. That is a sure sign of a worn roller. I have replaced dozens on this model and I am sure this is your problem. I would order a replacement roller and then do a google search for the replacement procedure since you have to move the pick roller from the secondary service menu which displays after pressing certain keys.

[Edo4]

Thank you for your reply! The printer pick up roller really isn't turning. The pick up roller is in good condition, not worn.

If the pick up roller would fail to pick up the paper then after about 5 times of trying it would give an error (paper jam in tray 2).....but it doesn't:It keeps clicking forever without any error messages. Leaving it overnight or off for a few hours cures it for a few minutes or a bit longer but then it starts again. The first sheets are picked up fine. Then with the next print job (no matter from pc or from printer's menu) it looks as if its starting but it sound differently as if one motor doesnt start to spin...

This makes me believe it's not a mechanical failure but something electronic. Another thing I noticed is that after a calibration I tried to print a supplies status page: It printed but all the colors were missing, then directly after tried it again...and then the printer stopped feeding the paper and did the endless clicking with no error messages displayed.

What does however always work is to turn the roller through the 2nd service menu (for replacing it) so the motor seems to be just fine.

[davidzuts]

What happens if you put letter paper in tray 1 and change the paper type in tray 2 to bond. Does the printer take from tray 1 all the time or it performs the same, taking paper from tray 1 for a couple of sheets and then the constant clicking?  I know you said print is not on the page, but looking to see if the action is the same. Also what happens if you run lets say a 20 page blank or 1 character document? Does it print all 20 pages or stop after printing a couple of pages? Also on the right side of the printer is a engine test hole. When you turn on the printer after it is ready,  use a fine-point tool, (for example a precision-slotted screwdriver with a 1 mm (0.04 in) blade width) to press the engine test button. Keep doing engine test sheets to see if you get to where it does the clicking. If you never get to clicking and it continues to print engine test sheets then the formatter will be the logical item. If it starts the clicking then the engine control board would be the logical item.

[Edo4]

Well..today it was a bit worse. It printed only one page from tray 2 then the clicking started. I took all the paper out from tray 2, opened tray 1 put some sheets in and to my surprise it didnt even attempt to feed...just clicking..when I removed the paper from tray 1 (so tray 1 and tray 2 were empty) it stopped clicking and displayed: Load paper. From that moment it didn't really matter in which tray I put the paper...it just starts to click forever and it doesnt feed paper from any of the trays nor does it give an error message unless there's no paper.

So my previous idea was wrong. If the printer starts to behave strangely it won't pick up paper from any of the trays.

The difference in behavior I noticed is: Normally when things work fine I can hear a few clicks, then the paper output (delivery assy) starts to become active( I can see the wheels spin on top of the printer) the paper runs through and is delivered as expected.

When the printer doesnt work then I can hear the clicking...but the paper output stays silent and thats it until I cancel the job or power cycle the printer.

I'm tempted to replace the DC controller because if it would be mechanical..why would it cure itself after a while being switched off.

Good point: The Test button..I will give that a go tonight! The button bypasses the formatter. Didn't think of it that way yet but that really is an excellent advice.

Update: Just tried the test button. Exactly same issue

[Edo4]

Update,

I replaced the DC controller but still no joy. The printer is always following the same pattern:

Start up after long switch off: It prints a few pages then goes into the endless click loop without errors.

Switch off, unplug, switch on: same problem, only when left off for a while it might come back for one or two pages.

Colors are missing from the last printed page before it goes into click loop without errors.

Pressing the test button on the DC controller  board, thus bypassing the formatter board still results in the same behavior: printer starts....output assembly not running...two main engines both running..contious click sound (as if paper is picked up), no errors...have to switch off to break the cycle.

What drives me mad is that never an error message is displayed, no jams...nothing

Anyone?

[davidzuts]

Because of the lack of an error message and the fact that it works for a short time that would indicate something is overheading and needs time to reset itself after it happens and power is removed. That makes it very difficult to diagnose and the only way is replacing one part after another. I doubt the issue is mechanical since if it was it would happen all the time. The next part I would try is the formatter. My logic is the formatter is what reports the error to the display and since you are not getting one I would think something in the formatter is shutting it down, One test you can try is after you get the clicking noise try going thru the menus. If frozen that would be an indication.

[Edo4]

Thanks for your reply,

Yes indeed it's hard to diagnose. The formatter board doesnt seem to hang. When I send a print job to the printer it is attempting to print, but it does the clicking instead with no error messages. I can cancel the job on the front panel, it's responding normally.

Same if I print a page from the front panel (supply status, demo). I can always cancel and it will return to the Ready state.

The only thing I can not cancel is when I use the test button on the DC controller. For that I need to power cycle the printer to cancel the 'job'

I'm starting to wonder if perhaps it's the power supply. It could be that there's a voltage missing and another suspect is the power supply sub PCA. Not exactly sure what it does but it does have a relay on it that might be worth checking.

[davidzuts]

One thing you can try to isolate one item is to remove the right side cover and you will see 2 motors that are identical. Remove and swap their positions and see if the situation changes. Those are the alienation motors responsible for moving the transfer belt.

[Edo4]

I will give that a try. I think I'm going to make a small video to see which motors are running on a succesful print and which aren't when it doesnt, so I can compare the difference. Another board that caught my interest is a small board connected with a big flat cable to the DC controller called : intermediate PCA. This board has two IC's on it and when I googled the type numbers they came up as:   PWM Stepper Motor Driver. If one of these would be flaky..I can understand the whole thing doesn't work. If only I had a spare unit to swap parts.....