this happens a lot, me being an ex HP Laser Printer engineer (mid 90's) we used Platonclene & I still do it to this day, it cleans & restores the rubber very well. Another big problem I see a lot is from top feeding printers like the Epson, paper getting dragged in sideways/angle, 9 times out of 10 something like a pen top, paperclip, Lego, you name it I have found it in them.

I used to service copiers and printers throughout my career, and I have found just plain soapy water on a cloth to do a better job of cleaning the rollers, without drying them out, as alcohol tends to do. Some rollers are easy to remove from the printer, and those I would wash in a sink with soap and water. I advocate for replacing rollers whenever they are dirty and or worn, but not all of them are easy to obtain.

Many printers specifically say not to use alchohol on the rollers. Although it will clean the roller it will also harden the surface. The printer may work for a short while but will be much worse after a small amount of dust starts to build up again. A better choice is water to clean the rollers but this will leave the rollers damp for a while before you can use the printer again. Lastly, to restore the rubber's grip, order some rubber rejuvinator and use as directed. This will soften the surface of the rubber making it like-new. Although it may be possible and even tempting to buy new rollers, often times printers are not designed to be easily taken apart and serviced. Also, as bearings and sleeves wear the shafts can start to misalign while feeding paper. Paper can then buckle and jam. Paper moisture content can also be a major factor in jams.

Thanks a ton for this information, I have a similar printer and it was getting that problem. So I brought a laser one, but gonna fix my first one.

Awesome thanks Brian! Been having issues with my Brother mfc465cn, having issues with paper feed and I have to keep fiddling with paper tray. I tried cleaning them at first but still have issues. What I did not know is about additional rollers and rollers having grooves. I will investigate further, if I have to replace rollers hopefully I can find them. I may end up getting a new printer because this particular one is a little outdated. Thanks again! Oh and BTW My condolences to all of Great Britain 🇬🇧 for the loss of her Majesty the Queen, I am truly saddened of this news. 😢

About 30 years ago, our government organization had many early hp inkjet printers with this problem. Paper dust fuses into the rubber rollers creating a hard shiny surface. Hp issued us spring loaded metal plates with Scotch abrasive pads that aligned with the rollers. Program on floppy disc drive rollers and surface of rollers removed. Feed some paper to collect debris and printer returns to service.

Great tip with that sticky paper. Thanks Brian

In the machine shop there is a product called "BELT DRESSING". It is a spray (although sometimes also comes in a bottle with a brush), which is applied to rubber belts on machinery to keep the rubber from ageing. it makes the surface of the rubber soft, glossy, somewhat sticky to the touch and it "renews" the rubber. This product would probably help a lot with printer rollers, however you must find a way of applying it that does not allow it to go in unwanted places, so careful application by hand is a must. You likely won't find it in hardware stores, but machine shop tolling supply houses would have it.

Cheers Brian.

good information

3:30 Those round pieces of cotton are Hoppe's Gun Cleaning Patches, useful for many things.

Main problem is that the retail market printers are "Toys", manufactured down to a price, and not fit for for anything other than very light use. That said my +10 year old Epson PX720WD, scan/printer combo, is still going strong, although no longer supported for Cartridges and software by Epson. It does max about 50 pages a year. At year 6 I cleaned the friction feed rollers with isopropyl alcohol and there appeared to be little wear and the rollers came up nice and clean. I think a fair bit of the dirt I removed had accumulated because I'd been using cheapo white copier paper. Thereafter I switched to Epson's own bright White inkjet paper and as today, they seem to have accumulated even more dirt than before in the form of a film . . . the paper sealant ? Or maybe the isopropyl alcohol made the rubber of the rollers more absorbent. Who knows ? Next time I clean 'em I'll try distilled water plus some washing-up detergent. Main feed problems with this printer arise from the misalignment of the paper tray and overfilling the paper tray. Because the runner/bearers for the tray are internal, and are extremely lightweight plastic, sans rotating bearings, you can't see whether the guides on the tray have engaged correctly with the runners/bearers, without getting your eye-line at the same level and using a torch or spot-light So, mis-insertion is frequent and increases with age as the flimsy plastic parts wear. The solution . . . make the tray bearers out of metal and make them extendable, like a filing cabinet draw, so that the paper tray clips into the extended bearers and, only when properly seated, is the tray pushed home into the "Use" position. Of course, whilst the bearers are extended, you can actually see what you are doing . . resulting in fewer mis-insertions and broken plastic parts ? The "Built-in redundancy/failure" designer boys and their marketing masters wouldn't like that. This would probably add an extra £5 to the price . . ohhhh! With current Marketing regimes , this is a facility you used to only get with high-end business machines (For those with long memories), so no way are you likely to get this in the "Toy" retail market. Dealing with things as they are, I find that a sparing application of PTFE lubricant spray, via a piece of paper towel, on the Tray guides and the internal runner/bearers does make insertion of the tray a littlke easier.

A cotton Ear Bud soaked in Isopropanol 99.9% is also a handy tip, because it can often reach the harder to get at Rollers (without needing to take the machine apart). Use as many as needed, until the cotton Bud comes out clean. I also agree with "Carl's Die cast & Stuff"'s comment, that AF Platenclene is arguably better for this particular task, but when that isn't available, Isopropanol is a good all rounder that is well worth keeping handy. Best value is the 5L amounts (just make sure it is 99.9% and not 70%, as the 99.9% leaves no traces), and I just decant that into a 1L Trigger Spray, and a few 100ml Pump Sprays kept handy where needed. It's also handy to sterilise a cut but, probably not recommended! The main battle is stopping my wife from using it for everything! I have to admit it came in damned handy when we changed the colour of some leather furniture a year or so ago, when it was excellent at removing all traces of old polish before the dye was used. But, that used up my entire stock of Isopropanol, including the reserves!

Well, every printer is different and reasons can be mechanical breakage also. i have experienced that with the HP Officejet 6500 with 2 broken gears and an HP Officejet 4500 with the sync wheel broken on the center roller assembly. I did get both working normally, but lot of time to dismantle and in one case replaced a broken gear and also used epoxy on a second broken gear. And for the sync wheel problem with the 4500, that may have been caused by working too hard to remove a jammed paper. KZfaq has some people who spent a lot of time to show how to dismantle and get to the faulty parts but not how to find replacement parts. Don't count on HP to supply parts, they only supply ink.

great tips Brian😀

Your video is the best, but I have a different printer. Are you familiar w/ HP Officejet Pro 251dw. There are no good videos, and the instructions are not specific t my problem. My problem is that the paper held by little plastic tabs in the REAR is stuck. The rollers did not feed the paper forwards, and I do not see a mechanism to release the row of plastic tabs. It's very tight. This is set deeply in the printer. Removing the outer back (tubular) cover allows me to see the paper, but not accessible to do anything. I have quasi-cleaned the rollers carefully w/ paper towel. I do not have a lint free cloth, or Etoh right now. The problem occurred after I inserted a new Black ink cartridge (okay) and proceeded to print a document. It only printed one page, and the next page is stuck in the rear. I need to know who to release those small plastic tabs. I hope you can help. you are articulate and clear in your communication unlike most KZfaq tech people. Thanks.

Cool!

Speaking of printers: I have not used one for over a decade as I rarely used my old one - The last 2 Black only cartridges ended up costing me over $2/page due to the low usage and the ink drying up, even though the printer auto cleaned the head(s) every week. I still don't Need one in reality although would be nice to have one at times - Are there any solutions these days at a reasonable home user price? Darn water based ink - I remember the old days where a Dot Matrix printer ribbon would last near forever🤣👍

This doesn''t happens to me because sometimes i print when i need to use for something important so i don't print often i print with cannon printer i rarely use the printer to print for important stuff or useful stuff only tho.

WD40 on the rollers works like a charm....quick question: what program do you recommmen instead of CC Cleaner for a new laptop that does a good job??

I'm going to miss the Queen with her fanciful hats

Is 91% alcohol ok?!

With the extortionate cost of new ink cartridges it is probably cheaper just to buy a new printer.

I would be extremely cautious using alcohol to clean rubber parts; a lite mix of water & dish soap on a lint-free cloth might prove to be a better option...! Alcohol will rot rubber...!!!

Put paper in machine. Problem solved