Hmmm, new vs old feed feets! How to explain... [
] ]'>
There's usually one or more cam shaped rotating rubber feet which swing around and try and grab one and one only sheet of paper off the stack. When the cam first touches the top sheet the pressure is very gentle, and it is at this very moment that the tacky rubber must grab and get the sheet moving, because once moving the friction is much reduced, due to a trapped air cushion. If there is any slippage in startup, the cam's further rotation inwards towards the paper stack puts more pressure on multiple sheets and tends to lock them together. As the pressure mounts with further cam rotation, eventually even a worn, oxidized, slick rubber cam grabs the top sheet, which by now is partially pressure welded to several others below and proceeds to feed the collection in to piss you off. Bottom line: top sheet paper motion must start before pressure mounts and squeezes out the thin air layer between each sheet in the stack.
Rubber tends to get hard and slick with age, due to oxidation particularly from ozone from the laser printer drum corona wire but also just from normal air. Replace the feets or get some MG Chemicals Rubber Renue (100 ml bottle, use outside with good ventilation, do not use fingers, use a swab) to recoat the feed feets and give them some tack. The Rubber Renue product is also excellent for reconditioning the guide rollers and getting vintage imagewriter printers to feed straight again, if any of you have these beasts still around.
] ]'>There's usually one or more cam shaped rotating rubber feet which swing around and try and grab one and one only sheet of paper off the stack. When the cam first touches the top sheet the pressure is very gentle, and it is at this very moment that the tacky rubber must grab and get the sheet moving, because once moving the friction is much reduced, due to a trapped air cushion. If there is any slippage in startup, the cam's further rotation inwards towards the paper stack puts more pressure on multiple sheets and tends to lock them together. As the pressure mounts with further cam rotation, eventually even a worn, oxidized, slick rubber cam grabs the top sheet, which by now is partially pressure welded to several others below and proceeds to feed the collection in to piss you off. Bottom line: top sheet paper motion must start before pressure mounts and squeezes out the thin air layer between each sheet in the stack.
Rubber tends to get hard and slick with age, due to oxidation particularly from ozone from the laser printer drum corona wire but also just from normal air. Replace the feets or get some MG Chemicals Rubber Renue (100 ml bottle, use outside with good ventilation, do not use fingers, use a swab) to recoat the feed feets and give them some tack. The Rubber Renue product is also excellent for reconditioning the guide rollers and getting vintage imagewriter printers to feed straight again, if any of you have these beasts still around.