Feeding card stock from the rear tray

[telv]

I have been a big fan of Canon printers for several years not least because all of the Pixma models I have used have been capable of taking heavy card stock from the rear tray.
However, I have found that this capability reduces as time goes by. Heavy card can still be fed without any problem if it's one sheet at a time and usual weight paper can be loaded and will feed automatically. What stops working is the automatic feeding of card stock.
Does anyone know what is happening and if the original functioning can be restored.

 

[The Hat]

The most common cause of this problem is dirty feed rollers, try cleaning the rubber rollers on the rear feed tray because they can get clogged up with debris and paper fluff over time.

 

[Smile]

Clean the rollers with alcohol or window cleaner. Should work ok if roller feels soft, if rubber has gone hard, the roller rubber needs to be replaced.

 

[PeterBJ]

A special rubber roller cleaner/restorer for printers might be better. I have successfully used the "AF Platenclene" on a Canon iP5200 that had problems with pulling in the CD tray. I have also used the product on an HP AIO that had problems with picking up paper. See this post.

 

[telv]

Many thanks for the suggestions.
I have thoroughly cleaned the rollers of my MP610 with alcohol but have not seen any improvement. What I do not understand is that there is never any problem with feeding heavy cardstock if it's one card at a time. I have an iP4950 which continues to work perfectly and I cannot tell any difference between the feel of the surface of the rollers between this printer and the MP610.
I have a MG5250 with exactly the same problem. The paper feed mechanism appears to be virtually the same but the rollers are much less accessible for cleaning.
Thank you, PeterBJ, I will try the product you suggest.

 

[Łukasz]

In MG5250 (MG5200 series) ASF pick-up roller is accessible after lifting scanner unit, same way like in case of ink replace, but it is very deep - it has a dedicated "window" in the top chassis.
Better to do it when printer is off to avoid unnecessary carriage activity.

Dismantling cover of MG5100/MG5200 is a pain, especially covers over/after control panel. I have one MG5250 with broken upper chassis and panel covers because of contact with brain-less "repairer".

Ł.

 

[telv]

In an earlier post I questioned why I was experiencing problems feeding card stock from the rear tray of MG5250 and MP610 printers when card was loaded into the tray but not when the card was fed singly. Also, there was no problem when paper was loaded in the tray.

A close examination suggests that although this is, in part, due to the feed rollers, it is also due to the way the card has been cut to size. A guillotine tends to leave a slight ridge on one side of the edge of the card. The thicker the card the greater the ridge.

This doesn't especially affect directly the card being fed. It is the one behind which creates friction and prevents the smooth transition of the one in front. The rollers then only need to have lost a little of their ability to pick up for the process to fail.

While cleaning is still needed, I have found that card stock can be fed much more reliably by stacking so that any ridges face away from the printer. This has allowed me to complete a print job while waiting for the Platenclene recommended by PeterBJ to arrive.

 

[PeterBJ]

Nice detective job!

 

[The Hat]

If your card stock has been badly cut which would leave a pronounced lip on the edges then fan the cards a part with your fingers before loading them into the printer, this should also be done on all papers before loading..

 

[Smile]

Time to sharpen the blade IMO.