MP Tray 1 Constantly Lifting – HP P3015 Laserjet Printer-Solenoid Fix
I ran into a HP laserjet  P3015  laserjet  printer the other day that the MP tray 1  lift mechanism was constantly lifting even though no paper was in the tray. I just recently started to see more service calls on the HP P3015  printer so I thought I would discuss this problem as it might start to be a more common issue in these machines so it could  be helpful  to have this information on the internet for others to read through. In this article I will discuss how the MP tray 1 pick-up assembly works and how to go about fixing the HP laserjet  P3015 printer if you find the MP tray 1 constantly lifting.
How the MP Tray 1 Works in the HP P3015 Â Laserjet Printer
When paper is installed in the MP Tray 1 it trips a sensor letting the machine know now that the tray is ready to be used. If a job is sent to the machine and the tray is set to first or if per your software printer settings it’s set to manually feed then once the machine warms up a signal is sent to the MP Tray 1 solenoid which actuates the arm releasing the gear inside. Once the gear inside starts to rotate the pick-up roller and shaft  rotates. On the pick-up roller shaft  are  two cam pieces on either side. When the cams rotate the paper guide inside MP Tray 1 lifts up so the pick up roller can grab the paper. After that’s all said and done the gear inside rotates back to wear it started and the arm on the solenoid locks it back in place. Since  everything has rotated 360 degrees the paper guide in the tray should be back down.
MP Tray 1 Constantly Lifting HP Laserjet  P3015 Printer Problem
Usually I start this section out with troubleshooting but in this case I’m just going to discuss  what happened to me on this service call and how I went about the printer repair on the HP laserjet  P3015  printer I was working on. The call started off with a machine that started to jam intermittently and used under heavy volume printing so getting the printer repaired quickly was important to the customer. My first thought was just an easy pick-up roller replacement which was the fix for the reported problem. However, when I arrived onsite  I heard a repetitive  squeak as the machine ran. At first I thought it was just the worn pick-up roller. On further investigation I realized that the noise was coming from the MP Tray 1 pick-up assembly. When I opened the tray up when the machine was feeding from the cassette tray the squeak sped up in repetition  and the tray 1 paper guide was constantly lifting  up and down without any paper in it. If a MP Tray is constantly moving the paper guide up and down without any paper in it and the machine isn’t reporting a jam from that particular tray then I know I most likely have a solenoid arm that’s not functioning right. I removed the parts listed below and found the top loop on the solenoid spring was stretched out and the arm was resting on the solenoid. I was able to reform the loop and get the MP tray 1 working again the way it should.
Removal Instructions to Adjust the MP Tray 1 Solenoid in the HP Laserjet  P3015 Printer
DIMM Cover Removal
1. Slide the DIMM cover toward the back of the product to release it.
2. Lift the cover away from the product.
Formatter cover
1. Remove one screw, and then slide the formatter cover toward the back of the product to release it.
2. Lift the cover away from the product.
Top-right cover
1. Remove 3 screws.
2. Lift the cover off of the product to remove it.
Control panel
1. Press the cartridge-door release button, and then open the cartridge door. Make sure that the door is completely open.
2. Disconnect one connector, and then remove one screw.
3. Slide the control panel toward the front of the product to release it.
4. Lift the control panel off of the product.
Conclusion about the  MP Tray 1 Constantly Lifting in the  HP P3015  Laserjet Printer
Like I said before I don’t really know how common the MP Tray 1 constantly lifting problem in the HP laserjet  P3015  printer is going to be over the years but it was such an odd problem to see on a machine so young I thought it was worth mentioning. I will add that the printer had over 200,000 prints on it already so it has seen heavy usage for the small amount of time it has been in service. So maybe this problem won’t appear in most machines until they have been in service for several years. As always I hope you have found the information in the article informative and if you have a similar problem it has helped resolve the MP tray 1 constantly lifting in your HP laserjet  P3015 printer.
Thanks for a great article. I had the same problem on my office printer and could not resolve it until I came across this and then I could see the stretched-out spring loop on my printer. I know how mine got that way: Someone opened the front door with paper in Tray 1.
You rock like Winger good sir. Brought mine home from a work trip and it started doing it. Took me a bit to assign you titles to the actual parts on my machine but got there, fixed the spring, and running like a top once again. 300K pages strong. Love this thing.
Thanks for your help.
When I removed the side panel, I noticed a metal plate and small spring were lying in the bottom of the printer. I couldn’t figure out where it had detached itself from. The plate had a part number on it, a quick google search brought up a picture of the plate and its orientation attached to the solenoid and spring. A combination of your instructions and that picture saved my printer from landfill. Thanks so much !
This solution definitely helped and I did see the spring sitting loose at the bottom metal ridge when I removed all the panels on the right side carefully. I was surprised it was still there after moving the printer on its side so I could get to the screws easier. I got a bit lost with all the labels but when I saw that spring I reinforced the ends a bit by adding a few more degrees of coil with a wrench then reseated the top metal part in the OP’s picture, attached the spring on both ends then it was working fine after that. Great help!
This article fixed the problem. The spring had come off of top part of solenoid.
Thanks
This article gave me a lot of help, really thank you very much.
Hi Kevin,
Thank you very much for the steps that you have performed. I only had to take one extra element out which was the cover that surrounds the power button which let me into the screw of the solenoid arm. After I took out the cover I noticed little metal piece just next to the screw of solenoid arm which was being held on the springs that was misplaced. I put it back to the original place and now printer will take paper from the MP Tray 1 as it was also constantly lifting up and down with an addition of making a horrible, loud sound.
Thank you!