Minolta EP3000 odd problem

[allalone]

Minolta EP3000
I've had this machine dropped on me by the tech who just quit, its a Minolta 3000 and the fuser heat and press roller and cleaning roller as well as the drum, cleaning blade and the developer have been replaced and I still get grey backround on copies only after it has passed through the fixin section I have stopped the machine in the middle of print and it looks fine nice pretty copies then it goes through the fixing sectionand it magically gets a grey background to it if any one has any thoughts on this it would be greatly appreciated.

[ni311]

Open up the fusing unit and take a look at the fuser heater. Is it looking ok or loaded with toner?

[allalone]

Looks fine it has just been replaced,Ive even cleaned it with a mild cleaner to make sure, though it does seem to be a bit oily but i figured that it came from the oil on the cleaning roller, it is possible that the previous tech installed the wrong cleaning roller not for sure i'm not to familiar with Minolta poducts.

[cobiray]

Could be incorrect hot roller or the whole upper portion of the unit If it was swapped with another machine. Also, check the springs that the pressure roller bearings sit on. I've seen the pressure springs get compressed with age, stretch them out a bit for more pressure.

[allalone]

appreciate that i thought about that but they seem fine but i will give it a try i looks can be deceiving ill let you know if it works.

[eg101]

EP3000

I'm suspicious of the toner. The wrong toner will give you background on copies even after changing the starter. Check the brand of toner and what models it's for.

[brent]

I would agree that it would be toner as well. I have had a few customers over the years put ep 300 toner into a ep 2130. the background will probably be splotchy but a complete haze on the whole copy. sometimes when you stop the copy in mid cycle it looks not as bad as after the fusing process. it would be harder to see at that point as well.

[allalone]

thank to all of you for the ideas I hadn't thought of the toner but that is a good idea I have been running into issues at different customers who are using "compatible" toner. Personally I have never trusted anything that says compatible I prefer to see OEM product that way I know it works.

[ni311]

In my opinion, if the toner was to blame, the grey background was there before the fusing unit and not only after. I still believe it is something wrong with the fusing unit.

[Cantechman]

If its happening after the drum, it would have to be the upper fuser roller. I have worked on that model for many years and only once did I have an issue with a genuine fuser roller. In that case the fuser roller basically melted in a few short minutes leaving a big mess on the copies. Are you absolutely positive this happens in the fuser? Easy to tell, just jig the door, and use a flashlight to watch the copies going through the developer area and then the fuser.

[allalone]

outcome not good

Ok here it is I changed the dev and toner to make sure they were genuine minolta still does the same thing but i did notice that the background is there before the fuser it just doesn't look so bad until it gets through the fuser, I'm thinking it could be a bad cl. blade or the blank lamps aren't working, I would appreciate the thoughts to confirm what I'm thinking and is there any way to check/test the blank lamps to make sure they are working.

[cobiray]

If you haven't already, I'd replace the drum and blade to be sure they are not fatigued. The erase lamp has a filter glass on it that can be cleaned. I don't know if you can do it on this model, but the old Minoltas you could pull the image unit, close the clam shell, defeat the interlock and check the coronas and erase lamp by running the drum dry mode. Not sure if it can be done on the newer ones though.

[minimerlin]

Take out the drum from the image unit and then turn the mag roller by hand in the normal direction, check to see if toner is spilt or puffed from it...place a sheet of paper below the roller to make it easier to check. Also check that you have dev bias connected.
It is possible that you have a faulty mag roller or worn drum spacers.