7550ci - Black Developer Issue

[monstott2010]

Found something today I hadn't seen yet on this series, was wondering if anyone else had seen it...

Another tech ran into an issue on a 7550ci, black developer was not turning to auger in toner from hopper, intake full of toner... I had him bring the developer back to the office so I could look at it, we were going to have to order one anyway as we didn't have a new one on the shelf...

I looked in the back, sure enough, broken teeth on two of the drive gears, thus drive not getting to the auger gear to turn the new toner in... found gears on used developer in the shop, could not turn the drive gear... further investigation revealed the output opening of the waste toner auger in the developer TOTALLY sealed shut with completely hardened toner.... chipped away at it, pulled and twisted enough on the auger to finally free it up, and cleaned out all the remaining waste toner..... have seen toner rocks before, but never to this extent.... haven't had any issues with hardened toner on this model before, so just curious if I had just been lucky or if this was maybe just a fluke.... (sorry, didn't take any pics of it, should have...)

[blackcat4866]

Could elevated internal temperature be a factor? Like hot environment, or blocked fans, or inoperative fans? Generic toner? =^..^=

[monstott2010]

Could elevated internal temperature be a factor? Like hot environment, or blocked fans, or inoperative fans? Generic toner? =^..^=

OEM toner, haven't seen any fans that were not moving air, although have had an issue in the past on a 4550ci where a fan was running, but not up to speed - threw an error code, had replaced boards and everything before realizing the fan was the issue after all.. so not totally ruling that one out.... environment is in a print shop front office, A/C'd room, near a window but not direct sunlight... we have had higher humidity this year, more than normal so I guess that COULD be a factor, but didn't see an issue with the other colors backing up yet...

We do vac out the airways in the back periodically as well as the filters in the rear box as they will fill up with toner over time...

[jmaister]

that's probably the first batch of things. I've seen a Yellow developer gear teeth stripped like you described on a 3050ci.

I'd also keep an eye on toner consumption, error codes relating to Black toner.