Problem printing color on Canon C3200

[RickJ5]

I'm having a problem printing color on my Canon C3200. I'm going to attach 3 files, 1 labeled good print which is how it's supposed to look, and 2 labeled bad print which show how it's screwing up. Some information about it to help with diagnosis. I started by trying to print the color covers. The first one comes out just fine, then it goes to hell. I gave up on the covers and then decided to print the inside pages which were B&W. The B&W prints perfectly. I printed 800 B&W copies without a problem. The problem only occurs when printing color. I was printing the cover on Mohawk 100 lb. cover stock fed through the bypass tray. The stock is supposed to be OK for digital printing. I tried both the glossy paper and extra heavy paper settings, it screwed up on both. Those settings were set on both the copier and in the driver. What I finally did was print the covers one at a time and they printed just fine. Good thing I only needed 200 of them. I'm guessing the problem isn't the fuser since the B&W copies print perfect and as far as I know there is only one fuser in the copier. I'm leaning toward the problem being the magenta drum since the bad prints have a magenta haze all over them. What I suspect is the cleaning blade in the magenta drum is shot and is spreading the magenta toner all over the drum when it tries to clean it off resulting in the haze. Doing it one at a time works because the blade has more time to clean off the drum. But, since I'm not all that experienced with copiers I'd like someone elses opinion before I go and spend $300 on a new magenta drum.

Thank you.

[teckat]

did u use the heavy 2 setting/
for bypass tray ????

[RickJ5]

did u use the heavy 2 setting/
for bypass tray ????

Yes, I did. When I put the paper in I tried both Heavy 2 and Glossy settings on the copier. I also set the corresponding settings in the driver which if I remember right are Extra Heavy and Glossy.

[SCREWTAPE]

Thats your magenta drum going bad.

[teckat]

was my next thought > keep up the good work

some people think this 3200 is a printing press !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RickJ5]

was my next thought > keep up the good work

some people think this 3200 is a printing press !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I'm one of them. I partnered up with my old next door neighbor who owns a print shop and that's pretty much what we're using it for.

Thank you everyone for the help. I kind of figured it had to be the drum, but I wasn't positive.

[SCREWTAPE]

And I'm one of them. I partnered up with my old next door neighbor who owns a print shop and that's pretty much what we're using it for.

Thank you everyone for the help. I kind of figured it had to be the drum, but I wasn't positive.

Yea drum life is 35k to 40K base on a coverage of 5% ratio.
Your prints are not 5% ratio, there more like 70% ratio.
This will kill your drums faster.

Let us know the outcome. This will help somebody esle in the future.

[RickJ5]

Since you wanted to know the outcome and in the interest of giving back to the community and maybe helping someone else like you helped me another guy suggested the following procedure.

Additional Functions
Adjustment/Cleaning
Auto Gradation Adjustment
Heavy 1/Heavy 2
Quick Adjust
Heavy 1/Heavy 2
Full Adjust

Full Adjust will ask you to print pages and then put the pages back on the scanner board.
It's not exactly clear, but put the printing face down with the black bands towards the back of the copier.

I followed that procedure and then printed 3 copies in a row and they were all fine. I then printed 10 copies in a row and they were also fine. I probably won't know for sure if the problem is fixed until I try to do a couple hundred in a row, but for now it looks OK and I can't really justify spending $300 on a new magenta drum.

[Isebella]

What is your drum yield/lifespan like?
Hit * then hold 2 and 8 for a few seconds together, then hit * again. (* is addtl functions on the keypad with the * on it)
Then click Copier
Then click Misc.

When our color drums get to ~180% yield we start to see unpredictable results. (Depending on what we've printed and maybe the drum itself, that number is between 150% and 190%) We can sometimes coax them into running a bit more by running a full auto gradiation but once we start getting background dropping all over at a higher than 150% yield number, they're too unreliable for us to run and risk getting hundreds of bad sheets midway through a run. Also around this point they'll start venting/dropping too much toner inside the machine for my liking. Usually it's the color you see going wrong, though I have had a weird issue where for some reason one failing drum affected another drum - not sure if it somehow threw off the auto gradiation (I'm a customer/printer not a tech) but I've had that happen twice in 6 years, so look at the yields under the service mode.

[teckat]

End users need to stay out of service mode !!!!!!!/ also on the iRC 3200/3220/2620> That yield % is not true, Canon based that on a 5/6% toner usage. A qualified tech knows when to set up drums changes , by talking to the customer and looking at what they intend to use the machine for & checking their Toner Usage -that is the test of drum wear.

If u were only printing text and not images, 3200 drums can last 300%
u can use RUI to check your values, and stay out of service mode !!!!

[smiley]

hi guys i saw this troble alot of time when im using bandit toner for 3200 the cleaning brush comes off quickly. and the toner are over toned and one could be the drum it self.1st thing i would do if the drum life is lesser than 100% i will first replace the cleaning brush second i will adjust service mode level 2 adjust dens, toner paramiter of magenta in negative 3 and off and on the machine and do dev cleaning in service mode level one funtion cleaning maybe 5 times or more untill background dis apear. but the easy thing to do is to replace drum unit.

[RickJ5]

What is your drum yield/lifespan like?

The yield on the drums is Y=61, M=62, C=62, and K=44.

I was trying to get the machine to run right, and also trying to get it in good shape for an inspection by Canon so I can get a service contract from them. Canon was out the other day and inspected the machine. They want me to replace the cyan drum and a couple feed tires before they put me under contract. The service tech said the magenta drum was starting to get a little marginal, but he wasn't going to require that to be replaced before they put me under service contract. Since it's only going to cost about $300 - $350 to get the machine in shape for them to put it under a service contract I'm going to go ahead and do it and get a service contract from Canon.

They sent me out a really nice service tech who was willing to answer questions. I asked him about tips for running the machine. I told him I already knew about the paper setting in both the driver and on the machine and that I had just learned about running the full gradation adjustment. He showed me how to calibrate my imagePASS-C1. I ordered a Kodak Color Separation Guide and Gray Scale (Small) part number 1527654 from B&H Photo Video yesterday for doing the calibration.

[mrfixit51]

The importance of a full auto gradation cannot be over emphasized,,, this should be done at least once a day,, and more often if you notice color issues as you use the machine. Always try the auto gradation before placing a call for service!

[SCREWTAPE]

Never neglect replacing drums when there is overtoning and or because of cost to your pocket. It will cost you more if the developer from the drum start leaking out on to the ITB causing you more issues to your machine. Bad drums will also eat up toner.

[RickJ5]

The overtoning problem got fixed by my doing the full gradation adjustment. When Canon came out the service tech printed off a test page of bars of each color toner. He had a name for it, but I forget what it was called. He looked at that and the edges of the cyan bars had a little white in them, so he told me I needed to replace the cyan drum before they would put me under a service contract. He said the magenta drum was a little marginal, but that it didn't need to be replaced yet. I'm pretty sure if the magenta drum needed to be replaced he would have said I had to replace that also so it was my cost instead of Canon's. I'm currently working out the details on getting a service contract with Canon. I'm guessing within a week or two I'll be under a service contract with them. From then on fixing the copier is Canon's problem and I can get working on getting some business for the copier.