[Misc] Bizhub c224/c284/c364/454/554

[Boltaction]

Hey guys, reaching out to all the Minolta techs out there to find out what sort of issues you guys are having with these models. (including 'e" versions)
We have quite a few of them out there now with more being sold all the time. If memory serves me correctly, the only service calls we have had on them in the past year are for electronic glitches/firmware fixes and drum unit replacement.
Aside from a known issue with the developer units being undertoned or overtoned we have not come across something that makes us scratch our heads. They seem pretty bulletproof so far.
Anyone out there have some of these with high meters that are having problems?

[EarthKmTech]

Re: Bizhub c224/c284/c364/454/554

Hey guys, reaching out to all the Minolta techs out there to find out what sort of issues you guys are having with these models. (including 'e" versions)
We have quite a few of them out there now with more being sold all the time. If memory serves me correctly, the only service calls we have had on them in the past year are for electronic glitches/firmware fixes and drum unit replacement.
Aside from a known issue with the developer units being undertoned or overtoned we have not come across something that makes us scratch our heads. They seem pretty bulletproof so far.
Anyone out there have some of these with high meters that are having problems?

Registration bushings start to tighten after 300k and will eventually seize if not lubricated - we lubricate at every call, this is no longer an issue.

usual issues with fuser noises on KM's including failing fusing drive units

4 and early e machines suffer from 3205 jams in humid environments without modifications to exit area

4 and early e machines have solid black vertical rollers for tray 2 and weak pressure springs that cause 2002 jams from tray 2 and possible jams from trays below.The soft gray roller in updated machines lasts only about 300k before it goes smooth and needs to be replaced anyway. I use the modified ribbed roller. If it originally had the gray roller it already has the stiffer pressure springs and they arent needed. If it had the hard black roller i also fit the springs with the mod roller.

as from the release of the 4 series the vertical clutch spring pops on the option tray units (tray 3 and 4 and lct) even with the single washer fitted on later machines it still happens. It can be fixed with a second washer, when it happens again with 2 washers its time to replace the clutch assembly and start over.

early DF-701 document feeders have the fat inflexible CIS cable, which causes among other errors mainly 9403 when it fails - later versions have the thinner cable as standard. I have changed so many now I can do it in under 15 minutes in and out.

Black toner hopper squeaks on some machines when adding toner as they dont apply grease to the gear drive on its back side - this still happens on 8 series too.

noises come from bypass tray idler gear when its grease runs dry.

LOTS AND LOTS of fw updates came out on e series before it finally became stable - only this year have FA17's stopped in some network environments.

cant think of anything else for now, know these machines like the back of my hand now we have SO many of them. They are pretty reliable once modified etc, even the older ones. My machines run the highest number of pages between calls in the state.

I wouldn't be worried about high meter counts on the 4 series etc, they are practically infinitely rebuildable.

[Boltaction]

Re: Bizhub c224/c284/c364/454/554

Thanks for the info, so far we have not needed to apply any of the above modifications but it's good to know where to start when that time comes. Any major differences between the 4 series and 8 series?

There is a Minolta dealership here in town I've always wanted to pop in and take a peek at them.

[EarthKmTech]

Re: Bizhub c224/c284/c364/454/554

Personally I've not had many issues with the 8 series yet, other than loading FW and the updated sata controller fw on older machines. Mechanically i don't think there is much difference. A few techs have been changing mfp boards, I still haven't done one yet though.

I thought the drum units changing to pre-charge rollers from corona was a major step backwards, but so far I've been proven wrong. The drums are even lasting over life without failure.

I'm not overly impressed with the FS-537 on the larger 8 series machines - I have already had to change the ejector unit on one at 10k pages. However, they have made it easier than the FS-534.

[Boltaction]

Re: Bizhub c224/c284/c364/454/554

It's good to know KM seems to be leading the way in making new reliable machines. I haven't been in the business for very long but these new series are easily my favorite to work on. (Granted, we have had very few service calls so that may have something to do with it)

As far as selling a used 4 series, they are by far the easiest to rebuild and refurbish. Seems like the engineers kept the technicians in mind for once.

[habik]

Re: Bizhub c224/c284/c364/454/554

To add to EarthKmTech's wealthy experience just few little things like :RADF when opened for PM be careful of the eject flag spring as it happened to me few times I blowed it with compressed air and it un hooked the spring from position and it was coming back with J6604-6605's. Gravity kept it going during test so easily overlooked.

Eject rollers assembly above fuser with black pulleys tend to grab a bit of toner where high coverage printing is used. When it builds up funny patterns, squeaks can be produced. I tend to take it off (3 screws) clean shaft & lube on every service call.

If crappy paper is used a buildup of paper residue on fuser lower roller and clean (soak) roller gets soiled easy on C554 fusers. Remedy is bushings/bearings/soak roller to replace.
To add to cheap paper usage : reflective sensors on feed units tend to get light film of residue which can not be cleaned by blowing it off with air duster. Wiping it with micro fiber cloth wrapped on a bent end of tweezers does the best job.

Good machines.


Sent from my iDon't believe in marketing device using Tapatalk

[EarthKmTech]

Re: Bizhub c224/c284/c364/454/554

speaking of 6605's, on the df-624 and 701, theres a reflective type sensor hidden under the black guide to the left of the first side cleaning brush - if its black pad in the black guide gets white dusted from use you will have this jam code regularly on multi page jobs.

Just yet another thing we see all the time.

Regarding the black rollers above the fuser, I am seeing them build up toner in certain environments too. One such place was doing it every 3 weeks so I exchanged them for the newer clear rollers and extended the exhaust fan delay to 2 minutes and so far its not come back. KM went from black to clear for parts standardisation, not for this issue but it seems to have helped for once instead of made things worse which is always good. Changing them over only takes a few minutes.

[ivovb]

Re: Bizhub c224/c284/c364/454/554

Hi everyone.
Have had the problems on 'e with 6605 - clean the read sensor's reflector ; DF-701 cable to machine; many SSD if not flashed to newer/est firmware; builds up on exit rollers (will test clear rollers - 10x
EarthKmTech for share); FA14 and E301 - firmware issues vs OS; faulty fusers - bearings or thermistors; faulty tr belts because of scraper; abnormal Toner Density - changed bushing; display freeze - firmware issue.

BR

[habik]

Re: Bizhub c224/c284/c364/454/554

speaking of 6605's, on the df-624 and 701, theres a reflective type sensor hidden under the black guide to the left of the first side cleaning brush - if its black pad in the black guide gets white dusted from use you will have this jam code regularly on multi page jobs.

Just yet another thing we see all the time.

Regarding the black rollers above the fuser, I am seeing them build up toner in certain environments too. One such place was doing it every 3 weeks so I exchanged them for the newer clear rollers and extended the exhaust fan delay to 2 minutes and so far its not come back. KM went from black to clear for parts standardisation, not for this issue but it seems to have helped for once instead of made things worse which is always good. Changing them over only takes a few minutes.

I have it as routine. Open up DF701's and take the cover with sep roll off and do good lookaround remove reflective sensor and shine torch down to the beam path. The matt pad tends to attract the dust, blow then brush and wipe with dust and stretch cloth works for me.I know I can blwo it from under the mylars but dust attractions remains unless you wipe it.(Kyocera ADF's used it on KM8030's always caked) Sometimes I wonder if that beam disperse pad is actually necessary. Black hole would be sufficient enough I think. When assembling I tend to leave the last screw under the tray out. It saves 2-3 min as it is hardly ever you have to take the back cover off unless you have HW issues.
On a DF624 that screw isn't there but routine remains the same.

Good call on the exit rolls and exhaust fan delay.Cheers for that. Will try that on my next PM for one customer.