Friction fed vs Air suction

[reckless]

Anyone want to chime in on their experiences between the two? Is air suction as awesome as they say it is?

Specifically, I am looking at a Minolta PF-702 (friction) vs PF-703 (air).

It seems that Minolta recommends friction for perfect bind operation:

https://www.biz.konicaminolta.com/production/1200_1051/pdf/1200_1051catalog.pdf

See bottom corner of page 4.

I wonder why they would?

[Iowatech]

Re: Friction fed vs Air suction

Anyone want to chime in on their experiences between the two? Is air suction as awesome as they say it is?

Specifically, I am looking at a Minolta PF-702 (friction) vs PF-703 (air).

It seems that Minolta recommends friction for perfect bind operation:

https://www.biz.konicaminolta.com/production/1200_1051/pdf/1200_1051catalog.pdf

See bottom corner of page 4.

I wonder why they would?

I've only seen air suction feed on MBM stand alone two axis production folders, so this will probably be the exact opposite of helpful.
But I thought it was pretty awesome for that application.
It was pretty noisy though.

[Synthohol]

Re: Friction fed vs Air suction

the air one i find is best.
you can clean the belts maybe once maybe twice a year, changing rollers every 100k is a PITA not that i find it labor intensive, just mundane.

[reckless]

Re: Friction fed vs Air suction

The perfect binder jams every so often, maybe every 5-10,000 sheets. Especially since we use heavy stocks. Will that be an issue for air fed? I find it surprising that minolta recommends it with perfect binder unit. I may try to upgrade to air feed if it will work. Not sure if its worth the extra $1000 esp since its going under a service contract.

[Synthohol]

Re: Friction fed vs Air suction

the suction one has air assist in the tray to help separate the top couple sheets. this is handy for thick and glossy stock and its adjustable.

[blackcat4866]

Re: Friction fed vs Air suction

Anyone want to chime in on their experiences between the two? Is air suction as awesome as they say it is?

Specifically, I am looking at a Minolta PF-702 (friction) vs PF-703 (air)...

Yes. When the rest of the MFP is running right I've seen instances of 5K to 6K between jams. It's not noticeably noisier that the friction feed. You can expect roller replacements at 300K per drawer on standard 20# bond. More frequently on heavier stock. The most common issue with any paper source is endusers getting lazy and leaving the side guides loose. The second most common issue is endusers mis-programming the paper tray properties, be it paper size, media type, media color, curl, fuser pressure, image shift, and any of the 40 or so other adjustable tray properties.
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