C5501 - Print Quality Issues

[WoodyC]

Hi All,

first off, I'm not an engineer - but I do have a lovely collection of screwdrivers. I'm having some print qaultiy issues with our recently installed C5501. It ran beautifully (albeit mostly B&W) for the first couple of weeks but ever since we had it's first service it 's had lots of little problems. I've seen lots of C4520 errors which for the most part have been cleared by re-setting the machine. I've also had problems when printing onto SRA3 in B&W where the print on the trailing edge is faded. The engineer yesterday said it was the paper and the one who came out today (for initially a different problem) said it was toner starvation and said we should run less B&W. I've also got splodges of toner or Dev on some sheets.

Being the adventurous type I popped open the transfer area and noticed that the transfer belt wasn't tight. I've attached a couple of photos to demonstrate but they may not be very clear. Basically the near edge was tight but the back edge was loose, at the top the belt was wrinkled and underneath where it loops round a roller the near side had some give but the far side was solid. Also the belt had some bad marking and appeared to be a bit more to the back than front.

I guess what I'm asking is is that normal and subsequently, could that be causing my issues with the print quality?

Link to my album showing the belt and bad print (hope that's OK)
WoodyC's Album: KM C5501

[minimerlin]

Hi WoodyC

From the pictures it would seem that something is wrong with the fitting of the belt and it is marked. What was the meter reading of the machine when it was serviced..was it just a Pm or a fault? I would get the engineer back to fix the machine! These units are too complicated for untrained screwdrivers to be let loose on!!

[tech51]

I would say the transfer belt unit has been incorrectly rebuilt, which has caused the belt to `walk`itself to the rear. More specifically there is a part which has to be removed to change the belt,when re-fitting this part it is possible to fit it incorrectly causing a lack of tension at the rear. This causes the belt to move to the rear. The C4520 codes are a symptom of this. By the look of the photos I would say the belt is a goner, I would suggest you get a tech in to fit a new one ASAP.

[WoodyC]

Hi Merlin,

Thanks for the reply. Don't worry, my expertise extends only to opening things - it's under contract so anything more than opening a door is not needed. I just thought I'd have a sneak peek inside to see if anything glaringly obvious was causing my problems. Not sure what the count was, about 175k on the black I believe 38k on the colour side. It was just PM as far as I know. The prints also have a smudgy line at the bottom which I'm assured is wear to the fuser belt - but looking at the transfer belt I'd say that was more likely. I just wanted to get some informed opinions before I call them back in so I can maybe point them in the right direction :-)

Screwdrivers are back in the drawer now.

[ebm]

I would say your transfer belt has "walked" or shifted to one side and this shifting would cause you to get 45-20 codes. The belt should be centered between the rollers and not over the collars too much to one side or the other. When you say "first service", was that a 100k or 200k pm cylcle? The transfer belt cleaning blade should be replaced along with other items from the 100k pm kit every 100k prints/copies. The transfer belt should be replaced along with other items in the 200k pm kit every 200k prints/copies.

I hope you have other options as far as service providers for your machine. If the only answers your "qualified" technicians can give you is change the paper or make less "black" copies. I would recommend you find another service provider. I hate to "dump" on other techs, but guys like this make us all look bad. Sorry, I just had to say it.

[WoodyC]

Thanks all. I've just checked the book and the service wazs done at 155k Black, 31k Colour. Parts changed were Black Drum & Dev, Charge Corona and a service kit (according to the log). I'm still waiting on the fuser belt. Unfortunately we've just signed up with this company. It was my bosses decision, I wanted to go direct to KM but he found this supplier and wanted to go with them. We even chose this new company ahead of our current supplier and although they talk the talk I'm starting to worry a little.

Thanks again, I'll get them out again tomorrow.

[Stirton.M]

Jumpin Jeezus Jehosephats...

I'd say give the boss a slap in the back of the head for making such a poor decision by going with third party service.

You get what you paid for if price was the issue behind the decision.

Like the others said, the transfer belt unit looks like it is walking. I would go further by stating that it appears the belt pressure spring on the back side is not there, and possibly the front side too...but without clear image, I cannot say for certain.

PM cycles on this machine are set at 100K for charge units, 150K for drum and belt unit...fuser lower roller at 150K also.

Generally however, this is not set in stone. I will service these as needed...so if they do not reach that count and copy quality is suffering, I will replace the parts. And on the other side, if there are no visual issues with copy quality, I may let the machine go beyond the count. I always make the user aware of this whenever I visit for unrelated issues and note the counts. A typical PM of replacing the items you mentioned, should take roughly 2 hours...3 and a bit if a fuser rebuild is needed.

Dump the third party and go with a certified KM branch for service. Don't mess around.

[Stirton.M]

Hi All,
I've also had problems when printing onto SRA3 in B&W where the print on the trailing edge is faded. The engineer yesterday said it was the paper and the one who came out today (for initially a different problem) said it was toner starvation and said we should run less B&W. I've also got splodges of toner or Dev on some sheets.

Both techs are on glue I would say....

Trailing edge may have merit but only if you are running card stock....maximum weight for this machine is 300GSM at roughly 12 point. Grain direction is also a factor. If you are feeding paper with grain running in feed direction at the weight and point I mentioned, this will cause the trailing edge to pop as it leaves the guide of the second transfer unit. Generally, if at all possible, use short grain in the feed direction for best results, though this may not resolve this problem completely. In many cases, it is advisable to use oversized stock...so if you need letter size, use 9x12 and trim to fit. The added benefit is the ability to adjust the image position with greater freedom if you need to crop front to back.

Also, do not try to feed heavy stock through duplex....split the job in half and send side one through first and then side two. Added benefit to this is less likely to get jams, but also higher feed rate.

[WoodyC]

An update. Just had a phone message to ring the Company in question as the engineer says nothing can be done to stop the toner/dev dropping. Now waiting for them to return my call.

Stirton - We are running SRA3 300gsm card through and that is going to be a large proportion of the work we do. I ran some full black sheets through last night while testing and apart from being a bit patchy there was no obvious "starvation" at the furthest edge. So far my heavy stock duplexing, when not personalised, has been run 2 x simplex. We have printed 2 short run card jobs prior to service and they both ran fine.