Quality issue 5501 Konica

[Guest]

Hi All
I recently took pocession of a new 5501 Konica production unit and am experiencing print issues. Card stock and paper are used in the machine, running both short edge and long edge feed. Lines have been appearing on the prints, and my visiting engineer believes the problem to be card stock abrasing somewhere on the exit path. However, the lines correspond to exactly 8.5" wide (the short edge direction) and also 11", the long edge direction (when printed on 12" x 18" sheet). I have looked at the fuser roller and also the transfer belt, both of which have the lines on them, but the technician seems to think this is not the issue. The machine currently has only 16000 copies. Any suggestions. I believe that the transfer belt and fuser are problem. Can they be cleaned? Any ideas on how to avoid this problem in the future.
Many thanks

[RRodgers]

Can you post a sample?

[HORSE]

Its just your fuser belt... Nothing to do with transfer belt. If you replace the Fuser belt it will fix it, but if you run multiple sizes of card stock you will be back to square 1.

Best to have a few different fusing units and swap them around when required, KM even have a customer fuser exchange kit A03UR90000 to make this easy (no screwdriver required)

I have used chrome polish to rub out the lines by taking the top of the fuser off and rubbing the lines out... it works but it stinks. Better to do the job right anyway and replace the belt.

[Stirton.M]

Wear marks are very common on these machines with respect to the fuser lower roller and the belt, though the transfer belt is not typically worn, it can be in some circumstances.

Generally, if there is visible wear on the fuser belt, you will most certainly see the marks when doing any solids on most print stock. The marking is caused by the edges of paper as it runs through the unit. The heavier the stock, the sooner and more severe these marks.

Generally, the fuser belt is rated for 400K, while the lower roller is rated at 200K. But this is under ideal situations. When we sell these machines, it is recommended that the new owner purchase a 2nd, and perhaps a third fuser unit, along with swap kits. This can allow the end user to swap the units around, based on the size paper they will run on the machine, which is typically 13x19, 12x18 and 11x17....and letter long edge feed, and avoid issues like yours, greatly increasing the service interval on this section alone.

It is rare the transfer belt will manifest the lines in the image itself, though I will admit that it is possible to cause the problem you are seeing. Unfortunately, it will not be easy to see which section is the cause without eliminating either unit. In my experience, the fuser is where I would begin.

You did not say whether or not you were on a service agreement or not, so the choice is ultimately yours. Without a service agreement, either choice will be an expensive maintenance item. Fuser rebuilds, to replacing the belt, typically a couple hours, plus parts. The transfer belt unit, part of a 200K service kit which includes the first and second transfer rollers, new belt and a couple other little goodies, will take roughly an hour to rebuild just by itself. The 200K PM may also involve restarting the developer units, replacing the drum units and charge units (both replaced at 200K and 100K respectively), and possibly the developer chambers, replaced at 600K intervals.

Pardon me, C5501, and C5500, the PM service is 75K and 150K intervals, instead of 100K and 200K, though they still use the same parts. I was never given a straight answer to the reason why. Someone else might know that specific reason. I tend to believe you can stretch the interval, but of course, reproduction quality should dictate service interval, regardless of where the count lies.

[Stirton.M]

Its just your fuser belt... Nothing to do with transfer belt. If you replace the Fuser belt it will fix it, but if you run multiple sizes of card stock you will be back to square 1.

Best to have a few different fusing units and swap them around when required, KM even have a customer fuser exchange kit A03UR90000 to make this easy (no screwdriver required)

I have used chrome polish to rub out the lines by taking the top of the fuser off and rubbing the lines out... it works but it stinks. Better to do the job right anyway and replace the belt.

Hmmmmm....I just may look at trying that....

Learning the Press C8000 this week, read about the polishing process built into both units, though I have yet to look at that section, I think that is in the works for Tuesday...or was it Wednesday...fascinating machine, I am completely impressed with what I saw on day one...skew and drift correction on the belt....VERY cool.

[laserman06]

Pardon me, C5501, and C5500, the PM service is 75K and 150K intervals, instead of 100K and 200K, though they still use the same parts. I was never given a straight answer to the reason why. Someone else might know that specific reason. I tend to believe you can stretch the interval, but of course, reproduction quality should dictate service interval, regardless of where the count lies.

I have several c5500 and have stretched the maintenance counts to the same as c6500, no issues. I was told many moons ago, during class that it is due to the slower speed. It takes longer to get to that interval. So it is the time the consumables are actually sitting in the machine. I personally think that it is KM trying to sell more kits.

[HORSE]

Pardon me, C5501, and C5500, the PM service is 75K and 150K intervals, instead of 100K and 200K, though they still use the same parts. I was never given a straight answer to the reason why. Someone else might know that specific reason.

Marketing

[artichap]

Quality Issues - Thanks

Hi All

Thank you for your responses. They have proved invaluable. I am on a service contract and will be contacting my supplier today to try and arrange the fusing units and transfer kits to allow multiple stocks. I think I mis-named the belt. (the belt with the marks is the browny one above the fusing roller), I guess this is the fusing belt, so thank you all for your input. I shall let you know the outcome.
I presume if I can arrange the transfer kits that major set-up is not required when changing from one fusing unit to another?

Many thanks all
Artichap

[Stirton.M]

There are kits that can be sold that will allow you to reasonably swap out the fusers without the need of tools. It will still involve some work to remove and install....a little training on that and ensuring you power off the machine before disconnecting a couple connectors for the swap....

Bear in mind that even if you have a service agreement, the extra fusing unit is not a part of that agreement. It should be a part of the original sale/lease agreement and is considered an option. Be prepared, these are not cheap.

[Herrmann]

Pardon me, C5501, and C5500, the PM service is 75K and 150K intervals, instead of 100K and 200K, though they still use the same parts. I was never given a straight answer to the reason why. Someone else might know that specific reason. I tend to believe you can stretch the interval, but of course, reproduction quality should dictate service interval, regardless of where the count lies.

As i know, the reason is, that the mashine itselfs runs at nearly the same speed, only the "feed distance" between the sheets is wider. This result in the same mileage of the components, while actually doing less sheets. I tried to prolongue the maintenance intervals to 200k, but with no luck.