DK-3192 and DK-3130 life expectancy

[Lunatech]

I tried to search this site for info on this but found nothing. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.
I could really use some input on the following.
This has been bugging me for a while now. I have a number of machines out there that take the DK-3192 and also the DK-3130. Mostly ECOSYS M3655 and M3550 respectively. According to Kyocera these drum units should last 500K. I have seen very few go even 100K. It starts with lines on prints. I go clean the charge roller and maybe the drum cylinder and the lines go away but come back in short order, usually within 10K pages. I have gone as far as to disassemble the drum unit, clean all parts, replace the charger and developing unit with little if any better results. Typically I wind up replacing the DK at around 50K to 70K.
Hotline response is to replace the drum unit.

My working theories include but not necessarily limited to;

The manufacturers rating is based on a much higher volume per month than any of the machines I work on see and the cleaning parts, charger and\or drum surface are simply aging to the point of failure before they get to expected number of prints. (Likely)

The rating is a fantasy. (Also likely)

I read it wrong. ( I have checked it many times)

I'm doing something wrong. (Likely and Not likely. Some of them fail causing the first service call)

What have you seen? What do you think?

Thanks in advance!

[blackcat4866]

Re: DK-3192 and DK-3130 life expectancy

... My working theories include but not necessarily limited to;

The manufacturers rating is based on a much higher volume per month than any of the machines I work on see and the cleaning parts, charger and\or drum surface are simply aging to the point of failure before they get to expected number of prints. (Likely)

The rating is a fantasy. (Also likely)

I read it wrong. ( I have checked it many times)

I'm doing something wrong. (Likely and Not likely. Some of them fail causing the first service call)

Much higher volume: I'll give that 85%. Most Kyocera tabletop machines are rated for seemingly astronomical monthly volumes. I was very surprised to find out that these machines begin to run fairly efficiently at very high volumes. It's too bad that most of the placements are at very low volumes.

The rating is a fantasy: At low volumes, yes it's absolute fantasy. It will never happen. I'm going to include this part of your theory with the first ... they are two parts of the same answer.

I read it wrong: 0% You read the drum specifications correctly.

I'm doing something wrong: 15% There are things you can do to extend consumable life a lot. First, enable silent mode, or set your sleep timer to 5min or less. The sooner it sleeps the longer your fuser will last. Second, replace the primary charge roller at the first sign of arcing (that white buildup on the charge roller, making a ring on the roller). Sure, yes you can clean it ... and by the time they call again for the same issue it will be arcing to the drum. Third, use genuine Kyocera toner. Ideally, these machines would be placed in higher volume locations ... OK, you probably can't do much about that.
=^..^=

[Lunatech]

Re: DK-3192 and DK-3130 life expectancy

Much higher volume: I'll give that 85%. Most Kyocera tabletop machines are rated for seemingly astronomical monthly volumes. I was very surprised to find out that these machines begin to run fairly efficiently at very high volumes. It's too bad that most of the placements are at very low volumes.

The rating is a fantasy: At low volumes, yes it's absolute fantasy. It will never happen. I'm going to include this part of your theory with the first ... they are two parts of the same answer.

I read it wrong: 0% You read the drum specifications correctly.

I'm doing something wrong: 15% There are things you can do to extend consumable life a lot. First, enable silent mode, or set your sleep timer to 5min or less. The sooner it sleeps the longer your fuser will last. Second, replace the primary charge roller at the first sign of arcing (that white buildup on the charge roller, making a ring on the roller). Sure, yes you can clean it ... and by the time they call again for the same issue it will be arcing to the drum. Third, use genuine Kyocera toner. Ideally, these machines would be placed in higher volume locations ... OK, you probably can't do much about that.
=^..^=

Thanks for your reply! Also, in case I haven't done it, thanks for the test LTR, I use it frequently.

I'm glad to see that my number one theory is thought to be 85% of the phenomenon. As for the other 15% I will start enabling silent mode and lay in a supply of primary charge rollers. As for the sleep timer, I don't know how well that will fly. Most users are of the opinion that they have more important things to do than wait the 3 seconds for the thing to wake up. Even though after being in standby for an extended period of time it seems to take that long for it to start the process any way. But that is beside the point, I guess. I suppose I will have another heart to heart with the higher ups regarding toner. That should have been on the list of theories as well. I just didn't think of it at the time of the post. Sure we save sooo much on toner but how much are we spending on parts. I'm sure they have some algorithm that will tell them and all will be right in the world. Ah, the trials and tribulations.

Thanks again.

[tmaged]

Re: DK-3192 and DK-3130 life expectancy

These problems are primarily caused by aftermarket toner. You save a lot on the toner itself, but spend it on service calls & parts. Not to mention annoying customers with recurring calls that service can't help. We've switched to OEM for all the small Ecosys and don't have these issues any longer.

[slimslob]

Re: DK-3192 and DK-3130 life expectancy

One thing I have found that will reduce life expectancy of imaging parts is low average number of pages per job. Most manufactures target their specified yield on a pages per job average of between 7 and 20 depending on speed, Production machines not included which can run hundreds of pages per job.

More often than not,imaging parts rotate from the time the first sheet of paper starts feeding until the last page exits. For low page per job jobs, that can put them spending more time rotating rotating with no paper passing over them than with. That results in excessive wear.

My background is Ricoh and Ricoh includes in their PM counters rotation time and %. If KM does the same, check to see if theses machines are exceeding rotation.

[sparkycivic]

Re: DK-3192 and DK-3130 life expectancy

you can improve the life expenctancy of the parts for these tabletop machines with more aggressive power saving settings... we used to target 60 minute "low-power" and 90 minute "sleep" but have experienced improved service experience using 20-30 minute settings where possible. ESPECIALLY drum life on the A4 color, but also fuser life on all

[Lunatech]

Re: DK-3192 and DK-3130 life expectancy

Thank you to all for the input. Good information here.