MX2300 smearing or transfer issue.

[Counsel]

Hi guys,

First off let me say I am primarily a Ricoh tech, my shop teacher can count on one hand how many Sharp machines I have looked at. Our company took over some Sharp already in the field from another vendor so we are stuck with them until replacement. Anyway I went to look at this MX2300 and if you look at my example you can see its smearing clear to the trailing edge of the page, on the first call another tech went and decided it was fuser right away and he rebuilt the fuser with the kit right away, after about 3 visits they decided to send me for a second opinion. The fuser looks fine i don;t see any issues with the rebuild, I also don't think it is a fusing issue as per my example the smearing is isolated only to part of the page, besically from the top (rear side) to about the middle of the page running to the trailing edge, the fact that its limited to mostly the rear side to middle and not all of the page leads me to believe its either a problem with the drum/corona and cleaning blade or primary transfer belt and primary transfer rollers.

I removed the belt unit and peaked under it and the transfer rollers look kind of gunky and I read they should be pretty shiny, the machine has about 270K total on it with 200k of that being black. I have no idea what the meters were at when they replaced the Blk drum/charge unit and 100k pm on transfer unit I don't know what all comes in the Drum kits if the blades are included or not they arent listed in the history as being ordered (previous vendor did the work), my ricoh machines have PM counters but I don't know how to find them on Sharp or if they exist or have been reset, the sharp manuals confuse me a bit compared to ricohs.

If anyone could take a look at my example see if this shouts out any specific item that would be great. The fuser was just rebuilt the problem was there before and after the fuser rebuild. Also if there is a SIM to run for Process control or anything needed during replacement I could use those.

Thanks in advance.

[SwisSeV]

Re: MX2300 smearing or transfer issue.

It's funny. I'm writing this reaching over a mx-2700 (the mx-2300's big brothers) transfer belt unit.

I Had a trouble call today with lines on all prints. My machines problem was much worse than yours, but the issue looks similar. Turns out the main transfer belt had a small tear and the cleaning unit that sits on the belt was backed up. That may have caused the tear in the belt because the toner builds up in the auger and presses hard against the belt leaving smudging and a line. I just replaced the whole unit and am currently rebuilding this old one. Sharp sells a maintainace kit for it.
Sim 22 will tell you all the maintenance counters on the machine, including the primary transfer belt.
So if your Transfer belt unit looks gunky, I think that would be the place to start.

[PrintToPDF]

Re: MX2300 smearing or transfer issue.

To eliminate the process unit, drum / cleaning blade, try mainking single color copies. Select color mode, choose cyan, magente, etc. Run copy for each.

In copy mode, press: P * C * This will get you into simulation. Sim 22-6 will print out settings, adjustment data, and all counters.

[Counsel]

Re: MX2300 smearing or transfer issue.

Thanks guys, can you also reset counters when replacing stuff using one of the SIMs and is there any process control or alignment adjustments to do if you replace the ITB or PCU's? I can check the counters but knowing the guys that previously worked on it i doubt they ever reset any of them when they replaced anything.

[SwisSeV]

Re: MX2300 smearing or transfer issue.

Sim 24 allows you to clear maintenance counts.

I only adjust the skew after replacing the transfer belt if I need to. Most of the time everything is aligned fine.
If you do need to make some adjustment, I would recommend going by what the manual says. There are screws under the Transfer belt that are used for adjusting, and there is a simulation (i forget what number now) that allows you a print out to get everything aligned. It is slightly complicated, it took me a while to figure it out myself, that's why I say just do it by the book.

[Counsel]

Re: MX2300 smearing or transfer issue.

Thanks for that. I have been reading through the service manual dated 2005 they are bit different then my ricoh ones, in reading the section under maint it pretty much describes the life of the drum but not how to replace it, so you go to relpacement which shows the physical part of replacing it but does not say if modes need to be run, so you have to go to another section and find out SIM 50-22 should be run when a drum is replaced, removed, or pretty much handled out of the machine.

Ricoh manauls tend to take you to the replacement section and show you what and how to replace and if any modes need to be run prior to or after the replacement. These sharps confuse me with their SIM vs Ricohs SP mode.

Thanks for the help, its much appreciated. Now that im the tech who saw a sharp I am like the go to guy for all the calls that come in sharp models, thats what happens, first tech to look at one is the new resident expert lol.

[Dartplyr]

Re: MX2300 smearing or transfer issue.

it sure looks like a fuser issue to me. i.m only suggesting this because you are not familiar with sharps. there are levers on the fuser that have to be in the down position for 20lb stock. if they are left up you will get dirty copies. if its not the fuser try running single colors like magenta or cyan, if the copies are good you have an issue with the black drum, they are easy to take apart and clean, or change drum and cleaning blade.

good luck

[SwisSeV]

Re: MX2300 smearing or transfer issue.

Look in the manual under adjustments. There are not too many of them. It will tell you under the adjustment number when exactly to do it(ie. "this adjustment must be executed in the following cases, changing OPC or Primary transfer unit")

Maybe I'm lazy but after I change a primary transfer unit, I just do a quick skew check with sim 61. If that looks good I will do some test copies in monochrome and color. If everything is looking good, I call it good. If It needs more adjusting I go through all the adjustments the book requires until it's perfect. That can take a while, and be a little frustrating.

I just did one today and no adjustment were necessary.

[NeoMatrix]

Re: MX2300 smearing or transfer issue.

Swap the drum units around and see if the problem moves to another colour.
If the problem moves to another colour, remove the primary corona grid and clean it "Ever so carefully moving one direction only" with either 800 sand paper, or methylate spirits an a scour pad. This will get the problem unit going until new PCU or corona arrives.

Remember I said "clean one direction carefully"...

HTH

[Counsel]

Re: MX2300 smearing or transfer issue.

Well after all my research into the problem, they brought a Sharp tech in on it and he replaced the black drum and corona kits it must have fixed the problem. So i was on the right track i guess.

Thanks for the info though it will come in handy for future calls.