Ar-m350 / 450

[mnm]

We have several AR-M350 / 450's that all appear to be having the same problem around the same time. The problem is streaking caused by a worn paper dust filter (#CCASZ0296DS51) that allows dust/lint buildup on the drum blade. We have replaced with new filters but the problem resurfaces after a week or two. The new filters are not doing the job. We have ordered several from Precision as well as Katun and neither seem to work very well. We have evem modified a couple to get better results but the paper dust still seems to get through and buildup on the drum blade in about 2 weeks. The meters on the machines are all about 400K. The machines are at several different accounts and they all use various brands of copy paper so there is no common thread there. I just cant believe that a simple $15 part is putting so many large accounts in jeopardy. Any help with this dilemma would be greatly appreciated.

[Jaws]

Are they Black streaks or white/blank streaks?

[blackcat4866]

Drum memory.

I've worked on a lot of these boxes, and I've had very little in the way of drum cleaning problems. Are these OEM drums & blades?

I remember one particular machine that had a drum memory problem. That is, the drum would retain some latent charge and reprint shadow images at 94mm intervals. After 4 or 5 pages there was so much latent charge that the image was almost completely black. It couldn't clean off the waste toner when charged. I changed out the drum & blade, then three months later the same thing again. After another drum and blade, it never reoccurred. Maybe 10k copies on each of these drums. Very strange.

The only other time I've seen drum cleaning problems is when the cleaning auger is twisted off at the rear frame. Mechanically everything looks normal (except for the toner explosion, of course).

Let us know how this turns out.

[choicecopyguy]

I also have several of these machines out and have never seen this. What are the filters made of? You are talking about the PS roller cleaner? OEM is made of foam.

[mnm]

Jaws: These are black streaks. Paper dust is accumulation under the drum blade and lifting high enough in areas to allow toner by and cause the streaks. We clean the drum blade but once the crap builds up again the problem reoccurs. So ideally we need to stop the paper dust from getting there in the first place, which is what the paper dust filter is SUPPOSED to do. It is not.

blackcat4866: Thank you for the insight. Unfortunately we have installed new OEM drums as well as OEM 100K kits which includes Transfer Roller, Discharging Plate, Paper Dust Removing Unit, Developer Blade, and side seals.

choicecopyguy: Yes, this is the PS roller cleaner. It is made a grey foam about a 1/4 in thick on a piece of thin angled metal. We have tried these from a couple distributors (Precision & Katun) with no change in effectiveness. We have even modified a couple units to raise the angled metal plate that holds the foam by adding some double sided tape under it so that it still had some compression but added additional pressure of the foam against the roller. Still the effectiveness is very low.

Just to give you an idea of how frustrating this is, there is actually MORE paper dust trapped by the drum blae than in the paper dust filters!

[Jaws]

Sounds like the filter is not even touching the roller. All mine machines filters are full of dust and I don't have any streaking problem.
Couple of my machines broke the waste toner removal gears. That caused two of my machines to fill up with waste toner and then it starts falling out on to the page. One of them locked up my developer motor. Cleaned the waste toner out and now it runs fine for the time being.

[mnm]

Thank you all for your help and insight on this one. Through several phone calls we were finally able to determine that the paper dust remover filters we purchased from both Katun and Precision Roller are AFTERMARKET. I would not have guessed that these little doo-dads would be available as an aftermarket item, drums, blades, rollers, yeah I get that but these little jobbies are pretty odd. They actually make the paper dust WORSE. We were able to get some OEM filters on order and hopefully solve the problems. I'll keep ya posted.

[blackcat4866]

I've only seen a few occasions when paper dust built up so much that the reg roller cleaner could not hold it all. It took 150k to pack the cleaner full to bursting on a Dragon. This was definitely a paper issue. This customer was saving the world by buying that 'recycled paper'. The symptoms I got were paper skew. There was so much paper dust that the registration roller could not hold the buckle.

I think that you're headed in the right direction with the reg roller cleaners. If changing them early helps, I'd give the customer a few extra and ask them to change them at toner changes. If the customer is cooperative this could be an easy solution.

[mnm]

At a loss

Well, now we are completely at a loss. We finally got our hands on the OEM paper dust filters, installed them, two days later there was dust buildup under the drum blade again causing streaks. Of the dozen or so machines of this model we have have out in the field only 2 are NOT having this problem. The only difference between the two that aren't having this problem and the 10 that are is that the 2 have not yet had the original paper dust removers replaced yet. They are still the same ones since new. I would be willing to bet they will soon fail as well and obviously replacing them with new paper dust removers wont help whether they be aftermarket or OEM as we have seen on the other ten.

My initial thought was to readdress the brand of paper being used thinking maybe a lesser quality paper is just to much for the paper dust removers to handle. Problem is that each account is using different brands of paper and has been loyal to their respective brands for years. So why now and why from so many diffferent paper manufacturers would this all of a sudden become a problem across the board on these machines?

There must be something we are missing. But what?

[choicecopyguy]

Have you pulled and cleaned the PS units? I am just wondering if the dust is coming from some where else. What are the copy counts on the machines?

[mnm]

Yes, we have cleaned the PS units with no change in symptoms. However I just now had a new PS unit overnighted based on a loose theory that maybe the PS roller is worn or the bushings and it is affecting the amount of pressure the paper dust remover applies to it. We shall see. The machines range from 300 - 750K . I hate blindly throwing parts at a problem but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

[blackcat4866]

750k to 1M is normal yield for the registration assembly.

Sorry, I can't call it a Paper Stop Assembly when every other manufaturer calls it a registration assembly.

[mnm]

Call it a Paper Stop, call it Registration Assembly, call it a waste of money. Installed it and didn't do squat. So just to recap...we have abnormal buildup of paper dust/lint on the drum blade causing streaks. Drum blade can be cleaned but streaks come back after a couple days once the buildup occurs again. Have tried aftermarket and OEM paper dust removers, OEM drums and blades, new registration assy. Also tried modifying the paper dust removers to apply more pressure to the reg. roller. Nothing works. Tried vacuuming out waste toner augers as a shot in the dark. Tried higher quaility paper...still the buildup occurs and the streaks return. I think we're cursed.

[choicecopyguy]

Just a shot in the dark, but, are you using OEM toner and DV?

[mnm]

Yes, OEM toner and DV. I almost wish we weren't just so we would have something else to try. The latest shot in the dark....we found that the ozone filter in the transport area had a section that was plugged with paper dust. For now we just removed the dang thing hoping to suck as much paper dust out of the thing as possible. My head is getting pretty lumpy from banging it against the wall.