estudio 2555c What are these yellow lines?

[Baxterdown]

Hi everyone,

I am a newbie, and an end-user. I own a Toshiba estudio 2555c I got (for free!) from a company that went out of business. The printer has worked flawlessly for the two years that I've had it until a few days ago when it started printing yellow ghost lines on the top and bottom of all pages. I'm attaching a JPG with a photo I took of a printed page and a PDF with sample prints of each ink (CMYK) and a color image.

There are no errors on the printer control panel and TopAccess shows all toners almost full.

Any information on which supply I need to replace is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Jose

[Rusty.Harris]

Re: estudio 2555c What are these yellow lines?

Pull the yellow drum, then the yellow developer unit. Looks like it's pulling yellow developer (the yellow panel had stripes).
If so, the yellow developer material will need to be replaced.
Pop the charge corona off the yellow drum unit and inspect the grid & needle electrode for toner. From the yellow streak,
it's most likely packed up with toner.

[Baxterdown]

Re: estudio 2555c What are these yellow lines?

Thanks @Rusty.Harris for the quick response! I don't know what is what, so I pulled two components and labeled them item 1 (two pics a and b) and item 2 (three pics a, b, and c).

Item 1
item_1a.jpgitem_1b.jpg

Item 2
item_2a.jpgitem_2b.jpgitem_2c.jpg

Please let me know what to do next.

Thanks!

[dalewb74]

Re: estudio 2555c What are these yellow lines?

what could possibly go wrong with advising someone who has never worked on a copier before to start pulling parts out of their machine???

[blackcat4866]

Re: estudio 2555c What are these yellow lines?

Pull the yellow drum, then the yellow developer unit. Looks like it's pulling yellow developer (the yellow panel had stripes).
If so, the yellow developer material will need to be replaced.
Pop the charge corona off the yellow drum unit and inspect the grid & needle electrode for toner. From the yellow streak,
it's most likely packed up with toner.

Like that Rusty said.

While you're taking a look, examine the drive side of the yellow developing unit (where the gears are). If you see gray power (developer) in the gear teeth, or yellow toner escaping from the gear section, you'll need a developing unit rebuild. Also look at the primary charge grids for corrosion.

Here's the explanation: As the developer leaks out of the rear side of the developing unit, the balance of toner particles to developer particles changes from ~6.5%. The toner may start to fill the unit to the top, spilling out onto copies & prints.

This is a task that you can do. Here's the problem: A toner vacuum capable of catching <1 micron particles will cost you $500. It's possible to do the job without that tool ... but it's messy. It would help to have a service manual also, so as to do the appropriate service modes and counters. The developer will be the most expensive part (D-FC30-Y): Toshiba 6LJ70994000 (6LJ70384000) Yellow Developer, Genuine (G2535)
You'll need another 8 parts or so, to do the job right.

Let me know if you're going to try it. =^..^=

Also, you can get more information from test images with lighter fill, like these:

As a newbie, you should know that you cannot leave the drums out in the room light for more than 1/2 hour or so. They will light-shock. Keep them in the dark as much as possible.

[mojorolla]

Re: estudio 2555c What are these yellow lines?

From the pictures, the Y DV tank is very low, and you most likely have a toner covered charge grid and sawtooth. Nothing a shot of DV and a PM couldn't fix; unless the gears on the rear of the DV are shot, very common on these models. With that much magenta on the yellow unit, the inside is going to be covered in toner and needs a good cleaning and calibration.
I would suggest a tech at this point as if you don't know what you are doing you're simply wasting time AND money.


'

[Baxterdown]

Re: estudio 2555c What are these yellow lines?

@blackcat -- CRAP! I didn't think about light exposure and I left the drum on my conference room table! I'm gonna run back to the office in a few and put it back into the machine. Did I ruin it?

I don't see any gray powder or yellow toner. The gears are clean, clean, clean!

I'm fearless and not afraid of getting my hands dirty (I've done a ton of stuff, from replacing my home's pool pump, to taking the steering wheel in my car apart to fix a control module). With that said, I'm thinking one of two routes:
- Try with a regular vacuum and clean as best I can to see if that takes care of the issue. I would clean all four drums just to make sure (like mojorolla said, there's a ton of magenta on the yellow unit)
- Leave it to the pros and just call the company that used to service the machine with the prior owner (their label is on the door)

Your thoughts?

Jose

[blackcat4866]

Re: estudio 2555c What are these yellow lines?

If you're game, I can walk you through it.

1) Only clean drums when there is adhesive on the surface! If the blade isn't cleaning it adequately, you'll probably need a drum and cleaning blade. Most likely the developing unit is continually dumping a lot of toner. On the topic of light-shock: It's possible to have some recovery with use (repeated exposure and dark, charging and discharging from copying or printing).

2) If you're careful and entirely successful, you'll save yourself ~$200.00. Those are two really big if's! The whole thing will be in your hands ... so the decision has to be entirely up to you. If you're risk averse call your local professional.

3) Never use an ordinary vacuum! The toner particles will pass directly through the filter and attach themselves to the warm parts of the vacuum motor. The motor will seize after about 10 minutes, and be unrecoverable. So unless you purposely want to destroy a vacuum, don't do it. It won't be the first seized vacuum I've seen.

=^..^=

[Baxterdown]

Re: estudio 2555c What are these yellow lines?

I'm game!! Let's do it!

With that said, I can't do it until next week. Does that work for you?

[blackcat4866]

Re: estudio 2555c What are these yellow lines?

No problem.

Before you order up parts, you'll need to remove and examine the gears on the back of the yellow developing unit. There's one screw to remove the developer bias contact. The contact has a leaf spring to keep it tightly onto the shaft. Just slip a small pointy tool under the clip to back off the contact. Then release the two clips that keep the white plastic cover on. If there is any gray developer powder or yellow toner amongst the gears we'll need to know that now. Also check that the gears have all their teeth. Grit in the gear teeth indicates a developer rebuild. You can use a toothbrush to clean them out, and check the teeth.
=^..^=

[Rusty.Harris]

Re: estudio 2555c What are these yellow lines?

I'm game!! Let's do it!

With that said, I can't do it until next week. Does that work for you?

We have a tech, that has memory issues. He's a GREAT tech, can fix about anything.
When he takes something apart, like a developer system, he will use his phone to snap
pictures of how things go, just in case his memory slips a bit.
You know what they say...a picture is worth a thousand words. Might be worth a try for
you since you aren't experienced at these things.

[Baxterdown]

Re: estudio 2555c What are these yellow lines?

@blackcat4866 apologies for the delayed response. Crazy work week last week!

I'm ready to get started :-) What do I do first?

Jose

[blackcat4866]

Re: estudio 2555c What are these yellow lines?

Reference photos:

[blackcat4866]

Re: estudio 2555c What are these yellow lines?

More illustrations:

[stooey187]

Re: estudio 2555c What are these yellow lines?

Dev has stripped,

Probably due to poor needle contact at the end block. If its a grey colour not black, its an old type.

Dev is gone and will need to be replaced $$$, Drum probably gone now if you left it exposed for more than a minute, charge grid packed with toner also. Rear charge contact in machine is probably dirty.

I think its best to put the machine outside in some heavy rain and forget about it....