Using 550 or 700 drums on 242/250 equipments

[paul_gmb]

Hey there,

We made a small experiment the other days, using the actual drum from a 550 machine and mounting it on the drum cartridge of a 250.

Has anyone experimented with 700 drums on Olympia equipments ?

We got to the point where we are totaly unsatisfied with the life of NON FSMA drums. We get 10-15k on a bought drum, and our customers with full service contract get in excess of 50 without any problems.

[adriansto]

If the print quality is good at the end of drum life then the problem is the software version builtin to machine and settigs.
What software version do you have on machine ?



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[paul_gmb]

Re: Using 550 or 700 drums on 242/250 equipments

If the print quality is good at the end of drum life then the problem is the software version builtin to machine and settigs.
What software version do you have on machine ?



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The chip will last the quoted life, but the cilinders get dots or scratches way too fast. We experimented with FSMA drums, from a company that went bankrupt, and we got in excess of 40k without any dots or printing quality issues. That was the longest set.

Once returned to standard drums, it's back to 15k at most, before we get scratches or dots.

[adriansto]

Re: Using 550 or 700 drums on 242/250 equipments

Cilindrii sint originali de la Xerox sau luati de la Mival sau alte asemenea companii ?

[paul_gmb]

Re: Using 550 or 700 drums on 242/250 equipments

Cilindrii sint originali de la Xerox sau luati de la Mival sau alte asemenea companii ?

sunt toti originali. Am mai discutat si cu ingineri de la alte firme, ce e buy-in tine mai mult, ce e sold tin mai putini.

Oricum, daca cei de 550 tin ok, merita cumparat drum de 250 nou si cilindru de 550 nou, numa pentru a le combina.

[Caffeine]

Re: Using 550 or 700 drums on 242/250 equipments

sunt toti originali. Am mai discutat si cu ingineri de la alte firme, ce e buy-in tine mai mult, ce e sold tin mai putini.

Oricum, daca cei de 550 tin ok, merita cumparat drum de 250 nou si cilindru de 550 nou, numa pentru a le combina.

I'm quite interested in this thread... Mind translating?

[paul_gmb]

Re: Using 550 or 700 drums on 242/250 equipments

I'm quite interested in this thread... Mind translating?

well, from a financial point of view, it might be worth buying a new 250 drum unit and a 550 drum unit, and combining them into a single drum unit.

The estimated life without spots or problems should be around 50-60k ( a customer of ours with a 550 gets around 80 before he gets uneven colors ).

If you can get chips, than I think that just buying a 550 drum unit and mounting into the old 250 drum chasis should do it.

But this is just theory. It all depends on what life you are getting on the 250 drum units.

If you get close to 30k without uneven colors or spots, than you can easily stick to originals. If you get 10-15k than maybe it's better to start thinking of alternatives.

[Caffeine]

Re: Using 550 or 700 drums on 242/250 equipments

well, from a financial point of view, it might be worth buying a new 250 drum unit and a 550 drum unit, and combining them into a single drum unit.

The estimated life without spots or problems should be around 50-60k ( a customer of ours with a 550 gets around 80 before he gets uneven colors ).

If you can get chips, than I think that just buying a 550 drum unit and mounting into the old 250 drum chasis should do it.

But this is just theory. It all depends on what life you are getting on the 250 drum units.

If you get close to 30k without uneven colors or spots, than you can easily stick to originals. If you get 10-15k than maybe it's better to start thinking of alternatives.

The biggest problem with drum life on the 250-series machines is the black PCR roller. Well, not the PCR roller itself, but the felt 'brush' which CLEANS the black roller. This felt brush gets clogged up with white powder (this white powder is titanium dioxide which is added to the toner as a lubricant). When the brush gets clogged up with the powder, it 'scratches' the black roller rather than CLEAN it.

The newer machines like the 560 no longer use the felt BRUSH to clean the PCR roller, they use a white foam roller which never RUBS the black roller, it rolls with it, therefore no scratches. That is the real reason the 560 drums last so much longer. The OPC drum and the black PCR roller are identical. No changes. The only change is the method of cleaning the black PCR roller. The new style drum cannot be used in the 250-style series. It will be destroyed and probably damage the machine because of the cleaning method the 250-style machines use.

On a 250 machine, if you are not replacing (or at least, CLEANING very very thoroughly) the air filter on the lower left side of the machine, this will cause your drums to die when they are young because the air flow through the machine is weaker. With weaker airflow, toner dust created during printing doesn't gets sucked away as well, and so MORE of it builds up on the felt brush which causes the brush to scratch the black roller much quicker.

Old developer, compared to fresh new developer, also creates more dust. Also, old developer assemblies create more dust, but they last a long time. If you are getting toner dust on the top or bottom of the developer assembly, either the developer powder, or the developer assembly (or both) are too old. Dust on the top (and especially bottom) of the developer assembly EQUALS short drum life.

In my experience (I have many 10's of millions of prints on 250-style machines) changing all four developers with fresh developer material, and also replacing the air filter frequently will allow the drum to last ALL THE WAY until the chip says 0% and then even longer.

Replacing developer and assemblies and filters frequently enough to avoid drum damage isn't cheap, but it is cheaper than short drum life.

Hopefully this helps.

[paul_gmb]

Re: Using 550 or 700 drums on 242/250 equipments

Hello,

We are vacuming both the brush and cleaning the PCR. But it gets to the point in which doing this 1 a week, will definatelly damage them. Or is this a wrong thought ?

Regards,
Paul

[Caffeine]

Re: Using 550 or 700 drums on 242/250 equipments

Hello,

We are vacuming both the brush and cleaning the PCR. But it gets to the point in which doing this 1 a week, will definatelly damage them. Or is this a wrong thought ?

Regards,
Paul

I used to do that, but the damage is easily done, and once the damage starts, it is too late. (Even if it starts just 10 minutes before you pull it out and vacuum and clean it! haha)

I've had much much better success with keeping the filter clean and the developer & assembly fresh. If you do that, there is no need to vacuum the brush or clean the PCR. (Though if you are running a VERY long and/or VERY heavy coverage job, it is still a good idea...)

When you clean the filter, you REALLY have to bang it out and vacuum it. You will be surprised with how much toner fills up in the filter. And this toner blocks airflow (suction).

[Caffeine]

Re: Using 550 or 700 drums on 242/250 equipments

Hello,

We are vacuming both the brush and cleaning the PCR. But it gets to the point in which doing this 1 a week, will definatelly damage them. Or is this a wrong thought ?

Regards,
Paul

Also, I print art books, so I am very sensitive to print quality defects, so I am very particular. "Office" printing is much much easier, and your drums will last MUCH longer than heavy coverage prints. (And even if they do start to go bad, sometimes with office-type printing, you won't SEE it very easily because you aren't printing full-page photos or artwork! haha)

[paul_gmb]

Re: Using 550 or 700 drums on 242/250 equipments

Also, I print art books, so I am very sensitive to print quality defects, so I am very particular. "Office" printing is much much easier, and your drums will last MUCH longer than heavy coverage prints. (And even if they do start to go bad, sometimes with office-type printing, you won't SEE it very easily because you aren't printing full-page photos or artwork! haha)

thanks for the help.

we use the 242 for clean and crisp prints, with heavy coverage, and the 250 for office prints. Once a drum isn't up for high coverage prints, it imediatelly goes into the 250.