C280 J-3003

[orestesp]

Hi guys,

Unfortunately, she won't play along, I am attaching some more pictures so you can see what I am talking about.

Again, I was in a middle of a job, was in about 2 hours of almost non-stop printing, almost a thousand clicks, and then it just threw the J-3003 and she wouldn't print no more. The bushings on the reg roller seemed clean (as I said I gave them a quick clean up but they weren't that dirty to begin with), I even added some more WD-40 to see if it's to blame but it jammed again, same code on the next sheet it pulled.

One of the two pictures shows exactly how the jammed paper was when I opened the side door. Once it cooled down after an hour of inactivity or so she would print again normally. The second photo is what I printed after waiting for a bit and as you can see the sheet came out wrinkled, not sure if it's just a coincidence or not.

Seems like something is wrong with the paper path between the transfer section and the fusing section?

Thanks.

[blackcat4866]

It looks as if the leading edge tried to follow the top of the transfer belt, missing the fuser inlet.

On this jammed image do you notice diminished second transfer on the jammed page?
I notice a notch on the leading edge of your jammed page. Does it have the separation claw on the transfer belt assembly? Have you tried it with/without that center claw? It's not uncommon on this family of machines to find a piece of paper coasting along on top of the belt at PM time, not affecting anything. Most techs entirely remove those claws. =^..^=

[orestesp]

It looks as if the leading edge tried to follow the top of the transfer belt, missing the fuser inlet.

On this jammed image do you notice diminished second transfer on the jammed page?
I notice a notch on the leading edge of your jammed page. Does it have the separation claw on the transfer belt assembly? Have you tried it with/without that center claw? It's not uncommon on this family of machines to find a piece of paper coasting along on top of the belt at PM time, not affecting anything. Most techs entirely remove those claws. =^..^=

Yes indeed, the sheet tries to follow the rotation of the TB. There was no toner transfer happening on that sheet; it was completely blank. I have now removed the single sep claw from the TB but this still bugs me; why does it happen once the area surrounding the fusing unit becomes relatively warm, but when it cools down it works fine?

Thanks.

[copier tech]

Yes indeed, the sheet tries to follow the rotation of the TB. There was no toner transfer happening on that sheet; it was completely blank. I have now removed the single sep claw from the TB but this still bugs me; why does it happen once the area surrounding the fusing unit becomes relatively warm, but when it cools down it works fine?

Thanks.

You say the machine was running for "2 hours continuously" this does sound excessive, how long was/is the print job?

Paper quality can make a big difference especially on these older models. Try thicker paper as a test.

Also the machine only has 135k on the counter but age is a factor now, the fuser may need replacing the bearings can dry out etc.

[BillyCarpenter]

It looks as if the leading edge tried to follow the top of the transfer belt, missing the fuser inlet.

On this jammed image do you notice diminished second transfer on the jammed page?
I notice a notch on the leading edge of your jammed page. Does it have the separation claw on the transfer belt assembly? Have you tried it with/without that center claw? It's not uncommon on this family of machines to find a piece of paper coasting along on top of the belt at PM time, not affecting anything. Most techs entirely remove those claws. =^..^=

Really interesting stuff. You won't find that in any service manual.

[BillyCarpenter]

Yes indeed, the sheet tries to follow the rotation of the TB. There was no toner transfer happening on that sheet; it was completely blank. I have now removed the single sep claw from the TB but this still bugs me; why does it happen once the area surrounding the fusing unit becomes relatively warm, but when it cools down it works fine?

Thanks.

Could be static electricity? Could be lots of things. Chalk it up to magic and don't drive yourself crazy.

[orestesp]

You say the machine was running for "2 hours continuously" this does sound excessive, how long was/is the print job?

Paper quality can make a big difference especially on these older models. Try thicker paper as a test.

Also the machine only has 135k on the counter but age is a factor now, the fuser may need replacing the bearings can dry out etc.

It was basically a bunch of a files as well as physical documents, it wasn't as much printing as it was me trying to keep everything organized so I wouldn't have a huge stack of documents in mixed order. I'd say it printed around ~600 A4 pages at best.

In general it feeds thicker paper just fine, and this brand of photocopying paper that we use never ever has it given us any trouble, our other machine just went through boxes of it without a single jam. I haven't tested feeding thicker paper while it jams the usual stuff though.

Pardon my ignorance, but don't the fusers on these units use sealed bearings?

[blackcat4866]

Really interesting stuff. You won't find that in any service manual.

I think that's the most important thing about these forums. Most of the truly important things we learn are never documented in any manual or bulletin. Quite often the solutions are discovered entirely on accident, and only later attributable to a specific cause.

If there was a theme to the threads I start, it would be: "I was working on something entirely different, and accidentally discovered ... "

=^..^=

[copier tech]

It was basically a bunch of a files as well as physical documents, it wasn't as much printing as it was me trying to keep everything organized so I wouldn't have a huge stack of documents in mixed order. I'd say it printed around ~600 A4 pages at best.

In general it feeds thicker paper just fine, and this brand of photocopying paper that we use never ever has it given us any trouble, our other machine just went through boxes of it without a single jam. I haven't tested feeding thicker paper while it jams the usual stuff though.

Pardon my ignorance, but don't the fusers on these units use sealed bearings?

If it feeds thicker paper just fine you can rule out clutches & sensors etc.

The fuser has various bearings & bushings they are self lubricating however will dry out over time causing the fuser rollers to stall or drive slower etc. Your fuser could almost be 10 years old.

When paper jams in the position in your picture it is usually caused by damp or poor quality paper.

Just because it feeds ok on another machine does not rule this out.

[blackcat4866]

... Pardon my ignorance, but don't the fusers on these units use sealed bearings?

Yes. I can think of no exceptions in 30+ years.

I have attempted to save partially seizing bearings in the past with generally poor results. Especially in the fuser, you cannot use oil. It will smoke and stink, sometimes for weeks. To get high temp grease like HP500 or Uniflor 8172 into a sealed bearing you must unseal it, prying off the cover, which is usually then too damaged to re-install. I will say there have been a few successes though.

Lately Kyocera techs will confirm that we've had a rash of bearing issues on the FK-8550H fusers. What I discovered recently is that the bearing 6901Z is NOT failing. It's the soft pressure roller shaft spinning within the hardened inner bearing race, reducing the diameter of the pressure roller shaft and generating piles of iron dust. I believe if the initial diameter of the shaft was larger and the bearing press-fit, it wouldn't spin on the shaft. It's not like these fusers are serviceable, and we'd have to get those bearings off at any time.
=^..^=