Black drums used as color

[Bix]

It is still unclear whether you use original toners or not. On the 4/4e series the drums can do two turns without problems.
Using aftermarket toners compromises this.

[schmeckles22]

It is still unclear whether you use original toners or not. On the 4/4e series the drums can do two turns without problems.
Using aftermarket toners compromises this.

All genuine toners and genuine DR-512k units.
My average page coverage is around 60-70% which is why they degrade faster but I wanted to know if DR512K is the same as DR512C,Y,M.

Don't get me wrong, if they were used for standard office prints (text, the odd image) you wouldn't notice, but I print customers designs on to banners so it's noticeable. Just trying to work out if they are indeed different and if it's cost effective to buy DR512K,M,C,Y.

The degrading is visible by dark bleed lines down designs - Light grey images will have a dark grey line down the page etc

[Bix]

Yes its are the same.
you need to swap the chips and you can buy them aftermarket. You could also do this with dev units.

[schmeckles22]

Yes its are the same.
you need to swap the chips and you can buy them aftermarket. You could also do this with dev units.

Yes I already change the chips, just wanted confirmation that they are the same.
I wonder why my brother can manage to get much more life out of them than me, seems odd.

How is it done with dev units? I thought they had developer powder made for specific colours?

[Bix]

Yes I already change the chips, just wanted confirmation that they are the same.
I wonder why my brother can manage to get much more life out of them than me, seems odd.

How is it done with dev units? I thought they had developer powder made for specific colours?

There are many factors such as humidity, temperature, printing conditions. For the developer unit you need to make at least 100-200 prints to make the color change after the change.

[schmeckles22]

There are many factors such as humidity, temperature, printing conditions. For the developer unit you need to make at least 100-200 prints to make the color change after the change.

Ahhhh, I really didn't know that - thanks for the tip.
I feel like my room is relatively warm (standard room temp) and humidity is normal.
Strange that he gets much more out of the official color drums vs my chipped.

[REGSIS]

I change them every 1-2 months as I start to see lines down prints, I print a lot of full coverage images so I expect them to degrade faster but from my brother he has said that the non-chipped versions have longer life it seems.
Printer is C284e.

I have noticed that I can get a few desperate days out of them if I use the stick and shove it through the hole at the bottom and pull the white cleaning sticks but it's a last resort.

On high coverage machines laser beam struck the drum surface x times more than low coverage ones.
So it is normal that your drums last less then "regular" customers.

One technician told me that colour drums have better quality.
At first I tought he must be wrong. Recently, I checked one of my machine at customer such as you. Black drum was unusable but colour drumS (DR512 CMY) were Ok. That set made 40k.
On the next change I will put all 4 black and make a comparison.
That takes time, 'cause customer prints 20K per year.

My conclusion is: they look same, but really are not. Maybe colour ones has thicker photosensitive layer, and thus make them so expensive. What is more economic for you, only you can test and calculate. Try both ways and come to conclusion. For most users all 4 black is a way to go.

All the time keep in mind that transfer belt and transfer roller make the same lines when worn.
To make percise comparison you should replace belt and roller with each set of drums. But that raise the price.

For this particular customer (see above) I change belt and roller every 100k.

P.S. with that stick you clean PH windows. You should do it every 20k. Also pull white cleaning plastics on each drum 2-3 times every 20k.
Clean IDC sensors and do the gradation adjust. It should help a little.

Good luck!

[schmeckles22]

On high coverage machines laser beam struck the drum surface x times more than low coverage ones.
So it is normal that your drums last less then "regular" customers.

One technician told me that colour drums have better quality.
At first I tought he must be wrong. Recently, I checked one of my machine at customer such as you. Black drum was unusable but colour drumS (DR512 CMY) were Ok. That set made 40k.
On the next change I will put all 4 black and make a comparison.
That takes time, 'cause customer prints 20K per year.

My conclusion is: they look same, but really are not. Maybe colour ones has thicker photosensitive layer, and thus make them so expensive. What is more economic for you, only you can test and calculate. Try both ways and come to conclusion. For most users all 4 black is a way to go.

All the time keep in mind that transfer belt and transfer roller make the same lines when worn.
To make percise comparison you should replace belt and roller with each set of drums. But that raise the price.

For this particular customer (see above) I change belt and roller every 100k.

P.S. with that stick you clean PH windows. You should do it every 20k. Also pull white cleaning plastics on each drum 2-3 times every 20k.
Clean IDC sensors and do the gradation adjust. It should help a little.

Good luck!

Thank you for your in depth reply! I will give the color drums a shot as I can't keep replacing these ones monthly.
£356 each month is high and maybe the colour will get me 3-5months out of them.

Worth a try

I am always doing graduation adjusts on my printer, after so many prints it struggles to print light shades of pink or grey (they will become white) and this is the only way to solve it, could be a hardware fault?

[REGSIS]

When you replace belt and all 4 drums and you get nice clean image without darker lines then you cannot say it is a hardware issue. You may get some light lines even after 20k. That is about 30% of drum life.
On a production machine like C3070 you may get such line at 150k out of 450k which is suposed to be max drum life. It is very similar ratio but on much expensive machine. That 4 drums are about 2500 €.

P.S. Don't expect to triple the life with colour drum.
At best you may reach double but that is financially the same because colour are twice the price of black one.
It's about details what suits you more.

Do the PM (or call the techincian to do it) at least 30k to get better results.