Bizhub C253 Toner Conveyance Section Transport Pipe Blocked? (Cyan)

[Hacky]

Hi all,

Have a bit of a major issue with one of my C253's..

Before I go into it I just would like to know if anybody has any previous experience with gaining access to the transport pipes and possibly removing/changing them. This is the route of my problem so if somebody has ANY previous dealings with this section that would be a great start.

But to the problem...

First and foremost the section we are talking about is the 'Toner Conveyance section' the best image of this from Minolta is in the parts manual. Please look just below to see this. It is the Cyan (C) section where the problem lies..

PM.JPG

The cyan transport pipe appears to be blocked, due to this unknown blockage, when the machine is run up, after a few prints you hear a VERY loud banging caused by gears in the side of the machine jumping. The gear that is banging is the one that is in charge of turning the helix screw within the transport pipe.

After the banging, if the toner cartridges are removed and we look at the top of the toner entry opening, it is full to the brim with toner when it should be clear. This suggests to me that something is blocking the toner passing through the transport pipe. Below is an image of the toner entry opening for those who don't know what I'm talking about.

toner entry.JPG

Please note the entry isn't full to the brim in the image above as the excess toner has been vacuumed out. SO it appears to be clear, and nothing comes out of the bottom shoot when it is opened. So the machine is powered up again but after a few prints, if you look at this section again, it will be full to the top with toner.

The picture below shows the gears that are jumping and causing the banging, they are located on the left hand side of the machine, towards the back where the waste box would be if installed.

Image.jpg

Within the actual transport pipe, there is a torsion spring that appears to be there to rotate with the helix screw, which I believe looks like it helps to stop toner building up in that area. In the section in question, this spring is completely distorted and bent around the helix. If this spring is there to aid clearing the section but it is damaged, could this possibly be why there is a build up?

Below is a picture of the transport pipe opening from above, if we look closely, we can see the metal spring is wrapped around the helix when it definitely should not be..

spring.JPG

According to the parts manual it should be shaped more like this (see below) So when it rotates with the helix it should break up the build up of toner I assume..

spring ting.JPG


So pretty much, I'm looking to want to change the whole C transport pipe section. It is easy to get hold of all of the replacement pieces, but nobody seems to know how to access that area of the machine, let alone actually change it.

I really have no idea what the issue is, I am merely guessing the spring could possibly be an issue..

Really just looking to see if anybody has had this problem before and if they can help as it's driving me mad!

Thanks for your time, apologies for the lengthy post!

Hacky.


P.S. Also just noticed the quality of my images has reduced making it hard to see the text in one of them, I apologize for this also..

[EarthKmTech]

Ive been involved with it a couple times and now, first one took a week of quiet time during holidays, Nowadays I just write off the machine if the blockage cant be removed without removing that section. That should give you some idea as to whats involved with the job and if your working in a company that's pressed for time I suggest you just swap out the machine and fix it another day when it quiet, or just scrap it. Depending on the page count it may not be worth the effort.

The most irritating part was that the blockage can come from inside the toner cartridge, a plastic slug left over from the molding process.

[tech51]

You will need a lot of time for that one.
I did one in January and it took about two and a half working days or so to do it.
To sum the job up you have to do this in a workshop and basically take the machine back to the frame to get those pipes out. As I was told at the time, just pretend you are de manufactering it!
It involves taking everything out of the back, everything off the right hand side. everything off the front, removing the print heads and the trays that hold them. Then you should be able to remove the pipes.
My advice would be to replace everything in that toner supply area while you`ve got it this far apart, and take photos as you strip it. You get so many parts on the bench, a few pictures helps when re assembling it.
Its not a job I`ll forget in a hurry!!

[Hacky]

Ive been involved with it a couple times and now, first one took a week of quiet time during holidays, Nowadays I just write off the machine if the blockage cant be removed without removing that section. That should give you some idea as to whats involved with the job and if your working in a company that's pressed for time I suggest you just swap out the machine and fix it another day when it quiet, or just scrap it. Depending on the page count it may not be worth the effort.

The most irritating part was that the blockage can come from inside the toner cartridge, a plastic slug left over from the molding process.

You will need a lot of time for that one.
I did one in January and it took about two and a half working days or so to do it.
To sum the job up you have to do this in a workshop and basically take the machine back to the frame to get those pipes out. As I was told at the time, just pretend you are de manufactering it!
It involves taking everything out of the back, everything off the right hand side. everything off the front, removing the print heads and the trays that hold them. Then you should be able to remove the pipes.
My advice would be to replace everything in that toner supply area while you`ve got it this far apart, and take photos as you strip it. You get so many parts on the bench, a few pictures helps when re assembling it.
Its not a job I`ll forget in a hurry!!

Thanks for the feedback, time isn't really a major issue at my company, quite often I have spare time to investigate things such as this. I've only been working as a copier engineer for around 4/5 months so this possibly could be a good project to get to see a lot more of what goes on within the machine.

We have workshop space, and the machine doesn't need to go anywhere currently, but if it was fixed and up and running it can go out to a client.

Thanks again

[Hansoon]

Hacky, I have unfortunately nothing to add to solve your problem but I want you to know that I like very much the way you initially described the issue.

We need more techs here taking the time to explain their issues in such a professional way.

Hans

[Darren King]

I had this exact problem a month ago on a C353, except it was the black. I had to tear it down to the frame to get to the problem. Luckily, I was able to remove the blockage without removing the tubes. I just pounded on the frame behind the tube and dislogded the hardened toner and was able to turn the gears and auger out the obstruction.
It is probably a good idea to replace the two beveled gears that are grinding as well.
Good luck.
Darren

[Hansoon]

What's causing this guys? Aftermarket toner? Paper crud? Dustbunnies? Moisture? Developer coming where it shouldn't come?

Hans

[avecosat]

The problem is the sensor ATDC of the UI is turning crazy and swamped of toner bloking all .We had the same problem in two diferents machines , in one of them we change all the toner conveyance section but in the other we only clean all the section and the machine is working correctly .IMG_20130312_171906.jpgIMG_20130312_171857.jpgP.D: this is the look of you need to let the machine

[Hacky]

The problem is the sensor ATDC of the UI is turning crazy and swamped of toner bloking all .We had the same problem in two diferents machines , in one of them we change all the toner conveyance section but in the other we only clean all the section and the machine is working correctly .IMG_20130312_171906.jpgIMG_20130312_171857.jpgP.D: this is the look of you need to let the machine

Thanks for the added info! But I'm intrigued, did you put the machine back together without error after getting it to this stage?.. Lol

[avecosat]

No , the picture is a machine i have in my office and now is still look like this , but you need to do something like that if you need to change all the section, but I tell you , the other machine is now working after six months and I had have not any problem with this machine again .

Always change the Ui that you have blocked .