Kyocera 406ci Toner empty problem

[copydocinc]

Ok, so I found the problem, but still concerned.
I completely disassembled the whole machine to get to the toner distribution assy.
It is the tubes, augers, springs, gears, belts, shutters etc. that move the toner to the developer units, after the toner motors have dropped toner form the toner cartridges down into this unit.
As you install the toner crtg(any color) it opens a little shutter that allows toner to drop into the top of the distribution unit.
When you install the developer units they open a similar shutter that allows toner to drop into the top of the developer unit, from the bottom of the distribution unit.
In between the toner crtg and the developer unit there is an spiral auger in a tube that moves the toner over, about 2 inches, and then down another tube using a spring, that is moved up and down
to help drop the toner down, the spring is moved up and down by the auger that has an offset shaft on the auger, that moved the toner over to it.
This is all one unit that simultaneously moves all 4 toner colors at the same time, with sponges between each color, so they don't mix with each other. Each color uses up about 4 inches of the auger area.
So now there is a gear on the end of the auger, of course outside of the unit, but part of the assembly. That gear has a flat area that matches up with the flat area on the end of the shaft of the auger.
There are a couple of other gears that drive this gear as well as one gear that drives a long belt to the other side of the unit that end up driving the toner waste area of the transfer belt unit.

Anyway what happened is in the black toner area of the auger, the toner hardened up(possibly because it's the closest to the fuser unit?) and stopped the auger from turning, causing the gear teeth to grind
down quite a bit and eventually the flat area on the end of the auger wore down as well as the flat area on the inside of the gear. So the gear was turning, with a little grinding from teeth wear, but the auger
shaft was not turning, which made it so no toners of any color could drop into the developer units. This caused the series of toner empty or toner low messages, since this machine measures toner levels by how
much toner gets dropped into the developer units.

If you've lasted this long reading my novel, then you night as well hear the rest.
Finding all this out and reassembling the machine(a miracle) took nearly 20 hours. I could do it in maybe 10 hours now. So many parts have to come off and some metal frames also have to be removed just
to get this toner distribution unit out. I took the time to do this, because of curiosity, not practicality. It certainly was not worth the time for moneys sake.
The reason I'm still concerned is that I don't really know what caused the black toner to harden up so bad inside the auger area. I think close proximity to the fuser, but a little part of me wonders about the new
black developer unit possibly having some sort of problem, causing it all to back up into the auger area and compress together, but it sure seemed like the toner had hardened form melting. I dunno.
The ultimate fix I suppose would be to replace the toner distribution unit, but I'm not going to take it apart again. Not worth the money and also could happen again if the developer unit caused it.
Take that for what it's worth and hang it in your tool case.
By the way. This was the toughest unrepair job I've ever done, bit a little fun too. Sooooo many parts I didn't know if I would get it back together.
Thanks for reading

[BillyCarpenter]

Ok, so I found the problem, but still concerned.
I completely disassembled the whole machine to get to the toner distribution assy.
It is the tubes, augers, springs, gears, belts, shutters etc. that move the toner to the developer units, after the toner motors have dropped toner form the toner cartridges down into this unit.
As you install the toner crtg(any color) it opens a little shutter that allows toner to drop into the top of the distribution unit.
When you install the developer units they open a similar shutter that allows toner to drop into the top of the developer unit, from the bottom of the distribution unit.
In between the toner crtg and the developer unit there is an spiral auger in a tube that moves the toner over, about 2 inches, and then down another tube using a spring, that is moved up and down
to help drop the toner down, the spring is moved up and down by the auger that has an offset shaft on the auger, that moved the toner over to it.
This is all one unit that simultaneously moves all 4 toner colors at the same time, with sponges between each color, so they don't mix with each other. Each color uses up about 4 inches of the auger area.
So now there is a gear on the end of the auger, of course outside of the unit, but part of the assembly. That gear has a flat area that matches up with the flat area on the end of the shaft of the auger.
There are a couple of other gears that drive this gear as well as one gear that drives a long belt to the other side of the unit that end up driving the toner waste area of the transfer belt unit.

Anyway what happened is in the black toner area of the auger, the toner hardened up(possibly because it's the closest to the fuser unit?) and stopped the auger from turning, causing the gear teeth to grind
down quite a bit and eventually the flat area on the end of the auger wore down as well as the flat area on the inside of the gear. So the gear was turning, with a little grinding from teeth wear, but the auger
shaft was not turning, which made it so no toners of any color could drop into the developer units. This caused the series of toner empty or toner low messages, since this machine measures toner levels by how
much toner gets dropped into the developer units.

If you've lasted this long reading my novel, then you night as well hear the rest.
Finding all this out and reassembling the machine(a miracle) took nearly 20 hours. I could do it in maybe 10 hours now. So many parts have to come off and some metal frames also have to be removed just
to get this toner distribution unit out. I took the time to do this, because of curiosity, not practicality. It certainly was not worth the time for moneys sake.
The reason I'm still concerned is that I don't really know what caused the black toner to harden up so bad inside the auger area. I think close proximity to the fuser, but a little part of me wonders about the new
black developer unit possibly having some sort of problem, causing it all to back up into the auger area and compress together, but it sure seemed like the toner had hardened form melting. I dunno.
The ultimate fix I suppose would be to replace the toner distribution unit, but I'm not going to take it apart again. Not worth the money and also could happen again if the developer unit caused it.
Take that for what it's worth and hang it in your tool case.
By the way. This was the toughest unrepair job I've ever done, bit a little fun too. Sooooo many parts I didn't know if I would get it back together.
Thanks for reading

Thanks for following up. Enjoyed the read. Sounds like a convoluted toner add system. Hope I never run into this problem.

[jmaister]

Saturn series had an issue where the transfer belt waster toner cap would pop and flood the map tray compartment when the waste toner would back up.

The fix was to add a spring in the nozzle sitting on the auger, so that when the auger spins, the toner would not pack up.

Tone have some fluidity, but not much. If they are using thebmachine beyond its purpose. I suppose the the rate of the auger couodnt keep up how much it was being pushed to it.


And the 255c, 2551ci, 406ci, are the different variation of Saturn's successor,atleast for me.

Because, it basically inherited the major crap from Saturn.

Drum has lines, toner packs up, and developer pukes.



I would do a factory reset in case someone played withs service mode settings.

[copydocinc]

Saturn series had an issue where the transfer belt waster toner cap would pop and flood the map tray compartment when the waste toner would back up.

The fix was to add a spring in the nozzle sitting on the auger, so that when the auger spins, the toner would not pack up.

Toner tho have some fluidity, but not much.


And the 255c, 2551ci, 406ci, are the different variation of Saturn's successor,atleast for me.

Because, it basically inherited the major crap from Saturn.

Drum has lines, toner packs up, and developer pukes.

That was a Kyocera bulletin repair and they sent out those little springs for that fix.
The 406ci waste empties out of the transfer belt in the front left of the machine, but maybe a similar setup
but completely different from the problem we're talking about on this one. This is new toner dropping into developer units

[jmaister]

That was a Kyocera bulletin repair and they sent out those little springs for that fix.
The 406ci waste empties out of the transfer belt in the front left of the machine, but maybe a similar setup
but completely different from the problem we're talking about on this one. This is new toner dropping into developer units

Your developer is not outputting as fast as it being fed.

I would facotry reset incase servicer mode setting was compromised.

[copydocinc]

Your developer is not outputting as fast as it being fed.

I would facotry reset incase servicer mode setting was compromised.

What factory setting would I reset and how?

[jmaister]

What factory setting would I reset and how?

Before we do that.

If a machine spent most of the time sleeping, this wouldnt happen.

So the next question would be, whats the monthly volume?

If they dont print alot, whats the timer setting for low power?

Is the machine in a hot environment?

Genuine toner?

[copydocinc]

Before we do that.

If a machine spent most of the time sleeping, this wouldnt happen.

So the next question would be, whats the monthly volume?

If they dont print alot, whats the timer setting for low power?

Is the machine in a hot environment?

Genuine toner?

All genuine toners.
They have had the machine for about 4 years and have 299,430 b&w pages and 137,193 color pages
Timer settings: I dont think they have been changed from factory.
80% is printing, 20% copying evenly printed out throughout the 4 years (no known higher than normal volume print jobs)
So about 9000-10,000 pages per month
Nice clean normal downtown office with good heating and air.

[jmaister]

All genuine toners.
They have had the machine for about 4 years and have 299,430 b&w pages and 137,193 color pages
Timer settings: I dont think they have been changed from factory.
80% is printing, 20% copying evenly printed out throughout the 4 years (no known higher than normal volume print jobs)
So about 9000-10,000 pages per month
Nice clean normal downtown office with good heating and air.

Is it standing by heat vent? Base board heater? Get a good hot sun soak from time to time, near by window?

[copydocinc]

Is it standing by heat vent? Base board heater? Get a good hot sun soak from time to time, near by window?

Nope, None of the above.
Perfect weather in the middle of their office

But, I've been thinking about the machine not being unplugged.
It was for sure turned off, but maybe not unplugged.
Initially the new developer Unit did overflow with toner during setup, which of course could cause a backup of toner
and subsequently jam up the toner distribution auger and so on.
I am now leaning on that as the real cause of all of this.
Either a bad developer unit or like you said or someone said, a few posts back,
THE MACHINE WAS NOT UNPLUGGED! I think, And so maybe not recognizing the new developer unit properly.
Would that really cause this? Could it have been that simple, causing such a terrible calamity? Well for me anyway.
See what happens when I start to think. I blame you!