DP1820 "corona wire" material (E03-10)

[GeertJan]

Hi,

The instructions of replacing the tone of a DP1820 includes moving the corona cleaner in and out a few times.
I've done that, now the machine gives E03-10.

Looking at this forum (all 50 pages of Panasonic postings!) I see experienced techs make comments about "replacing the corona wire", "I always carry corona wire"

Being a copier tech noob, what material is this Corona wire? I think I might have broken it with the corona cleaner, but the machine is in a remote location and I want to be prepared what to bring.

[blackcat4866]

I won't be able to speak to your specific Panasonic, but I can talk about stringing your own corona wires:

Corona wire is 1 micron tungsten wire, sometimes plated with gold or platinum. The thing about corona wire is that it's more important that you have a length of wire than the exact specific type. I once had a customer with a Mita DC-131 who was constantly breaking the cleaning corona wire, it was a hazard on that machine, when it paper jammed. After watching me re-string the wire several times he stripped a 20" length of 18gauge stranded lamp cord, and carefully separated out a single strand of copper. It took several attempts for him to get it strung, but it worked for over a year that way. I'm not recommending copper ... it's way too soft, making it difficult to hold the loops, just making a point. Use this:

Canon FB4-3687-000 Corona Wire Spool 0.06MM, Genuine (A6562)

So this first thing about stringing corona wires is that its sort of an art. The only reason I'm good at it is that I worked on Canons for 15 years. Canon analog machines had either 5 or 6 corona wires in each machine, so I got to string 20 to 30 wires a day every day. Depending on your dexterity the first 4 or 5 will probably break before you've got them stung ... so don't get discouraged.

So:
1) When you're handling the roll of wire, always keep a little tension on the wire wrapped on the spool. If you lay down the roll without keeping it tight, several of the loops will overwrap each other and tangle the entire rest of the roll. When you're finished with the roll of wire run the end through the notch in the spool and put a small square of tape over the end to keep it tight.

2) You can buy a spring hook, or make a very simple tool from a length of coat hanger. I've made dozens of these tools over the years, many extraordinarily over-elaborate. Essentially you want an 8" straight length of wire with a sharpened hook at one end. With practice, you'll think of ways to improve it.

Tools1.jpgTools2.jpgTools3.jpg

3) So first look at the primary charge unit. I don't know what your corona unit looks like, so I can't help with this part. Drums are light sensitive, so take care to cover the drum with black plastic so it is not overexposed. Most machines with wires use an 8 to 10mm long tension spring. The important thing is not over-tensioning the spring. The wire will break first. You want the spring to stretch about 1/2mm only. My sample spring in the picture is 12 1/2mm long, so tensioned it will be 13mm.

Spring.jpg

4) Remove the old piece of wire if it's still there, and locate the spring (or get a new one, I have many). Clean the housing with alcohol and Q-tips, don't douse the unit, just wipe.

5) Unpackage your roll of wire. Have handy your corona hook and a small pair of cutters (scissors will do). Remember always keep tension on the wire on the spool. Free up the end of the wire, clip off any sharp bends in the wire (that's where it will break). Loop over ~6mm at the end of the wire, and using the corona tool spin a loop on the end of the wire. If there is a tail end clip it off. It may take a few tries to get this part right.

6) Position your loop on the post in the corona block (always keeping tension on the roll of wire). Stretch out the wire to the other end of the corona unit. Make a bend ~13mm from the other post (or whatever length your tensioned spring will be). Snip the wire ~6mm beyond that bend. Let the length of wire lay there while you tend to your spool of wire, keep it tight.

7) Spin another loop, like the first. Hook the spring onto the wire, and using your corona tool, hook the spring onto the other post. A properly tensioned wire is not loose or loopy. If it was too tight, it broke before you got this far. See, now wasn't that easy?

Actually it's not that easy. About 12 years ago, at the company Christmas party, the service manager thought it would be fun if we had a contest to see how fast each of us could string a corona wire. The winner would get a prize. I was the only one who had done it before, so I showed each person how to do it individually, ~3minutes a piece. After about a half hour everybody gave up. =^..^=

[mojorolla]

Part # FFPXL05H00. Its pre-strung with ends attached.

Had over 300 Panasonics in a school system.
I will never forget that number.