Originally Posted by
Klydon
Co-sign on the charge roller. I have been using them this fall and winter and have had tremendous luck using them so far.
A lot of times, the PCU has not gotten to yield (especially black) and you need to do something with the charge roller. Cleaning it is a possibility, but you have to be extremely careful and my experience is that while you will get some additional life out of the unit before having to replace it, I don't know that it is all that much because the roller surface isn't smooth and slick anymore no matter what you do. (At one time, I considered trying wax for giggles as an experiment, but never got around to trying it). Even if you have gotten to yield, you can get additional life out of a pcu depending on what shape the lube bar is in.
If you compare a new charge roller unit (comes as a unit with a new cleaning roller, which is key, frame, etc) to a current one, it seems to me that the old roller surface isn't smooth and seems much more likely to have stuff stick to it than the new one that feels slick and won't have anything stick to it anytime soon. The roller units are not that expensive and take a couple of minutes to switch out (2 screws on the bottom of the unit). Same part generally works in 3 series and later and it doesn't matter if it is color or black and white. You might have to file the plastic block on one end to get it to fit on some PCU versions, but it isn't much, doesn't take long and being able to carry 1 part number that fixes all drums in any 3 series or later 30 CPM color machine is absolutely worth it.
Just a note in comparing the costs between just a charge roller unit vs a PCU, you need around 15K out of a current unit with a new charge roller unit to break even on costs before replacing the PCU. Anything past 15k on the pcu means you came out ahead in using the charge roller unit instead of replacing it at that point. (Note: these are general costs and your specific mileage will vary depending on your location, etc).
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