C6500 Poor Image Quality and a million other issues.

[Guest]

Is there anybody out there who can help me with imaging quality issues? I have a C6500 and IC-304 v2 and can't seem to get a good looking print on this machine since it was installed in my shop less than a year ago. No matter what profiles or settings I choose it seems like there is a gray cast over my images. Nothing is sharp and the product coming off the C6500 can't even stand up to my little Docucolor 12.

I print ball cards for sports photographers and the photographers are critical. Sending PDFs from InDesign to the rip if that helps.

I am getting nowhere with my techs. They tell me I am not runnng the machine enough at least 20,000/month and therefore will produce poor quality. They also said it will never give me a xerox red and I am the only one who complains. Reds are a nightmare on this machine.

Can this printer and rip produce a better image, do I have a lemon or have I burned my money?

[Marsh2]

Hi

I work on the C6500 and have had dealings with IC-304. The red's will never be as vivid as a Xerox because Konica Minolta place these CYMK Colour Gammitt promanately towards blue not Red like Xerox. This is not a problem it is the deisgn and the way they work. But also reading the rest of your problems maybe the Reds are prodomently worse than they should be because of you dull colour issue. I have stood the 2 Reds together and while different not hugely different but depends on your preception or how exact your prints need to be. All customer and cases differ.

i also have had colour problems on a C6500 which turned out to be the colour sensor board inside the machine sitting along side the transfer belt. This was modified as it was a know fault but get the plate carrying the sensors checked out and make sure it is the modified one. The symptoms it was suppose to fix wasn't the problem i had butit fix my problem also so keep that in mind.

also make sure all Creo patches have been done and all up to date here is a link whch may help there. Color issues with a Creo IC-304 on a C6500 - PrintPlanet.com These posts may be of help too http://www.copytechnet.com/forums/ko...-problume.html.

[bdobler]

Marsh2,

Thank you for your speedy reply. I will get to work on all you suggestions today and call my tech. Could you tell me where on the Rip I would check my list of patches?

[random]

If you goto help -> about it will come up with the rip version and applied patches. I haven't heard of a patch that is for quality so I don't think patching your rip is going to solve your problem.

The current Xerox models don't print as well as a DC12 so don't be too surprised by this comparison.

You say you print photos, I would be interested to see how a jpg imported directly to your rip would look. If it still looks like crap then maybe you have a machine problem. If it's good then you have to look at your workflow a bit more.

As far as the color sensor board the last version of this had an 'M' stamped on it. Check this to make sure this is installed. Otherwise you will never get a good red, or blue for that matter.

Volumes for this machine need to be in 5 digit's for it to be happy. In saying that this usually causes problems with banding not out right quality issues.

[bdobler]

I have a service call in to check the "color sensor board." I ran straight JPGs as random suggested and uploaded a sample page for you guys with no better results. The page has the original file form my Mac. Next the post rip screen shot and finally the scan of the print. The print looks "slightly" better than the scan as it degraded a bit.

Here is the link: C6500 Samples

By the way, thank you for taking the time to share.

[10871087]

They tell me I am not runnng the machine enough at least 20,000/month and therefore will produce poor quality.

What is your average monthly volume? I have had an issue where this model of machine performed poorly in a low volume situation.

[bdobler]

I can do anywhere from 2000-10000 with the lower end of the range lately. I realize this is very low for a machine of this caliber.

[ni311]

Believe it or not but I had more problems with a machine that almost did 20k per month compared with one with around 80k per month.

[Herrmann]

Get an es1000 with the software "efi color profiler" and make a new profile matching exact the issues of this particular maschine. Did the Job for me very well, especially when printing photos.

second, there is an option "developer clean" in the user menue, did you try this?

[bdobler]

hermann,

Will try the "developer clean" tomorrow. As for the efi color profiler, can I use this with my creo?

Thank you...

Horse,

What is "Try Drum Pec. > Recall Standard Data". Sorry for my blatant ignorance.

[HORSE]

The colour sensor board Marsh refers to is the Gamma sensor, If the assy has an 'M' stamped on it with black ink this is the modified type....if the assy has a pink spot label then it has the old type Gamma Sensor and you will have to replace it.

modified part A03UR79800

The IC304 has a service Pack 1 for Ver 2.0.

Try Drum Pec. > Recall Standard Data

[bdobler]

herrmann,

Could you tell me how to find the "developer clean" user menu?

[ni311]

Check this thread also

http://www.copytechnet.com/forums/konica-minolta/7803-problem-producing-true-red-konica-minolta-c6500.html

[Herrmann]

Sorry, this was my fault, i translated it incorrectly from german to english

Actually i meant "Toner Refresh", you will find it here:

Utility menu => [03 Machine Admin. Setting] => [01 System Setting] => [05 Expert Adjustment] => [08 Execute Adjust Operation] => [Toner refresh mode]

Do not overuse this function, as the cleaning unit of the transfer belt may fail.

hope this helps

[Specilist KVN]

This looks like a gama sensor to me. An older "issue" that was resolved. The symptom was orangy reds. Unable to achieve a nice deep (blood) red.
Try copying to see if you get the same results. If you cannot get a good red even with altering the image settings then i would bet my money on the hardware issue. If it is just the reds then again, most likely.

Also, a "pasty/flat" colour all around in a symptom of a bad RGB colourflow setting. Have you tried different settings in the Creo itself, including turning colour management off all together? Importing the file is the best way to identify if it is the Creo or settings when printing.

I have a service call in to check the "color sensor board." I ran straight JPGs as random suggested and uploaded a sample page for you guys with no better results. The page has the original file form my Mac. Next the post rip screen shot and finally the scan of the print. The print looks "slightly" better than the scan as it degraded a bit.

Here is the link: C6500 Samples

By the way, thank you for taking the time to share.