Canon IR3220 fuser unit

Discussion in 'Canon Color Laser Printers & Color Copiers' started by Roland, Oct 19, 2007.

  1. Roland

    Roland New Member

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    How do we know when the fuser unit in our Canon IR3220 needs replacing? We were advised to keep one on hand, which we have, but nothing about when to change it. Lately, ink on large solids feels rough and sometimes flakes off. We normally run 12 x 18 Mohawk 100# dull coated text, two-sided, or the same in Xerox brand. We used these papers in the past without a problem, but recently we began having problems. The drums are still within their lifespan. Thank you.
     
  2. Jeff

    Jeff Senior Member

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    First I'd take the fuser out (two screws, easy), release the pressure level, and rotate it by hand looking at the surface of the rollers to see how they look and if you spot any melting/hard spots or if they look smooth and good.

    I have not run any 100# text weight on our machine, so I don't have an answer for you, but a few comments:

    What weight setting have you set (register paper type on the machine itself for the drawer or stack bypass) -- are you running the 100# as normal, heavy1, or heavy2?

    Running 85% 20# bond, and then 15% as a combination of 24# Accent Opaque, 28#/70# Hammermill, and 32#/80# Mohawk, we have gotten 90,000 - 95,000 11x17's out of each of our fusers on average (and pretty close to this, within +/- 5,000 11x17's) We run the machines hard with runs of 23,000-28,000 done in 2-3 days and then just a few thousand the rest of the month and idle (cooled down) for most days of the month; we haven't deviated enough from this to speculate how run length effects it yet. We've run both Canon OEM fusers and NWRS / IKON rebuilt fusers.

    I run up to 32#/80# weight as standard/normal weight.

    I did encounter one case where running 28#/70# hammermill in a quantity of 100 11x17 posters had the same symptoms you show - black toner flaked off while the color toner on the page which was in a lighter screened area held fine. But they all had to be discarded and run again as the black lines flaked off the page. I re-ran those as heavy1 when then worked ok (but wasn't sure if it was a one-time glitch with the machine, or a paper issue possibly.) and after that all was fine running the same weight paper as normal weight (with the same fixing unit... for some reason it was an isolated issue and has not happened again with 700,000 prints run on that machine with various fusers from then until now.)

    We have only replaced fusers when the rubber roll actually melts - either we catch it when the paper is rippled and then when you look at the fuser heat roller you will see the rubber is melting under the clear plastic surface of the roll and rippling it, or if we don't catch it the machine will actually stop when it can no longer turn the melted fuser (sometimes within 50 sheets it will not only melt/deform under the clear sheet but will also have a chunk of rubber tear up so it is un-turnable.)

    We did have one other case where we developed a "hard spot" as a visible line across the fuser which created an undesirable bad spot ("oddly" fused areas with slight toner displacement in the 11" direction of an 11x17 the circumfrence of the fuser apart). I'm not sure why this happened on that one fuser... one glitch I have noticed with the machine (but which other techs have not seen or do not think is a big deal) is that sometimes with no jobs in queue and shut off either through timer or by hitting the gray soft-power button off, the machine will for some reason keep the fuser hot. So I try and check to make sure the fuser has cooled down at the end of the day. A couple times I've run late, turned off the machine after the last job was run (and with none in the queue, no errors, etc.) and then found the fuser still hot 170-190 °C the next morning. Now in theory the machine keeps rotating the fuser anyway, but I suspect there may be a glitch condition that occurs rarely where the fuser stays hot but stops rotating causing a hard spot to burn in. But other techs have not seen this, so this is only my speculation. And I try my best to make sure the machine has cooled down at the end of the day by checking 30-60 minutes after I've turned it off (both of our two IRC3200 and IRC3220 rarely but sometimes otherwise keep the fuser hot, seemingly indefinitely, (though they both usually turn it off as scheduled - I've not had a fuser "burn a line in" in the 3220, only the 3200 and only once in the last 4 years.)
     
  3. Jeff

    Jeff Senior Member

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    P.S. in theory I suppose going into service mode and running a NIP check would be in order to make sure the fuser is applying the correct and even pressure; I've not encountered a Canon fuser mis-set though in practice but my experience is only with one every 6 months or so, a pretty limited sample, and I don't think it would hurt to rule out anything you can rule out.
     
  4. Roland

    Roland New Member

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    Thank you Jeff. I am going to pull the unit as you suggested and look at the rollers. We do not run single large quantities as you do, but a lot of jobs throughout the month, about 35K a month total. Most of that on 11 x 17 100# dull coated text or 100# dull cover. We avoid gloss text, it starts to blister on the 2nd side, or the toner will smear and the sheet is really hot. We have tried all settings with gloss.
     
  5. Zaphod

    Zaphod Member

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    Fuser / Paper

    We only run coated of any kind through the bypass, a slow, painful process.
    Are you guys running coated from the regular trays?

    Adhesion is never a problem for me from dying fusers. Mine always start wrinkling then jamming near end of life.

    We run a wide variety of papers, laser 28, 32, coated 80, 100, cover 80 and even 100. She's even taken 12 point Kromekote.

    I like Futura brand paper for coated, she NEVER blisters on that. Any Sterling or Utopia she just spits out with second degree burns.
     
  6. Jeff

    Jeff Senior Member

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    Not to take this off topic, but have you achieved a decent look on gloss? With our 3200s the toner is so flat matte that it looks odd on gloss; we tried it a couple times when they were new but the results just didn't look good (matte toner on gloss sheet) so we gave it up.
     
  7. Zaphod

    Zaphod Member

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    Gloss? Ha!

    It's not possible on the 3220 in my experience. The wax based toner only ever appears matte. The only way it works is on little or no coverage. The more you lay on, the less paper shows through. Even tints of colors are enough to flatten the shine.
     
  8. ODCMAGAZINE

    ODCMAGAZINE Member

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    Where are the 2 screws
     
  9. ODCMAGAZINE

    ODCMAGAZINE Member

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    I can see a crease in one the wheels, I guess means replacing them?
     
  10. Jeff

    Jeff Senior Member

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    A day late and a dollar short, but yea, usually once you get a crease in the fuser roller within the next thousand or so it will start either jamming the paper or else a chunk will rip off and stop the fuser from turning completely which turns a jam error and I imagine isn't great for the gears (though I've never had an actual problem after it jams from a flap of fuser stopping it from turning.) Occasionally the fuser will get a ripple near the edge so you think it's going to go soon but it keeps printing for 5-10k prints...
     
  11. Jeff

    Jeff Senior Member

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    Even though I'm pretty sure you've already solved this, for anyone reading this thread later, the fuser is super easy to remove from the machine. Once you pull out the fuser "drawer" looking from above the two screws closest to the outside (left) of the machine are the ones you remove and then it just lifts up and out. The two screws towards the inside of the machine fine tune the fuser pressure which you can do by performing a NIP check from the menu which sends a sheet of 8.5 x 11 from the bypass tray through and stops it for a moment in the fuser so you can see the "shape" baked into the toner and measure for pressure and evenness. At first we did this with every new fuser, but I never got one from canon that wasn't spot on so I stopped doing the NIP checks.
     
  12. ODCMAGAZINE

    ODCMAGAZINE Member

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    Help With Replacing Rollers IRC3220 Canon

    Hi Jeff,

    Thanks for the reply, I have order and replaced the roller, it took about hour it is back together and working great. Now I am dealing with the Drums, you know of any place that offers refurbished or exchange empty for full ? And once you replace do you have to replace all?

    Thanks,
    Sean
     
  13. Jeff

    Jeff Senior Member

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    Good deal. And I'm glad to hear that it wasn't too bad to rebuild the fuser. I had feared it might be really tedious and I might have to do myself it if we keep an off-lease machine this coming year.

    I don't know anything about refurbishing drums. I don't think I'd risk it as long as there is some supply of oem drums out there below retail in the $225-$250 range. (ebay for example.) The only place I see online that mentions refurbished gpr-11 drums is MBS (mymbs.net) and I don't even find it through their main site, plus the cost is close enough to what you can get a new one right now it doesn't seem worth it. When our drums get to the point that tonality starts to get rough/harsh meaning the developer needs to be replaced, we also usually have one or more specific streak imperfections in the drum coating as well. (I see alibaba lists a non-oem irc3200 overseas drum roller itself in quantities of 100, but not sure where these are sold or to whom.) Also when are drums get to the 175-250% yield point they usually start leaking toner now, dropping it along the sides of the ITB where it eventually causes problems, so I'm not sure what else would have to be done to make it "good as new" again. At this point my bet is not worth it to refurbish a drum cartridge right now. Post though if you discover different - always good to learn new things.

    You definitely don't need to replace all at once. We only replace the specific color that is causing problems (and swap the old one in if we'll be doing a thousand or more where the specific quality defect is acceptable until it's absolutely spent.)
     
  14. ODCMAGAZINE

    ODCMAGAZINE Member

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    Thanks Once more

    Jeff,

    Thanks, you are a great source to kick around things with, as a new editor and publisher of a small magazine networking is key, and I value your knowledge. Again, thanks. We have been able to get our drums at a very good price $175.00.

    Happy New Year!

    Sean
     
  15. ODCMAGAZINE

    ODCMAGAZINE Member

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    How To Replace or Empty the Waste Toner Container IMAGERUNNER IRC3220?
     
  16. Jeff

    Jeff Senior Member

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    Open the front cover
    Lower the main blue lever (the one that lowers the itb assy or that you lower to change drums, just the blue one.)
    Then the translucent clear plastic waste toner container pulls right out so you can empty it.

    I find the easiest way to empty it is to remove the clear plastic neck - only thing is not to lose the two small clear thin plastic cones which are in the two holes. These are where the light shines through to tell the machine it's full. The old ones had 2 screws, the new ones only 1 screw. Pull the plastic "neck" off being careful to retain the two small thin plastic "cones" which are in the holes. Then I hold a bag over the neck tightly and empty the waste toner into it. Personally I find the easiest way to clean the clear plastic "cones" is with alcohol on a qtip; the techs warned that this could cloud them, but so far I haven't had a problem. The tech used air, but I usually use a little rubbing alcohol and also clean the clear plastic neck well at the same time.
     
  17. ODCMAGAZINE

    ODCMAGAZINE Member

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    Thanks Jeff,

    She is all done. Work like a charm. Again Happy New Year!

    Sean
     

  18. discountprintingservice

    discountprintingservice Senior Member

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    Call Mohawk Paper and ask them to send you 50 sample sheets of 12x18 #80 and #100 of their color copy gloss...it runs great in digital machines like my Canon IR C3220's...stay away from Sterling Ultra Digital Gloss....it will not run well in toner baser machines....
     
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