First Demo for 80ppm Konica - What questions do you ask?

Discussion in 'Konica Minolta Color Laser Printers & Copiers' started by life_in_a_duplex, Oct 21, 2019.

  1. Reckless

    Reckless Member

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    Thanks for all your replies. It is a great help! Most of things I assumed. The brochure/spec sheet I came across did not show dimensions. I will look to see if there is another. Thanks for the 30 amp warning (I have it but need to run it closer).

    I contacted the local KMBS branch about how many units are in the field and how many people are running 400 gsm stock on it consistently. They are going to get back to me but I don't think there are that many of these in the field.

    I called around looking for a used print controller having a hard time finding one. One company told me the C6100's are lemons and to stay far away from them. He said they are based on the C8000 model which was pretty famous for being a lemon (even I heard that from a number of people when buying my C6000). Do you have any comment on this? My volume is not that high so if service man was coming every week its not a big issue for me. That's how my C6000 works (I prefer if no one had to come over). The guy said that Minolta had a lot of service pack releases that needed to be applied. The unit I bought has 138 copies and was setup in March 2018 and has sat.
     
  2. Reckless

    Reckless Member

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    The system simulator gave the dimensions 12.25' which is less than my C6000 because I'm skipping out on the humidifier. Even though we have humidity issues in summer time but we never refill the water tank.

    I really wish I could fit another paper tray as I think 400 gsm paper is going to be only a few hundred sheets per tray.
     
  3. jwheeler

    jwheeler Senior Member

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    Yes, the C8000's were known to be lemons. They also had a double fuser which created alot of issues. We had one here in my shop and I think we were one of the lucky ones because it didn't have too many issues. The biggest problem was the color would shift requiring a daily calibration. I can tell you from both selling and now being a user of the C6085, they are completely different than the C8000's. There is no longer a 2nd fuser. They have introduced new position registration technology, the color is very consistent (even without the IQ-501), and the range of supported media has increased. I sold dozens of the predecessor, called C1100, to replace customer's C8000's and they said it was night and day. The techs also told me they were much less service and our branch service calls went way down. There was one issue on the C1100 that was addressed on the C6100. It would occasionally drop random specs of toner during really long runs. They fixed this by adding a cyclone filter. We have had ours (C6085 which is the same engine as the C1100, just slowed down) for just over a month now and have run ~60,000 impressions without issue. One other big change we have noticed is there is no static on the output sheets. The C8000 had terrible static when we ran synthetics.

    As for the unit you purchased, you are going to have issues right off the bat since it has sat for 2 years without running. The developer is bad by now, the toners will have expired, and the charge wires might need to be replaced at the very least. This would happen for any copy machine sitting unplugged for 2 years...so expect some up front costs to get it back up to spec.
     
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  4. jwheeler

    jwheeler Senior Member

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    The humidifier does not add length to the machine, it is an optional part within the required relay unit. Also, be aware that the simulator adds either 4 or 6" to either side of the machine for required clearance, so the actual machine will be slightly smaller.

    As for the paper tray, the PF-707m has 3 drawers, which each hold about 3 reams of paper, regardless of thickness. A ream of 400gsm stock is usually 200 sheets, so I think you will be able to hold about 1,800 sheets total. You can program them all with the same profile name so the machine will automatically switch from one tray to the next when it is empty, and you can refill empty drawers while it is running.
     
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  5. Reckless

    Reckless Member

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    Thanks for telling me about refilling paper trays while its running! Saved me the hassle of buying another PF-707m. My last issue right now is finding a cheap image controller. Do you know if previous generation fiery can be reformatted with current software? Approximately how much do the Konica Minolta image controllers run? I saw one article where it says it takes twice as long to print using km controller vs the fiery. I had bad luck using fiery's before, software was always glitchy and would add more headaches to our print jobs.

    As a former Konica man, what is your favorite production printer? I used to be a die hard Minolta Loyalist but feeling a bit let down last few years. It might be because I am always running 5-10 year old stuff from them or the perfect binder giving me issues. Atleast this time I am only 2 years behind.
     
  6. jwheeler

    jwheeler Senior Member

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    I should add...in regards to the paper deck...it is highly recommended to only run the 400 gsm out of the bottom drawer because that is the straightest paper path. I doubt the a Fiery as old as the C6000 could support the necessary windows 10 software of the C6100 even if it could be reformatted. I've asked Fiery specialists along with my own KM software specialists this in the past and was always told no. And the article you read about the KM vs Fiery taking twice as long. That's completely false. In fact, when I used to sell gear, a customer wanted to test this with a massive file, so I ran tests in the demo room on a unit where we had both controllers and the KM controller started printing faster than the Fiery. We had the Fiery on our C8000, and decided to get the KM controller on our C6085, and we find it to be faster...and we don't have to deal with the Fiery crashing or losing connection. As I mentioned before, you're not going to find a KM controller online, but you can find used/refurbished IC-313 Fiery controllers. There's one on ebay for $7,000 right now. If you want pricing on the KM controller, call a local dealer.

    The C6100 is still a current model, so I wouldn't say you're 2 years behind. The C6000 on the other hand, was being sold roughly 6-8 years ago.

    But to your question, I was really happy when the C10-- series came out (C1060, C1070, C1085, C1100). That was when they really got several things right...the front to back registration was finally fixed to be consistent with a new swing roller that shifts the sheets to the same position every time. The fuser oscillates back and forth so you don't get shouldering marks when running the same size all the time. The vacuum feed paper decks was a game changer for consistent feeding and no more dealing with worn out feed tires. The color was consistent for every print with the IDC and CDC used together. The finisher was modified to have a straight exit path. The anti-static rollers were introduced. They could now run envelopes - really well! Before the C10--, I would get constant calls and complaints from customers complaining how angry they were with their c6000/C7000/C8000 machines. When they put enough trust in me to upgrade to the C10-- series, they were so thankful, the techs were so thankful, and I was glad to not be getting bombarded with angry calls anymore. From there the C20-- series, C30-- and C60-- series only got better. Going back old school, the C6500 was a beast of a machine for it's time...customers would hang onto them for 10-15+ years because they just kept running. At a certain point, the service managers had to send letters saying we would no longer be offering a PPC plan because KM was going to stop making parts as that series had reached end of life.
     
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  7. Reckless

    Reckless Member

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    Edit: just received response at 11pm, costs much more than I would have expected, the fiery is half as much.

    My PB-503 has a FS-516 at the end. I bought a RU-518, will I need something comparable to a 516 at the end? I think they put it there to get paper out. I do have a SD-506 in back but after getting PB-503 had no need for booklet finisher. Years ago, I was told we needed FS-516 probably because paper had no way out.
     
  8. Reckless

    Reckless Member

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    It looks like KM controller only does 1200 dpi vs 3600 x 2400 dpi for fiery. Is there any difference there? I remember huge differences in my cf-2002.
     
  9. jwheeler

    jwheeler Senior Member

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    As I mentioned before, you will need a VI-509 to connect the Fiery to your printer.

    The FS-516...I think that model number is incorrect, but either way, the finishers from the c6000 are not compatible with the C6100. You can either let the PB-503 or SD-506 be the end of the machine and just use the top output trays for flat sheets, or you’ll need to get an FS-532 or OT-510. The OT-510 looks exactly like the FS-532, but it doesn’t have stapling.

    The RU-518 also has a top output tray but cannot be the end of the machine.
     
  10. Reckless

    Reckless Member

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    I have a VI-511. (nevermind for IQ-501).

    I want to avoid any other finisher than the PB-503 but was told by Minolta that we needed it for C6000 at the end for flat sheets. For some reason they could not come out on top of PB-503. I'd be happy if flat paper came out RU-518 and nothing after PB-503. My office is 15' long and my current machine is 14.'
     
  11. Reckless

    Reckless Member

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    Is there a cloud based ripping solution that can replace one of these image controllers? It seems ridiculous to spend soo much money on redundant hardware nowadays.
     
  12. Reckless

    Reckless Member

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    If you have any contacts where to buy a Konica Minolta Controller for reasonable price, let me know. I don't want to deal with my local dealer as I am pretty sure they won't discount off list that much.

    I did find a cloud printing service that embeds directly to the firmware: https://www.papercut.com/products/mf/

    It sounds like it bypasses the controller.
     
    Last edited: Feb 17, 2020
  13. Reckless

    Reckless Member

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    Talked to papercut and they claim there is no need for an image controller as their software directly rips. They said it won't do any enhanced functionality but will use the konica minolta driver to mimic hardware. It seems too good to be true. Trying a demo.
     
  14. Reckless

    Reckless Member

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    So papercut was a wild goose chase. They still need a ripper. I'm thinking about that fiery from langrafix. They are 30 mins away. I have a VI-511 can that be used in place of VI-509?
     

  15. Reckless

    Reckless Member

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    @jwheeler
    Can a RU-518 be used as the final finisher using exit tray? I'm thinking about making this machine dedicated for just 13x19 385 gsm straight prints and buying a manual perfect binder to save money on a service contract.
     
    Last edited: Feb 29, 2020