Xerox Docucolor 242 quality issue

[Sharpe Image]

Hi all
I had the attached (see before image) quality issue, I swapped the cyan and yellow drums over and this has made a vast improvement. Whilst doing this i changed the black drum as this had 10% life remaining, and there were marks on the black too. The problem I have now (see after image) is there is a one inch wide strip running the full length of the sheet on the operator side. It is on all colours but shows mostly on the black. It seems to show up more on coated stocks, Xerox guaranteed.
Before and after attachments

 

[Jeff]

The way I troubleshoot print quality issues is to try and zero in on what could cause it by first determining whether it impacts all colors CMYK or just one color C M Y or K.

When it affects all colors then you can sometimes see if the defect is in the fusing to the paper or the image formation by opening the door causing a stop during a test print and looking at the image formed on the transfer belt itself to see if the inconsistency is there.

How many prints are on your 2nd BTR (the roller assembly below the transfer belt.) How many prints are on the transfer belt and transfer belt assembly? (I had to replace my 2nd btr assembly twice during 1.5 million prints and my transfer rollers within the transfer belt assembly once during 1.5 million prints and the transfer belt itself a few times.)

 

[Sharpe Image]

Hi Jeff
Many thanks for your reply, I have a new fuser so i will try that, The machine as only done 31,000 colour impressions and 25,000 Black impressions, Total of 56,000 impressions. The machine was in storage for about 1 year, the previous owner hardly used it and it was under contract with what appears to be good servicing. I have been building up spare parts from ebay, but haven't considered a belt or roller assembly as the clicks were so low.
The mark is on all colours so I am looking at belt or fuser, I have a new fuser so i will try that, failing that I will keep a look out for a belt on ebay or are there any other suppliers that are recommended for UK apart from Xerox.

 

[Jeff]

It's probably not the fusing, but if you have spare fuser anyway it doesn't hurt anything to swap to eliminate possibilities as that's very quick.
As a stab in the dark I think it could be the 2nd BTR assembly which is a unit that is below the transfer belt assembly only because we had an odd quality issue from ours, but this is a stab in the dark.
Our 2nd BTR had a quality effect for us, whereas we replaced the transfer rollers under the ITB belt for good measure because we were well over the clicks estimated for their replacement, but I'm not sure I saw a difference on ours and ours was 10x the clicks on it (assuming your counts are in the machine's full use and not since you purchased it.) Our transfer belts would get some lesser quality issue, but again 10x the 11x17 clicks before we saw this but I'm sure it varies depending on stock weight, texture, and possibly any contamination. A new transfer belt would be worth having on hand in general.

 

[Sharpe Image]

Hi Jeff
Many thanks for your help, work was quiet today so I took out the transfer belt to see if I can see anything that would cause the issue. i have attached some pics. There are 3 chrome rollers 2 of which are really smooth and clean. Whereas the one labeled 'B' has some sort of surface defect. It has cracked lines on it and is rough to the touch. i have tried to take a close up picture to show this. Sorry but i dont know what all these parts are called. The belt had lines running the length of the belt but these do not show up on the copies. Again i have tried to show the lines in the picture.

The machine has only done 31,000 colour impressions and 25,000 Black impressions, Total of 56,000 impressions from new.

 

[InterfaceP]

Are you running LEF? I think (I'm a Xerox Tech) you have different issues on the individual colors. The M is in the process direction, and having been in storage for some time I bet you have a toner issue. The K is not in the process direction meaning its a roll somewhere along the line and it looks like it is on both b4 and after. Measure the distance between the K defects.

The last images are of the IBT assembly and the black rolls are the 1st BTR, one for each color. They are typically fairly wear resistant to an extent, but you can swap them out and see if the defect follows. The chrome are not of any use here.

 

[Sharpe Image]

Hi
Thank you for the reply. The before and after sheets are 450x320mm and are SEF I was wondering whether there was an issue with the toner. I was looking at changing the devs on each colour as you say because it had been in storage for a year. With the paper size information do you have any suggestions as I think you may have thought they were smaller sheets and LEF.
Dan

 

[InterfaceP]

The last thing I would do is change the Dev units.. $$$

Try cleaning the ROS windows, they get toner on them if you don't keep the inside of the unit clean, and sometimes in high humidity they fog up or simply get dusty....

Check out one of my videos

 

[Sharpe Image]

Great thank you, i found it tricky to find exactly where the ROS windows are but gave a clean in that area as per your video. This improved but to be honest there was hardly any toner to be seen like in your video. The main culprit for the Black image concerns was the Fuser, after changing this quality is so much better, I will keep this fuser for quality work and use the other for envelopes etc.
Thanks again for all your help.
Dan