Xerox Color C60/70 printing horizontal white line

[andymbody]

Yes, this is a strange set of symptoms that you have. Remote diagnosis is tricky, especially for an issue like this one. There are so many assumptions made from this end. Onsite diagnosis can be so much more revealing.

I have not received any confirmation about the sw version limit, and if I get more info, I will let you know. It seems that you actually downgraded the sw, or did I read that wrong?

If you are trying to place this machine under service contract with Xerox, they usually require a pre-inspection of the machine and possibly fixing any issues at a cost prior to authorizing a contract.

For now, I am out of ideas. But if that changes, I will let you know.

Andy

[PrestoMichael]

Hello again,

 We only recently, in the past few months, attained this printer. We have not installed any software on it. I have upgraded the SW to 60.10.41 just in case. The problem still remains as you had mentioned. 

Recently, I discovered on accident that I can print in Grayscale when printing a booklet with a pre-printed cover. Does not make much sense to me but that's what happened. 

We are in the middle of trying to get this machine under contract ultimately. This printer was bought used and was apparently still under contract. Hopefully, we will have some resolution regarding that soon. In the meantime, everything is running well except for the inability to print in grayscale.

Thank you again for all of your help :)

Kind Regards

Michael

[andymbody]

Ok... good info... Thanks

1. Has this sw version been installed on this machine for awhile? Or did you recently install it? The reason I ask is that this is a version from 2016 before the 60.20.11 general release. If you recently installed it, it may be the wrong version for your configuration. If it has been this version for years, then, as far as I can tell, it can't be upgraded to the later versions (60.30.51 and higher). I can try to confirm this, but so far, that is the impression that I am getting. There appears to have been a change when 60.20.11 was released, but it may have been hardware specific. Again, I will need to do more research to confirm this.

I was going to recommend that you upgrade the software until I read the release notes. It may not have fixed your issue, tho.

2. Since your machine errors when printing the config sheet, making a BW copy, and printing from the machine webpage... the cause appears to be local to the machine, not a print job or driver issue. This should also rule out the fiery.

3. So this could be hardware related, software related, or machine settings related. It's hard to say which without process of elimination.

4. If you have a service contract, please place a service call. This would be the best solution with this issue.

5. If this version of sw has been installed on this machine for awhile, you can try to reinstall it (it can be found on the xerox website), but usually this does not do anything for you (if the version is the same, it may not attempt to perform any file overwrites).

I will do more research, and let you know if I find out anything else.

Andy

[PrestoMichael]

Hello There,

1.) First noticed the 124-374 errors after replacing the black developer

2.) We hadn't made any changes to any other part of the machine. Only the main unit.

3.) All drums are OEM and in the right place, matching part numbers

4.) This error only occurs when printing Grayscale it seems. I ran a test today and I was able to print from tray 6. I had been scared to test it.

 If I send a PDF through the RIP without color, I get the error (but set to print in color from the fiery). If I send a PDF through as Grayscale in the fiery, I receive the error as well. I have been converting pdfs to grayscale and adding a single period or shape in color. In this way, we have been able to print our grayscale jobs.

5.) error

6.) error

7.) error

8.) Have not tried printing from USB.

9.) I am not sure where to check which driver I am using

10.) Printing through Fiery

11.) System SW is 60.12.53

[andymbody]

1. When did you first notice the 124-374 errors?
2.  Did you do any configuration changes before this error began... such as disconnecting the finisher (output) or OHCF (Tray 6/7) cables? This error can happen if the communication cables are plugged into the wrong jacks (finisher).
3. Make sure that the drums are indeed OEM (especially the black drum). Also make sure that the drums are the correct part number (Black=013R00663, Color=013R00664).
4. Does this error occur when printing from all trays of just tray 6/7?
5. Does this fault occur when making a black/white COPY?
6. Does this fault also occur if you print a configuration sheet from the UI?
7. Have you tried to print a simple monochrome pdf using the Print function found on the machine webpage?
8. Does it happen if you print a monochrome job from USB?
9. Which print driver are you using?
10. Do you print thru a fiery, or directly to the machine controller?
11. What level of sw is installed on the C70?

[andymbody]

124-374 is unusual especially intermittently.

Is there anything unusual about the print job being sent over?

Are you using the correct print driver?

Are your drums OEM?

[PrestoMichael]

Hello There, 

Thank you once again, you have been incredibly helpful. 

We have replaced the developer housing entirely and we were able to print in color. While printing in color were able to get a print that was solid black. However, when we go to print in B/W only, we would receive the error code 124-374. IOT Software Controller Error. 

As a test, made a small color print job and shortly received the error 093-317 came back.

Have since ordered a toner dispenser assembly. I would like to run the diagnostic but we are not that familiar and lack any sort of service manual. Not sure exactly what caused all of this in the first place. We were thinking possibly the locked up developer housing, but it wasn't necessarily locked up, but after replacing it today, I noticed that it was incredibly hard to turn the gears in comparison to the new housing. 

Hopefully Monday, we will replace the black toner dispenser and that fixes the problem.

Thank you again

[andymbody]

The cause of the dev/toner leak is because this seal is in the wrong position. It does not seal the entire port at the developer housing. As the aurger inside the developer housing turns, it interacts with the port mylar strip causing a "flicking" action of the mylar to keep the port from bridging. However, since the port is not fully sealed (due to the poor position of the seal), this flicking of the mylar allows dev/toner to be spit out of the port and into the surrounding area. So simply repositioning this seal will close the port and prevent this.

Remove the drum drawer front cover, turn it over and inspect the position of the seal (see pic). You should be able to carefully lift the seal and reposition. The seal should have enough adhesive to stay attached one repositioned.

This should permanently prevent this leak going forward.

Andy

Seal Placement

[andymbody]

Yeah, thats an ugly black print for sure. I would suspect needing dev material (I usually replace the housing as well while I'm at it). Do you know what the age of the material and housing are?

Sounds like you did a good job cleaning the dispenser, but if experience is any gauge, you may also have a bad dispense motor (common). You can run it in diag if you are familiar.

No, the magenta spilliage is VERY common. This usually happens on all machines to some extent. If it's not creating a mountain of toner to the left of the fuser, then its not really a concern (you may see the same thing with cyan or other colors as well to a lesser extent). This is usually coming from the drum waste auger port in the back. As you pull the drum drawer out, some toner drops while the trap door on the drum auger closes. Its very hard to inspect the receiving port on the frame side (has a foam seal - must remove drum drawer to see well - I usually remove the ibt as well). You can use a toner vac to clean the frame-side ports and then remove each drum and clean the port on inboard side (trap door). This will remove any bridging (in case it's bad) but the toner drip will return (and happen with each pull of the drum drawer). This port connection is just designed poorly in my opinion. Replacing the waste auger system is a pain for sure, and usually unnecessary except in rare cases (toner mountain = definite clog). It can get quite involved and usually takes several hours for an experienced tech (if done correctly). If this is required, then the entire system should be done at once, not just some of it.

The toner/dev dripping from the black front-side (not related to magenta issue) is also very common (until fixed). This can lead to dev housing lockups because the toner/dev migrates into the auger gears on the front of the housing and will cause binding, then stripping of the gears. But you are in luck - I have identified the cause (not well known) and designed a very simple fix. I have to find my pictures and will post that separately in a day or two. Of course, you will want to clean up the mess at the front of the ibt assy (some hidden spillage that will continue to drip even after fix) and front of drum drawer, and especially the duplex bearings that have gotten contaminated - this leads to intermittent duplex jams (stalling rollers) and sometimes duplex belt noise. But wait to do this until you have fixed the source of the drip itself.

So, to recap, I suspect the black dev material and/or housing for the CQ issue. It looks as though the dev material has been starved of toner (which can damage the material). I will post some pics (hard to explain "verbally") that will show you how to permanently fix the black material/toner leak from front of housing.

Andy

[PrestoMichael]

Hello Andy, Thank you again for your reponse. 

Recently, there has been black toner/dev dumping through the IBT belt into the drawer directly beneath the IBT - in the front left side of the machine (not an incredible amount - but did not happen until recently at all). We removed the dispenser and it did appear clogged. We cleaned the dispenser out and inspected the dispense motor. Plastic gears on the outside appeared to move without issue.

We also pulled out the black developer housing and manually rotated the gears without issue.  

We have had an issue, since we purchased our C70, with Magenta spillage as well, however the magenta is spilling towards the back of the machine. It spills through the IBT and lands between the fuser and second transfer bias roller. Most stops there but it is certainly spilling into the duplex drive as well. We have pulled everything out and inspected the pipe assembly, where we believe the clog? is happening. We have tried to contact local technicians to replace our pipe assembly and have yet to find someone to do it and have been on the verge of attempting it ourselves.

Do you think the pipe assembly not draining the magenta may also be a cause for the black toner dispenser failing? 

Once again, thank you for your time and responses. It is greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards

Michael

re-upload of our 100% black test