KeepItPrinting.com

[Desertdog]

I was wondering if anyone has had any success cleaning 2K, 6K, 7K, or 8K drums. In my experience they tend to build up a sort of "hazy" coating on then. I have only attempted to clean them with dry webril pads, or slightly moistened with water, and it doesn't work very well. Anyone find any sort of cleaning fluid or solvents that will not damage the drum?

[ServiceDude]

I have been usinf something called D-ink ever since KIP came up with these HDP drums. All you need to do is put a few drops of this stuff on a soft cloth and rub the drum in circular motion.This should be almost no effort to you,this stuff works great. After the drum is clean, take a new cloth(dry) and "buff" the drum. Again,try to practice on old drum, to get this procedure down, untill you are comfortable doing this.
I buy D-ink from tsaworld.com or 800-633-6626 .
I hope this helps you and please post your results(good or bad)

[Desertdog]

Tried the D-INK on a 6000 drum today. It took a little buffing as you said to remove the residual left from the cleaning, but the results were fantastic. Just wondering, does your cleaning cloth turn a little greenish, or am I maybe rubbing too hard.

[ServiceDude]

Yes, the cloth will be greenish but the idea is you don't want to clean the whole drum every week. If the drum has only few spots then spot clean it.
If there's a lot then wipe the whole drum but I make a record of it so I don't overdo it. Typicaly on a 8K drum that has a life close to 2 mil sq. ft I can get away with clean the drum 5 - 10 times.

[KIPDOCTOR]

Isn't the D- INK a heavy duty solvent? I would think it would eat right through the OPC layer on the drum. If this works I am very interested. More details please.
_________________
What we have gained in technology, we have lost in humanity.

[ServiceDude]

Like I said(typed)...If you have an old drum and a machine to play around with...try it and get comfortable with it. I have been using this syuff for about 2 years on KIP drums and no screwup yet.
I havent tried it on the oler ones (Sp 4000,5000 etc)
Good luck

[KIPDOCTOR]

Does it make those black spots that form on these 8000 drums wipe right off? Those are a real pain in the a$$.
_________________
What we have gained in technology, we have lost in humanity.

[ServiceDude]

Yes they do...without ANY effort...just give it a try I know you want to...

[Desertdog]

Yes, you do!! I serviced a 6000 yeaterday with 400,000+ s.f. I cleaned the drum, drum cleaning roller, dev. roller and toner supply roller, and the thing prints like new. I will keep you posted on when the drum finally reaches it's end-of-life.

[mark@EOS]

I learned way back that the black spots on the OPC drum comes from pine tar in the paper. Ricoh had a name for it; it started with a "M". I can't remember it, but I'd be afraid of using D-Ink for any length of time on any OPC drums. I have and some of our techs still use WD-40, less harse than D-Ink and other solvents. It's better than alcohol which causes "light" spots and takes time for a drum to recover. WD-40 is it, spray it on and buff it lightly with a cotton cloth till dry. I haven't used it on KIP OPCs, but they're green like the old Mitas and it works fine. It even works on the "marine" type OPCs (ruby colored ones). That's my 2 cents, try it at your own risk; I do.

[KIPDOCTOR]

Mark, thanks for the comments. I just picked up some D ink, but I haven't had the balls to try it yet. Nice to see you here.
_________________
What we have gained in technology, we have lost in humanity.

[Guest]

KIPDOCTOR wrote:

Mark, thanks for the comments. I just picked up some D ink, but I haven't had the balls to try it yet. Nice to see you here.

Steve, it's a nice place to frequent... I like to help, if you need anything don't hesitate to call, I'll be calling you if I'm stuck...

[KIPDOCTOR]

Ok, add the doctor as another amazed user of this D-Ink stuff. The other day I cleaned three 8000 drums ( three of the eight machines I worked on that day) with the D-Ink. This stuff is nothing short of amazing. The drums cleaned up with no effort what so ever. I had to let the stuff dry to a soft haze then buff it off with a flannel cloth. These drums are like brand new. Sorry Kippy, these drums are going to last at least 5 million sq ft. No need to order drums any time soon. Pay for your Mercedes with someones elses money. By the way, Before I used this stuff I was getting 3 to 4 million sq ft out of drums. Gonna get lots more now. An informed tech is a rich tech.
_________________
What we have gained in technology, we have lost in humanity.

[oldtimer]

Been around a long time and cleaned many . First of all the black marks on ricoh drums is called MADAKA. Comes from glue in the paper.

If you are familiar with wide format there is a ricoh/mita machine called the 7030. like the kip drum it is also green but mita recommends a mixture of brasso, alc. 99%. Wipe on in circular and wash down with alc. then I buff it with new finish car wax to get the haze off and its like the energizer bunny. keeps going and going. I use nu finish on opc.
I have used dink and it works also on drums. I have an 8000 drum with 1,200,000 sq on it now and never been cleaned. copies are fine but at least i know it can be if i need to. call me any time steve and good luck!
oh by the way I'm the guy who told you what KIP really means. Guess who but no names please.

[jojobutthead]

I use Brasso for the real tough fused on crude. Just like in the old analog days. It worked on Selenium drums and OPC's. Been using it on Engineering copier drums since 1970 and it still works. I can't count on how many drums it has actually saved.