KeepItPrinting.com

[BradC]

G'day all,

I've just picked up a 7090 in well kept condition. It came with an old Pentium machine and a PCI controller card (KIP6CP).

The software I have is V2 and completely DOS based. I believe (from trawling the forums here) that there are some drivers available for NT4.

I'm scrounging for a copy of the latest drivers and also a service manual.
I'm getting repeated P-86 Separator Jams, and I've found a guy who can service the machine for me locally, but I'm an electronic technician by trade and I'd like to do my own work long term.

If anyone can help, my e-mail address is dispose1<at>fnarfbargle.com (yes it's a throwaway - I generally recycle them every 2 years)

With regard to the P-86 jam, the paper seems to run about 90 degrees around the drum and then it jams, usually deforming the leading edge or folding over a corner. I've checked the corona wires, and they all look in good order (in fact the paper never gets near them as they are another 90 degrees around the drum compared to where the paper sticks.

The paper seems to stick under the roller assembly that seems to take the waste toner off the drum.

When we powered it up we managed to get it to print 2 pages (until we found we had the original upside down and thus we were printing blank pages). Since those original 2 pages we've been unable to get it to complete a print (or even the 210mm cut button function)

Insight or assistance much appreciated. Like I said, I'm chasing down someone locally to service it for me to get us kicked off, but the more I learn the more dangerous I can be.

[CHILLIN]

Sounds like you are having a separation issue. Paper is sticking to the drum. The wires may look good, but you also need to check the end blocks. Those block tend to fail after some time. Take the covers off the end block and look for white arcing/burn marks. Temporary solution is to cover the spots with electrical tape.

[BradC]

It is most certainly a separation issue.

The corona wires are ok. Had a gentleman in today to assist me and he cleaned them up.

Looking into the charge wire above the drum I sometimes see it arc across to the drum. It looks like the array of wires between the charge wire and the drum get an oscillation up (like a musical instrument) and then we get an arc from the charge wire, through the array and onto the drum.

I re-strung those wires with new wire tonight, but the problem remains.

BTW, where can I buy the gold-plated wire to re-wire those ? I appear to be a bit ham-fisted and I used about 3 times the required qty of wire as I kept breaking it.

Anyway, still getting the paper ride up the drum and crash into the doodad that collects the waste toner.

When the printer runs up I see a nice blue corona around the charge wire above the drum, but I don't see anything around the separation corona wires. Should I?

[BradC]

Oh, and no signs of arcing inside the end blocks.

[CHILLIN]

When you restrung the separation/main charge wires are they nice and tight? Loose wires can cause a separation issue. If you are getting oscillation of the wires then they are too loose. It's a fine line between too loose and breaking. I usually used KIP OEM for the grid wires to ensure proper length and tightness.

When the jam occurs is there any toner on the Drum? If it is covered in toner this might be the reason you are having a separation issue. Separation wires are unable to strip the paper off the drum due to too much toner on the drum.

FYI, the doodad that collects the toner is the cleaning unit assy.

[TXReproShop]

Another thing to try with the blocks is to paint them w/ finger nail polish.

[BradC]

The grid wires are now nice and tight. They play like a musical instrument.

There is generally quite a lot of toner on on the drum (more than I'd have thought was normal). What might be causing that?

Any idea where I could buy a service manual? Working blind is a pig. Can't even find a site on-line that lists a manual for a 7090.

[TXReproShop]

I have nothing anymore on that machine. Not to be insulting or sarcastic, but that dates back to the Shacoh days.

Maybe someone on here will still have a service manual and maybe a parts book.

[Chazbo]

is it possible that you transposed the error code numbers when you typed them in your post? i have a KIP 3820 and 7095 service manual and the P-86 error code is not listed. these two printers are from the same time frame. is it possible the error code is a P-68 which is a web feed error?
_________________
Ride To Live

[BradC]

I didn't transpose it, I just got it plain wrong.

It's a P-82 code (ran it up again last night to check).

[Chazbo]

In my 7095 manual the HV pwr supply for separation is located inside the left end cover just below the drum. 24V input and -300V output. the 7095 has separation lamps also. I don't know about the 7090. you may need a new HV pwr supply.
_________________
Ride To Live

[BradC]

You're a star.

The HV supplies are on the right (when standing at the front panel).

There is a 4.5kv AC 500HZ with a -300v bias, a -6KV and a +6KV.

I unplugged alll of them, took them off and gave them a bit of a blow-out, cleaned the connectors and put them back on.

The paper path order is +6KV, -300VAC, -6KV
with the first 2 co-located in the separator & bias corona wires.

With all supplies disconnected the printer calls a jam before the paper touches the drum. With the -6KV connected I get precisely the symptoms I've been seeing since the beginning. With both 6KV supplies connected I now mostly get a straight paper run (after *lots* of fuser jams cleaning out bucket loads of loose toner).

The fault has gone from 100% to quite intermittent, so there is a definite improvement. My next move is to clean the boards with alcohol and give them a dose of conformal coating, then go over all the connectors with some deoxit and then a dose of HT dilectric grease.

It appears that the issue lies with the -6KV supply the paper passes over pre-drum and based on previous comments its likely to be arcing or otherwise shorting. I just need to give it a good going over I suspect.

Is there anything inherently evil or wrong in my proposed treatment strategy? I'd hate to coat the boards and grease up the connectors and then someone tell me why that will irreparably damage things.

Thanks for your help and ideas thus far. I at least have one very dark and streaky copy out of the machine, so I'm way ahead of where I was this time last week.

Pointers on where I can buy a spool of gold coated grid/corona wire would be appreciated too as I suspect I might need to re-string it again.

All the corona wires are ok, its just the grid of wires between the charge wire and the drum that might be a bit loose. I'm still getting arcing in there somewhere.

[BradC]

Ok, so I cleaned and coated all 3 HV supplies, completely dismantled the separator corona unit, cleaned and applied HV PCB lacquer to the end blocks and a good dose of deoxit followed by dilectric grease on all the connections.

I also re-strung the 2 looser wires in the grid (just had enough wire left).

I now have a machine that makes copies time after time. Cheers to all. Looks like it was HV shorts.

Now it copies I notice streaks down either side of the prints. Can I clean the drum without damaging it? What would I use?

I have buckets of 100% isopropyl alcohol but I can probably get anything else I might need.

[BradC]

Nevermind. After a brisk google I decided to clean it with isopropyl. That made it far, far worse. I then googled again and saw a reference to waxing the drum after cleaning it, so I used some (what appears to be silicone oil) in the fuser assembly to lubricate the drum and it's all good.

Wicked stuff!