Canon 7000VP...rollers getting cut up...paper being blamed.

[raminmd]

Hi all,

We have a Canon 7000VP (got it 8 months ago) and we really like the machine when it is running well. We know it has the capability to produce what we need. Before we leased the machine, we printed everything on a different printer's 7000VP for about 6 months and we really liked it. So we leased it for our company. We put anywhere from 70,000 to 110,000 oversized color clicks on it every month. 90% of the stuff we run is on 300GSM Glossy card stock.

All the time we have been printing on the machine (both at the external printer and in house), we used the same brand of paper. We order large sheets and cut them down to 11 x 17 or 12 x 18 in house. We have a Polar 76 in house (older model but works great). For the first 4-5 months we had the machine, we had no issues with the paper or the output. Suddenly, out of the blue, we started having cut marks in the toner on the printed sheets. There were lines going through the bottom half of the sheet and the color was lighter within those lines. The tech told us that it was because the rollers were getting cut up. When we swap the rollers out, the problem goes away for a little while or a long time (random).

Initially, we were down for almost 2 weeks before they told us what was wrong. It took our service people almost 2 weeks before they came up with a "resolution". They first blamed our paper (saying it was being cut in house and that causes a problem), then they said that new rollers took time to "settle" and that we had to run some jobs on lower weight stock before we ran the heavier stock and finally came back to the paper. All this while there was no explanation on why this problem cropped up all of a sudden. They suggested cutting paper so that the mill edge is fed into the press first. We did that and it still does not solve the issue.

There are times when the machine runs for 3-4 weeks with no issues and then when we change the rollers, the new rollers get cut up immediately. Service has been cooperating. They do send a technician 2 times a week to change our rollers, if needed but it obviously is not a solution. Sometimes, I cannot even run a 50 sheet job before I have to swap the fuser units. My paper rep had the paper cut on his side to see if that would solve the issue (in case it was our cutter) but that did not help either. This problem shows up only the heavier weight stocks (over 250 gsm).

I was curious to see what you all think of the problem? Are there any other Canon customers with similar issues?

Thanks.

 

[LodAssoc]

I don't run a Canon, but a Xerox. I have same issue though, in my fuser. It is my fuser roll that gets paper marks in it. It is the paper, however I don't have the problem as fast as you. Since you are able to change out the part yourself, you should have a couple of rolls on hand. I have 3 that I alternate. One for when I run 11x17 and under, one for when I run 12x18, and one for when I run 12.5x19. I try to group jobs together oin the schedule that run on the same size paper, that way I'm not changing the roll 87 times a day. From what it sounds, this will probably help you. I'm not sure if it is as easy as on the Xerox, but it's worth a try. Get you tech's to order a couple in for you and change them out as needed.

 

[DigiRod]

We have a Kodak M700 which is a Canon machine with the Kodak Nexpress front end. We do the same with our paper.... cut down from larger sheets. We always max out our sheets so I run 13x19 most of the time. I don't have alot of back and fourth in sheets sizes. I have had problems with my fuser rollers as well, I could see the lines on them but in looking at them in the fuser unit and could see the same lines up on the External Heating rollers (gold color), after replacing them I have not had any lines. I have heard from someone that there does seem to be an issue with the fuser rollers so I replace then at will. They don't seem to last as long as they should. Other than that the machine is very good, were very happy. Hope this helps.

 

[Prepress_Parasite]

We have a 7000 too and have had this problem on occasion. Which fuser rollers are they replacing when they have issues? Who does your service and what brand is the most common paper you use?

 

[LodAssoc]

I have a Xerox 7002. I replace the fuser roll (heat roll), it gets cuts into it by different size sheets. My house stock is Chorus Art Digital. I run mainly 12.5x19 100# Silk Coated Cover. Xerox does my service.

 

[raminmd]

I am not sure what the rollers are called but we replace the secondary fuser unit (the whole unit) when we have those issues. We usually have a spare unit on hand. The problem with these rollers is that it is not as simple to replace them as it is on the IGEN. I don't mind replacing the fuser unit but sometimes the rollers in there get cut up within the first 50-100 sheets and then I have to wait for them to come in and rebuild both units. Sometimes, they last a long time....weird.

 

[FKarlone]

Same

Same

We have a 6000 and have the same issues, it happens when we run a lot 130#, 14 pt, 16 pt (dont tell I run 16 pt.).

We get smudges when the fuser powder gets sloppy in the machine, then we get buffs the sheet has real shinny streaks running the length.

And yes I have seen scratches, that run the length of the sheet, not all the way and only in the image area. I have only seen this once and only after we melted some sticker material to the little stainless steel rollers.

They always fix it, they are prompt pleasant and knowledgeable. 2 times a month is what we are averaging for the smudges, buffs and streaks. like I said I have only seen the scratches one time in a year.

 

[cmitchprint]

DigiRod has it. If you run the maximum size sheet most of the time, then you won't have issues. Konica Minolta actually suggested we buy a fuser unit JUST for 12 x 18 or 13 x 19 and use the 'damaged' one for smaller paper. We run mostly 12 x 18 and 13 x 19 OR we turn 12 x 9 on it's side when we run 8.5 x 11 brochures. We just cut them down since 90% of them bleed anyway. We no longer experience these lines unless we are running 13 x 19.

 

[Digitalkidd]

Paper Being Blamed?

Paper Being Blamed?

We have had a 6000VP now for about 9 months and run a multitude of different size stocks of varying thickness through it with no issues that you describe. We also seem to have similar click counts as you. Hmmm? Have you actually seen physical cuts in any or the rollers?
You say these lines are in the bottom half of the sheet and the color is lighter within those areas too? My guess is that if you haven't seen any physical cuts in the actual rollers it could be toner clumping up behind the toner blade in the DEV unit. Is the anomaly in one color more than others or all colors? Is it in the same place? This was our problem which has similar symptoms that you describe but we have had no issues with paper cutting rollers and we run a lot of 300 GSM of all sizes. We get 750,000 out of our fuser units.
We do have a couple Docutechs that will show impression wear after a few hundred thousand impressions of a smaller sheet when you try to run 11 x 17 afterwards, but we have not experienced any type of physical cutting of the rollers. Ask your techs to swap out your DEV units and recharge em. Good luck!

 

[iambuzzman!]

canon 6000/7000 issues

canon 6000/7000 issues

I am a little late joining this, but I service these models and can give a little more info on the line/scratch issues. The cuts caused by the lead edge of media are known as cross-feed and go from the op-side to non-op sides of the page, but may be on one side more than the other. The other lines are paper feed direction and can be caused by various causes. The most common are the "gutter" lines caused by paper size. When a batch of say 12x18 270gsm is run, the 12" edge gets the secondary fixing rollers cut, so when you then try to run 13x19, @1/2 " in from both edges you wil see distortion lines the length. There are other lines that are caused by the "claws" or stripper fingers resting on the lower roller of the 2nd fixing unit. these will cause lines that appear on the first side of a 2 sided job. Canon recently started a retrofit for this with new stlyle claws. Have your service people install these on all fixing units. The Canon support folks are working on trying to fix the issue of the 2nd fix unit, but it seems the laws of physics can't stop the rollers from wearing when running heavy stock.

One other thing about media cut in house... We had one place that could not run 25 sheets without cutting cross-feed lines. We tried everything imaginable with no success until we identified which edge of the cut paper was from in house. We made that edge the 'trail' edge and found that the rollers lasted quite a bit longer. But not an answer for 2-sided. So the best to hope for is the service people carrying alot more rollers.