Junk Drums from Xerox lately.

[AP90]

Has anyone noticed the drums from Xerox have been pretty junk lately? It seems like we are replacing them constantly. Also, they don't always show percentage used, and the toner has not shown percentage used on the machine for months now, but the machine will know when it is out. Seems pretty weird to me. But yeah, just wanted to see if anyone else has had problems with constantly replacing drums when they don't seem to be that old?

 

[Stickman42]

Same issue here for our Versant 80s. Sometimes when we replace with a new drum, the "used %" goes straight close to 100. Specialist technician said he heard it's because of a hack Xerox experienced.

 

[DYP]

On the Versants at least. There is a NVM chain to reset the percentage not showing problem. Bad chips on the toner bottle I am told.

As for imaging drum quality that has been a ongoing problem with Xerox. Developer housing going bad can also damage imaging drums. Developer housing should be replaced periodically. If you are seeing 45mm banding you will know it is time to replace developer housing, or if drums in one particular color shows defects.

 

[AP90]

Sorry my Avatar picture is old. We have a V3100 now which is the machine the drums seem to be junk on.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

Sorry my Avatar picture is old. We have a V3100 now which is the machine the drums seem to be junk on.

Yeah, we have a V180P and are experiencing the exact same crap. Very frustrating. Training someone in, it makes us look like we have no idea how to repair our machine. Also, placed an order with Xerox for 12 drums - only received 1. That's great, especially when some number like 10% of them fail after the first 100 impressions and start banding.

 

[DYP]

Lack of drum quality probably explains why they are so stingy with drums lately. It is hard to get enough of them.

 

[kdw75]

That was one of the straws on the camels back that led us to go with a different brand. We were getting bad drums and were even shut down because we couldn't get them at one point. We also had problems with the chips on drums and toner showing everything at 100% even when it was empty.

 

[DYP]

That was one of the straws on the camels back that led us to go with a different brand. We were getting bad drums and were even shut down because we couldn't get them at one point. We also had problems with the chips on drums and toner showing everything at 100% even when it was empty.

So how is the new Ricoh working out? How is the banding compared to the V3100 or V2100?

 

[Possumgal]

Yeah, we have a V180P and are experiencing the exact same crap. Very frustrating. Training someone in, it makes us look like we have no idea how to repair our machine. Also, placed an order with Xerox for 12 drums - only received 1. That's great, especially when some number like 10% of them fail after the first 100 impressions and start banding.

That's funny - twice we ordered toner and got drums instead. I have drums coming out of my ears at this point. I've also gotten empty toner cartridges shipped twice recently. All my toners have jumped to 100% and stayed there. V180.

 

[kdw75]

So how is the new Ricoh working out? How is the banding compared to the V3100 or V2100?

We are two months in and we have been happy. They are a bit more complicated than the Xeroxs we have. With the Xerox it either works or you call service. With the Ricohs you have so much more control over the process. Being that I am a pressman used to running offset I must say that I am happier with the adjustments the Ricoh gives you. It is like a Xerox with the training wheels taken off. I am pretty sure the operator has more control over the machine on the Ricoh than the Tech Reps do on the Xeroxs. That being said, if you aren't someone who can problem solve and fix things on your own, then you are going to be overwhelmed and probably calling service a lot. We have 150,000 to 200,000 on each Ricoh and so far the only problem we have had was with the de-curler units and it turned out to be the fault of the installers, who left a plate on that should have been removed. It is strange how their drums last so much longer than the Xerox drums.

The best part about the Ricohs is that they can print a large screen without any banding, something our Versant 2100 couldn't do when it was brand new in 2014 and still can't do today.

 

[PrintingFools]

Hello AP90,

In one day .......we just went through 8 New Drums on a Xerox 3100 and all were bad right out of the box.
It made for a very miserable weekend. As we were trying to get jobs out.

 

[SoggyWinter]

Our 3100 was going through drum like candy until the tech replaced the ros window module. The machine shipped with a defective ros window that was causing image quality issues and drum to not last long.

 

[Shawnd]

Wow. Ill have to mention this to the next Xerox salesmen that comes in here trying to replace my 7100's. I had Xerox before the Ricohs and can't see myself going back when my lease ends on these 7100's.

 

[AP90]

Just went through replacing some more of these crappy drums Xerox is sending out. We used to never have this problem. Our drums on our 1000 seemed indestructible, and when we first got the V3100 we weren't replacing them nearly this much. But as of lately, they have been awful. So in turn I now order way more drums, but they seem to only want to ship half the order. Its getting pretty ridiculous. We did have our techs order us a bunch one time.

 

[RUsure]

Our Xerox tech responded with the following:
"The drum manufacturing vendor installed "bad crumb detectors ..."
Apparently the sensors within the cartridges are receiving bad feedback, resulting in bogus lifespans, et cetera ...
He says that it's corporate-wide - Xerox will not dump the $Millions of cartridges - except to us, the loyal click-charge folks ...

 

[sidneykidney]

Another problem which started around 6 months ago on our Versant 80 in the UK is the 2nd BTR Roll. They've started using a softer compound on the roller. It started leaving lines on my sheets and when I look closely it looks like fine scratches on the roller. When I queried this with tech support, they asked is I'm using coated stock because this is the cause of the problem. 90-95% of what I print is on coated stock!!! I've had the 2nd BTR replace 3 times in 6 months and I'll keep calling them out as many times as it takes!!!

 

[pippip]

Another problem which started around 6 months ago on our Versant 80 in the UK is the 2nd BTR Roll. They've started using a softer compound on the roller. It started leaving lines on my sheets and when I look closely it looks like fine scratches on the roller. When I queried this with tech support, they asked is I'm using coated stock because this is the cause of the problem. 90-95% of what I print is on coated stock!!! I've had the 2nd BTR replace 3 times in 6 months and I'll keep calling them out as many times as it takes!!!

We have the same issue in Ireland with our V80. Been like it since we got it 2 yrs ago. Normally I'd get about 100k-150k before needing to replace, other times it can be as low as 30k. If I run a large volume black job I generally need it replaced straight after. Our techs have a few adjustments they make to the unit before they install it, the latest being a sort of cloth they add. Apparently in Asia where the machine was developed they rarely used coated stocks so issue didn't arise in development. The tech say its still a problem with the V180 although not as bad, they beefed up a few of the components.

Last time they gave a run down on how to change it so I can just order the part myself and replace, although they didn't show me the adjustments they make to it. Our techs have no problem being called out for it no matter how many times we call as they know its Xerox's mistake. They just say to keep the nudge rollers clean and wipe the BTR roller every so often (which I never remember to do).

Can't say we've had a problem with drums, about 6 months ago a tech when he was in did check the reference numbers on the drums we had as he said a bad batch did come in but I've had no problems.

 

[sidneykidney]

We have the same issue in Ireland with our V80. Been like it since we got it 2 yrs ago. Normally I'd get about 100k-150k before needing to replace, other times it can be as low as 30k. If I run a large volume black job I generally need it replaced straight after. Our techs have a few adjustments they make to the unit before they install it, the latest being a sort of cloth they add. Apparently in Asia where the machine was developed they rarely used coated stocks so issue didn't arise in development. The tech say its still a problem with the V180 although not as bad, they beefed up a few of the components.

Last time they gave a run down on how to change it so I can just order the part myself and replace, although they didn't show me the adjustments they make to it. Our techs have no problem being called out for it no matter how many times we call as they know its Xerox's mistake. They just say to keep the nudge rollers clean and wipe the BTR roller every so often (which I never remember to do).

Can't say we've had a problem with drums, about 6 months ago a tech when he was in did check the reference numbers on the drums we had as he said a bad batch did come in but I've had no problems.

I also had 1 drum replaced luckily the engineer was here when it went wrong. He checked my ref numbers as well and said the rest were okay because it was a batch around 6 months ago.
The BTR problem only shows up on heavy stocks 250gsm upwards, but nobody ever told me to keep the rollers clean...I'll try that, thanks

 

[pippip]

I also had 1 drum replaced luckily the engineer was here when it went wrong. He checked my ref numbers as well and said the rest were okay because it was a batch around 6 months ago.
The BTR problem only shows up on heavy stocks 250gsm upwards, but nobody ever told me to keep the rollers clean...I'll try that, thanks

Mines usually the opposite, on lighter stocks I get it more. The heavier the coverage also helps, not that we can dictate that.

 

[DYP]

Started getting spots down the middle of the print. 38mm repeating or appeared to be, with nothing repeating at 147mm so who would have thought it was drums. The other crazy thing is when printing halftone diagnostic prints of just one of the colors these cyan, magenta and black dots showed. After tracing this down it turned out the be imaging drums. They were at 97%. When it comes to image quality I am getting more and more disappointed with Xerox.

Can't be much profit made no matter how cheap the parts are made when they have to be replaced as often as we have had to replace them to maintain quality. I am sure it is something the idiot bean counters little brains can't fathom.