Oki 9650 question

[Happyprinter]

We are running #10 envelopes on our Oki and keep getting a light magenta strip down one side of the envelope. Mainly happens when we run side seamed #10 envelopes, but has happened on others. Anyone else have this problem and a possible fix? Is there a way to possible raise the magenta drum?

 

[Fatboysmart]

Are you printing the envelopes in black and white? If so, the problem is that the color drums ARE raised. A fix would be to put a tiny yellow dot on the print area of the envelope, or add 1% of yellow to any of the black elements. This forces the other drums NOT to be raised which would prevent streaks.
Only problem is that the life of your color drums will also go down in percentage, so this could be expensive if you have to print a lot of envelopes.

 

[Happyprinter]

Thanks for your reply. We are printing 2 color black and blue on these envelopes. How would I get the magenta drum to raise away from the envelope?

 

[Fatboysmart]

Not sure. I got my information from this link...

Ink is smudged on envelope. How do I stop that from happening? - FixYa

But this refers to a Xante Ilumina which is basically a rebranded OKI 9600 series. Xante has the iQueue software as mentioned in my link, but i'm not sure if OKI has simular software for their printers. Maybe you can check their website, or even contact OKI by phone?

 

[damfino]

I have eight Oki 9800's (basically the same as your 9650) an experience the same issue - always on the left side of the envelope, and generally only Magenta. A couple of my printers never exhibit the problem, but the others do.

I have determined that the issue is the humidity level. (This problem always rears its head in the winter when the air is dry.) Install a humidifier and get the humidity up to at least 50% and you should see an improvement. You may also need to keep the room temperature on the cool side - I opt for 60 degrees.

This is a known issue and Oki has issued a Technical Bulletin though some dealers providing the guidance I have stated.

 

[Happyprinter]

Thanks Damfino, I'll give it a try.

 

[damfino]

More on the Magenta Issue

More on the Magenta Issue

BTW, I should have said the 'right' side of the envelope. The marking is best described as 'tractor treads'.

I think you will find that once the magenta drum has been compromised, you will need to replace it.
If your issue is the same as mine, however, you probably can get 250-500 toner-free copies printed after each boot before the issue reappears.

I spoke with Oki about this and they fall back on the humidity cause, which seems plausible to me, since this issue only appears in dry (winter) conditions. I asked why just magenta, and they said the electrostatic properties of that color makes it more prone to the issue. The real question is why some units suffer from this and others do not.

These are the recommended environmental specifications:

Ambient Temperature:* 50 to 89°F
Ambient Humidity:* 20 to 80% relative humidity

I would suggest grounding your printer with a secondary wire just to make sure static is not building up in the frame.

This season I have one 9800 which is not responding to the 55% room humidity which is controlled by a large console model humidifier. I have ordered a smaller humidifier which I plan to place near the air intake vents.

You can also monkey with these settings, but my experience shows them to be basically useless:

SMR setting - menu option located under "System Adjust" that allows for minor corrections in print anomalies such as "smearing" due to environmental conditions (temperature & humidity)

BG setting - menu option located under "System Adjust" that allows for minor corrections in print anomalies such as "dirty background" due to environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, media)

The SMR and BG setting values will only take effect when Auto BG Adjust is turned OFF in the Calibration menu.