Xerox Versant 80 Problem with vertical line on all colours!!!

[sidneykidney]

4 months into using our Versant 80 I noticed a dark vertical line appearing in the tint areas of a job I was running. When an Engineer came round to have a look, I was told that it is one of the faults of the Xerox Versant 80 (see images attached) and that there was no way around the problem. I never had this on my Xerox 700 and find it strange that this has even been allowed to happened which means I can't run any jobs which contain a tint on the sheet.

Xerox created a fly wheel to minimise the problem but it still doesn't do anything when running heavier stocks.

I printed a CMYK tint test and found that the line is in a different position on each colour.

Does anyone have any workarounds to clear or minimise this problem which is caused when the sheet is fed from the tray and comes to a halt at the 2nd BTR.

 

[pippip]

We get the same on our V80, never found a suitable work around. On grey's I alter the mix where possible to get more from he other colours and less from black. I've had one or two jobs with light grey across the entire cover of a booklet and I'll had to outsource the job because of it.

Really is a major flaw in an otherwise terrific machine. Only other flaw being the 2nd BTR struggles to clean when we run certain silks, mainly Lumi. Sometimes I get 20k between changes, other times I've gotten 100K +.

 

[DYP]

Do the lines ever repeat on the same 11x17 or larger sheet?

 

[wonderings]

That should not be an acceptable response from Xerox. I have had similar lines and had them fixed on our 2100. Not sure if it is the same thing with what you are having. I would be pushing Xerox harder on a solution, they cannot sell a machine that leaves lines like that on the print, they are basically selling a broken printer if they accept that.

 

[AP90]

That should not be an acceptable response from Xerox. I have had similar lines and had them fixed on our 2100. Not sure if it is the same thing with what you are having. I would be pushing Xerox harder on a solution, they cannot sell a machine that leaves lines like that on the print, they are basically selling a broken printer if they accept that.

This. Someone at Xerox is being lazy. We have a 3100 and don't have any of these problems, at least consistently. We do occasionally get streaking, but not anything that is just always there.

 

[sidneykidney]

Do the lines ever repeat on the same 11x17 or larger sheet?

No the line doesn't repeat on the sheet. It is only in 1 position but on every single sheet.

As mentioned by 'Wonderings', I had to outsource this job to someone with a 2100. When I mentioned it to him, he also had the same problem but Xerox eventually fixed it but I don't know if this is only on the 2100 and NOT the Versant 80.

I've now got my sheets back from the outsourced company and there are no lines at all. Unfortunately for me, that is my workaround.

 

[Stickman42]

I have two V80s and just happened to have a Xerox tech here who was willing to take a look at your post. He suggested looking at the IBT belt assembly drive sprocket. It's a small sprocket that's visible on the inside of the machine after you pull out the paper transport (area 2). This sprocket is in the drive train of the flywheel your picture shows.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

This. Someone at Xerox is being lazy. We have a 3100 and don't have any of these problems, at least consistently. We do occasionally get streaking, but not anything that is just always there.

Agree. Call your Xerox sales person and tell them you will invoke the satisfaction guarantee if they can't make it work. Not acceptable under any circumstance. Also make sure the tech gets disciplined for that bullshit response. You can also call the customer relations group at Xerox and tell them what is going on. That will light a fire under the sales person's and the tech's ass.

 

[wonderings]

Agree. Call your Xerox sales person and tell them you will invoke the satisfaction guarantee if they can't make it work. Not acceptable under any circumstance. Also make sure the tech gets disciplined for that bullshit response. You can also call the customer relations group at Xerox and tell them what is going on. That will light a fire under the sales person's and the tech's ass.

+1

You will need to keep pushing and fighting with Xerox. There is no way they sold you the machine stating there is one little issue... it leaves lines down the sheet. This would be covered under the customer satisfaction agreement you signed. We fought with Xerox for over a year because they could not get our J75 to work right, in the end they took it back at 100% purchase value and gave us a greatly reduced Versant 2100. Do not settle for this, it is not right. I have seen prints on a V180 and they did not have those lines. There is no way they made a machine and brought it out to market like that. You need to push higher up the food chain, if that person cannot do anything get in touch with their boss. Keep pushing till you find one who will make this right.

If this is what service is like in your area I would be looking at another provider for your digital printing needs.

 

[MailGuru]

I Agree that the tech is just being lazy (and, possibly not trained properly). Xerox is a great company to work with, but, sometimes you have to push (as others have mentioned in this post).

We had a problem with one of our 2100's (not the problem that you indicate here), but, the techs could not figure it out. After a couple of weeks, they decided (without my pushing), to pull and replace the whole printer, with a brand new one, which, they did. The problem has not recurred, and, that was over a year ago.

 

[sidneykidney]

+1

You will need to keep pushing and fighting with Xerox. There is no way they sold you the machine stating there is one little issue... it leaves lines down the sheet. This would be covered under the customer satisfaction agreement you signed. We fought with Xerox for over a year because they could not get our J75 to work right, in the end they took it back at 100% purchase value and gave us a greatly reduced Versant 2100. Do not settle for this, it is not right. I have seen prints on a V180 and they did not have those lines. There is no way they made a machine and brought it out to market like that. You need to push higher up the food chain, if that person cannot do anything get in touch with their boss. Keep pushing till you find one who will make this right.

If this is what service is like in your area I would be looking at another provider for your digital printing needs.

Thanks everyone.
I will call out an engineer again and see what they say otherwise I will take this further.
When the Engineer told me it was a known fault and that is what the fly wheel was for, I spoke to another engineer to confirm if this was true and he said that it was.
Is there any out there who has the same problem on their Versant 80 or is it just me???

 

[wonderings]

Thanks everyone.
I will call out an engineer again and see what they say otherwise I will take this further.
When the Engineer told me it was a known fault and that is what the fly wheel was for, I spoke to another engineer to confirm if this was true and he said that it was.
Is there any out there who has the same problem on their Versant 80 or is it just me???

Good idea trying to find out if others are having the same issue. I have real trouble believing Xerox would sell a product with that issue. Would you have bought the machine had you know you would have incurable lines on your prints? Doubt it. Good luck and don't let up, just keep pushing higher and higher up their management food chain till you can get someone who can actually do something.

 

[Stickman42]

When the Engineer told me it was a known fault and that is what the fly wheel was for, I spoke to another engineer to confirm if this was true and he said that it was.
Is there any out there who has the same problem on their Versant 80 or is it just me???

I have had this issue. Was my post #7 clear?

 

[sidneykidney]

I have had this issue. Was my post #7 clear?

I had a look inside my Versant 80 but wasn't sure which part you was refering to.

I have attached a pic of the inside area. Is it the part with a circle around it.

If it is, do you know what am I supposed to do to it.

 

[DYP]

Something you could try. Remove the flywheel and run it and see if it makes any difference.

 

[Stickman42]

I had a look inside my Versant 80 but wasn't sure which part you was refering to.

I have attached a pic of the inside area. Is it the part with a circle around it.

If it is, do you know what am I supposed to do to it.

That is the part I'm referring to. My tech has seen this crack or break off a tooth and cause the dark lines you're seeing.

 

[Rory D S]

We have had our V80 PP for 3 years and have exactly the same problem which showed up a few months after we got the machine. The local techs had to run an endless number of test prints and eventually, only after running all the tests on genuine Xerox ColorTec papers, were they able to submit the issue up the "line" for consideration, as initially the feedback was that is was the paper we were using.

The problem generally only occurs with 200gsm & heavier papers, the grain also has an influence on the severity and normally is an issue with grey halftone solids.

I took a sample job file to a trade show and they printed it on the V80 on the stand and had the same problem! After a number of visits and promises from senior Xerox execs that it would be solved, I was told that it is standard and couldn't be fixed about 2 years ago and that it had been included in an updated Expectation Setting Document.

I have been told that the problem generally affects all V80 & V180s, as we thought that it may just be a PP issue because of the speed on heavy weight papers.

Technically it is a mechanical problem that seems to be caused by the heavier paper's lead or tail edge impacting the transfer belt or something connected to it, that causes a shock, which then disturbs the toner being deposited onto the belt at that point. The black toner is the last toner applied and is the one that causes the stripe +-30mm from the tail on an SRA3 sheet. The other colours have the same problem at their respective positions

Our solution is normally to turn the image 180 degrees which sometimes allows us to get the job run. In some weird cases we can run 2 to 5 prints before the problem occurs and by doing this we might get the job done but normally with huge paper & time wasted.

It is a brilliant machine and while it also has some other issues it has transformed our business, but it is disappointing that Xerox are not doing anything about this problem! The solution would require a physical redesign, in my opinion, so until that occurs I would expect the problem to continue on newer models using the same mechanical components!

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

I have been told that the problem generally affects all V80 & V180s, as we thought that it may just be a PP issue because of the speed on heavy weight papers.

Have not seen this issue on our V180 but we only got it in July.

 

[AP90]

We have had our V80 PP for 3 years and have exactly the same problem which showed up a few months after we got the machine. The local techs had to run an endless number of test prints and eventually, only after running all the tests on genuine Xerox ColorTec papers, were they able to submit the issue up the "line" for consideration, as initially the feedback was that is was the paper we were using.

The problem generally only occurs with 200gsm & heavier papers, the grain also has an influence on the severity and normally is an issue with grey halftone solids.

I took a sample job file to a trade show and they printed it on the V80 on the stand and had the same problem! After a number of visits and promises from senior Xerox execs that it would be solved, I was told that it is standard and couldn't be fixed about 2 years ago and that it had been included in an updated Expectation Setting Document.

I have been told that the problem generally affects all V80 & V180s, as we thought that it may just be a PP issue because of the speed on heavy weight papers.

Technically it is a mechanical problem that seems to be caused by the heavier paper's lead or tail edge impacting the transfer belt or something connected to it, that causes a shock, which then disturbs the toner being deposited onto the belt at that point. The black toner is the last toner applied and is the one that causes the stripe +-30mm from the tail on an SRA3 sheet. The other colours have the same problem at their respective positions

Our solution is normally to turn the image 180 degrees which sometimes allows us to get the job run. In some weird cases we can run 2 to 5 prints before the problem occurs and by doing this we might get the job done but normally with huge paper & time wasted.

It is a brilliant machine and while it also has some other issues it has transformed our business, but it is disappointing that Xerox are not doing anything about this problem! The solution would require a physical redesign, in my opinion, so until that occurs I would expect the problem to continue on newer models using the same mechanical components!

If that was the answer I got, and I had to go through that, they'd most likely be taking back their machine and Id be in a higher machine (think 1000i or Iradesse) at the same price or with another company.

 

[sidneykidney]

We have had our V80 PP for 3 years and have exactly the same problem which showed up a few months after we got the machine. The local techs had to run an endless number of test prints and eventually, only after running all the tests on genuine Xerox ColorTec papers, were they able to submit the issue up the "line" for consideration, as initially the feedback was that is was the paper we were using.

The problem generally only occurs with 200gsm & heavier papers, the grain also has an influence on the severity and normally is an issue with grey halftone solids.

I took a sample job file to a trade show and they printed it on the V80 on the stand and had the same problem! After a number of visits and promises from senior Xerox execs that it would be solved, I was told that it is standard and couldn't be fixed about 2 years ago and that it had been included in an updated Expectation Setting Document.

I have been told that the problem generally affects all V80 & V180s, as we thought that it may just be a PP issue because of the speed on heavy weight papers.

Technically it is a mechanical problem that seems to be caused by the heavier paper's lead or tail edge impacting the transfer belt or something connected to it, that causes a shock, which then disturbs the toner being deposited onto the belt at that point. The black toner is the last toner applied and is the one that causes the stripe +-30mm from the tail on an SRA3 sheet. The other colours have the same problem at their respective positions

Our solution is normally to turn the image 180 degrees which sometimes allows us to get the job run. In some weird cases we can run 2 to 5 prints before the problem occurs and by doing this we might get the job done but normally with huge paper & time wasted.

It is a brilliant machine and while it also has some other issues it has transformed our business, but it is disappointing that Xerox are not doing anything about this problem! The solution would require a physical redesign, in my opinion, so until that occurs I would expect the problem to continue on newer models using the same mechanical components!

Right...here we go!!!!!

Before and After Pics attached (Lines are darker on the actual sheet - the camera didn't show it up clearly).

Had an engineer round for 100gsm uncoated creases (it was the fuser) and whilst he was round, I showed him this forum...he did laugh at some of the comments but said exactly as Rory did. Anyway he also showed me a solution WHICH WORKS!!! (But only on the Cyan, Magenta and Yellow). He also said that black was the last colour to lay down and there is no way round having lines on Black.

What he did was slow the machine down so that the heavier sheets don't come to a sudden stop and knock the machine and cause as much of a judder.

Login as Admin > tools > maintenance (1 click down in the features menu on the right hand side) > NVM Read / Write > Chain Link 740-492 - Confirm > New Value - 1 > Save > Close > Close > Device Information > Reboot Now (this will not click when pressed but the Versant will reboot)

The machine will run at a much slower speed but at least it is a work around.

When you have run your job and want to reset back to normal speed go back into the above but change the New Value from 1 back to 0 (1 = Slow Speed, 0 = Normal Speed)

Anyone else who tries this, please let me know if you are successful.