Phaser 840 Light stripes

[Mat G]

Last year, I bought a second hand Phaser 840 solid ink printer which
was in good condition. I used it a bit (not much though) but did keep
it powered up as I soon learnt about the ink it uses on power-up. I
eventually turned it off when I knew I would not be needing it for a
few months.

When I came to use it last month, I had to add several sticks of wax
(the original Tektronix wax too) but kept getting light stripes
missing off the test.

Black and cyan were always ok. Sometimes magenta missed a few stripes,
but everytime, the yellow had (different) stripes missing.

I gather this is a problem with the print head and now makes the
printer almost worthless.

I no longer have a need for a printer of this class, and really never
printed much from it. It is a 840plus, so has networking and duplex
and higher resolution. I paid 750GBP for it last year and so am keen
to recoup something from it. Newer models are now at bargain prices,
so I know I wouldn't get much for it, even if it was fully working.

What are my options? Could the print head be repaired? Or does it
sound like it is not a problem with the print head at all? Should I
strip it and sell for spares (duplex unit, etc..)? Can anybody suggest
anybody in the midlands, UK that may want this?

Thanks for any help!!

Cheers,
Mat G
Birmingham
UK

 

[Timothy Lee]

What are my options? Could the print head be repaired? Or does it
sound like it is not a problem with the print head at all? Should I
strip it and sell for spares (duplex unit, etc..)? Can anybody suggest
anybody in the midlands, UK that may want this?

Thanks for any help!!

If you are going to get a colour laser of some sort as a replacement you
can probably get a trade in from a reseller.

Alternatively I suppose you could try something like ebay to see if
anyone wants it as bits.

If you speak to a reseller doubtless they can advise on repair options
(and scare you with the cost!)

 

[Peter]

I no longer have a need for a printer of this class, and really never
printed much from it. It is a 840plus, so has networking and duplex
and higher resolution. I paid 750GBP for it last year and so am keen
to recoup something from it. Newer models are now at bargain prices,
so I know I wouldn't get much for it, even if it was fully working.

What are my options? Could the print head be repaired? Or does it
sound like it is not a problem with the print head at all? Should I
strip it and sell for spares (duplex unit, etc..)? Can anybody suggest
anybody in the midlands, UK that may want this?

If you want another Xerox printer you could try the Xerox trade in program:
http://213.174.195.238/TradeIn/TradeIn.asp?cid=1&language=en-gb

Peter
http://www.printerbase.co.uk

 

[Mark S. Holden]

Last year, I bought a second hand Phaser 840 solid ink printer which
was in good condition. I used it a bit (not much though) but did keep
it powered up as I soon learnt about the ink it uses on power-up. I
eventually turned it off when I knew I would not be needing it for a
few months.

When I came to use it last month, I had to add several sticks of wax
(the original Tektronix wax too) but kept getting light stripes
missing off the test.

Black and cyan were always ok. Sometimes magenta missed a few stripes,
but everytime, the yellow had (different) stripes missing.

I gather this is a problem with the print head and now makes the
printer almost worthless.

I no longer have a need for a printer of this class, and really never
printed much from it. It is a 840plus, so has networking and duplex
and higher resolution. I paid 750GBP for it last year and so am keen
to recoup something from it. Newer models are now at bargain prices,
so I know I wouldn't get much for it, even if it was fully working.

What are my options? Could the print head be repaired? Or does it
sound like it is not a problem with the print head at all? Should I
strip it and sell for spares (duplex unit, etc..)? Can anybody suggest
anybody in the midlands, UK that may want this?

Thanks for any help!!

Cheers,
Mat G
Birmingham
UK

If you're missing different stripes on different runs of the test it sounds like the problem isn't a clogged head - it's probably a temperature problem. There is a way to turn up the head voltage a bit, and this may solve the problem for you.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure how it's done on an 840.

On the 360, you had to press a certain key sequence on the front panel of the printer, and that put it into a service mode. From there, you could navigate menus to adjust head voltage.

 

[Ian]

if you want to try to repair it
you need to get into the service setup
then run the cleaning cycles up to 3 times with
the head at a higher temperature
if this wont clear the nozzles then
a new head will have to be fitted

Perform 3 standard cleaning cycles

If there is still a problem then enter the Menu system and find the option

Troubleshooting

press select

while holding left arrow down press select.

Scroll through this sub-menu to find the option 'Head Adjust'

In this sub-menu can be found the 'Temp Adjust' option

Machines as a rule ship with a head temperature of 128oc

Raise this value to 200 and perform a maximum of 3 more cleaning cycles

If the output is still not acceptable by this stage then a new head will be
required

As soon as the output is ok lower the temperature value to the value it was
previously set at

If the print quality starts to degrade raise the head temperature in 3
degree steps until the quality is stable

Never run the machine with a head temperature greater than 150 oc for
prolonged periods of time, a head at this stage will also require
replacement

 

[Mark S. Holden]

if you want to try to repair it
you need to get into the service setup
then run the cleaning cycles up to 3 times with
the head at a higher temperature
if this wont clear the nozzles then
a new head will have to be fitted

Perform 3 standard cleaning cycles

If there is still a problem then enter the Menu system and find the option

Troubleshooting

press select

while holding left arrow down press select.

Scroll through this sub-menu to find the option 'Head Adjust'

In this sub-menu can be found the 'Temp Adjust' option

Machines as a rule ship with a head temperature of 128oc

Raise this value to 200 and perform a maximum of 3 more cleaning cycles

If the output is still not acceptable by this stage then a new head will be
required

As soon as the output is ok lower the temperature value to the value it was
previously set at

If the print quality starts to degrade raise the head temperature in 3
degree steps until the quality is stable

Never run the machine with a head temperature greater than 150 oc for
prolonged periods of time, a head at this stage will also require
replacement

Since he's getting different jets clogging on each cleaning cycle, he
would probably be better served by just ticking up the temperature a few
degrees and leaving it there.

 

[Mat G]

Thanks for all your help on this. I will give it a try and report back here!

Cheers,
Mat