Printer broken (Epson AL-C900)

EpsonC900_1An Epson Aculaser C900 colour laser printer which was bought in because it was mis-feeding paper, also the printing sometimes stopped altogether and showed error lights.

An absolute nightmare to strip down, which probably explains why there are several on ebay with the same symptoms. (i.e. people don’t think they are economically viable to repair)

Apologies for the poor photo, but now we get down to the cause of the problem, what Epson call the EpsonC900_2Secondary Transfer Roller, which controls the timing of the paper as it travels through the printer. Having done some research on the problem, various people suggest that the solenoids get sticky, and that replacing the foam cushions will effect a cure. What most of them fail to appreciate is that as well as physical problems, over time a magnetic residue also builds up, meaning that metals parts are slow to release and the timing isn’t as it should be.

The solution is to not only clean the parts physically, but to demagnetise them too.

I charged £40 for this, as it took most of the morning to fix.