Remanufacturing the Fuji-Xerox XP-21 Toner Cartridge
First released in February 2000, the XP-21 series of printers is based on the
Fuji-Xerox XP-21, 21-ppm, 1200-dpi engine. Currently there are three printer
manufacturers using this engine in their machines: IBM, Xerox and GCC Tech.
The model numbers are in Table 1.
The Xerox and IBM cartridges are identical and interchangeable. We were not
able to obtain a GCC cartridge to determine if it is also interchangeable with
the other cartridges.
At this time, only Xerox is selling two different cartridges, the 10,000-page
and the 15,000-page cartridge. The list prices on these cartridges are $239
for the 15,000-page cartridge and $205 for the 10,000-page cartridge. With such
a small difference, I doubt that you will see much of the 10,000-page cartridges
other than as starter cartridges in new machines. The list price for the IBM
cartridge is $216. This is another simple cartridge to remanufacture with very
nice margins.
On the GCC printers only, a startup page prints out every time the printer
is powered up. The procedure for disabling or enabling this page is at the end
of this article, as well as common printer errors and information on maintenance
and running test prints.
1) On the right side of the cartridge (fill plug side), remove the spring.
See Figure 1.
2) With a small punch or jeweler’s screwdriver and the tack hammer, tap
out the small metal pins located on each side of the cartridge. Make sure that
you have the drum on top so that when the pins fall inside, they do not damage
the drum. See Figures 2 and 3.
3) Separate the two halves, and retrieve the two pins. See Figure 4.
4) Remove the drum axle pins and two screws from both sides of the cartridge.
Both axle pins are identical and can be swapped. See Figure 5.
5) Remove the OPC drum. Place in a safe, light-proof bag. See Figure 6.
6) Remove the PCR. Note the conductive grease on the black holder side of the
shaft. This grease should be cleaned off and replaced when reassembled. See
Figure 7.
7) Remove the two screws and wiper blade. Clean out the waste chamber. See
Figure 8.
Note: Be very careful not to damage or distort the thin Mylar recovery blade
next to the wiper blade. If this blade is bent or damaged in any way, replace
it.
8) Coat the new wiper blade with your preferred lubricant, and install the
wiper blade and two screws. The wiper blade screws are the larger ones. The
rest are smaller.
9) Clean the PCR by wiping it down with a clean, lint-free cloth. Do not use
any chemicals to clean the PCR. Clean the black PCR holder with a cotton swab
and alcohol. Replace the conductive grease on the black holder. See Figure 9.
10) Install the cleaned PCR. See Figure 10.
11) Install the drum, both axle pins and all four screws. Make sure that the
screws are all the same size. If you accidentally used a short screw on the
wiper blade, the longer screw that is left can contact the drum gear and cause
the cartridge to lock up. See Figures 11, 12 and 13.
12) Remove the two screws on the right-side end cap (fill plug side). Remove
the end cap. See Figure 14.
13) If you are not going to install a seal, and the magnetic roller and doctor
blade are in good shape, remove the fill plug and fill with XP-21 toner. If
the mag roller has thin white lines in the toner, the doctor blade should be
removed and cleaned. See Figure 15.
To remove the magnetic roller for cleaning and to seal the cartridge, do the
following:
14) Remove the left-side end cap and screws. See Figure 16.
15) Carefully remove the magnetic roller assembly. See Figure 17.
16) Remove the two screws and the doctor blade. See Figure 18.
17) Remove the fill plug. The best way to do this without damaging the plug
is to grasp the center of the plug with a pair of pliers and pull out. If you
try to pry the plug out, it will dent the lip and almost certainly cause a leak.
See Figure 19.
18) Clean out the supply chamber.
19) Install the seal strip. Tuck edge of the pull strip under the seal foam
at the edge of the cartridge. Pull it through so that the entire strip is flat
and the pull tab is outside of the cartridge. Remove the foam to make this easier.
Clean off the foam, as it tends to hold a lot of toner. The Fuji-Xerox XP-17
seal is not a perfect fit, but it works just fine. See Figures 20 and 21.
20) Fill with XP-21 toner. Replace the fill plug. Check for leaks. See Figure
22.
21) Wipe the Teflon edge of the doctor blade with a clean, lint-free cloth.
If the coating is worn off, replace the blade. As listed in the supplies chart,
the doctor blade is the same as the XP-17. See Figure 23.
22) Replace the doctor blade and two screws. See Figure 24.
23) Clean the magnetic roller with a lint-free cloth and dedicated mag roller
cleaner. Replace the magnetic roller assembly. See Figure 25.
24) Install the right-side end cap. Make sure that the keyed end of the magnetic
roller fits into the keyed slot in the end cap. Also, make sure the alignment
pin is set correctly. See Figure 26.
25) Install the left-side end cap and two screws. See Figure 27.
26) Place both halves of the cartridge together. See Figure 28.
27) Install both of the hinge pins, one on each side. The pins should be all
the way in. See Figures 29 and 30.
28) Install the spring across the covers. See Figure 31.
The cartridge is finished. If you are testing the cartridge (as always, we
highly recommend this), generate a test page from the machine. The procedure
is as follows.
Printing a Configuration Page
1) Press the “MENU” button once. “Test Menu” appears in
the display.
2) Press the “ITEM” button once. “Printer Config” appears
in the display.
3) Press “ENTER.” The page will print out.
To print a font page or a demo page, press the “ITEM” button until
“Print PCL Fonts” or “DEMO” appears on the display. Press
“ENTER” to print the page.
Setting the Print Density
1) Press the “MENU” button until “Config Menu” appears
on the display.
2) Press the “ITEM” button until “Density=*” appears on
the display (where * equals the current density setting).
3) Press the “VALUE” button until the setting you want appears. The
darkest is “6,” the lightest is “0” and the factory default
is “3.”
4) Press “ENTER” to select the new setting.
5) Press “ONLINE” to exit the menu.
Error Codes
All three printer manufacturers have their own error codes. Xerox and GCC seem
to have text codes that are self-explanatory. IBM uses both numerical and text
codes. The following are some of the IBM codes:
002 Toner low.
006 Toner error. Cartridge not seated correctly.
008 Fuser life expired.
011 Paper out.
012 Auxiliary paper tray empty.
031 Output full main bin.
035 Output full offset bin.
074 Front cover open.
075 Rear cover open.
430 Motor error.
451 Fan error.
454 Fuser error.
511 Laser error.
GCC Printer Startup Page
To either turn on or turn off the startup page on GCC printers, do the following.
Note: This feature is only available on GCC printers. Xerox and IBM do not have
this feature.
1) Make sure that the display shows “READY.”
2) Press the “MENU” button until “Configuration” appears.
3) Press the “ITEM” button until “Startup Page” appears.
4) Press “VALUE” until either “Disabled” or “Enabled”
displays.
5) Press “SELECT” to accept the new setting.
6) Press the “MENU” until the display returns to “READY.”
Contact Mike Josiah and the technical staff of Summit Laser Products at (613)
218-8376, fax (613) 218-3285 or visit www.summitlaser.com.
This article originally appeared in the August 2002 issue of Recharger.