Set Phasers to Stunning!

Forgive the Star-Trek pun, I couldn’t resist. The Xerox® lines of “Phaser®” printers represent a wide range of printers and multifunction machines. Some are monochrome and some are full-color models. We’ll stick to the black and white models for the time being. Many of the more advanced ones have similar diagnostic functions all laid out in menus—all you really need is to know how to get into diagnostic mode and it might also be nice to have some idea of what you’ll find once you get in. Let’s have a stroll through some of these machines, one group at a time. We’ll go over model specific methods for getting into diagnostic mode, and briefly touch on what their diagnostic menus are like.

Don’t do any memory clear types of procedures unless you know what it will actually clear. Often procedures such as “Memory Clear” will delete any custom settings and customer data (address books, logs, etc). In some cases you may need to reload firmware or reinstall optional services. In any case you should always back up the machine’s firmware and all customer data.

Diagnostics (first, some disclaimer):

WARNING: Diagnostic procedures are for trained technicians only. Using diagnostics without the knowledge that comes from proper training can cause damage to the printer. If you are not willing to take 100% responsibility for your actions, do not use the information presented here.

Now, let’s tackle these machines in groups which share the same diagnostic layout.

Phaser® 3200MFP , Phaser® 3300MFP (and also WC-PE220)
To enter Tech Mode: Press ‘Menu,’ ‘#, ‘1’, ‘9’, ‘3’, ‘4’,’ and then ‘Menu.’ The screen will show “TECH” for a moment. Then when you press ‘Menu’ you will find an expanded menu with extra functionality not available previously.

From diagnostics, you’ll be able to scroll through the menus. For this group of models the Main Menu includes: ‘Data Setup,’ ‘Machine Test,’ ‘Reports,’ and in the 3300 there is a fourth choice; ‘New Cartridge’.

Once you’re in diagnostics, scroll to the menu or function you want to look at or run and press ‘Enter.’ Among the more useful functions you’ll find are Clear Counts, under Data Setup, and Shading Test, under Machine Tests. The Shading Test is supposed to automatically adjust the density of the print and the machine. After it makes adjustments, it produces a test page. It is really the only adjustment available which has an effect on the print quality.

To test things like motors and sensors, enter Engine Test Mode. Press ‘Menu,’ ‘#’, ‘1’, ‘9’, ‘3’, ‘1’, ‘Menu.’ For the Engine Tests you need to know the menu layout. You choose ‘0, 1, 2, 3, or 4’. Here is a quick rundown of what each main menu choice leads to:

0 : Motor Test (main), Pick Up Test, Fan Test, Manual Clt Test, & PTL Test (Pre Transfer Lamp)
1 : LSU Motor (Laser), LSU Hsync, LD Test (laser diode)
2 : Feed Sensor, Exit Sensor, Cover Sensor, Empty Sensor, Manual Sensor
3 : Therm ADC 180/140/120/100 (fusing temperature settings)
4 : These are all high voltage tests (main = charge, transfer, and Developer Bias)

Phaser® 3500, Phaser® 3600
Turn off the printer. Hold down the ‘OK’ button while turning on the power and continue holding ‘OK’ until the display shows Diagnostic Mode. Then if you press ‘Menu’ you can use the up and down arrows to scroll through the available functions. These models have a fairly wide range of menu choices and they are scrollable so you can hunt around for what you need.

Phaser® 3635 (and also WC-3550)
From the powered on state, press and hold the ‘#’ button while then pressing ‘Log in/out.’ A password screen will show up. Enter the password ‘1934’ and press ‘Enter’ on the touch screen. Then if you choose ‘Copier Routines’ you will find this machine to be more like Xerox copiers of recent times. You’ll see things like dC131 NVM Read / Write (for changing memory settings) and dC330 Component Control (for testing motors, sensors, solenoids, etc). Instead of ‘Copier Routines’ you could instead choose ‘Other Routines.’ There you will find Shading Test (for adjusting the density of the prints or copies).

Another model of machine which is extremely similar to the Phaser 3635 is the WorkCentre 3550. It has a slightly different method for getting into diagnostic mode: Press ‘Menu’ and then press ‘#.’ Enter the password ‘1934’ followed by ‘Ok.’

Phaser® 4400, Phaser® 4500 / 4510
Hold the ‘Back’ and ‘Info’ buttons while turning on the printer and keep holding the buttons until “Entering Service Diagnostics” appears on the screen.

For the Phaser 4500 / 4510 models you can also choose to enter diagnostics without having to power down: From the main menu, scroll to Troubleshooting and press ‘OK.’ Then scroll to Service Tools and press ‘OK’ again. Next, hold down both the ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ buttons until the Service Diagnostics menu appears. Scroll to Run Service Diagnostics and press ‘OK.’ You’re in.

These models have relatively obvious Main Menu choices including Motors/Fans Tests, Main Motor + Clutches, Sensor Tests, and Engine NVRAM Adjustments (memory adjustments) to name a few.

Phaser® 5500 / 5550
We have covered these machines in the past in a pair of articles. It uses the same method as the Phaser 4400 and Phaser 4500 / 4510 machines listed above for getting into the diagnostics.

Another useful thing to know is how to reset the Maintenance / Fuser Counter. Here is how that goes: From the Main Menu, select Information and press ‘OK,’ then select Supplies Info and press ‘OK,’ then select Reset Fuser Life and press ‘OK’ again. Finally press Reset Fuser Life NOW and press ‘OK’ one more time. This will reset the Fuser counter, as well as the Transfer Roll counter and all of the Tray Page counters (Feed roll counters).

Well that was a romp and a half. We covered a lot of models in a wide range of shapes and sizes which have very little to do with one another beyond their name “Phaser.” I hope that these tidbits prove helpful to you all. Happy repairs everyone, and may 2013 be really good to you.