WC-5335 Fuser Module
Hard to believe it’s been eight years since we first took a good look at the C123 style fuser modules (ENX magazine – summer of 2008). Well Xerox loves this machine for good reason and there have been two more waves of new models since then in which the fuser designs were nearly identical. The old fuser rebuild article is still good, but the addition of newer models over the years makes these worth revisiting. First we’ll go over the part numbers for the fusers found in the newer models in this series. Then we’ll touch on the importance of updating the firmware and how to go about that. Finally we’ll go over the fuser related fault codes and temperature settings available to you in the NVM.
Each new family of models has its own part numbers for the fuser. The good news is that the parts in these fusers, including the heat roll and pressure roll, all cross from one fuser version to the next. The procedure for rebuilding each is the same as well. Here are the part numbers for the fusers for each family of models:
- C123 Family CC-C123/C128/C133, WC-M123/M128/M133, Pro123/Pro128/Pro133:
126K16480, 126K16481, 604K20342, 604K20343, 604K20344, 622S00191 - WC-5230 Family (WorkCentre) WC-5222/5225/5230:
126K24980, 126K24981 - WC-5335 Family WC-5325/5330/5335:
126K29391, 126K29392, 126K29393, 126K29394, 126K29395
These models are all very finicky about the fuser temperature and the timing of the warm up cycle at start up. Customers need to be made aware that if the machine is in a cold room and you try to start it up, it is likely to fail to come to ready; it will time out and call a “failure to warm up in time” type of fault code. Some of these codes require that you reset the fault from the diagnostic mode (which we will cover later in this article).
Also we’ve found out that on the WC-5335 family in particular, it’s critical to update the firmware on the machine because they’ve corrected a few problems relating to the fuser. One known problem results in the fuser running too hot. The toner will ravel on the page if you smear at an area of heavy background. Then the toner will start to offset on the pages and on the thermistors, which makes it get even hotter until the black sleeve-like coating of the pressure roll sticks to the heat roll and peels off in patches. The book says the WC-5325/5330/5335 machines should all be updated to software version 53.30.11 or higher.
You can go and download the firmware from www.support.xerox.com (which is a great resource for anything which the customer needs to do, as far as changing administrator settings or reloading firmware, etc.). On the support site, you will enter the model of the machine and choose either “Support” or “Drivers and Downloads” for the correct model from the list that appears. In this case choose “Drivers and Downloads” and scroll down to the bottom where the firmware choices are found. Download the zip file and unzip it so you can see the .bin file that the machine needs. The support site does explain how to upgrade the software from the network, but I noticed that the instructions about how to install the software using the USB is missing (usually they include a pdf or a text read-me file with instructions in the zip file), so here is how that goes:
Updating Software on the 5335 Family from a USB Flash Drive:
Create a folder in the USB flash drive and name it “DWLD.” Copy the .bin file obtained from the support.xerox.com website. It comes in a zip format, so unzip it and copy and paste it into the new folder. Make sure USB printing is enabled, and then turn the machine off completely. You need to turn off both power switches (one is inside the front cover). Plug in the USB flash drive into the USB connector on the control panel (if available). Note that if the machine doesn’t have a USB connector on the control panel you will need to use the top one on the ESS PWB chassis on the right at the rear of the machine (it may have a metal shield held by one screw blocking). Next, hold down the “Energy Saver” button while powering on the machine. Keep holding the button until the message “Download Mode” appears. It will eventually say “Transferring” and later “Processing 1/7.” When the download is complete, the machine will reboot itself, a progress bar will show up, and the machine will come to ready. Check the software version by pressing “Machine Status” and then selecting “General Information” followed by “Software Version” to make sure the upgrade was successful. Now you can power down and remove the USB flash drive.
To clear some fuser fault codes and also to reset the HFSI (High Frequency Service Item) counters you’ll need to go into the diagnostic mode. Getting into diagnostics is slightly different on the older models (C123 family), but it’s still pretty close:
Entering UI (User Interface) Diagnostic Mode:
From the powered on state, hold down the “0” button for six seconds and then press the “Start” button while still holding the “0” button. The machine will prompt you for a password. Enter the default access number “6789” and press “Confirm.” The display will acknowledge that you are now in diagnostic mode (on the C123 family, the colors on the display will reverse). Next press the “Machine Status” button (or “Log In/Out” for the C123Family). Select the “Tools” tab, then “System Settings,” “Common Settings,” “Maintenance/Diagnostics.” This will bring you to the main menu where you’ll find the memory settings (NVM) and lots of other important stuff. The HFSI counters for resetting fuser count and other High Frequency Service Items is found in “Adjustments/Others.”
Now let’s have a peek at a list of the fault codes which have to do with the fuser.
Fuser Related Status Codes & How to Reset Them:
C123 & WC-5230 Families: (C123/128/133, M123/128/133, Pro123/128/133, WC-5222/5225/5235)
WC-5335 Family: (WC-5325/5330/5335)
* Resetting Fuser Codes (010-320, 010-327, 059-315, & 059-317)
Accomplished by resetting NVM code 744-220 to “0,” or 744-005 for the WC-5335 family.
First enter UI (User Interface) Diagnostic Mode (read above for details).
Once you’re in the maintenance/diagnostics menu, you’ll see among other things a choice called “NVM Read/Write” (NVM is Non Volatile Memory). Now you can enter your chain-link code (in this case 744-220, or 744-005 for the WC-5335 family, and press “Confirm/Change.” The current value will appear (if the machine is in a fuser fault condition, the value will be set to “1, 2, 3, or 4 depending on the exact fault). Select the “New Value” column and input your new value (“0”). Select “Save” and the new number should now appear in the “Current Value” column. Choose “Call Closeout” to reboot. The machine will attempt to warm up the fuser again. If the condition that caused the fault in the first place is still happening, the status code will return after a few minutes of attempting to warm up.
If you have a stubborn machine which keeps timing out when it’s turned on in the mornings, a few folks have reported that changing the NVM memory setting 744-043 to “1” extends the allowable warm up time. This helps to get the machine to be more forgiving. Still, it’s important that the owner of the machine keep it in a room that doesn’t get too cold at night. If the room is too cold when they turn the machine on, it’ll likely go into a fault code that requires a tech come turn the code off from diagnostics. You’ll want to test the fusing closely after changing any fuser setting to make sure it still fuses under various circumstances because variations on the firmware could make one machine behave slightly different from another.
There’s one more thing that will prove helpful in checking a fuser you’re about to rebuild. You’ll want to know which pins are for which circuits within the fuser. There are two heat lamps that are actually joined into one lamp assembly to check out. Those both share a common return lead that goes through the thermostat (thermal fuse). If the fuser overheated severely enough, the thermostat will be blown and will need to be replaced. There are also two thermistors, a rear overheat thermistor and a center control thermistor.
Here are the pin-outs for each of the fuser components for the C123 & WC-5230 families vs. the WC-5335 family.
Note that the C123 and WC-5230 families are interchangeable, but on the WC-5325 the pin-out is completely different and they’ve gone so far as to flip the connector over. Check out the two photos on the right.
C123 or WC-5230 Families
WC-5335 Family
Either of the two heat lamp circuits should measure 100 ohms or less and the thermistors should read over 3K ohms if they’re good.
Each heat lamp circuit goes through the same thermostat (thermal fuse) and back through the same common lead.
That should bring everyone up to speed on the newer fusers in this style of Xerox copiers. You can get to the fuser rebuild instructions by looking up the 2008 ENX article from the archives. It is pretty straightforward, although as usual it is helpful to have the instructional to help shorten the learning curve a bit.
Enjoy rebuilding these fusers everyone!
