An Anatomy Lesson: Xerox WorkCentre 5945/5955 and AltaLink B8090 Families Repair Procedures, Part 1

WC-5945, 5955, AL-B8090, B8075, B8065, B8055, B8045

In many ways, the WorkCentre 5945 and 5955 MFP monochrome copiers, as well as the newer AltaLink B8090 family, are good, solid machines. On the positive side, they’re relatively simple. The only major drawback is that problems can be caused by poor communication with the toner CRUM chip. So let’s take a look at this weakness and discuss some possible solutions. Then we’ll take a machine apart so you can see just how easy it is to get to virtually any part.

Probably the biggest problem with this style of machine lies in the tricky way it communicates with the toner CRUM chip on the side of the toner cartridge. In this case, the chip type is radio frequency (RF). While the CRUM is mounted on the side of the rotating toner cartridge, the machine’s RF reader is stationary, so it reads the chip as it passes by during its rotation cycles. Any hesitation of the toner cartridge rotation, or any trouble with toner dispensing, and the machine will wipe out the CRUM chip, rendering an otherwise perfectly good cartridge useless.

So far, there are no OEM replacement toner CRUMs available, and the aftermarket products still need work. The generic chips don’t work consistently enough, or they need to be perfectly positioned on the cartridge for them to work properly. It would be ideal if the toner CRUM reading could be turned off entirely.

If the toner cartridges are working for you, the rest of the machine is a dream come true for a technician. Parts which might traditionally require a lot of work to replace are easy to access, and it’s even simpler if you know how to find them in the machine. For example, one might expect to reach the toner dispense assembly from the front or from above, but you’ll see that it’s actually easy to remove from the rear.

Looking at the front of the machine (photos 1 and 2), you can see the single-pass document handler (SPDH) up top. This type of document feeder gets its name from a clever design which scans both sides of a duplex document at the same time. You can also see the user interface (UI), or control console, and below that is either a horizontal transport (for bringing the copies over to a finisher, if one is installed) or a centrally located output tray assembly.

Let’s take a look under the hood. If you open the front door (photo 2), you’ll see the toner cartridge and imaging unit (drum cartridge). To remove the drum cartridge, open the left door assembly, pivot the drum latch downward and then slide the cartridge out through the front. These machines are dual-component, but the developer station is the lower half of the imaging unit—replacing the imaging unit replaces the developer at the same time.

Next, if you go to the left side of the machine and open the left door assembly (photo 3), you can access the fuser module and transfer roll assembly (BTR). The fuser is easily removed by releasing two thumbscrews. The transfer roll is on the door itself; it comes off just as easily by pinching the two release clips. You can also see the inverter/exit transport up top, as well as the registration (timing) roller.

Removing the rear cover, you’ll see lots of goodies inside (photo 4), all relatively easy to access and remove. At the top left is the single board controller module (SBC). To the right of that is the exit drive module, which is driven by a belt extending down to a pulley on the main drive module. You can also see the IOT board (main engine control board). Below that, in the lowermost left corner, is the power supply unit (combined low-voltage and AC power supplies). The high-voltage power supply (HVPS) can also be found here, between the IOT board and single board controller module. The HVPS is easily overlooked, as it is laying flat attached to a metal plate.
Here are quick descriptions of how to remove these parts:

• Main drive module (with main, xerographic and registration drive motors):

1. Remove the fuser and the print (drum) cartridge and put the cartridge in a black bag to protect it from light.
2. Loosen the screw which holds the exit drive belt tensioner and disengage the belt.
3. Disconnect two connectors and remove six screws.
4. Release the registration roll drive belt from inside the frame.
5. Now the main drive module can come off the rear of the machine.
   

Note: When reinstalling, take care not to trap the wiring harness, which runs along the left side of the assembly beneath the module.

• High voltage power supply (HVPS):

1. Remove one connector (P/J 830) and two screws from the plate at the rear frame.
2. Slide the HVPS out along its two guide slots.

• IOT board (main engine control board):

1. Disconnect the many connectors from the board, as well as the eight screws.

Note: when reinstalling, you’ll see that P/J 758, 778, 780 are not connected, and P/J 775 will only be connected if the machine has a Tray 4 installed.

• Single board controller (SBC) module:

1. If replacing the SBC module or any of its components, always first perform memory save/restore onto a USB stick so you can restore settings later.
2. Remove the SBC module’s outer plate (four screws).
3. Disconnect the nine electrical connectors and remove the two screws from the bottom.
4. Slide the SBC module to the right to release its four locating tabs.
5. Only change one board at a time so the machine can maintain its serial number data accurately. At least two out of the three locations that maintain the serial number, market and supply-plan details must agree with each other for the machine to maintain this data successfully. The three memory locations are the hard drive (HDD), the IOT board and the scanner control board. If this data is lost or corrupted, you will need to call the OEM dealership for a code to reset the serial number.
6. Always keep the SIM card with the original machine, as it has the machine’s serial number written to it. This is critical to maintaining and restoring the machine’s configuration.

• Toner dispense assembly:

1. Remove the toner cartridge. You can get at the toner dispense assembly through the hole in the rear frame, just below the SBC module and above the HVPS (photo 5).
2. Disconnect P/J 850 from the SBC board; the large red-and-black wiring harness would be in your way, otherwise.
3. Remove the three screws that hold the black plastic of the dispenser to the rear frame, and disconnect the wiring harness connector (this connector could disappear into the machine’s inner cavity, so don’t lose track of it and don’t forget to reconnect it during reassembly).
4. Pivot the assembly gently counterclockwise a little, and it will slide to your left, then carefully extract it from the hole in the frame.
5. When positioning the new assembly in place, place the two locating holes over the locating pins on the HVPS tray assembly.
6. Because a new assembly is void of toner, you need to move some into the dispenser. Run both the print cartridge motor (component control code 093-045) and the toner cartridge motor (code 093-040) from diagnostics (eight times at five seconds each, for a total of 40 seconds, should do the trick). This will assure the toner supply is continuous and you don’t end up with toner dispense errors right away.

We’ve covered a decent amount of ground, but this machine deserves a second article to complete the picture. So next time, we’ll take a peek at the paper feed heads, the power supply unit (LVPS) and the document feeder (SPDH).