Solving Communication & Memory Corruption Problems

Demystifying the Magic of a Nifty Little Invention Known as Stabilant 22

Well known in the automobile, audio equipment and aerospace industries, Stabilant 22 remains relatively unknown among copier- and printer-repair technicians. So this month, we’ll look at why it’s so valuable in maintaining just about any piece of electronic equipment. I’d also like to share the story that gave me what I had long wished for—grounded personal testimony that this product performs as it claims. It turns out that hearing truly is believing.

Stabilant 22 is a block-polymer, which is a macromolecule composed of a linear sequence of blocks. When applied in a thin film between metal contacts, it becomes conductive in the presence of an electrical field, while remaining nonconductive between adjacent contacts in a multiple-pin environment. Basically, it significantly improves connections by acting as a conductive material which fills in microscopic gaps in the metal and increases the electrically viable surface area between pins.

Stabilant 22 concentrate is a viscous liquid, which when mixed with isopropyl alcohol forms “Stabilant 22a.” It’s then applied with a tiny brush to the pins and sockets of a connector and allowed time to dry before reseating the two-halves. The result is a significant increase in the passage of electrical signals across memory card, ribbon cable and other multi-pin connectors.

The other advantage to having a film of Stabilant 22 present in connectors is that it coats the metal, preventing outside contaminants such as ozone or moisture from getting to the contacts. The isopropyl alcohol in Stabilant 22a has enough surfactant action to lift existing contaminants so they can be held harmlessly in suspension. For cases in which corrosion has begun setting in, Stabilant 22 penetrates the corrosion and protects the metal from further oxidation.

As I mentioned, the product is already prevalent in a number of other industries. Airplane mechanics often use Stabilant 22 in its concentrated form on Cannon plugs and similar critical communication connections. In the automobile repair industry, I’m told by mechanics that it’s particularly useful for repairing intermittent communication problems on some of the 40- to 60-pin connectors in the logic systems of diesel trucks and trailer hookups.

So why is it that Stabilant is not well known yet in office-equipment-tech circles? I was talking with a copier technician a while back about Stabilant 22, and his question to me was, “tell me the truth, do you think this stuff is for real, or is it just snake-oil?” My answer was that I had read the specifications and the theory behind the invention, and I believe it has tremendous value to offer in preventative copier maintenance. But while I could provide piles of literature and data from engineers showing that it works, I couldn’t offer any great examples of field data specifically from the copier field. At that time, I didn’t have any personal-experience stories to relate as testimony.

Then I met Bill Fields, an engineer with the FAA, who told me how he realized that Stabilant 22 is for real. His story convinced me this product is worth talking about.

His first time using Stabilant was not in his profession as an FAA Engineer, but instead for a different company to resolve a video issue. While the manufacturing engineers were testing the Stabilant 22a, he personally tried it in a hobby he enjoys—he’s a self-professed audiophile who likes to play around with sound-reproduction equipment in his spare time.

Bill decided to try it on a mid-fi system’s soundstage he was working on. He explained that when you have the system on and the volume at normal listening levels, you usually hear familiar background noise which is acceptable and normal. He decided to test the Stabilant 22a by selecting familiar material, identifying a low-level musical passage and exceeding normal listening level (those would be his words. I would say he cranked it to 11!). He turned off his system, removed all the signal-path-associated connections and coated both sides (male/female) of all connections with the Stabilant 22a. Then he plugged everything back in.

Without any changes to the system, other than the Stabilant 22a, he turned the system back on and replayed the previous low-level musical passage. He said he stood there a moment and realized the impossible had happened: he didn’t hear the usual background noise. Then he said the hair on the back of his neck started to rise as he realized the background noise was, in fact, still there, but it was significantly reduced. As the music played, he was amazed by the signal-to-noise improvement and the overall improvement to the musical sound stage. By his own words, it blew his mind.

He moved on to advocating its use to improve and clarify communication on frequency channel connections where, due to oxidation, the signal strength can be notoriously low. Bill set about proving its worth. He told me that he’s extremely happy with his findings so far, and that in several test locations where Stabilant 22 was applied to 66 pin bridge clips, it’s been well over two years without any signal problems. Overall, Bill has been using Stabilant 22 for over 20 years.

In the office-equipment field, Stabilant 22a will likely be most valuable as a preventative solution, though that’s not easily measured. Data will need to be gathered on communication issues and memory failure rates before and after incorporating widespread use of Stabilant 22 on a fleet of copiers. Then we’ll have the irrefutable proof we crave from our own industry.

Beyond the long-term wisdom of using Stabilant 22 as a valuable preventative maintenance tool, there are also many applications for which this product will help solve intermittent faults in copiers and printers on-the-spot.

Reading a Xerox service manual about troubleshooting a communication problem recently, I ran across this statement:

“Check the connections for broken, bent and dirty pins (oxidation buildup). Unplug and plug-in the connectors several times to remove contaminants due to oxidation. The resistance created by contamination will change the machine timing.”

This change in timing can result in print jobs getting stuck in the queue, corruption of the Non-Volatile Memory or corruption of the printer’s firmware. When dealing with this, you should apply Stabilant 22a to any connectors involved and then restore the machine’s memory and firmware. Also, check for any batteries which are dying, as that may be causing the trouble. Replace any battery which measures too low; in most copiers it will be 3.0 vdc, so replace the battery if the voltage drops below 2.8vdc.

Below are three examples of problems Stabilant 22 will likely solve in the field for Xerox equipment specifically. Other makes of copiers no doubt have similar issues to deal with, as well.

DC240/242/250/252/260, 550/560/ 570, C60/C70—Intermittent faults codes, some unclearable: MCU PWB to IOT Driver PWB Flat Cable Connections. Problems with the 2 flat cable connections cause a huge number of possible fault codes:
003-316, 007-534, 042-323, 042-324, 042-326, 042-327, 042-328, 045-314, 074-103, 074-104, 071-104, 072-105, 073-104, 074-103, 074-104, 075-100, 077-103, 077-104, 077-107, 077-120, 077-130, 077-909, 093-313, 093-314, 093-315, 093-316, 124-374.

If you get a lot of miscellaneous codes or hard-to-solve errors, and you feel like you’re chasing your tail, refer to the list of faults above. They are all acknowledged in the OEM service manual as possible results of failures in the signals trying to pass through the flat cable connections between the MCU and IOT Driver Boards.

The original versions of the flat cables and their sockets on the boards used tin pins and tin contact points. Eventually, Xerox decided the tin was causing too many problems and they introduced “Tag 014,” a field modification which replaced both boards and both ribbon cables. The new boards and flat cables have all gold contacts. The manual warns not to mix tin and gold components, as tin contacts are known to develop “tin whiskers” (little fibers which form as part of the oxidation process, and could potentially cause partial shorting between rows of pins).

To restore functionality, try using a pencil eraser to gently brush off any tin whiskers which may have formed on the flat cable contacts, then apply Stabilant 22a. I believe you’ll likely find the problem can be solved without replacing the rather-expensive boards. The Tag 014 board kits are part numbers: 604K44700 (for DC240/250), 604K44750 (for DC242/252) or 604K44760 (for DC260). They sell for $500 or more.

Note that Models 4110/4112/4127/ 4590 and 4595 also had similar problems with a pair of ribbon cables in and around the same area of the machines. Here they called the same upgrade to gold contacts “Tag P-018.”

Oxidized Fiery Network Controller Cables and ESS connections can cause slow connection speeds and intermittent failures, or print jobs getting stuck in the queue.

DC240/250/260, 550/560/570, DCP700/770, C75/J75—ROS (Laser Unit) Fault Codes: 061-310 thru 061-338. Just about any of the Raster Output Scanner (ROS) fault codes can result from poor connections at the ribbon cables which connect the ROS assemblies to the MCU PWB (Main Board). Any time you are going to remove the ROS assemblies or their ribbon cables, apply Stabilant 22a to assure a good connection. Also, check the little “latches” which hold the ribbon cables in place on their connectors. They are delicate, and if they aren’t pushing the cables firmly onto the row of contacts evenly and firmly, you’ll get errors.

Well that was quite the technical romp, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I especially want to thank a few collaborators on this one: Bill Fields for sharing his delightful experiences with Stabilant 22, Betty from D.W. Electrochemical, and Ed Riess from LT3 for doing a remarkable job editing my first draft. Thanks all!

I WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS 2019.
May the New Year be full of the glad tidings of successful repairs!