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Question: I got a Minolta EP 3000 30 copies per minute. Which is a good lubricant for the clutch motor, and for main drive motor? And please give me an advice for general purpose lubricants to be used in copier.

Answer: Minolta does not use any motors that require lubrication. Trying to lube them will most likely cause problems. I do not know what you mean by “clutch motor”. The electro-magnetic clutches are not serviceable on this model and should never have lube applied to them as they rely on friction to work. For general bushing lubrication, I use light oil - place bushing on thumb - fill with oil - press fore finger on top and squeeze to force oil into pores of metal bushing. For moving parts, I use Triflow - a Teflon based lube. It does not attract dirt and toner like oil based does. For spring wrap clutches I use “NFO” (Non Fluid Oil) - sold by Ames. It seems to have about 2-3 times the life of lithium grease and other lubes that I have tried.

Answer: I learned the hard way that petroleum based lubricants will degrade the strength of plastics. Now I try to use mostly silicone based lubricants. Not sure what clutches you are referring to, but the kind with the friction plates shouldn’t be lubed and only cleaned with contact cleaner. If they make noise you can put a tiny amount of grease on the shaft which might help, but if it gets inside the clutch you’ll have loads of trouble.

Answer: I use astro glide.

Answer: I use 10-30 oil HA HA just kidding. Replace all huds and pf roller, save problems later.

Answer: WD40 works beauties in fuser roller mainly, then spraying all over gets rid of squeaks and buzzing.

Answer: When I was a beginner at servicing copiers I once tried to eliminate the squeaking in a BD-3110 developer unit with oil. I tend to overdo things and this was a doosey. The oil got into the developer and it started spitting out gooey black tar on the copies. I had to totally tear down the developer unit and clean everything out. Just recently another tech of ours tried to get the squeaking out of a Minolta AF-10 doc feeder by lubing everything with TriFlow. It weakened the plastic and it cracked all over the place. We ended up having to replace almost every plastic piece in it including the base frame.

Subject: np-6230 copy quality

Question: I have a 6230 that has developed grey background on the top and bottom of page. It looked like dirty optics, so I cleaned. Still I have the same problem. I tried all the usual things and am not sure if I still have some dirt on mirrors. The service manual doesn’t cover how to correctly access all the mirrors. The drum is new as of last April. The environment is very dirty. I hate to just start replacing parts on this old girl and the customer wants the copier saved if possible. Is there any ideas out there? Thanks.

Answer: CHECK DEV.ROLLER

Answer: You can narrow down the possibilities by printing some reduction/enlargements and seeing if the dark/light areas move.

Question: Dev roller is good. I am still leaning towards one of the hidden mirrors. ??? Thanks

Answer: Pull out the drum and you’ll see about a 1/2” gap above it. Wrap the optics cloth around your spring hook and slide it up in there, you’ll feel the angled 6th mirror. Go to the back of it and wipe forward. Repeat a few times just to make sure, but don’t try to use your finger even if it will fit. Canon missed their calling in the razor blade business. I never understood how they could get blunt edged sheet metal to be so sharp. Wait I think that model has a slit glass that pulls out from the front. If so, pull that out and clean it first.

Question: I have removed the slit glass and tried from that angle. I also tried to access it from the top with a thin metal ruler. Either I can’t reach it or it is something else. I can reach the mirror directly above the drum with slit glass removed. It’s the next one I’m not sure about. I suppose the cuts will heal eventually. Thanks

Answer: There are only 6 mirrors there. The one directly above the drum was the one I thought you were having trouble with. Then there are the 4th and 5th mirrors under the lens box cover. Both are visible. I think that model also had a tool stored in the optics cavity that made it easier to get to the 5th mirror – an angled piece of metal with lamb-skin over the ends. I don’t use those though because the adhesive breaks down from ozone and age and you end up wiping black goo onto the mirrors. What a pain to clean them off. Anyway if optics are clean and CQ is still dark on the edges, I would check to see when the exposure lamp was last changed. They get dim around the ends (usually one end more than the other) as they get some age on them. If all else fails, you can pull the primary unit out of the drum and adjust the wire height on the dark end away a couple turns. I would start with one full turn clockwise and check CQ. Good luck and e-mail me if you need more info on this box and I’ll toss you a manual. Have a great weeken. Oops I can’t read. Guess you’ve already got the manual. And if both sides are dark, corona adjust want help. Check the lamp. You may even be able to just clean it with 99.9 if it’s such a dirty environment. Good luck

Answer: You need to really take a close look at the developer/mag roller. These models were notorious for having toner build up on the sleeve and causing gray and uneven copies. You need to wipe it down with a dry cloth to see if you can see the black build up. If there is a build up then just scrub it with Alcohol. Good Luck.

Tips appearing in this section are reprinted courtesy of Smarka! The Copier Tech’s Info Source. Tips are randomly selected from submissions emailed to Smarka! Smarka! and ENX Magazine make no guarantees as to the accuracy of tips presented here. Email your tips to Tips@smarka.com. All tips become public domain.

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