Rebuilding Xerox Phaser 5500 / 5550 Fuser Assemblies The Phaser 5500 and the newer Phaser 5550 both share the same “Maintenance Kit” (109R00731). The key component in that kit is the Fuser Assembly. Nowadays there are good aftermarket parts available to rebuild these fusers, so it’s time to learn how they come apart.                                                                                                                                                                                 Phaser 5500 Fuser Assembly The Phaser 5500 / 5550 print engines are very similar in many ways to the C123 style copiers, although for some reason the fuser module is a totally different beast. Nothing in the fuser actually crosses over to the C123 copier’s fuser except for the drive gear. So far as we’ve seen, Xerox only spares this fuser module as part of the “Maintenance Kit” which also includes the Transfer Roll (BTR) and 15 Feed Rolls (enough to replace the feed rolls on trays 1-4 and also the HCF tray 6). That kit’s part number is 109R00731 for the 110 volt version and 109R00732 for 220V version. They sell for around $500.- retail. There is plenty of room to do well on these. PROCEDURE: One thing I like about this fuser is that most of the screws are the same kind as one another… (5.5mm / #1 phillips, machine thread). There are only 6 exceptions. First there are 3 which have blue-heads. Don’t touch the blue-headed screws until you’re instructed to, because they help keep the structural integrity of the assembly together. Then there are 3 screws holding the Press-Side Exit Guide on its metal plate. Those should never be touched as they are factory-set. Those three will either be red-headed 5.5mm nut-drive types of screws, or on other fusers we’ve seen, they may be #1 Phillips-head screws with washers under them (in that case they are not 5.5mm at all). All you’ll need as far as tools goes are a 5.5mm nut driver, a #1 phillips head driver, & a small pair of needle-nosed pliers or a spring-hook. Orientation Before you begin you may want to measure the 3 heat lamp circuits to know the condition of the lamps and thermostats in the unit you’re working on. If all 3 lamps measure “no continuity” that is a sign that one of the two thermostats must have blown due to an overheat and you’ll want to replace the culprit and at the same time watch out for reasons the fuser might have overheated (check the two heat roll thermistor positions and look to make sure the thermistor’s faces are clean and in contact with the heat roller’s surface). Let’s start by getting oriented as far as what is meant by “top & bottom”, “inside & outside”, and “front and rear ends”. Refer to Photo #1. Now… let’s see how one of these things comes apart. 1. Remove the “Outside Cover”. It is held on by two screws; one at either end of the fuser. Then release a little hook at the bottom of the rear end (see Photo #2). The two green finger-pulls come right off along with this Outside Cover so watch’em.                                                                                                                                                                                               Photo #2: Hook for Outside 2. Remove the Press Roll Shutter (the piece with all of the graphics and warnings on it) by lifting the green jam clearance lever near the rear end of the “Pressure-Side Exit Guide” (see Photo #3a). Keep your hand on the Press Roll Shutter… it will unlatch in the middle and then it can shift slightly to the rear to dismount from 3 mounting places on the frame (see Photo #3b). Watch carefully because there is a little spring on the center mounting peg which tensions the shutter… that spring is not captive and can fall right off now. Later, during reassembly, you’ll want to take care that the spring’s sharp pointed end doesn’t poke into the surface of the new pressure roller. Photo #3a & 3b: Removing the Press Roll Shutter 3. Next you’ll move on to the pieces underneath the Press Roll Shutter (refer to Photo #4). Start by removing the Press Roll Thermistor’s dust cover / mounting plate (1 screw) and disconnecting the Press Roll Thermistor’s connector at the rear end. You can then remove the 4 screws which hold the “Pressure-Side Exit Guide” and remove it (the Press Roll Thermistor can remain hanging on this piece). 4. With the Pressure-Side Exit Guide out, you can reach the 4 screws to remove the “Heat Roll Stripper Assembly” (see Photo #5). Once it is off, you can replace the 5 “Heat Roll Picker Fingers” and their springs. 5. Now to remove the “Inside Cover”: First remove two screws from the inner face (one near either end of the fuser, see Photo #6). You will then need to pull out the fuser lamp connectors and the wire nut from the front end of the fuser so they are out of the way. Now with a little jiggle, upwards near the rear end, the cover can be lifted off.                    Photo #4: Removing the Pressure -Side Exit Guide                    Photo #5: Removing the Heat Roll Stripper Assembly                   Photo #6: Removing the Inside Cover 6. Flip the fuser over to work on the two lower entrance guides (refer to Photo #7). The Pressure-Side Entrance Guide is held on by the 2 screws nearest the ends (there are also 3 screws which you should NOT touch as they are set at the factory for the correct position of the pressure guide. On some fusers these 3 are red-headed, but not always. If you loosen them on accident, you will want to reassemble them as close as you can to their original positions (the screw marks on the plastic will help with that). When you remove the guide, be careful at the rear end where there is a fragile grounding tab tucked under the frame, which makes direct contact with the outer surface of the press roll. 7. The Heat-Roll-Side Entrance Guide comes off with two screws (refer to Photo #7 again… nearer to the bottom of the photo). 8. You’ll be gunning for the Fuser Heat Lamps next (one single lamp and also a double lamp assembly). Start preparing by disconnecting the lamps on the front end (white connectors). You’ll also want to remove the black plastic piece from near the lamps on the front end (1 screw) to give yourself more room to work with the connectors later. Photo #7: Removing the Pressure-side Entrance Guide & the Heat-Roll-Side Entrance Guide 9. Next remove the Rear End Lamp Bracket. For this step, you’ll need to remove 3 specific screws… the 1st one is near the pressure roll, right next to a blue-headed screw (don’t touch the blue-headed screw yet). The 2nd screw is right next to the lamps’ ceramic ends, and the third screw is near the Double Idler Gear (but not the one closest to that gear). See Photo #8 for the locations of the 2nd and 3rd screws. This will loosen up the lamp bracket. There is a lot of wiring to contend with. Take time to study how the wires are routed… it’ll help you at reassembly time (refer to Photo #9). At the rear end, the lamps terminate as pins in the main fuser connector. It would be tricky to remove those heat lamp pins from the connector unless you have the right Pin Removal Tool. So, to get you enough slack to slide the heat lamps all the way out, you will want to release the black return wire which goes to the thermostats (it has a spade-lug on it… here is where a pair of needle-nose pliers will be a good tool to have). Now go back to the front end and release the 3 lamps from their bracket and very gently draw the 3 lamps out through the rear end. The front end connectors barely make the turn and barely fit through the opening of the heat roll but they will go if you are gentle and patient. 10. Remove the long pull-springs from the metal guide plate (first notice how they are hooked on both ends because later it does not seem all that obvious). You can use a spring-hook or the needle-nosed pliers. Be very careful with the metal guide plate now as it can bump up against the surface of the heat roller and could potentially damage it. OK. Now you can stand the fuser (what is left of it) such that the remaining frame with the thermostats attached to it is facing down, and remove the 3 blue-headed screws and the metal frame piece which they secure.                                                                                                                                                   Photo #8: 2nd and 3rd screws for the Rear Lamp Bracket 11. You’re getting close now. Take note of how many threads of each pressure screw are showing above the holes they screw into and then release the two pressure screws. Set them aside and take care not to lose the springs, nor the metal washers which were under the springs. Now the Pressure Roll Assembly along with the metal plate can pivot all the way up until it is resting safely away from the heat roller. You can then lift the Pressure Roller Assembly out of its cradle and the Heat Roll Assembly can likewise lift out of its cradle. 12. Install your new Fuser Heat Roller, Pressure Roller and Picker Fingers and reassemble everything. Pay special attention to rerouting the wiring and re-fastening any wire clips. Photo #9: Wire Routing When you’re done and your beautiful newly refurbished fuser is in place in the machine, you’ll want to reset the Maintenance Counter (and therefore the counters for the fuser, feed rolls and BTR simultaneously). Resetting the Fuser Counter (Maintenance Kit counter reset): The Fuser is reset from the control panel. 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. That will reset the Fuser Counter as well as the Transfer Roll counter and all of the Tray Page counters (feed roll counters). That’s it! Happy fuser repairs. Catch you again next month! Britt works for The Parts Drop, a company whose primary business is providing parts, supplies and information for Xerox brand copiers, printers and fax machines. You can find more information on their website www.partsdrop.com. There’s a complete listing of past articles under contributing writers on the ENX website ( www.ENXMAG.com ) if you’d like to read more about Xerox brand office equipment.