Edit Tutorial: Drum repair (Z+)

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Maintenance Hack Prepress Printing Finishing

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EV series EZ series FR series GR series MD series ME series MF series MH series MV series MZ series RA series RC series RN series RP series RV series RZ series SE series SF series

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{{Migration |[https://web.archive.org/web/20250120101651/https://www.stencil.wiki/how-clean-mzezrz-drum-change-colors How to: clean an MZ/EZ/RZ drum to change colors] }}{{Draft}} There are many reasons a drum may need to be opened—to repair an issue, clean out old ink, transition to a new color, etc. This article outlines the ''common processes'' in disassembly, testing/cleaning, and reassembly, but ''does not go into specific maintenance'' (i.e. correcting the [[squeegee gap]], replacing the [[squeegee gear]], etc.)—those are separated out into their own tutorials. {{Warning|The golden rule of drum repair is: only go as far as necessary, and no further.Drum repair is inherently dangerous to the riso.<ul><li>Misassembling a drum and trying to print with it can result in totalling the drum and damaging the riso itself.</li><li>Many of the individual components in the drum are quite delicate.</li><li>The process is arduous and messy, and it's easy to make mistakes when fatigued or working alone (''ask for help'').</li></ul>''Doing as little as possible on drums is a good way of limiting the potential for error.''}} == Evaluation == Before opening a drum it's important to create a plan of attack—to determine how much disassembly is required. A lot of assessment can be done before opening up a drum—both how it is functioning ''mechanically'', and ''electrically''. The first step of any drum work is to test the mechanical components with a "drum safety test." {{mbox|text=<h4 style="font-size:1.2em;">Drum safety test (Z+)</h4>The ''drum safety test'' is a quick test of the most critical mechanisms in the drum. It is used to evaluate if it is safe to insert the drum in the riso. This test should be performed:<ul><li>Before and after doing any maintenance on a drum.</li><li>On drums of ''unknown status'' (used drums, drums which have been shipped, or not used in a while, or might have suffered damage).</li><li>On any drums which are behaving strangely (regularly printing weird, making strange noises, etc.).</li></ul>{{Warning|If a drum fails any of the parts of this test it should not be run in the riso until it can be repaired.}} ''The drum safety test is most easily performed on the drum while it is sitting in the rails of the risograph (but not pushed into it). Remove the stencil by hand before performing this test.'' '''① — Clamp''' The tolerances inside the riso are very small (~1 mm for the separator needle and <5 mm for other sensors and components), and the drum is spinning very quickly—so anything protruding too high off the surface of the drum is in danger of getting caught in the riso. The clamp is already the part of the drum which protrudes the most—so anything wrong with the clamp can result in catastrophic failure. <ol type="1"><li>The clamp should easily flip open when pressing the orange clamp lever, and snap closed when released.</li> <li>The master ejection bar should lift up easily by hand and snap back down when released. Check that the ejection bar sits flat against the drum, and is not bowed out in the middle.</li> <li>Check for the presence of two rounded metal clips near the center of the clamp (they can fall out, or become bent/mangled).</li> <li>Check the two white wheels and white peg at the end of the clamp—the wheels should be unbroken and spin freely; the shafts they are mounted on should be parallel with the axis of the drum (not crooked).</li> <li>Check that all 4 screws are in the clamp.</li></ol> '''② — Screen''' The drum screen is attached via two bars in the ends of the screen—each of which is attached at the front and rear of the drum. Anytime a tensioned surface is only attached in the corners like this, the bars will bow up slightly in the middle—it's important to make sure that the bars are not bowed up so high that they will catch on the separator needle. <ol type="1" start="6"><li>The heavier bar (2 screws) should not raise higher than the surface of the metal lip of the clamp assembly next to it. Check it in the middle by dragging a finger tip from the surface of the screen mesh onto the clamp assembly—there should be a distinct ''step up'' to the clamp.</li> <li>The thinner bar (4 screws), with the rubber strip along the edge, should not raise higher than the surface of the ejection bar next to it. Again, check in the middle, by dragging a finger tip from the surface of the rubber strip onto the ejection bar—there should be a distinct ''step up'' to the ejection bar.</li> <li>Check that all 6 screws are in the screen, and that there is no damage to the screen bars.</li> <li>Check around the screen for signs of major tears—if the mesh separates too high, it can also get caught in the riso.</li></ol> '''③ — Rotation''' When the drum is inserted into the riso, its rotation is unlocked, so that it can be spun during operation. When spinning, a series of internal rollers are engaged, which help distribute ink along the length of the drum. If the ink is very old/oxidized it can glue the rollers together, then when the riso tries to spin the drum it will either break the gearing inside the drum, or overload the main motor in the riso. <ol type="1" start="10"><li>Click the manual unlock button (small round button at around 2:00 along the front blue/grey plastic flange) in and out a few times, it should move freely and snap back into the locked position when released.</li> <li>Rotate the drum slowly in the print direction (counterclockwise) while holding down the unlock button. The drum should spin easily, and sound smooth during the whole rotation process. It can be compared to the feeling of rotating a working drum by hand. If the drum can only spin in the ''opposite'' direction (clockwise) it is a sure sign that the rollers are glued together by old ink and need internal cleaning (the rollers only engage when spinning in the printing direction).</li> <li>While rotating the drum check for any major dents in the drum body—small dents won't cause additional damage, but heavy dents can deform the drum body enough that it can collide with the insides of the riso.</li></ol> '''④ — Ink''' Lastly, check for signs of separated ink. This can appear as an oily residue on the surface of the drum body (usually underneath the drum when it's in the locked position), inside the ink tube holder, in the ink tube itself, or even in the drum case. If a drum has heavily separated ink in it, it's quite likely it needs an internal cleaning before it will ink properly, and that it might be heading toward more issues. It's also important not to use separated ink tubes in drums, as this will cause further issues with them. Instead, separated ink should be [[remixed]] before use.{{Warning|If a drum fails any of the parts of this test it should not be run in the riso until it can be repaired.}}}} === Access port === Most of the internal components of the drum can't be easily accessed without disassembling it, however there is a display window through which much of the key mechanism can at least be ''seen''. Removing the ink tube from the drum, there is a small plastic panel inside, along the bottom of that channel—it can be clicked out, much like the battery cover on a remote control. Shining a light in here will expose the inner rollers and the ink and overflow sensors. * Is there ink built up on the rollers? The most extreme overflows will cause ink to build up high enough to be stuck onto the ceiling of this chamber, and make contact with the circuit board. * Is there not enough ink on the rollers, are they dry? ** The largest roller, the ''squeegee roller'' (which forms the "floor" of this chamber) should have a thin coating of ink along the length. ** The medium-sized roller to the left, the ''doctor roller'', should be mostly clean of ink. ** The smallest roller (the ''ink driving shaft''), which sits between them, should always be encased in a bead of ink, no smaller than the line of toothpaste that would come from squeezing a toothpaste tube. This bead of ink is the ''reservoir'' of ink inside the drum. * How is the quality of the ink? It should more or less look like the ink does when pressed directly from the ink tube. If the ink looks dry (dull matte finish), or there are chunks of sediment in the ink, it's likely that it has separated in the drum and the drum/rollers may need cleaning. * Find the two ink sensors and make note of if they are touching the reservoir (the bead of ink around the ink driving shaft). The sensors are two needles which extend from the green circuit board at the top left, at an angle just below horizontal. ** The longer needle is the ''ink sensor'', if it is touching the ink reservoir the riso will not pump anymore ink into the drum. ** The shorter needle is the ''overflow sensor'', if it is touching the ink reservoir the riso will throw an ink overflow error and stop printing. ** Ink on the end of the needles does not affect the sensors, they only detect if the needle is touching the reservoir itself (the sensors complete a circuit through the conductive ink and rollers). ** If ink has built up at the base of the needles, where they connect to the circuit board, they may misfire. {{Info|If it is safe to rotate the drum in the riso (it has passed the [[#Drum safety test (Z+)|drum safety test]]), it can be turned once without a tube in, using [[test mode]] <code>892</code>. Looking into this window while the drum rotates can give a sense of how the ink is moving inside the drum: the bead of ink should roll clockwise, while the squeegee roller rotates counterclockwise beneath it.''The drum should not be rotated too many times without an ink tube in, as this can cause the riso to try pump ink, filling the pump with air instead, and locking it up.''}} === Electrical evaluation === Using [[test mode]], many of the electrical components in a drum can be tested without fully disassembling it. Additional electrical tests can be completed with the drum disassembled (described in a later section). The following table outlines the components and the unit tests for them. {| class="wikitable" ! Test mode !! Component !! Description !! Causes for failure |- | style="text-align:center;" | <code>811</code> || Ink cartridge set switch || This test should read ON{{#info:Fast beeps and an analog display of <code>╷╷╷╷</code>.|note}} when the ink tube is clicked in, and OFF{{#info:Slow beeps and an analog display of <code>oooo</code>.|note}} with no tube. This is a good test to run first, to evaluate if the drum is connecting with the riso at all. || <ul><li>Drum not fully connected/clicked in.</li><li>Broken plastic "fin" on the ink tube.</li><li>Cartridge set switch unplugged (blue connector inside the body of the drum).</li></ul> |- | style="text-align:center;" | <code>809</code> || Ink sensor || The longer sensor needle, which detects the ink in the reservoir. If the longer needle is touching the ink in the reservoir it should read ON, and OFF if not. If it is not detecting, the riso will try to pump ink whenever the drum is spinning (assuming there is an ink tube which is recognized and has not been [[Empty ink tube error|marked as empty]]). || <ul><li>Ink buildup on the ink sensor PCB has short circuited the needle.</li><li>Ink sensor improperly installed, and stuck between the ink driving shaft and the doctor roller.</li><li>Ink sensor unplugged.</li></ul> |- | style="text-align:center;" | <code>810</code> || Overflow sensor || The shorter sensor needle, which detects if the ink in the reservoir has built up too high. If the shorter needle is touching the ink in the reservoir it should read ON, and OFF if not. If it is detecting the riso will throw a <code>T/P04-513</code> error—the "ink overflow" error and stop printing. || <ul><li>Ink buildup on the ink sensor PCB has short circuited the needle.</li><li>Ink sensor unplugged.</li></ul> |- | style="text-align:center;" | <code>882</code> | Inking motor | This test will run the ink pump motor when activated—which can be heard as a high pitched whirring inside the drum. {{Warning|This test should only run for a split second, or ink can build up inside the drum (as drum is not spinning during the test).Some models of riso will automatically end the test after 0.5 seconds, but others will not. If the test runs longer than 1 second, immediately hit STOP to end the test.}} | <ul><li>If there is no motor sound, the ink pump motor may be unplugged, or the motor itself may be failing.</li><li>If a <code>T/P24-539</code> error is thrown, but the motor is running (high pitched whirr was heard), then the ink pump encoder disk sensor is likely unplugged or failing.</li></ul> |- | style="text-align:center;" | <code>1211</code> (protected area{{#info:The protected area test modes are accessed by first running test mode <code>9874</code>.|note}}) || Drum memory || This test reads the first four digits of the drum serial number from the memory stored on the drum PCB.It can be used to evaluate if the riso can read the drum memory on the drum PCB. It should be performed with the front door closed (to make sure the riso has locked the drum in place). The value should be a positive number (and correspond with the first half of the 8-digit serial number printed near the back handle of the drum). || <ul><li>If the value is 0, one of the other components may be unplugged inside the drum (the riso blocks access to the drum's memory in this case).</li><li>If the value is -1, it's likely the memory for the drum has not been set, has been reset, or has become corrupted.</li></ol> |- | colspan="4" | ''Failure of the drum PCB, drawer connector, or wire harnesses—or the drum PCB being unplugged—are possible causes of misfiring of'' all ''of the above components—and have not been included in the "causes for failure" listings.'''' The above tests do not account for: issues with the RFID reader or antenna (which recognizes the ink tube) or the actual values in the drum's memory.'' |} == (Archive) ==

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