Fax/Printer Tip Archives
For more current information, use the Bulletin Boards.

FO-300
POWER SUPPLY
FO-300 there are 2 coils and 2 caps on the power supply- replace them. Or you can replace the caps and take white-out to the coils $5.00

FO-300-420

Comm E7 problems and background in copy or send mode usually indicate a bad power supply unit. You can get these repaired at several locations for board repair for $35-45.

FO-2850 - Can't find toner ( FO-28ND)
There are time when sharp has a back -order on this Toner Cartridge(FO-28ND) you can buy a FO-26ND toner. It will work and fit very snug, will get your fax going temporary till you get the FO-28ND The yield on the FO-26ND if use on the FAX FO-2850 will give you less yield, but the objective is to get the fax going till you find the correct toner cartridges.              

FO-3250 and others
'LD' error in the display is a bad laser unit.

FO-3400
LASER UNIT
The laser unit in these is known to go bad. If you get the code, it may tell you to check other things too, but it'll probably be that the polygon mirror motor is bad and won't spin. You'll have to replace the whole unit.
Update:
The FO-3400 has a JX-9600 laser engine just like the FO-4800 & 5400.  I have successfully replace the polygon mirror motor on those two units and the 3400 should be the same.  The part is not in the manuals.  However, for your great service that you provide and the many contributors as well, it is RMOTN0020GCZZ (motor).  It has no cost code but I will assure you that it is a fraction of the cost.

LASER LENS MOTOR
A company called "Dealer Engineers" has a laser lens motor for
the fraction of the OEM part

CLEANING THE LASER UNIT
If you get badly distorted copies it's probably because the lenses and
mirrors in the laser unit are dirty.
The disassembly procedure for this machine is a nightmare and is
indeed part of Japan's revenge. You should really have the manual for
your first attempt--it's unintuitive and complicated.
We have one in a dirty location that needs to be cleaned at least twice a
year. To ease disassembly, I cut the main outer cover in the groove just
above the left side of the cassette port. It's not very noticable and it
allows me to remove the main cover without disconnecting the operation
panel/fuser unit.

3400 - 5400 SERIES

TONER EMPTY
The first thing you should check is the developer drive gear on the bottom
left side of the machine interior. This gear on early production machines
had a bad habit of sliding out of place on it's drive shaft. Simply push it
back in place and reset the toner motor counter back to zero from 21000.
Sharp resolved this problem on later machines by installing a retainer ring
on the shaft.

FO-4850

TONER EMPTY MESSAGE
If toner empty comes on after installing new toner check the toner motor could be bad. Mark the gear and see if it turns while making 5 or 6 copies

Problem: The polygon motor is bad.
Part # from Sharp is RMOTN0020GCZZ.
Solution: Make sure you tighten the screws evenly only after snugging them down first. I have seen these assemblies flex and cause the motor to bind and give you the same problem you just had.

FO-5500
OPTION CASSETTE 3RD TRANSPORT.
WHEN INSTALLING THE 3RD TRANSPORT UNIT OPTIONAL CASSETTE AND IT DOSE NOT OPERATE,ALWAYS CHECK THE FUNCTION 4 CASSETTE SELECTION & CASSETTE CHANGEOVER.IF THESE ARE SET PROPERLY AND THE FO-45UC STILL DOSE NOT OPERATE YOU NEED TO GET THE UPDATED E-PROMS FROM SHARP OR YOUR DEALER.THESE ARE NO CHARGE FROM SHARP IF YOU EXCHANGE THE OLD WITH THE NEW FROM SHARP.

JX9500 engine / FO 5200,UX 2100

TONER FULL MESSAGE
Common problem of unit saying waste toner full right after replacing it reported. Cust called back & said it was fixed by lifting up the waste toner bottle just a little. Fuse wasn't making contact.

TONER FULL MESSAGE
Machine says "replace waste toner bottle" shortly after replacing toner kit. Whan sharp redesigned this engine to accept a fax scanner, they never strengthened the clam shell springs to accomodate the extra weight of the scanner. the result is when the clam shell is opened, it just hovers open at maybe a 30 degree angle or so instead of its full 60-70 degree angle. May seem trivial, but when the customer installs toner and pulls the release maylar fron the toner cartridge, because of this reduced angle, the toner wont fall out of its cartridge and into the developer unit. Only enough will to satisfy the toner sensor. Now a few hundred copies later, the machine runs out of toner again. The customer checks the the bottle and finds it empty. but unknowingly, when they open the machine, a bit of toner falls from the cartridge into the developer unit to satisfy the toner sensor again.... now when the machine is closed, the bloody thing demands another waste toner bottle. You can sell them one or cheat the machine. Remove the fuse from the waste bottle. Place a straightened staple behind the fuse and place the fuse back in place. In essence, the fuse is shorted (note: paper staples are coated with glue to hold them together. This will have to be removed first. What I do is burn the glue off with a cigarette lighter, then clean the soot from the lighter off with a peice of scotch brite.) Place the bottle back in the machine and close the front door. The scanner motor fires immediatly. shartly after the main motor will fire. The moment you hear the main motor fire, quickly open the front door. By doing this, you have given the main board its necessary negative voltage transition as if the fuse had just blown.....the result is the waste toner flag resets. Remove the staple from behind the fuse and throw it away( note: this closing and reopening the door and resituating the staple behind the fuse may have to be done a couple of times to get the flag to reset, but it DOES work and saves you from having to buy and carry a bunch of fuses).

How to stop this problem from ever happening: Retrain your customers on how they install toner. You basically add one step to sharps instructions. After the toner is installed and the tape is pulled, remove the entire developer unit from the machine (two green levers on the bottom side of the developer unit). Tip the unit forward so the mag roller is directly on the bottom. Tap the toner cartridge then right the unit and reinstall it. This tipping action causes ALL the toner to fall into the developer unit and eliviates the problem.
Wheeeew......

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