SCX-6545N full system top-right-photo

Samsung SCX-6545N / SCX-6555 Printer Maintenance Kits

SCX-6545N minimal system top-left-photo

The Samsung SCX-6545 and SCX6555 are part of a series of A4 monochrome multifunction digital copiers and printers. Robust construction and a low running cost around 0.35p per page are part of the products attraction. Other features are that toner, drum fuser and rollers are user changeable.

Copiers have often been leased and put on a maintenance contract because of a need for frequent service calls. These models should not need this: toner, drum, fuser and feed-rollers are all "Customer Replaceable Units". This approach can either lower costs for traditional copier dealers or allow offices to purchase a copier-like machine outright.

cartridge picture

Fuser and rollers are easily changed although, depending on the setup, completing the job might require a control-panel reset procedure (See below)

Laser printers are robust and maintainable.

Cartridge SCX-D6555A provides the toner that will innevitably be used (about 25,000 pages worth of print for the SCX-D6555A cartridge). In this case toner seems to be a proprietary mix of polyester and carbon black (according to Samsung's German MSDS).buy now  


imaging unit picture

Imaging Unit SCX-R6555A contains the photoconductive drum at the heart of the print mechanism. The drum wears through contact with developer and pages and also degrades due to exposure to light. The imaging unit life is given as 80,000 pages and the printer will then prompt for another. The drum possibly could last longer but there will be gradual decay in the contrast and sharpness of the image, then lines down the page as the blades decay. Obviously Samsung (and copier engineers) want users to change parts before they result in a service call. The imaging unit also contains iron filing developer and constant churning will eventually reduce its effectiveness although problems will probably not show before 150,000 pages - so that will ultimately limit the life of the unit.buy now  .

SCX-6545 / 6555 Maintenance Kits

Maintenance Kit. SCX-V6555A contains:

  • Pick-Up Roller JC97-02259A x3, 250K page life
  • Fuser Unit JC96-04991A, 250K page life
  • Quick Install Guide
feedroller sketch

Pickup, feed and retard rollers wear out through frictional contact as they drive paper into the machine. The feed and retard/torque rollers work against one another so they innevitably wear; the feed roller might wear less but since all three are in the same place and work together it is usual to change them all at the same time. The rollers just clip into place. Note, however that the kit comes wth 3 rollers which is enough for one tray. Normally the rollers will fail at different times in a machine with multiple trays, so there will rarely be a need for more than one set at a time (rollers are available individually as JC97-02259A).

fuser sketch

Fusers take a page with lose toner on the surface and use a combination of heat and pressure to drive the toner powder into the page making a lasting image. (Toner is essentially plastic powder). The fuser rollers need a non-stick coat and after about 250,000 pages this will begin to wear out so that the fuser needs replacing. Fusers can also fail because the heating element(s) become brittle or suffer a power surge. The fuser in the SCX-6545 series (and the 6555) are intentionally user changeable, held in position by four thumbscrews. The fuser is visible inside the machine when the right hand side is open.buy now  .

Because the fuser generally ships as a maintenance kit it appears Samsung ship the right version for the region. If you want anything other than a 220 Volt version in Europe or 120 Volt version in the US then it may be adviseable to check first.

Fuser

fuser position sketch, derived from the Samsung service manual

As usual with laser printers the fuser comes in two voltages - 220V for Europe etc and 120V for the USA etc. The printer voltage cannot be altered.

Fuser Unit (220V) for Samsung SCX-6545N and 6555N JC96-04991B Life 250,000 pages

Fuser Unit (120V) for Samsung SCX-6545N and 6555N JC96-04991A Life 250,000 pages. (research suggests aka JC91-00973A and as Xerox 115R00063 )

The fuser is fairly easy to change and Samsung say it is Customer Replaceable (a CRU). With the side cover open it is in the printer body, held by four screws (The manual says thumbscrews but that isn't what the diagrams show - actuality may differ). The printer should be turned off and disconnected from the main (line) power for perhaps twenty minutes or so before the fuser is changed. (Take care, if the printer has been recently used the fuser could be very hot). The fuser may need easing out, there is a connector behind it.

Fuser and transfer roller position sketch

There are two further cautions about the fuser:

  • The exit sensor actuator is fragile and protrudes from the rear, take care not to bend or break it.
  • If the printer has warned that the fuser is exhausted it may need the fuser use count resetting. If your machine was on contract the supplier may have changed the password, preventing the repair being completed

In previous versions of this printer (SCX-6345 ) the fuser heater was inductive - a coil in the fuser was fed RF from the IH-PBA. Samsung said of the IH-PBA induction heating is a method of providing fast, consistent heat for fuser heat roller. The IH inverter has improved Heating Efficiency up to 35-40% over e-Coil System . Some Xerox printers adopted the same induction heating method but were apparently less reliable. It seems the idea has been dropped and that the fuser now uses twin lamps instead.

There still is a fuser control board at the top left of the printer just under the exit housing. The picture and description in the service manual have changed. However some diagrams in the service manual still seem to reference the old part - presumably they were inherited from older machines and updating forgotten.

Xerox use the same engine for their WorkCentre4250 and WorkCentre4260 machines. The fusers are likely to be identical.

Transfer roller sketch

Maintenance Kit B

Maintenance Kit. SCX-V6555B

Contains

  • Transfer Roller JC97-02287A 125K
  • Quick Install Guide

Transfer rollers hold a static charge against the underside of the paper so that toner is pulled from the drum onto the page. The transfer roller is gradually chipped by the leading edge of the paper and contaminated by paper dust.

When the transfer roller is no longer doing it's job properly the print tends to be faded, lacking contrast and the blacks may not be solid. There will be excess waste toner because material that was on the drum did not transfer. The transfer roller is visible in the right hand side of the machine when the cover is open and just clips in and out buy now  .

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Environment

The fusers in maintenance kits are not very valuable in terms of metal content; however they can have some value for refurbishing. How much refurbishing needs to be done depends on the expected use. Heaters, roller surfaces and bearings are likely to need replacing before the unit can be sold as a refurbished device.

Samsung list the parts for people to repair fusers. This isn't really aimed at individuals doing a one-off job, stripping and rebuilding a fuer needs some mechanical and electrical knowledge. Copier companies often store up fuser cores until they have a slack day in the repair centre - then refurbishing old cores is a worthwile money-saving job.

Refurbished fusers are generally less reliable than new products from the factory. A complete set of new components to make a fuser will tend to be more expensive than buying the made item (because the logistics to move one set of components is much more complicated) . However if you have a fuser with a damaged heater it is good to be able to buy another.