DC250 style - Direct Pipe Assembly Replacement Instructions

DC250 style

 (DocuColor)DC240/242/250/252/260, DCP700/700i/770, 
550/560/570, C60/C70, J75/C75, (WorkCentre)7655/7665/7675/7755/7765/7775

Replacing the Direct Pipe Assembly (Waste Auger Assembly)
 

Xerox deserves some serious kudos where their Service Manuals are concerned.  For most of the decent sized machines, their books are truly impressive and very thorough.  Every once-in-a-while though, you’ll run across something that you’re sure should be in the book somewhere, but it’s simply missing.  In this case we’re going to look at one such missing piece of info.  Each family in the DC250 style has its own Service Manuals, and in none of them will you find a REP (Repair Procedure) dedicated to removing the Direct Pipe Assembly.  I figured this meant it’d be straight forward… but it turns out it's not all that easy to remove.  It really deserves some instructions.
  

   

                The Direct Pipe Assembly is the assembly which has a series of augers which transport the waste toner away from the drum cartridges, developer units, and also the IBT cleaning assembly.  The assembly moves the waste toner through tubes with augers toward the Toner Waste Container.  There are two versions, each of which has a few valid part numbers.  The two versions are extremely similar but they’re not interchangeable because the metal mounting bracket is different.

DC250 version:  (Part Numbers: DC250DPA, 049k06530, 068K24134, 068K24/136, 068K24137, 049k27440)
fits these models: DC240, DC242, DC250, DC252, DC260, WC-7655, 7665, 7675, 7755, 7765, 7775, 550, 560, C60, C70

DC700 version:  (Part Numbers: 052K13211, 052K13210, 052K96750, 052K96752) (fits these models:  DCP700, DCP770, C75, J75)

Symptoms of a clogged or broken Direct Pipe Assembly can take a number of possible forms.  Sometimes it’s popping noises as the angled gear (DC250DPG1) starts slipping past the gear on the long drive shaft.  Other times the noise goes unnoticed and the machine starts throwing xxx-xxx fault codes because the Main Drives get bogged enough for the machine to detect that something isn’t turning right.  Another common symptom is a relatively large amount of toner spilling out from behind drum cartridges or the IBT Cleaning Assembly.
    

Now let’s see how to get this messy thing out of the machine:
  

PROCEDURE:

1. First you’ll need to open the PWB Chassis (the metal frame with a bunch of the logic and driver boards attached to it)   Facing the rear of machine: Remove one screw near  the center top of the chassis (see photo #1), and loosen two screws on your right side of the machine (see photo #2)… then the PWB Chassis will hinge open like a large door, exposing motors, fans and air ducts. (see photo #3)
      
   
       
2. Next remove the 3 ducts (2 or 3 screws on each)… there are many screws which you do not need to touch… try to stick to the ones which attach the ducts to the frame.
     
3. Then go for the Metal Bracket which you’ll find behind the center duct (2 screws, see photo  #4).
      
   
      
4. Next you’ll want to shift the Waste Funnel Assembly downward, to allow clearance for the Direct Pipe  to be freed up.   There is one screw on the right side near the top which has to come out.  There is a second screw down low on the right which needs only be loosened.  Then shift the Funnel Assembly downward until it  disengages the Direct Pipe assembly.
       
   
        
5. Next (important!)  go to the front of the machine and pull out the Drum Drawer, the IBT Belt Module Drawer, and the Main Transport Drawer (the one with the fuser and the 2^nd BTR Assembly on it).  It is critical that these 3 drawers be out when you remove or install the Direct Pipe Assembly as this assembly engages the drum cartridges, DV  Units, 2^nd BTR Assembly and IBT Cleaner Assembly to take waste toner away from all of them. You need to protect the drums from light (either put them all in black bags or cover the entire drawer completely).
    
6. After this… you can remove the Direct Pipe Assembly (5 screws hold the Direct Pipe Assembly to the frame.  (See Photos 7-10)

Once all those screws are out… you can very gently work the Direct Pipe Assembly out of its place.  It is fairly tight, (end to end especially)  so take your time and be patient. 
  

When installing the new one, make sure to check carefully that it's fully seated in all its ports and all brackets on the unit are flush with the frame.  Don't forget to raise the Funnel Assembly back up to engage the Direct Pipe Assembly again, and return its screws to their positions so it can’t drop back down later during operation.

Now, there is also the matter of “why did this thing get clogged up and break in the first place ???"  The most common cause is if the Toner Waste Bottle is not fully pushed in, the toner can clog going into the bottle and then it backs up into the waste augers and stuff starts to break.  Other factors can be clumpy toner.  If toner is fused by heat inside the toner cartridge to form beads of hard grit, those little toner rocks can clog up the system (leaving a toner cartridge in a hot car has been known to do this for example).  Also we’ve seen that some aftermarket toners do not flow as nicely as the OEM product, so it may bind-up, especially if it gets a lot of moisture. 
  

What if you find that cleaning it out and replacing just the angled gear would do the trick?  If so, you can find an aftermarket gear is available (DC250DPG1) but the OEM part lists don’t assign this gear a part number as they spare the gears only as part of the complete assembly.

There you go… we just filled in one of the few blanks in the DC250 Service Manuals. 

Author: Britt Horvat, with special thanks to Kurt for his expertise and thanks also for support from whole Partsdrop gang. Originally published as an Article in the marvelous ENX Magazine - www.enxmag.com :)

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