Getting around Transfer Roller Expired error

HOT TIP: You are in the middle of a hot project that has to get out today! The printer is busy printing your finished project document when, without warning, you get the message: ERROR! "Transfer Roller Expired" and your print job stops printing. What do you do?

The Transfer Roller on your Laser Printer has a fixed life expectancy. When its life expectancy is reached, it forces the printer to stop printing any more documents. You have been busy working and didn't notice that the transfer roller on your printer was nearing its expiration. Unfortunately, some printer parts are hard to come by locally and must be ordered online. My Xerox 6250 printer issued the dreaded "Transfer Roller Expired" message on Monday, but a new Transfer Roller can't be delivered until Friday. What do I do in the meantime? I need to get the print job out today!

Why does the Transfer Roller Expire? I assume that the roller, itself has a life expectancy in which it can print quality pages. The actual cause for the roller to expire is that, during the printing process, excess toner is scraped from the paper and stored in an area of the Transfer Roller. Once the storage area becomes filled, the spent toner is forced through a secondary storage area on the Transfer Roller. This secondary storage area is a clear plastic compartment approximately 1/2" x 1/4" in size. Once the spent toner is pushed into this compartment, a sensor in the printer prevents any further printing until the Transfer Roller is replaced.

The following workaround is a temporary solution to get your print job complete without waiting for delivery of a new transfer roller. The Transfer Roller workaround described in the Tip is for Xerox part number 108R00592. WARNING: This workaround requires some mechanical knowledge and is an EXTREMELY MESSY PROCESS. Care should be taken when following this procedure. You will need a Philips Screwdriver, a can of compressed air (such as Dust-Off) and a plastic garbage bag for this process. Here are the steps to follow:

Turn off the printer.
Remove the Transfer Roller following the manufacturer's instructions.

Turn the Transfer Roller upside down (the opposite side than was showing when you removed it) and place the the Transfer Roller assembly on a hard, clean surface such as a tiled countertop BE SURE NOT TO LET THE ROLLER TOUCH ANYTHING!

Two Philips Head Screws will be visible. Remove these screws, being careful to position the Transfer Roller so that the roller does not touch the countertop.
Carefully remove the plastic cover which will expose the spent toner. Be careful that the white gear does not fall off! You may want to perform the remaining procedures OUTSIDE!

The removed plastic cover contains most of the spent toner. Hold the cover, holding the gear in place with a finger and use your screwdriver to carefully extract the spent toner by scraping it into the plastic bag.

Once all the spent toner is carefully scraped from the container, take the cover and the canned air outside and blow out the remaining spent toner. You will see a covered secondary storage area on the front, right side of the cover.
Using the canned air, carefully insert the nozzle into the secondary storage area and blow out the remaining spent toner. Turn the cover over and look though the clear cover to verify that the secondary storage area is completely clean. Remember, this is the area used to sense that the Transfer Roller has expired.
Take the roller section of the Transfer Roller outside and blow off any loose toner.
Re-assemble the cover to the Transfer Roller using the two screws that were removed.
Wipe off any remaining toner dust from the Transfer Roller assembly and re-install the assembly according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Carefully seal the plastic bag and discard in the trash.
Turn the printer back on and you should be able to continue printing until your new transfer roller arrives!

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