Xerox WorkCentre 5945 / 5955

MFP Copiers, a Simple Introduction.

The WorkCentre 5945-style MFP copiers are still relatively new machines.  They’re well-built, B&W Xerox brand copiers which look to be a great new series for everyone involved.  In previous ENX articles, we took apart the fuser and learned how to work on and rebuild the drum cartridges. It’s high time we look at the machines themselves and get a handle on how to work on these fine beasts.

WorkCentre 5945 / 5955

The WC-5945 / 5955 machines are monochrome copiers with speeds of 45 / 55 ppm.  They are increasingly popular and seem to be trouble free for the most part.  We’re keeping an eye on some of the VersaLink models that just came out, as some of the new models share the same toner cartridge part numbers.  When we learn more, we will probably include them as a 5945-style machine.

The machines come configured with 4 paper drawers. Tray 1 and 2 are 500 sheet trays and tray 3 and 4 are side-by-side high capacity drawers which can hold up to 3600 sheets of paper.  Then there is “tray 5,” which is the bypass feeder.

They call the document feeder an SPDH (Single Pass Document Handler).  It can handle up to 200 documents.  Watch the sep roll on these: they get flat spots and need to be replaced more often than they should (5945DSR).  The more common and simpler of the two choices of finishers is the 2k LCSS (Large Capacity Stacking Stapler).  That’s nice because they’re the same finishers found throughout the C35 style, so they are already familiar.

Main Consumables / Supplies

Here are the main consumables and some details about each:

  • Toner Cartridge: US Sold Plan 2 pack = 006R01605 (stated yield = 22K per ctg. / 44K per case).  Note that most machines which are not under service contract are set up for the “Sold Plan.”  In those cases, the machine will reject toner cartridges which are designed for the “Metered Plan” version (006R01604).
  • Drum Cartridge: 013R00669 (stated yield is 179K).  The drum cartridge for this machine includes the developer station which is the lower half of the same cartridge. At first glance, this part reminds you of the C123-style drum cartridges. But these are longer and none of the parts turned out to be compatible with the older models.  Drums, blades, charge rolls, cleaning rolls, and CRUMs are already available out there.

    5945 Drum Cartridge

  • Fuser Module: 110v version = 109R00847 (stated yield is 250K).  The fusers are easy enough to get to (open the left door and a couple of thumbscrews will get it out).  The fuser module’s part number is 109R00847.  Fuser CRUM chips are already available. Heat rolls and pressure rolls for rebuilding these should hit the aftermarket field by fall of 2017.

    5945 Fuser Module

  • Bias Transfer Roll (BTR):  008R13178 (250K stated yield).

Entering Diagnostic Mode (Service Mode)

From the ready condition (or from a fault condition), press and hold the “0” button for at least 7 seconds. Then, while still holding the “0” button, press the “Start” button and release both together.  The machine will ask for a passcode. Enter “6789” followed by “Enter” on the screen.To exit diagnostic mode, choose the “Call Closeout” tab and select “Do Not Reset Counters” if you want to keep the fault history intact.  Then select “Exit and Reboot.”

Diagnostics Menus

There are 5 tabs in diagnostics:

  • Service Info Tab:  includes fault history and CRU (Customer Replaceable Unit) / HFSI (High Frequency Service Items).
  • Diagnostics Tab:  includes “dc330 Component Control” (for testing motors and switches, etc.) and print test patterns.
  • Adjustments Tab:  Here you’ll find “dc131 NVM Read / Write” and also “NVM Save & Restore.”   CAUTION: Never use “NVM Initialization” unless you know how to reload the firmware and all of the memory settings and any customer settings which are in the machine.
  • Maintenance Tab:  also includes fault history and CRUM / HFSI’s.
  • Call Closeout Tab: for exiting diagnostics.

Reading Fault Codes

As is often the case, these machines sometimes aren’t forthcoming with fault codes when they have problems. Here’s how to get the fault codes to show up.  Press the “Machine Status” button and choose the “Active Messages” tab followed by the “Fault History” button.  Alternately, if the “Machine Status” button doesn’t bring it up, you can also go into the diagnostic mode (as mentioned earlier), choose the “Service Info” tab and then choose “dc122 to Fault History.”

Resetting HFSI’s (High Frequency Service Items) / Consumable Counters

Note that the drums and fusers have CRUM chips on them so those are plug-and-play, but other components such as the 2nd BTR Roll will require resetting. Enter diagnostics and choose the “Service Info” tab.  Then choose “dc135 CRU/HFSI.”  Select the HFSI you want to reset from the onscreen list.  Then touch “Reset Counter” and finally “Reset” to confirm.

Backing Up NVM Data (Non Volatile Memory)

On these machines backing up the NVM data for the SBC (Single Board Controller) and IIT (Image Input Terminal, i.e. the scanner) to a USB drive is a piece of cake, so it is definitely worth doing for every machine in your fleet.  You should do this at your first service call and anytime you make changes to the NVM or need to reload firmware. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Connect a USB flash drive to the USB port on the UI (User Interface / Control Panel).
  2. Enter diagnostics, select the “Adjustments” tab and then touch “dc361 NVM Save and Restore.”
  3. The display will show the available data: “live” NVM data appears first and then any data which has been saved to the hard disk, and then below everything else you will see any NVM data which is already on the flash drive.
  4. You will first need to save the “live” data to the hard disk by choosing which NVM live data you want to save and then clicking on “Save to Hard Drive.”
  5. Then you can select the hard drive data entry and touch “Save to USB Device.”  (You can’t go directly from the USB to the “live” memory or vice versa. You simply have to save to the hard drive first in either direction).

If you ever need to “Restore NVM” from a backup, you will do basically the same thing.  First save the memory from the USB backup drive to the hard drive and then choose that data entry and touch “Restore Machine NVM.”  Wait and watch for the touchscreen to report that the NVM was restored successfully.  When you finish, you will need to select “Call Closeout” and then “Exit and Reboot.”

Firmware Upgrade

This you will find delightful. You don’t need to have any special PWS laptops to upgrade to newer software levels.  Just check first to make sure you are upgrading to a newer version.  If you need to reload the same version because software corruption is suspected, that requires a different procedure using an Altboot method (which can still be done from a USB drive)

  1. First do an NVM save (see above).
  2. Make sure USB ports are enabled. Log in as the administrator, press “Machine Status” and choose the “Tools” tab, select “Security Settings” and then “USB Port Security” and make sure it shows “Enabled.”  If you need to change it to “Enabled,” you’ll want to turn the machine off and back on again before continuing.
  3. Create a top level folder on the USB flash drive and name it “upgrade.”
  4. Copy the .dlm file into the “upgrade” folder.
  5. Connect the USB flash drive into any of the USB ports.
  6. The software upgrade screen will show up and after a few minutes the progress screen opens.  It is supposed to take about 5 minutes and then the machine will reboot several times and come back to a ready state.
  7. Run an NVM restore (see above).

Altboot from a USB Drive

This is similar to the firmware upgrade procedure above, but you will name the top level folder “AltBoot” and you’ll put the .dlm file in there instead.  For an Altboot, you will need to power the machine off.  Then connect the USB drive to one of the two USB ports on the SBC (Single Board Controller) and power on the machine.  If an error comes up really quickly, the hard disk drive is probably bad and you’ll want to troubleshoot the hard drive.  Normally, you will wait about 3 minutes before the upgrade begins and the progress screen opens.

Ok. I think that’ll have to suffice for this month’s article on the 5945-style machines.   I’ll have to come back again for a look at the fault code meanings and how to reset the ones which require resetting.

Britt Horvat
About the Author
Britt Horvat works for The Parts Drop, a company whose primary business is providing parts, supplies and information for Xerox brand copiers, printers and fax machines. You can find more information, including many of Britt’s past ENX articles on their website www.partsdrop.com.