MP 301 Tonerproblem

[Zeldaman]

Hi there!
My fellows told me, that there are problems on some of our MP 301: You insert the (OEM) tonercartridge, push the green lever, but the bottle doesn´t open. They tried other bottles, also a complete new tonerhopper with no success. One tech removed the "sealing" of the bottle, but this ends up in a mess. Searching on the RICOH-side, but there are no information about this problem. Anybody else with this problem?
Greetings...

[copier tech]

This is a common issue on this model, first check that the old toner bottle cap is not stuck in the toner hopper if not then it is the PCDU that has failed, the gears inside shred, you cant order them separately so need to order a complete drum unit.

[Gift]

If the bottle doesn't open you probably have to check the claw mechanism. Once the green lever is up I recommend the customer to push that thingy with the metal part a bit so the claw is really open enough to grab the new cap properly.

It's also true that toner augers inside the PCUs break a lot in this series so one might not deal with a hopper issue in the end.

[Counsel]

Im guess the hopper isnt your problem if you swiched hoppers with another one, if you have an "add toner" message on screen you likely have a bad PCU. When replacing this however make sure you clean the machine out, put in new PC with service mode on, there is an add toner clear SP in the sp2xxx clear the message with the sp then initialize the new PCU with 2801 or which ever it is on this one.

If you dont clear the toner message and install a new PCU it will add toner right away to the new one and your initialization will be off.

[mongo]

He said he replace the hopper so its the gears on PCU. You can order them 3rd party off ebay for around $2.00 a set. They ship from China so its takes a weeks or so to receive them. I rebuild them along with Type 1515. The drums and blade from Copylite type 28 developer ( Partial Bag ) I have around $ 30 in the units compare to $ 110. Mongio

[Chicko]

Hello

Yep, all that the other guys said is totally correct. You would need to check these, start in this order

1) Toner bottle and the plastic valve on the top. Make sure its not stuck in the hopper unit.

2) Check the hopper unit. Could be blocked or faulty. Plus the claw tends to "break free" if that happens it wont work and needs replacement.

3) Gears in the developer unit in the PCU unit. Common fault and will need replacement of either the gears or the entire unit. Also check for blockages in the unit.

Lastly , I notice this on machines as they get older !!

4) The toner feed clutch unit on the machine that meets the back of the bottle to turn the bottle fails after a while. Change this and it resolve your problem.