Ricoh Type 1027 PCU...somethings different about them lately.

[Foo]

I rely heavily on this PCU cartridge. I have been using the OEM P/N 411018 since the 1022's and continue to use it in the MP 2852 line.

But...something changed in the last month.
My supplier, Supplies Network has sold me 2 units that are without a doubt not being manufactured as all the ones I have purchased before.

Both have had to be taken apart to fix issues (dirty charge roller, marks on drum and both had too much grease in the drum ground end causing problems).
When I took them apart there are obvious alterations that have been made to each. Different types of sealing material around the toner chute...etc.

As most of you are, I am a detail oriented person. I see things non-techie people don't see.
It will be obvious to most of you the first time you open the box to one of these.

Problem #2...I'm now told I have to go directly thru Ricoh for any issues I might have with consumables. I was given the 800 742 6438 Ricoh number by my supplier to call (this is new, I used to be able to return bad PCU's to my supplier and I only had 1 problem in the last 10 years). A 35 minute wait the first time I call Ricoh, then no one had heard of anyone I could talk to about consumables or defective consumables. Tried a second time only a 15 minute wait time this time. And after 20 minutes of talking to this person he says I would have to call and pay a "Ricoh" technician to come out and determine if there was a problem with the PCU...or not.

At $200 a piece I'm on the hook for 2 now and that's not acceptable or profitable for a little "one man show" like me.

Anyone else seeing problems with this latest run of Type 1027 PCU's?

Thanks
Jeff

[DougD]

Re: Ricoh Type 1027 PCU...somethings different about them lately.

In my last shipment of 10 PCU's from Ricoh Canada, three of them were labeled Type 1027-R.
The boxes clearly state that they may contain new or remanufactured parts.
I had to take one apart to clean the charge roller because of a repeating dot.
Before I place my next order, I'm going to call Toronto and see if I can get a better price on the remanufactured PCU's.
With regards to returning product, you would first have to request an RA# (Return Authorization Number) and ship it back along with the warranty claim form.
Obviously you can only do that if you purchased the product directly from Ricoh in your country.
Cleaning the charge roller with water did not remove the little white spot that was causing the repeating dot.
I used a product called D-Ink to clean it and then wiped the roller with a damp rag.
The copy quality was good after that.

[Xcelsior]

Re: Ricoh Type 1027 PCU...somethings different about them lately.

We (Ricoh) were recently massively back-ordered on 1027s so a lot of 1027-R units got shipped out. The 1027-R (Recycled) are rebuilt to...questionable quality. Sometimes they last just fine for 60K, sometimes they last 1K and crap out. 1027-R is Part # 414825 [Ref to 411018].
If they were normal Ricoh/Gestetner 1027s, it may have been a bad batch, or thrown in the wrong box, but personally I have had no issues recently.

[copyman]

Re: Ricoh Type 1027 PCU...somethings different about them lately.

Sounds like your supplier tried to push you off to Ricoh for warranty claim. If you do a lot of business with that supplier they should take care of it. Or ask them to discount the price since you have to spend your time to open and clean these defective units. If they won't back up what they sell than use someone else. If I was paying a lot extra for OEM and getting rebuilt I would really be pissed! Especially if I had to open them and clean them.

[Codex]

Re: Ricoh Type 1027 PCU...somethings different about them lately.

We had a similar problem wirh with pcu units made in France! Without the big red "R" (ricoh logo) on the box

Inviato dal mio SM-G935F utilizzando Tapatalk

[sturmtrooper]

Re: Ricoh Type 1027 PCU...somethings different about them lately.

I rely heavily on this PCU cartridge. I have been using the OEM P/N 411018 since the 1022's and continue to use it in the MP 2852 line.

But...something changed in the last month.
My supplier, Supplies Network has sold me 2 units that are without a doubt not being manufactured as all the ones I have purchased before.

Both have had to be taken apart to fix issues (dirty charge roller, marks on drum and both had too much grease in the drum ground end causing problems).
When I took them apart there are obvious alterations that have been made to each. Different types of sealing material around the toner chute...etc.

As most of you are, I am a detail oriented person. I see things non-techie people don't see.
It will be obvious to most of you the first time you open the box to one of these.

Problem #2...I'm now told I have to go directly thru Ricoh for any issues I might have with consumables. I was given the 800 742 6438 Ricoh number by my supplier to call (this is new, I used to be able to return bad PCU's to my supplier and I only had 1 problem in the last 10 years). A 35 minute wait the first time I call Ricoh, then no one had heard of anyone I could talk to about consumables or defective consumables. Tried a second time only a 15 minute wait time this time. And after 20 minutes of talking to this person he says I would have to call and pay a "Ricoh" technician to come out and determine if there was a problem with the PCU...or not.

At $200 a piece I'm on the hook for 2 now and that's not acceptable or profitable for a little "one man show" like me.

Anyone else seeing problems with this latest run of Type 1027 PCU's?

Thanks
Jeff

Just a question, how is it cost efficient to do that when the parts to rebuild a PCDU are half that price?

[copyaction]

Re: Ricoh Type 1027 PCU...somethings different about them lately.

Just a question, how is it cost efficient to do that when the parts to rebuild a PCDU are half that price?

Half that price? I must be buying from the wrong place.

the oem drum and developer alone are more than half that price and that doesn't include the charge roller, cleaning blade, charge cleaning brush and gear kit.

then factor in the time to rebuild and the fact that many fail at around 30k when the developer migrates into the drive gears.

but I have rebuilt some in low volume installations with good success and if I could get all those parts for less than $90 I would definitely do more

[DougD]

Re: Ricoh Type 1027 PCU...somethings different about them lately.

Just a question, how is it cost efficient to do that when the parts to rebuild a PCDU are half that price?

When the Technician is paid $0.45 per kilometer and is on salary, and the rebuild still F**k's up even after following the book, it becomes expensive.
Trust me.
After 2 failed PM's on 3025's when they first came out, I soon figured out that Type 1027 PCU's and the A267 transfer rollers were a better deal for my companies bottom line.
And it is "My" Company.

[DougD]

Re: Ricoh Type 1027 PCU...somethings different about them lately.

We (Ricoh) were recently massively back-ordered on 1027s so a lot of 1027-R units got shipped out. The 1027-R (Recycled) are rebuilt to...questionable quality. Sometimes they last just fine for 60K, sometimes they last 1K and crap out. 1027-R is Part # 414825 [Ref to 411018].
If they were normal Ricoh/Gestetner 1027s, it may have been a bad batch, or thrown in the wrong box, but personally I have had no issues recently.

Recycled not remanufactured.
Okay then.
Trump needs to build a big wall to keep the recycled PCU's out of Canada.

[Foo]

Re: Ricoh Type 1027 PCU...somethings different about them lately.

Just heard back from my supplier.
They have had multiple calls from resellers having issues with copy quality on the recent batch of Type 1027 PCU's.
Here's the rub...they are marked with the 411018 part number.
It's obvious to me they are not.
2 calls to the suppliers customer service guy and I got nothing.
Then yesterday he calls me and offers to take care of the RMA "that has to go thru Ricoh".

It's becoming obvious to them there's a problem too.

And to answer the question about rebuilding them myself.
I used to do that along with a friend who also has a copier service business.
We both saw a reliability issues early on. Most (like mentioned above) barely reach 30K and had to be rebuilt again or worse thrown out. As soon as we went back to purchasing fresh (new) units the issues went away.
I'll continue to buy new...it's saving me money and keeping my customers happier...Win Win!

Jeff

[Mark Bbb]

Re: Ricoh Type 1027 PCU...somethings different about them lately.

Watch for "made in France" there are really bad!
We have had 2 pcu 1027 which gave a dot at only 30K (we us about 15 pcu's 1027 / year).
I use the rebuilding pcu's too, but they are only a little cheaper and you can get issues with spilling developer if you do not pour carefully the developer in the box.
Although I have the impression that the image nowadays is not the same anymore like it was for a year ago!
But I could be wrong.

[fshead]

Re: Ricoh Type 1027 PCU...somethings different about them lately.

that crappy design is why i stopped selling used midrange ricoh b/w units and went to color series mpc3300,mpc3501 mpc3502 etc etc..
life is so much easier now..as i recall the 2018 drum and blade are the same and charge rollers one could just clean,but the danm dev units
bushings will leak and make a mess...i