mp2501 - CQ - Toner in recycling unit does not feed out

[Polarbear]

Good day

We have a strange one. An MP2501sp that has been properly maintained with all original parts.

After about so 2 weeks a smear pattern appears on the copies. Opening the PCU reveals that the area behind the cleaning blade is packed with used toner.

The recycling coil is working - we visually inspected it.

There is no excessive paper dust in the toner either....

Any ideas?

[Zeldaman]

Hi there!
What´s about the coil-system from the pcdu to waste-toner-box ?
Greetings...

[Polarbear]

Hi there!
What´s about the coil-system from the pcdu to waste-toner-box ?
Greetings...

Zeldaman thanks for the reply.

The MP2501 is like the old MP2000. It is a b/w box that recycles all the used toner back into the dev unit via a spout next to the new toner spout.

Like I said, the auger turns, but it is as if the toner removed from the drum, by the blade, just collects behind the blade and does not drop onto the auger and get fed back to the dev tank.

I cannot figure out why.

Only possible cause I can think of is that the toner is somehow damp??

[Zeldaman]

Hi there!
Sorry!!! Only saw the numbers. About this problem: years ago we had the same problems, there was 1/3 of the pcdu´s with this issue & some with broken coils. Had a lot of warranty-writing. We never get any information from RICOH what was the cause of this smearing. It was definitly no toner-problem. Also had problems with bad seals, the units blows out a mixture of dev & toner. I´ve heard that some of the pcdu´s are recycled from RICOH, and the quality of them is really bad.
Greetings...

[andy227]

Has that pcu been and opened and serviced by anyone previously ? Check for any missing bits, its easy to do on those. For example the white gear/cam that shifts the cleaning blade back and forth, in the recycle part, the metal plate that stops the toner packing in the recycle space.

[Iowatech]

Is the recovery blade in good shape? That's the flexible mylar next to the drum blade that catches the toner the drum blade cleans off. I don't know about that machine, but on the older machines I worked on sometimes the recovery blade would curl in towards the auger and cause something that sounds similar to what that machine is doing.
If that is the case, sometimes I was able to gently fold the recovery blade outward and get it to work for a while longer, but most of the time that part of the drum unit frame needed to be replaced with new for long term operation.