MPC4503 copy quality issue in colour text/photo mode only

[withnail]

I have faint colours when copying in colour text/photo mode only, any other mode in colour is fine, single colours are fine. Have reloaded the NVRAM data from original run up, replaced scanner block, scanner board, ipu, hard drive, controller, bcu, NVRAM on bcu, ops panel, updated firmware.

Single colours are fine in text/photo mode any other mode: text, generation, photo etc is fine, would appreciate any help and have attached samples of good and bad copies.

TextPhoto issue MPC4503.pdf

[davel]

Have you cleaned optics and done ACC, how does printer test page look.

[withnail]

Have you cleaned optics and done ACC, how does printer test page look.

All other print outs such as printer test page and ACC scales are fine, the optics are spotless as other original type selections such as text, generation, photo are in perfect quality when copied.

Unfortunately the SBU test patterns are only in one colour so printing these doesn't help as single colours are fine.

[slimslob]

All other print outs such as printer test page and ACC scales are fine, the optics are spotless as other original type selections such as text, generation, photo are in perfect quality when copied.

Unfortunately the SBU test patterns are only in one colour so printing these doesn't help as single colours are fine.

That still does not answer the question as to whether you have run ACC. All mirrors must be cleaned prior to running ACC. It also was at one time recommended by Ricoh that you run ACC after every firmware update. Another thing to bear in mind, text/photo has the worst copy quality as it tries to put everything on a wider grey scale that text only, resulting in loss of contrast.

[Lagonda]

Just check that someone hasn't put the copier into Text / Photo mode , wound the Auto Density down to zero then set that as default in Program Mode. I've seen sillier things!

[Cipher]

Ricoh recommend doing the ACC adjustments before updating the engine firmware.
I'm constantly reminding our techs to do the ACC on PDI's before they update them.

[kannuki2]

Just curious, what was the original issue that made you clear the NVRAM and replace tons of parts.

Did you do the below when you replaced the SBU?

When reassembling
Adjust the following SP modes after you replace the sensor board unit:
�� SP4–008 (Sub Scan Mag): See "Image Adjustment: Scanning".
�� SP4–010 (Sub Mag Reg.): See "Image Adjustment: Scanning".
�� SP4–011 (Main Scan Reg): See "Image Adjustment: Scanning".
�� SP4–688 (DF: Density Adjustment): Use this to adjust the density level if the ID of
outputs made in the DF and Platen mode is different.

[davel]

Just check that someone hasn't put the copier into Text / Photo mode , wound the Auto Density down to zero then set that as default in Program Mode. I've seen sillier things!

I think you may be right, it looks like some setting has been changed. Double check the birth certificate settings and the default text photo exposure setting.

[withnail]

Thanks for the replies so far. To answer you all, ACC has been done many times, the NVRAM data has been reloaded from the original run up so any changes in SP causing this would have been overwritten, all settings in User Tools relating to sensitivity of colour are at default, text/photo mode doesn't have its own light/dark setting (same issue whether auto density is on/off), have compared the Non Default SP data sheet with other models and nothing relating to text/photo is showing. The only SP I can find is SP4570 but no changes to MTF/Smoothing/Sensitivity etc have any change in the result.

[TonerMunkeh]

Try memory clearing just the copier application to see if that improves anything. A corruption may exist somewhere even after NVram reload.