Starting all over again

[theengel]

After reading the post on "quality of our coworkers" I felt compelled to post this little gripe.

A local company who sells mailing equipment just lost their technician. I'm filling in, doing part time work for them to help make up for the loss of laser printer/copier work.

I feel like a damn rookie. These are just great big inkjet machines, made to print on envelopes. They're so simple... nowhere near as complicated as your average copier. But over and over again, I have to call factory support for, what seem like, really simple fixes. Yet, I can usually find solutions I've never seen before on any laser printer.

I'm an old dog, trying to learn some new tricks. It's just not easy.

[copiertec]

Re: Starting all over again

Congratulations! I have always seen them, but never worked on them and was always curious. It's the name of the game in our business, I believe once you become comfortable in your knowledge and stop learning about, you're done for. It's always intimidating learning a piece of office equipment, especially, when your just thrown to the wolves are told to fix it and the customer is right over your shoulder, asking questions. But, once you become more knowledgeable through hands on and plenty of service manual reading you can look back and think to yourself, " what the hell was I so intimidated about." I would say 90% of my learning was from going to the clients machine and learning that way. Sure, I've been to school for Sharp, Canon and Ricoh but the real learning in my opinion is out in the field. All of my networking knowledge came from Google, YouTube, hands on and lots of questions. I have too be honest with you, I seem more knowledgeable than some of the 'Newbie" IT techs that are being popped out of our Universities, today...oh, boy I could tell you some stories.

[blackcat4866]

Re: Starting all over again

I got one of those rare backhanded complements from a customer the other day.

I had just re-assembled a hang-on finisher, and powered it up. The customer was sitting at an adjoining desk. When it began to run it made a very loud banging noise, probably because I had neglected to plug in the lower limit switch.

The customer said: "I was really impressed with your composure. You didn't even flinch when it started making those noises! You've been doing this a while."
Me: "It's not the loudest noise I've ever heard from a copier, and it didn't even try to remove any of my fingers. Nothing to get worked up about."

[copiertec]

Re: Starting all over again

Ah... you had one of those moments, too- the banging finisher trick, it sure does wake up those mindless- office drones! I had the same thing happen on I believe SF-S14 or 15, back then they were called sorters, customers would knock the moving bins out of place ALL THE TIME, I forgot to plug in the stop sensor as well, turned it on and BANG,BANG,BANG! Those sorters were a pain to work on. Thankfully, I have always made it a habit of keeping my hand on the power switch at start up.

[subaro]

Re: Starting all over again

Here is something to ease that woe.

[fixthecopier]

Re: Starting all over again

The giant postage meters are the worst. Not made for the tech. We have had to buy special tools just to remove motors. Not really precision made either. I repaired one that was jamming at the US attorney's office by taking my knife and cutting the opening larger that a feed roller was rubbing.

[DAG COPIERS & COMPUTERS]

Re: Starting all over again

I got one of those rare backhanded complements from a customer the other day.

I had just re-assembled a hang-on finisher, and powered it up. The customer was sitting at an adjoining desk. When it began to run it made a very loud banging noise, probably because I had neglected to plug in the lower limit switch.

The customer said: "I was really impressed with your composure. You didn't even flinch when it started making those noises! You've been doing this a while."
Me: "It's not the loudest noise I've ever heard from a copier, and it didn't even try to remove any of my fingers. Nothing to get worked up about."

The loudest "Bang, Bang,Bang" I've ever had was from the Risogragh GR and RA series digital duplicators. This happens when the machine's clamp unit for some reason fails to operate...open and close the drum's clamp plate.the noise is scary and it can come with a prize, broken teeth gear. I've since learnt how to realign the angular magnet in position with the angular sensors.

[Ottawatech]

Re: Starting all over again

I feel like a damn rookie.
I'm an old dog, trying to learn some new tricks. It's just not easy.

I worked for Pitney Bowes from '82 to '99, and from '10 to present have been working on FP stuff, so if I can be of help...

Tim

[allan]

Re: Starting all over again

I got one of those rare backhanded complements from a customer the other day.

I had just re-assembled a hang-on finisher, and powered it up. The customer was sitting at an adjoining desk. When it began to run it made a very loud banging noise, probably because I had neglected to plug in the lower limit switch.

The customer said: "I was really impressed with your composure. You didn't even flinch when it started making those noises! You've been doing this a while."
Me: "It's not the loudest noise I've ever heard from a copier, and it didn't even try to remove any of my fingers. Nothing to get worked up about."

Nothing like a good grrrrr noise to wake you up in the mornings.

Like working on Oce machines for the first time with no clue or training.

[Lagonda]

Re: Starting all over again

Just to pull the thread back on track again......

Looks like we're about to end a 40 year association with one major manufacturer and swap to another. Not looking forward to having to learn how to read a different style of service manual, parts manual and negotiating my way through a new maze of finding info and ordering parts.
Please don't tell me its going to be a life improving challenge, I'm on the wrong side of 60, I don't need challenges, just a quiet life.

[blackcat4866]

Re: Starting all over again

... I don't need challenges, just a quiet life.

Nobody guaranteed you a quiet life. But I can almost certainly guarantee that this job is following a moving target. You'll do fine.
=^..^=

[ZOOTECH]

Re: Starting all over again

Just to pull the thread back on track again......

Looks like we're about to end a 40 year association with one major manufacturer and swap to another. Not looking forward to having to learn how to read a different style of service manual, parts manual and negotiating my way through a new maze of finding info and ordering parts.
Please don't tell me its going to be a life improving challenge, I'm on the wrong side of 60, I don't need challenges, just a quiet life.

Don't worry, Phillip, you've lasted this long; I'm sure you'll survive the remaining years before retirement.🍻

[Iowatech]

Re: Starting all over again

The giant postage meters are the worst. Not made for the tech. We have had to buy special tools just to remove motors. Not really precision made either. I repaired one that was jamming at the US attorney's office by taking my knife and cutting the opening larger that a feed roller was rubbing.

Heh, sounds a little like the first step on fixing a Riso with a master disposal jamming problem. Then again probably not even a little bit. On the RG to GR Risos, if there was a reoccurring master wrap in the VTR area, the first thing to do was to remove the disposal box and use a sheet metal adjusting screwdriver to increase the space between the disposal guides.

[NeoMatrix]

Re: Starting all over again

Just to pull the thread back on track again......

Looks like we're about to end a 40 year association with one major manufacturer and swap to another. Not looking forward to having to learn how to read a different style of service manual, parts manual and negotiating my way through a new maze of finding info and ordering parts.
Please don't tell me its going to be a life improving challenge, I'm on the wrong side of 60, I don't need challenges, just a quiet life.

Not good to hear...

Don't tell me you guys are moving to the manufacturer at the end of the alphabet.... ????

Moving around from dealer to dealer appears to be an on going trend at the moment.

I'm sure you'll do fine...

[Iowatech]

Re: Starting all over again

Just to pull the thread back on track again...... Looks like we're about to end a 40 year association with one major manufacturer and swap to another. Not looking forward to having to learn how to read a different style of service manual, parts manual and negotiating my way through a new maze of finding info and ordering parts. Please don't tell me its going to be a life improving challenge, I'm on the wrong side of 60, I don't need challenges, just a quiet life.

The mothership did that a few years ago. Then again it was only around 25 years here until that change, so perhaps not as much. Still, back then I had the similar worries, but a coworker told me a blank sheet goes in one side and a printed sheet comes out the other. Every last machine that has printed ever works this way. So while it will be irritating in the beginning, you've been doing this long enough that you will succeed. Well, unless the new manufacturer's facilities are in some guy's garage, and he assembles the machines with an axe. Then you're doomed.