Ricoh Pro C901 fuser trouble

[jdkeeley]

Hi - I"m an operator (not a tech). Our tech just replaced the fuser belt on the C901 (which has only been up and running for a very short time now). Within a couple hundred copies was showing extreme wear (not a couple hundred thousand - literally 200 copies). He came back again today and took the unit apart to see if anything was 'rubbing' - but didn't see anything.

Any ideas what would cause a belt to wear so quickly?

Second, when doing some testing, it seems the wear marks are really apparent on 80lb coverstock paper and almost non-existent on the 70lb paper (both glossy)? Is this a pressure issue?

Thoughts?

[Tonerbomb]

Re: Ricoh Pro C901 fuser trouble

you will get wear marks in the belt from the edges of the media depending on weight and volume. i.e. 13x19 100# will leave wear marks at 13" and if your running 11x17 80# gloss for a while and then you switch to 12x18 you could see wear marks at the 11" width from the previous media run...

It's not a hard fuser to rebuild but it does need to be assembled correctly.....................

Are you running media that is in the paper catalog with the correct settings??????????

[Rorschach]

Re: Ricoh Pro C901 fuser trouble

What sort of wear are you seeing? Can you post a photo of it, so we can get a good look at what exactly you're talking about?

You mention that you see this wear cause image quality issues on cover stock, but not on text weight. It could be an incorrect paper catalog setting, slightly tweaked upper pawls that lightly scratch the surface of the belt, a slight scratch on the pressure roller that will cause what looks like a thin scratch on the stock (this will be more noticeable on cover than text, and sometimes is hard as hell to see on the press roller), bands on the front and rear of the media caused by running multiple widths, and so on.

Having it recur within a couple hundred clicks doesn't really sound like the multiple width bands that we see all the time on these, unless you changed media widths during that run.

[jdkeeley]

Re: Ricoh Pro C901 fuser trouble

I'm not at the shop right now but will post a picture of the 'tracks' later today.

I did try running the heavier paper at a different paper weight setting - the Ricoh has 7 grouping based on various paper weights (smallest weights grouped at setting 1 and heaviest weights grouped at setting 7). Setting 3 is for the 70lb and doesn't show any tracks when set correctly. The 80lb weight is setting 5, but I ran tests at all the other weight settings to see if it made any difference. If I set it for a heavier paper than 80lb (Setting 7) then the track marks were less, but not great (and not good enough to send out).

We are only running 11x17 size and have not run any other sizes through. So it wouldn't be marks from differing paper sizes.

Here is pic of tracks.IMG_1544.jpg

The tech also mentioned some sort of Ricoh 'magic eraser' for the fuser belt that I could maybe use to get rid of the tracks. Again though - the belt was just replaced and has only done 200 copies. When I hold the print with the track up next to the belt I don't really see anything on the belt that 'lines up' with the tracks (there aren't any marks on the belt the correlate with the lines on the page).

So - I'm still not sure what do to. We have a job coming up that doesn't use the 80lb cover stock...but after that, most of books we print want the heavier cover. I obviously can't change out the transfer belt every 200 copies!!

Thanks,
Jana

[jdkeeley]

Re: Ricoh Pro C901 fuser trouble

Are you running media that is in the paper catalog with the correct settings??????????

Setting, yes (see post above). Paper catalog - I think so? Do you have a link to where the paper catalog is posted so I can double check?

[Tonerbomb]

Re: Ricoh Pro C901 fuser trouble

Setting, yes (see post above). Paper catalog - I think so? Do you have a link to where the paper catalog is posted so I can double check?

the paper catalog/media library is available when you access the paper settings you mentioned for paper weights. That is provided your machine has the library .mqp file loaded on it. The papers (media) in the catalog are tested by Ricoh and when you select a paper from the catalog it has specific settings that are applied to the machine for the best output for that particular paper on the 901.

[jdkeeley]

Re: Ricoh Pro C901 fuser trouble

the paper catalog/media library is available when you access the paper settings you mentioned for paper weights. That is provided your machine has the library .mqp file loaded on it. The papers (media) in the catalog are tested by Ricoh and when you select a paper from the catalog it has specific settings that are applied to the machine for the best output for that particular paper on the 901.

Hi - so I'm not sure how I tell if my machine was an .mqp file loaded? I have 7 generic grouping for paper. See attached.



IMG_1548.jpg

[Tonerbomb]

Re: Ricoh Pro C901 fuser trouble

Hi - so I'm not sure how I tell if my machine was an .mqp file loaded? I have 7 generic grouping for paper. See attached.



[ATTACH=CONFIG]32276[/ATTACH]

The scratches in the posted pic look like they could be roller marks from the fuser exit section or possibly stripper pawls. There were several part changes for the early versions of the 901 for cq issues. the marks are always more visible on heavy solid fill. The last go round with something similar i had was actually resolved by doing the PCU pm on all 4 drum units and cleaning the doctor gap on all developer units.. I have to check on a 901 Monday, I'll see about getting pics to post then............

The operators manual will explain this as well, which Fiery do you have ??

follow the link and enter pro c901 in the search box, with manuals checked...

Ricoh Printer Drivers, Software & Brochures | Ricoh USA.

[jdkeeley]

Re: Ricoh Pro C901 fuser trouble

The operators manual will explain this as well, which Fiery do you have ??

Thank you so much Tonerbomb for your response.

The Fiery is E-41.

Yes - the marks are really visible on solid fill dark colours like the picture I posted.

I am looking at the manuals now. I would really appreciate you following up with the pictures you mentioned. I am very new, so will have to look up 'stripper pawl' - is that the little spring loaded 'fingers' on the bottom roller?

Thanks!!

[Tonerbomb]

Re: Ricoh Pro C901 fuser trouble

Ok been a little busy the last few days. But here are the pics I said I would post:

20160321_132932.jpg20160321_132725.jpg20160321_132738.jpg20160321_132815.jpg

selecting paper settings,then you get the paper trays listed and in the upper right corner you should see the paper library button. then you will see the available selections for a given paper for the selected tray. If you don't have a paper library button then the .mqp file for the library is probably not loaded.........


P.S. do you have the TCRU kits??

[jdkeeley]

Re: Ricoh Pro C901 fuser trouble

Ok been a little busy the last few days. But here are the pics I said I would post:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]32300[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]32301[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]32302[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]32303[/ATTACH]

selecting paper settings,then you get the paper trays listed and in the upper right corner you should see the paper library button. then you will see the available selections for a given paper for the selected tray. If you don't have a paper library button then the .mqp file for the library is probably not loaded.........


P.S. do you have the TCRU kits??

Wow Tonerbomb. Thank you so much for sending those. I don't think I have the .mqp file - see attached pictures. Can you tell me where I get that file and how I load it (I'm a total newbie and don't really know how to do anything!!).

I don't have any TCRU kits? What is that exactly?


IMG_6593.jpgIMG_0573.jpg

Thank you again for your time helping me!

[slimslob]

Re: Ricoh Pro C901 fuser trouble

Wow Tonerbomb. Thank you so much for sending those. I don't think I have the .mqp file - see attached pictures. Can you tell me where I get that file and how I load it (I'm a total newbie and don't really know how to do anything!!).

I don't have any TCRU kits? What is that exactly?


[ATTACH=CONFIG]32348[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]32349[/ATTACH]

Thank you again for your time helping me!

TCRU (Trained Customer Replacement Units) is exactly what the full name implies. Pretty much the same as FRUs (Field Replacement Units) but for use by the customer.

[jdkeeley]

Re: Ricoh Pro C901 fuser trouble

TCRU (Trained Customer Replacement Units) is exactly what the full name implies. Pretty much the same as FRUs (Field Replacement Units) but for use by the customer.

Replacement of what exactly? We are only using one fuser because we just run 11 x 17 paper (or 8.5 x 11), so no need for different fuser units. So I'm not sure what a TCRU would entail for my C901?

Thanks for your time!!

[slimslob]

Re: Ricoh Pro C901 fuser trouble

Replacement of what exactly? We are only using one fuser because we just run 11 x 17 paper (or 8.5 x 11), so no need for different fuser units. So I'm not sure what a TCRU would entail for my C901?

Thanks for your time!!

When maintenance replacement is due on the fusing unit, etc.

[Tonerbomb]

Re: Ricoh Pro C901 fuser trouble

there are 2 kits. kit A contains 4 pcu cleaning units, the ITB cleaning unit and the PTR assy and feed rollers and drum powder. The second kit contains a complete fuser with the web unit. All though you may be only running 11x17 when the fuser crashes your dead in the water. If you have the second fuser you drop it in and your running again. As for the .mqp file for the paper library, it's available through Ricoh's tsrc web site to dealers. That's also where firmware is.