Ricoh Aficio MP 3350 Toner Spilling

[Taggerung08]

Hi guys,

We have several Ricoh AF 3350's out in the field, but we are having a particularly nasty toner spilling problem with one of them that has been going on for a while.
The toner spills out of the hopper carrier section onto the PCU (1027 type) onto the slit glass that protects the laser. The 1027 is brand new (only a few thousand copies) and this is the 3rd PCU this is happening with, and the toner hopper is brand new.
In addition to that toner spilling, it looks like the toner is spilling out of the PCU itself (maybe from behind the wiper blade?)

Any ideas of what's going on?

[rthonpm]

Re: Ricoh Aficio MP 3350 Toner Spilling

There's no automatic detection for a PCU in this model so you need to run SP 2-801 after installing a new PCU.

[Taggerung08]

Re: Ricoh Aficio MP 3350 Toner Spilling

Okay, the developer gets initialized every time a new developer was installed.

[slimslob]

Re: Ricoh Aficio MP 3350 Toner Spilling

This is either a stupid question or a question for a stupid tech. Since you are using PCU Type 1027, did you remember to pull the small mylar that keeps toner from dropping into the development unit?

[copyaction]

Re: Ricoh Aficio MP 3350 Toner Spilling

this is fairly common on this series and it is more noticeable the higher the volume they run.
so far all of the ones I have run into have been fixed by replacing the toner hopper and the type 1027 pcu.
are they running more than 25,000 per month?

oh and of course you need to use oem toner.

[Taggerung08]

Re: Ricoh Aficio MP 3350 Toner Spilling

This is either a stupid question or a question for a stupid tech. Since you are using PCU Type 1027, did you remember to pull the small mylar that keeps toner from dropping into the development unit?

Yes, all the tabs get pulled including that one. Nothing obstructing the toner path, it also doesn't look like toner is backing out of the dev.

[Taggerung08]

Re: Ricoh Aficio MP 3350 Toner Spilling

this is fairly common on this series and it is more noticeable the higher the volume they run.
so far all of the ones I have run into have been fixed by replacing the toner hopper and the type 1027 pcu.
are they running more than 25,000 per month?

oh and of course you need to use oem toner.

Yes. At one point they were running a little over 25 K a month but that has slowed down with the end of tax season. Out of all these AF 3350s we have out in the field, these guys are running it the hardest. It seems like every visit were cleaning a toner spill. Almost with every 1 or 2 bottles of toner replaced.
We only use OEM toner, price isn't that different and I don't feel like having dev issues pop up because of generic toner.

[sturmtrooper]

Re: Ricoh Aficio MP 3350 Toner Spilling

I'm confused, why are you putting 1027s in instead of putting the PCU specified in the parts manual in/ rebuilding the unit? Am I missing something here?

[slimslob]

Re: Ricoh Aficio MP 3350 Toner Spilling

I'm confused, why are you putting 1027s in instead of putting the PCU specified in the parts manual in/ rebuilding the unit? Am I missing something here?

The type 1027 is what Ricoh lists as the supply chain replacement.

[Taggerung08]

Re: Ricoh Aficio MP 3350 Toner Spilling

I'm confused, why are you putting 1027s in instead of putting the PCU specified in the parts manual in/ rebuilding the unit? Am I missing something here?

The type 1027 is compatible with the AF3350's. They are also a little cheaper and have a sturdier gears in the back of the developer in my opinion comparatively.

[Taggerung08]

Re: Ricoh Aficio MP 3350 Toner Spilling

Hi guys,

After revisiting the site, I'm starting to think this is a mechanical issue caused by end user not installing toner properly. It usually gets much worse after they install a new toner.

Thanks for the help!