Ricoh C3500 - total newbie with dumb questions ;)

[lilysdad]

Re: Ricoh C3500 - total newbie with dumb questions

The procedure for adjusting the scanner and printer registrations are in the service manual. Just do a PDF search. Also, if you are copying, check the edit/color tab at the bottom of the screen and make sure there is not a margin set as default.

AWESOME! Figured it out - thanks!

[TonerMunkeh]

Re: Ricoh C3500 - total newbie with dumb questions

Thinking about it - can you print out a 5-990-004, then scan and post it please? An idea of the current PM counters will help.

[lilysdad]

Re: Ricoh C3500 - total newbie with dumb questions

Thinking about it - can you print out a 5-990-004, then scan and post it please? An idea of the current PM counters will help.

Absolutely - will do as soon as I get home!

[lilysdad]

Re: Ricoh C3500 - total newbie with dumb questions

So I replaced the drum unit in the magenta and all looks good now as far as the streaking goes.

I'm seeing some POSTSCRIPT3 SD cards on eBay for relatively cheap - would this be something I should look into for photo book printing?

[TonerMunkeh]

Re: Ricoh C3500 - total newbie with dumb questions

If you're even going to consider doing that I'd check what the PM counters are at and replace the necessary parts. Oh and run original toner.

[mikadonovan]

Re: Ricoh C3500 - total newbie with dumb questions

So I replaced the drum unit in the magenta and all looks good now as far as the streaking goes.

I'm seeing some POSTSCRIPT3 SD cards on eBay for relatively cheap - would this be something I should look into for photo book printing?

Just make sure it is brand new and has not just been yanked from another machine. If so, it won't work.

[slimslob]

Re: Ricoh C3500 - total newbie with dumb questions

I'm seeing some POSTSCRIPT3 SD cards on eBay for relatively cheap - would this be something I should look into for photo book printing?

Only if you are going to be using a MAC or a PC software that requires a PostScript printer. Either way, remember this is not a production printer so do not expect production quality or speed.

[sturmtrooper]

Re: Ricoh C3500 - total newbie with dumb questions

Just make sure it is brand new and has not just been yanked from another machine. If so, it won't work.

I wouldn't trust a PS card from any ebay seller to be genuine new.

[lilysdad]

Re: Ricoh C3500 - total newbie with dumb questions

Wow - this thread is awesome! You guys are amazing and I couldn't have made this book without your help! If anyone's interested in seeing what I'm working on, you can check it out here: THE BRAVE FIGHT

On another note, I just scored a SECOND C3500 printer. My wife is psyched to have TWO of these in our house now, lol. Let me tell ya!!

So here's my latest issue. The black toner will print three or four double sided 11x17 (pic heavy) prints and then it announces it's out of toner. I pull the bottle and shake it, reload it and it it goes again for another three or four pages and the cycle continues. Makes printing a 34 page book rather cumbersome!!

I've pulled the rear covers off as well as some of the metal plates to try and see what's going on in there, but it looks like the inner mechanicals are buried a bit deeper than I anticipated, lol.

I've tried two different black toners and get the same result. When the printer is loading the toner I hear some subtle clicking noises - perhaps 2 every second and a half or so. When the toner bottle gets low on toner it does it less frequently as well. So I'm assuming I've got a stripped out gear or something?

Any suggestions on how to address this?

Also, the second printer I got has an SC580 error when you fire it up. I haven't read into it yet really, but purchased the machine planning to use it as a parts copier. It came with some toner and the drums look nice and new so I'm pretty pleased. I think I mentioned it earlier in this thread, but I blew up the USB port on the working C3500 so I can't print via USB anymore - had to network the printer and it's mega slow and doesn't have the drivers that work with it that I liked on USB. Am I cool to just swap out the main boards between the two copiers? I figure I am, but didn't know if there was some crazy, weird Ricoh thing that would turn the copier into a brick somehow if I'm messing with the hdd's and main board, etc... Any input here is appreciated as well!!

Again, thank you all for all the help so far!! My apologies for these lengthy questions. You guys are super awesome!!

[Lagonda]

Re: Ricoh C3500 - total newbie with dumb questions

Hi,
Sorry to say that slow to load toner and always saying out of toner when there is a lot left in the bottle is a very good indicator that the toner pump is on its last legs. I think its time to put your hand in your pocket and pay for a new one as due to the age of the copier the one on your spare MP C3500 is probably just as bad. The MP C3500/4500 were a good box in their day but the toner pumps were a week point. Fortunately the pump is easy to change.

Yes, you can swap the controller boards between copiers as long as you keep the HDD and NVRAM with the correct machine. The NVRAM is the piggyback board on the top left hand side of the controller board.
Also check that all the that the little switches on the little black switch block are all in the same place.

[lilysdad]

Re: Ricoh C3500 - total newbie with dumb questions

Thanks for the tip! Replaced the toner pump and it's back to normal now. However the magenta streaks have returned...

Swapped out the magenta drum for another and it still continues. Back to the drawing board.

Will work on the main board today as well.

Hi,
Sorry to say that slow to load toner and always saying out of toner when there is a lot left in the bottle is a very good indicator that the toner pump is on its last legs. I think its time to put your hand in your pocket and pay for a new one as due to the age of the copier the one on your spare MP C3500 is probably just as bad. The MP C3500/4500 were a good box in their day but the toner pumps were a week point. Fortunately the pump is easy to change.

Yes, you can swap the controller boards between copiers as long as you keep the HDD and NVRAM with the correct machine. The NVRAM is the piggyback board on the top left hand side of the controller board.
Also check that all the that the little switches on the little black switch block are all in the same place.

[slimslob]

Re: Ricoh C3500 - total newbie with dumb questions

Thanks for the tip! Replaced the toner pump and it's back to normal now. However the magenta streaks have returned...

Swapped out the magenta drum for another and it still continues. Back to the drawing board.

Will work on the main board today as well.

Did you swap just the drum unit or the complete PCDU? If just the drum, the problem could be the development unit.

[lilysdad]

Re: Ricoh C3500 - total newbie with dumb questions

Just the drum unit? Confused as to which part exactly should I look into for the developer unit itself? Is the developer unit part of the drum unit (located under the toner cartridges that pulls out)? Sorry, totally dumb here...

Just swapped the main boards and powered it up - kept getting crazy HDD error codes then realized I forgot to replace the NVRAM! Replaced and it fired right back up to normal

Did you swap just the drum unit or the complete PCDU? If just the drum, the problem could be the development unit.

[lilysdad]

Re: Ricoh C3500 - total newbie with dumb questions

Alright - it's nice having USB back again finally.

Replaced the black toner pump and it's doing it less now, but still happening. This was a used black toner pump off the other machine.

Question - can I pull a toner pump from another call on the other machine and blow it out with compressed air and swap in as black or will that F it up? Don't wanna throw another $100 at this thing... lol

[Lagonda]

Re: Ricoh C3500 - total newbie with dumb questions

Yes, pump swapping is possible as the only difference between the pumps is the angle of the feed in pipe (or is is it the exit pipe?) as long as you don't crimp the rubber tube shut you can get away with it.
The bit that actually dies is the electro- magnetic clutch on the the end. If you want to spend an hour fiddling it is possible to swap the clutches between pumps.