Ricoh AP3800, CL7000, 3228,45 MPc2500, 3000 - MPc3500, 4500

[KopyKat]

But on these particular machines you need to make shure that the waste toner nozzle has the same length or you may have problems with stucked waste toner.

You are exactly correct. Saw one where a tech used a black PCU from another model and the waste toner nozzle was too short to activate the opening mechanism in the back. Result: The PCU filled up with waste toner and destroyed the drum and collection coil. And it puked all over the inside the printer. I was the lucky one that had to clean up the mess and figure out what the other tech did.

This may just be my opinion but unless absolutely necessary in a pinch I prefer to use the parts and supplies that are made for the specific model. The headaches and customer complaints if something goes terribly wrong certainly don't help the company bottom line in the long run. I'm all for saving money, but not at the expense of the customer, company and most importantly my time and sanity.

[E Winter]

Well, at least I had to clean up my own mess - in this case it wasn't about the money, we just had no black pcu in stock and I wanted to find a quick solution - I think it was a CL7000 pcu in a AP3800 in my case

But I agree in some points - especially regarding most of the non-oem stuff. As for an example - we tried non OEM toner for the AP3800/CL7000 (against my advice) and that caused a lot of broken toner pumps, dev units, fuser and so on - replacing these pumps can be a huge pain in the ass btw. So almost every time we've tried something like this it fired backwards.

[Shadow1]

I never will understand why the PCU's for an MPC4500 are identical except for the position of the connector but the color units are 3 times as expensive. I don't mind cheating in cases like that

[Lagonda]

It makes me glad that I work for a major dealer, when a pcu gets to the end of its life I just chuck it and put a new one in. When the customers paying top rate for his copier they dont want rebuilt units with a high failure rate and patchy copy quality. How ever we do mod MP C4500 K units as we refused to get ripped off over the price of the coloured ones.

As for using developer in a completely different generation machine isnt the different melting point of the toner a problem?

[Shadow1]

As for using developer in a completely different generation machine isnt the different melting point of the toner a problem?

A lot of the developer fomulations are the same, the only difference is the quantity it takes to fill the dev unit. But here's the gotcha - some of the ingredient lists are the same, but the particles are ground to a different size or the amount of each ingredient is different (i.e. too much wax in B296) Prime example: the AF850 and AF1085 - the formula was the same, but using 1085 supplies in the 850 would create a massive dusting mess because it was ground finer to produce better halftones but the 850 didn't have the developer suction pump to control extra toner scattering caused by the smaller toner particles. Going the other way would cause loss of halftone quality, and eventually blockages behind the doc blade.
Bottom line - sometimes you can get away with it, sometimes your shooting yourself in the foot, but you never really know what will come back to bite you.

[schooltech]

Excellent explanation. I think I will PRINT THIS OUT AND MAIL IT TO EVERY CUSTOMER WHO'S ASKED THIS!!!

I think that, given the various flash points of the toners, there are minor differences in some dv mixtures.

Yes, sometimes you will be ok, other times, it is a big mess. I did swap the dv once in those machines, and I was ok, but it was not a regular practice. I was just lucky.

Can't we all just go to monocomponent? Give it up to the Kyocera & Canon techs. They never have problems, right? J/K

Each method has its positives, that's for sure.

[Lagonda]

Can't we all just go to monocomponent?

I can give you four good reason not to go down the mono-component road 1224 1232 3224 3232 'nuff said?

[Shadow1]

...and don't forget the AP206

[Shadow1]

Excellent explanation. I think I will PRINT THIS OUT AND MAIL IT TO EVERY CUSTOMER WHO'S ASKED THIS!!!

I charge royalties...

[Star]

Congratulations to all!

I do a little experimenting. But this has to be a nightmare to first figure out all these work arounds, and then keep track of what stuff will work in what machine, etc, lol.

Right now I limit changes to black pcu's on the MPCs, and 1027 pcu's on the b/w machines, and some feed tire changes. That is it.

You guys must have a lot of time on your hands. Maybe some of you would like to move here (where techs are hard to find), and get some work done for pay?

Regards

[Lea@ABM]

I know its and old discussion now but it's still worth mentioning:

I have tried using 1045 dev in 1015's and 1027's with no problem. (obviously measuring out the correct weight first )

Never tried Type21 though.. It's worth a try I suppose if it saves money.

[RebelPhoenix]

Hi dear,

Aficio 1045 isn't cheaper than type 21. You can use the type 21 dev. in 1045,2045,3045,1015,2015,2016, MP1500, 1600, 1075 , 2075, 2090, MP1350, MP7500 / 8000

[Ollie1981]

2. if you can confirm that type 21 developer can be used to remanufacture black RICOH AP3800 developers

I would seriously doubt it.

There is an essential difference between the black toners of B/W machines and the black toners of colour machines. B/W black toner tends to have a flatter more "matte" look about it than colour toner that looks shinier and more "glossy" so to speak.

[Shadow1]

Even if (and that's a big if) the mixture is the same, Color machines always use a finer grind to develop better control over halftones - with the wrong developer all the process controls would be off and you could end up with strange CQ issues. like I said before, this may save YOU some money, but can cause you and your customer some really strange problems. Your customers deserve better, even if you're willing to torture yourself

[claudioterrible]

supplies..

use the specific developer ,toner ,be happy , i dont want to be offensive,but what are you smoking?