Ricoh MP C305SPF Fuser and more

[tsbservice]

Hi team.
First pardon my ignorance about Ricoh products. Normally I don't do any, but customer rather pickky and skinflint asked to fix one.
I think they have changed nothing or minimum of consumables yet.
Counter is 280k and machine wrinkles a bit almost every page together with ghosting which I think has Fuser roller diameter pitch.
Fuser itself looks bad. I read that Fuser life is rated at 120k.
At this count I suppose this lil guy is near end of life, but
few questions from there:
1. How bad is to change Fuser, assuming I have no manuals(need to quote them price for labour)
2. What else may cause these symptoms.
3. Couldn't find Fuser, Imaging units counters other than toners life in menus-maybe via web interface or Service mode?
4. How to enter SM would be nice, altough Google is always handy
5. If they paid any amount of money they will expect that machine will run another 100-200k without big investments, is that even near possible(I don't believe it)?

As always, any help would be greatly appreciated

[guitar9199]

Re: Ricoh MP C305SPF Fuser and more

Hi team.
First pardon my ignorance about Ricoh products. Normally I don't do any, but customer rather pickky and skinflint asked to fix one.
I think they have changed nothing or minimum of consumables yet.
Counter is 280k and machine wrinkles a bit almost every page together with ghosting which I think has Fuser roller diameter pitch.
Fuser itself looks bad. I read that Fuser life is rated at 120k.
At this count I suppose this lil guy is near end of life, but
few questions from there:
1. How bad is to change Fuser, assuming I have no manuals(need to quote them price for labour)
2. What else may cause these symptoms.
3. Couldn't find Fuser, Imaging units counters other than toners life in menus-maybe via web interface or Service mode?
4. How to enter SM would be nice, altough Google is always handy
5. If they paid any amount of money they will expect that machine will run another 100-200k without big investments, is that even near possible(I don't believe it)?

As always, any help would be greatly appreciated

Fuser is super simple to remove. Open the door, lift 2 levers, remove unit.

You can rebuild those fuser units, but since parts and labor are about equal to replacing the entire unit....so I'd just swap it out and be done. There's a Counter Reset (SP 3701-014) in service mode, but you'll need to check the manual for that procedure.

Black Drum is rated for about 60K on these, and Fuser, Transfer Belt Assy and Transfer roller are all rated 120K, so use this information as you see fit. I didn't even list the paper feed and separation rollers which are also rated for 120K. Consumables in a copier are just like tires on your car. They're only good for so many miles (clicks), then they need to be replaced. To say the machine will run 100/200K without ANY more attention is just not possible.

[tsbservice]

Re: Ricoh MP C305SPF Fuser and more

Thanks fot your help guitar9199.
Btw, nice new picture...will post if/when they decide to repair machine.

[tsbservice]

Re: Ricoh MP C305SPF Fuser and more

Follow up. Job done, super easy Fuser removal, didn't notice levers first time, mostly because rarely work on such user-serviced boxes. Thanks again for heads-up.
Customers happy, but after that boss skrewed up my work with another brawl with them

[guitar9199]

Re: Ricoh MP C305SPF Fuser and more

Follow up. Job done, super easy Fuser removal, didn't notice levers first time, mostly because rarely work on such user-serviced boxes. Thanks again for heads-up.
Customers happy, but after that boss skrewed up my work with another brawl with them

Glad I could be of assistance.

[Lagonda]

Re: Ricoh MP C305SPF Fuser and more

Sorry to tell you that the MP C305 is a turkey of a copier. Be prepared for weird and wonderful problems, i.e keep calling for yellow toner and frying expensive circuit boards. If you ever have to change a feed clutch take a packed lunch with you and warn the wife you're be home late.
They are so bad we stopped the salesmen reselling them if the ever traded one in. Second hand ones go straight in the bin.

[copier tech]

Re: Ricoh MP C305SPF Fuser and more

Hi team.
First pardon my ignorance about Ricoh products. Normally I don't do any, but customer rather pickky and skinflint asked to fix one.
I think they have changed nothing or minimum of consumables yet.
Counter is 280k and machine wrinkles a bit almost every page together with ghosting which I think has Fuser roller diameter pitch.
Fuser itself looks bad. I read that Fuser life is rated at 120k.
At this count I suppose this lil guy is near end of life, but
few questions from there:
1. How bad is to change Fuser, assuming I have no manuals(need to quote them price for labour)
2. What else may cause these symptoms.
3. Couldn't find Fuser, Imaging units counters other than toners life in menus-maybe via web interface or Service mode?
4. How to enter SM would be nice, altough Google is always handy
5. If they paid any amount of money they will expect that machine will run another 100-200k without big investments, is that even near possible(I don't believe it)?

As always, any help would be greatly appreciated

I have a new MPC305 fuser should you need one, can ship worldwide.

[copier tech]

Re: Ricoh MP C305SPF Fuser and more

Sorry to tell you that the MP C305 is a turkey of a copier. Be prepared for weird and wonderful problems, i.e keep calling for yellow toner and frying expensive circuit boards. If you ever have to change a feed clutch take a packed lunch with you and warn the wife you're be home late.
They are so bad we stopped the salesmen reselling them if the ever traded one in. Second hand ones go straight in the bin.

The yellow toner issue was addressed with a firmware update!

I've got dozens of these out never had any real big issues, nice little box IMHO.

[tsbservice]

Re: Ricoh MP C305SPF Fuser and more

Well Lagond, Sir. I wish you posted your experience a bit earlier.
Now boss get their money on this repair and they will expect another 3-4 years of joyful life from that box.
Thanks for warning me, better later than never.

[fshead]

Re: Ricoh MP C305SPF Fuser and more

I picked up 3 of these series and dont have an opinion on them.Found it odd what you had to do to clean the glass/optics.
I saw here a lot of negative so at 1st i stayed clear of them but my supply of mpc300,mpc401s dried up so i took a shot.
The shop tech at my dealer i buy parts/supplies from seems to love them.
For me i would work on the mpc300/mpc401 any day of the week and the spc430 crossover allows me to
get parts cheap.
So is it that these will become turkeys over time or is it the higher percentage of problems the issue?

[Lagonda]

Re: Ricoh MP C305SPF Fuser and more

As far as I and the rest of the techs here are concerned they are clunkers from day one. The calling for yellow toner problem can't be fixed by firmware as it is a problem with the laser going out of alignment. The check for this problem is to do a yellow skyshot and you will find that the rear side of the image is missing. The official Ricoh fix is to take the y/k laser unit out and re-seat it. The next problem this badly designed box has is that the toner bottle locking lugs break requiring you to strip the back of the copier out to replace the housing. If you are the unlucky sod who gets stuck with this make sure your diary is clear for the rest of the day. The plastic auger in the toner hopper has a much higher then usual failure rate as well.

Tip for young players, if you do have to strip the back of this disaster out to get to a clutch or toner hopper take photos of each part before you remove it. It might save you an hour our two when you go to reassemble it.

[fshead]

Re: Ricoh MP C305SPF Fuser and more

As far as I and the rest of the techs here are concerned they are clunkers from day one. The calling for yellow toner problem can't be fixed by firmware as it is a problem with the laser going out of alignment. The check for this problem is to do a yellow skyshot and you will find that the rear side of the image is missing. The official Ricoh fix is to take the y/k laser unit out and re-seat it. The next problem this badly designed box has is that the toner bottle locking lugs break requiring you to strip the back of the copier out to replace the housing. If you are the unlucky sod who gets stuck with this make sure your diary is clear for the rest of the day. The plastic auger in the toner hopper has a much higher then usual failure rate as well.

Tip for young players, if you do have to strip the back of this disaster out to get to a clutch or toner hopper take photos of each part before you remove it. It might save you an hour our two when you go to reassemble it.

thanks
i feel your pain and remember when i serviced a few brother MFC that to change a fuser roller i had to take the whole machine apart.
Like who designs this?
I cant understand when they designed the mcp300/400/401 and spc430/431/440 engine and "upgrade to this"??
If i was the engineer who made the earlier series and see the c305 design i want to go work elsewhere

[Zeldaman]

[fshead]

Re: Ricoh MP C305SPF Fuser and more

thnx
how would i tell if it was done on the 3 machines i just picked up?
Would i see anything if the tech/service provider didnt keep any service logs on machine.

[Brianneoe]

Re: Ricoh MP C305SPF Fuser and more

From tech Bulletin 10 [COLOR=rgb(0.000000%, 0.000000%, 0.800000%)]All units listed below and manufactured after the serial numbers provided will have the new parts installedduring production [/COLOR] MODEL NAME	SERIAL NUMBER
D117-17	W795P103830
D117-27	W795P10253
D117-29	W795P104526
D118-00	3F03-118867
D118-17	W805P200001
D118-19	W805P300136
D118-27	W805P100407
D118-29	W805P100806
D118-21	W805P200804
D168-27	E135P100001