ricoh 1050, infotec 4105

[cosmin_mocanu]

does any one worked on this machines?? What kan you tell mee about them. I would like to buy one for a copy center and i would like to know your opinion about the machine, and of course the issues they have.

[Shadow1]

This is one of the older 105ppm machines - you'll have all the problems associated with age, but the machine was decent for the time. You should be ok as long as the meter is under 5Million. I had a print shop with 2 of the 85ppm versions of this frame and they ran good untill they hit 7 or 8M and I saw them at least weekly after they hit 11M.
Make sure somebody purges the toner system before they move it and primes it properly when it is delivered

[schooltech]

They are actually pretty easy machines to work on, BUT there are a lot of things that a tech familiar with the machines will know to keep them running properly. I will completely agree with Shadow1 in that they seem to be more 'problematic' over the 5-7 mil mark.

Personally, once they upgraded to the 2105 series, they ran better. I used to work on these beasts all of the time, although it's now been a few years since I was a regular visitor to the accounts housing these machines.

If you're looking at them strictly for speed, I would even go towards the Ricoh 1075's as a reliable machine/engine.

Some of the things you'll run into with the beasts:

toner problems-large toner auger behind the machine, and toner supply tubes, you will need the red toner/dv gear that SHOULD be in the front door for reinitializing the toner supply system (usually takes about 7 minutes or so)

dv dusting/drum gathering developer

(You will end up having to replace the whole drum and developer assemblies)

You'll have to clean the dv doctor blade regularly

duplex unit clutches, paper feed drive clutches & gears get flaky

fuser is pretty reliable and really easy to work on, except sometimes the press bearings can be difficult to remove/reinstall

scanner pulley screws might break (experience on these)

toner that just appears behind the machine and makes the back of the machine look like crap---it just finds a way back there


Actually, nothing above is really difficult to tackle, the big trick is to know what to look for and, more importantly, how to "tweak" the machine to work properly. The main thing, I'd say, is to get comfortable with the toner add process, cleaning it out, and PROPERLY adding toner back into the system. After 5-7 mil though, they can be more difficult to keep in spec, as things really get worn out. Yeah, they'll go to 10mil or so, but they'll be as worn out as a $2 'you know."

[Shadow1]

Never had the scanner problem on this one - My accounts were mostly long production runs, so I guess I was lucky although I had plenty shear off on their little brothers (even the updated hardened screws would occasionally surrender. I started scuffing the shaft and hitting the whole thing with superglue when I updated the screws)

Forgot about the paper feeds - after about 5M replace every gear and clutch in drawer 1-3 including the drive side. Kinda a pain, but you'll thank me. BTW the new "X080 Series" blue feed rollers work fine in most applications on this machine and last 3 times longer

The only other thing is to check your power - we had a customer running a machine from 2 legs of 3Phase power which should yield 208v on the U.S. 120/240V power system, and works fine. His power was a little low at 199V and gave us all sorts of strange intermittent problems.

[schooltech]

Yeah, the 551/700 were notorious for the sheared screws, but I did have my fair share on these as well, although not nearly as often as the 551/700's.

I would also suggest to take out the reg. section (pretty easy) and thoroughly clean as well, of course on an as-needed basis.

I could see 199v being a bit troubling, so that is a good one------make sure that the voltage is really tight.

[cosmin_mocanu]

thanks for your reply's guys. I realy apreciate. Nw, i can't find aniwere the life specifications of the drum and developer. Can aniwone tell mee the life of this two consumabiles. Thanks a lot

[schooltech]

The developer should go to about 390k, but the PM schedule is 300k & 600k, which are two different PM kits.

The drums are a bit interesting:

1) The old a2949510 drum used to go 300k, I can usually get them to go beyond that just a bit

2) There is a new b0709510 that is "supposed" to go 700k, but they are more expensive, so I guess it's all relative.

If you keep up with all of the drum side seals, entrance seal, and developer entrance seal, this will help to extend the life expectancy.

I generally stayed on the pm cycle, and the 600k kit came with a fuser, press, doc transport belt, and a few other items.

So at 300k, do the kit, and at 600k, it will require the 300k & the 600k. Like I said about the fusers though, I've actually got close to a million on a fuser and press, so if you watch them periodically you can push them.

[Shadow1]

Ricoh states the PM life is at 350 and 600. The B070 drums cost me the same as an A295 drum and does last a lot longer - in fact, I have successfully been using the B070's in a lanier 5265 (AF 650) even though Ricoh says you can't do that.

The drum will make it to 700 or well beyond (1.2M was my record but the customer' idea of a good copy was "readable") Developer will last well beyond 350 as well, but solids start to get weak, and beyond 500 will start to dust and build up behind the Doc blade. Again, it depends on the quality you expect from the machine, although pushing it too far will make it a pain to PM the Transfer Assy.

The most critical thing about these machines is to keep the charge wires clean

This fuser is the easiest to maintain Ricoh has ever designed. You can use the "enhanced" machine cleaning webs and play with the web operation time / interval to get some extra life out of it depending on what you are copying. Be careful what Hot Rollers you use here though - OEM Hot Rollers ONLY - we tried using recoats and had bad problems with offsetting if the customer was using anything besides 20lb (75gsm) white paper.

[cosmin_mocanu]

thank's a lot for the tips. And one more question. If you would have to chose betwen a konica 7085, and a infotec 4105 about the same as counter, that will you chose???

[schooltech]

I am not familiar with the 7085, but I bet techs in the Konica forum can give you some great insight on that model.

Looking at the specs for the 7085 on the net it looks impressive. But, the specs on any copier can look great on paper.

I would ask them, then make your decision.