Ricoh toner tech tip

[tonerhead]

Today I had a service call for a Savin MP3555. The machine said add toner, the icon showed a full toner. Well of course someone took the empty toner out and reinserted it. Our replenish system did not order any toner for the machine. When I arrived the customer was begging me to get the machine running again. They had no additional toner on hand and they are 100 miles out.


They do have an SP8400 which is the printer version of the copier and they did have an extra toner for that machine. Both machines are the same except for the scanner. The toner looked identical in size and shape except the printer toner had a brown housing and the copier had a black housing. The housings are keyed different so they can't be used in the other machine. Also the gear teeth in the housing have a different pitch from each other.


I lucked out. By closer examination, I found that the gear and housing are screwed onto the toner tube itself. The gear and housing use a LEFT HAND THREAD. So if you grab the gear and turn it clockwise, it unscrews from the tube. I swapped the gear/housings and put the printer toner into the copier. It tonered up and the backed up prints and faxes started rolling out.


I've noticed on several other Ricoh models, the toner from one machine to the next is similar tubes with different housings. I would speculate they come apart similarly.

This info might come in handy in a pinch when you are stuck.

[luca72]

Re: Ricoh toner tech tip

Today I had a service call for a Savin MP3555. The machine said add toner, the icon showed a full toner. Well of course someone took the empty toner out and reinserted it. Our replenish system did not order any toner for the machine. When I arrived the customer was begging me to get the machine running again. They had no additional toner on hand and they are 100 miles out.


They do have an SP8400 which is the printer version of the copier and they did have an extra toner for that machine. Both machines are the same except for the scanner. The toner looked identical in size and shape except the printer toner had a brown housing and the copier had a black housing. The housings are keyed different so they can't be used in the other machine. Also the gear teeth in the housing have a different pitch from each other.


I lucked out. By closer examination, I found that the gear and housing are screwed onto the toner tube itself. The gear and housing use a LEFT HAND THREAD. So if you grab the gear and turn it clockwise, it unscrews from the tube. I swapped the gear/housings and put the printer toner into the copier. It tonered up and the backed up prints and faxes started rolling out.


I've noticed on several other Ricoh models, the toner from one machine to the next is similar tubes with different housings. I would speculate they come apart similarly.

This info might come in handy in a pinch when you are stuck.

they no longer know what to invent to make the consumables different, I put the yellow toner powder of an mpc2500, in the cartridge of my samsung x-press c430w, at home, and it works great

[DRichard]

Re: Ricoh toner tech tip

Today I had a service call for a Savin MP3555. The machine said add toner, the icon showed a full toner. Well of course someone took the empty toner out and reinserted it. Our replenish system did not order any toner for the machine. When I arrived the customer was begging me to get the machine running again. They had no additional toner on hand and they are 100 miles out.


They do have an SP8400 which is the printer version of the copier and they did have an extra toner for that machine. Both machines are the same except for the scanner. The toner looked identical in size and shape except the printer toner had a brown housing and the copier had a black housing. The housings are keyed different so they can't be used in the other machine. Also the gear teeth in the housing have a different pitch from each other.


I lucked out. By closer examination, I found that the gear and housing are screwed onto the toner tube itself. The gear and housing use a LEFT HAND THREAD. So if you grab the gear and turn it clockwise, it unscrews from the tube. I swapped the gear/housings and put the printer toner into the copier. It tonered up and the backed up prints and faxes started rolling out.


I've noticed on several other Ricoh models, the toner from one machine to the next is similar tubes with different housings. I would speculate they come apart similarly.

This info might come in handy in a pinch when you are stuck.

So...what do you charge the customer for this service?

[tonerhead]

Re: Ricoh toner tech tip

So...what do you charge the customer for this service?

They are contract toner inclusive. No charge, glad to get them running. Should charge Ricoh though for the toner stupidity. Why can't they learn to chip black toner cartridges? Why do only color machines have chipped toner? And thirdly, why does the printer version have different toner than the copier even though they are the same engine?

I know......it's all about the $$$$. We have to stock 2 toners instead of one.