another ft 3713

[bonnie750]

I've a fault with one of these old machines.first three or four copies are good then over the next ten the copy gets blacker from the far side until all but 3 inches are legible. pull the dev unit and check it over, put it back and the same thing, copies good then progressively blacker.

Any ideas out there (apart from using large hammer)

Thanks

Bill

[Zoren]

Any ideas out there (apart from using large hammer)

Thanks Bill

yeah, can make a good anchor out of it while crab fishing in the bearing sea...

this ricoh model is well known for over toned problem.. no matter how many times you tried to fixed this problem even with a fixed toner mode it keeps getting darker every time you make multi copies......

like the other thread: You did what???........

you know what crazy idea i have done for this machine model to make my user quiet.... after i cleaned the machine of all those toner spilled all over the paper path.. took out the toner bottle and put a maskin' tape on the slit where the toner is coming out during rotation. on that tape put several balance holes in it so that the toner will drop less than it supposed to do on a fixed mode settings.. it got better...

well, the user is more gladly to do the same thing after that toner is finished rather than seeing me fixed the machine and bill him for $200 service charged doing my crazy little idea..... but this is just me... i dont recommend it...

and if u asked another question about it, just read my signature

[Koosie]

I've seen those models do that when the optics and/or corona wires are dirty.
Also, the exposure lamp can be worn, and as it gets hotter from copying, it get darker, thus the black on the paper.

[schooltech]

Damn if I even remember how to get into service mode anymore on these. Years ago, I worked on a ton of these, and spent a lot of time getting them into adjustment. Sim 48 and Sim 56, if I remember, will be the adjustments that correlate to the two potentiometers in the back of the copier. 101 & 102 I think are the adjustments. Anyway, you'll run those sims to get the machine dialed back into spec. This will help in your copy quality with light & dark copies.

Anyway, once you get these sims dialed in, and meter TP 101 (there are only a few) and it will give you output of the ID board so you know it's working properly.

Again, it's been a long time since I've been on these, but I was able to get them to run really well (given the machine,) but they need to be dialed in and checked on a regular basis.

[Zoren]

thats right... if those adjustments are out of range, you wish you werent in front of that machine... even if you got it right today 1 or 2 weeks later the machine gets back to its old problem...

but they need to be dialed in and checked on a regular basis.

and if the machine isnt in contract maintenance you cant just visit the machine and check it again on a regular basis thats the problem. if im in front of the machine now, 3713 is more easier to rectify with this problem compare with 4480

[bonnie750]

Thanks to all those who replied. I was told that it could be the exposure lamp causing the problem, or possibly condensation. I'll go with the lamp and put a sales lead in and get rid of it..

Bill

[schooltech]

You know, I just have to say this.....

What in the f* is wrong with salespeople who don't go out and call on an analog 13 cpm machine that have been discontinued for many, many years?

Someone who is on top of things would at least OCCASIONALLY visit accounts, even Time and Material customers---hell, that's still a lead.

Anyway, I needed to get that off of my chest, as in all of the years I've been doing this (until migrating to the public sector) I STILL CANNOT BELIEVE that machines continue to slip through the cracks.

But, if a SERVICE TECH can't account for a certain amount of time, or uses too many parts, or drives too much, or takes a bit over an hour for lunch, or tries to claim overtime on an account, or on and on and on........you never hear the damn end of it.

Of course, the exaulted salespeople cannot call on an account for four years and it's no big deal. Yeah, of course there are exceptions but, by-and-large, it's a disservice to the customer and the company.

Hopefully you can get this thing upgraded and try to get a machine in a newer decade and century.

[Lagonda]

Another one from the mists of time!
Condensation on the optics is your problem, easily fixed by installing a heater in the optics chamber if you can find one! I'm suprised these clunkers are still going, we buried the last of these years ago. Heat and humidity turned the foam seals in the toner delivery system in to chewing gum and they would dump too much toner and parts were unavailable.

[Kopyrtek]

C'mon schooltech let us know how you really feel!
I know how you feel.We have given sales leads on more analogs then i care to mention and they still want us to go out and repair what is in the field.
It is a dis-service to the customer to leave machines in the field that have clearly gone more than the life of the machine.
Yes i do understand that some have come to love and cherish "some" of the copiers that they have,but at some point they have to drag themselves into the digital world.
I wont write a book but we all know and live the same thing most of the time.

[Kopyrtek]

Sorry for the rant.Yes the lamp will sag after a few copies if the wires in the exposure lamp start to sag after a few copies.You will get darker copies the longer the copy run.Replace the lamp and your will be ok.

[Lagonda]

Dont have your problem here Schooltech. The word from the Big Boss is "We're here to sell new boxes, not keep the old ones alive for ever"
Which is OK by me when it means that all our 450's and 1045's are now in the tip but you have to wonder when you see perfectly good 1027's heading there as well.

[schooltech]

I wonder what ended up fixing this box?

When I was a service manager, I guess I was lucky in that I did sell quite a few boxes, and they were all existing customers. From the leasing, to the agreement, to the funding, I did it all. The salespeople would get a bit less commission on an existing customer rather than a new one, so they got left behind. Are you kidding? This is some of the best long-term income, and they actually appreciated a tech, who they'd see more than once, sell it to them. You're lucky Lagonda, as you can have motivation, but no implementation. Some places speak out of both sides of their mouth, so-to-speak, and I think most of us have experienced the double-standards. But, on a lighter note......

That aside, I do remember when these 13 cpm machines were flooded in the market, and as long as they were in a volume-appropriate environment they did OK.

I just had problems keeping them toned initially, until I ACTUALLY read the service manual, and starting implementing the adjustments and learning the voltage readings and what they actually meant. After that, they ended up being a decent little machine. But, now you add 10 years on them, and I guess a few lamps would burn out.

Have a newbie tech do his/her first clamshell open for a fuser change, and make sure it's on the edge of a table and watch the sucker start a balancing act at a customer's office. They won't do that again.

[tcypy1961]

another ft 3713

unfortunately or fortunatley I still work on a large number of these. never heard of the lamp as a possibility. usualyy just pull drum out clean all optics reset sp 96 adjust sp 54 worst case is clean all connections on main pcb. i had to replace the main pcb to correct on certain copiers. my biggest problem is trying to figure out why the copiers are only getting between 3,000-5,000 copies when they would get 8,000 copies per cartridge of toner. most my customers are mom and pop businesses and are happy or to cheap to replace and i can't afford to lose them.

[schooltech]

Ah yes, SP 96. It's been way too long. But that one will affect the machine copy quality, as I believe that was a white reference calibration or something like that that put the optics adjustment back into spec.

I would lean toward the unfortunate on those machines, only because there are so many better, more efficient, tech-friendly table top boxes out there. But, when they call, they generate money, so maybe it's a coin flip.

[Zoren]

unfortunately or fortunatley I still work on a large number of these. never heard of the lamp as a possibility. usualyy just pull drum out clean all optics reset sp 96 adjust sp 54 worst case is clean all connections on main pcb. i had to replace the main pcb to correct on certain copiers. my biggest problem is trying to figure out why the copiers are only getting between 3,000-5,000 copies when they would get 8,000 copies per cartridge of toner. most my customers are mom and pop businesses and are happy or to cheap to replace and i can't afford to lose them.

i agree on this... all i do is go on sp mode after everything is cleaned... were both new on copytech but were not new on 3713. i'd been doing these 3713 years ago and never replaced any halogen lamp becoz of "copies getting darker on multi copies only."