Afico AP3800: asks for toner but toner full

[Guest]

I have a Ricoh AP3800 which has been working well.

I had a run to do of 1200 A5 leaflets, after about 800 the low K toner message appeared, following another 100 sheets, "Add toner Black" was displayed.
I purchased a new bottle (although I did not think it was due) but still have the same message.

When I turn the printer on, I get "Loading toner" and a buzzing sound is heard from the toners every so often. Then after a couple of minutes, back to "Add toner Black"

I am not a printer expert but fairly practical. I have located the tube that goes from the toner hopper to what looks like a toner pump. There is toner in this tube.

Has the pump failed? any other ideas?

[aabarnes1]

Add toner message

You should check the sensor for that toner and secondly you could swap the pumps around and see if you get the same result.

[opusvl]

Thanks for the quick reply!

Where is the sensor?

The other (CMY) pumps have some cogs on the top, I guess i cannot reuse these?

Otherwise I may check on ebay for spares.

[aabarnes1]

Toner end

It,s awhile since I saw one of those, however I'm sure it's an optical sensor next to the toner housing. I'll look in the manual now and get right back to you

[aabarnes1]

Add toner

THe most likely cause is that the K pump is blocked, you mentioned it made a buzzing noise. It's a toner attraction pump so take it out and clean it- should work ok, you'll have to load toner 3 or 4 times though.

[opusvl]

Thanks for the advice.

The buzzing is more of a grumbling and seems to come from the toner hoppers, like it is trying to shake its own toner.

I will see if i can get the pump out to see if i can clean it out. I may get to this over the weekend, i will post an update with the result.

Thanks.

[Herrmann]

There are two Pumps having to do with the toner supply:
first, the pump behind the toner cartridges, where the buzzing sound comes from, it pumps air into the cartridges to limber up the toner in them. Check if it really pumps and the membran is ok.

second the toner pumps at the entrance of the developing units, one for each color, they are sucking the toner through the rubber pipes. You can see them after removing the drum cartridges and the developer units at the inner backside of the maschine.

Sometimes toner clogs in the pipes, triggering the "add toner" message. Remove the black toner cartridge and the black and yellow drum cartridge and developing units to have room to work, loose the rubber pipe from the black toner pump, take a toner vacuum cleaner and suck it out, reassemble and all should be fine Also check the pipe(s) for bents and ruptures.

Good Luck

[Llama God]

It'll be the toner pump behind the dev units in the back of the machine. It's a bugger of a job for someone who's used to doing it, worse if you don't! You'll have to take the drive off the back and vac out the coil system on the rear of the machine whilst you're on.

Having said that, it could just be a blockage in the white supply pipe from the bottom of the toner hopper - vac this through and make sure that you're getting suction, then replace the pump if necessary.

[category_five]

Where did you get your toner from?
Did you shake the toner bottle prior to loading it?
Did you hear rattling in your toner bottle when you shook it?

[Llama God]

Actually, I almost forgot the blindingly obvious. Remove the black developer unit, pull the shutter on the back open and see whether it's packed with toner. If it is, the dev unit may have failed so replace it. If it isn't, there's no toner getting through to the dev unit so it'll either be the white pipe blocked or the pump shot, as I said before.

Sorry, I leapt to the pump too quickly, they go fairly regularly.

[opusvl]

category_five:
1) The toner came with it, I have only had the printer a few months.
2) yes, I put new toner in and shook it
3) No.

Llama God:
I checked the shutter, there was not a large quantity of toner in there, I could clearly see what looked like a horizontal large screw thread.

Prior to the printer stopping, it was frequently saying "loading toner" suggesting that the developer unit was getting starved of toner. Does this indicate a blocked pipe more than a pump ; does the pump die quickly or could it be slowing or erratic?

I also removed the white pipe from the back of the pump and toner flowed out, not lots but enough.

herrmann:
I will remove the toner bottle and vacuum the white pipe through now.

If the pipe is not blocked, I guess it is time to look on ebay for a pump!

[opusvl]

Pipes vacuumed through, same error.

Whilst searching for toner pumps, I found this article also:

https://www.thecopiernetwork.com/printthread.cfm?Forum=132&Topic=15036

which suggests that I should do a "force toner supply" (may also be called forced toner refresh or OPC refresh) to re-prime the pump.

I think I need to get the machine in to "Service Mode" and I have no idea how I do this. I have just purchased a service manual and read it but now beyond my expertise.

If anyone is willing to talk with me on the phone, I am happy paying for your time to talk me through trying this out or advising where I can get a pump from if priming does not resolve the issue. (I dont mind calling internationally either)