2238C K Toner Issue

[Guest]

So let me begin by saying that I am a newbie, so please forgive my ignorance. I have been working on getting a 2238c running and I am having trouble with the black toner. There is not a shortage of toner itself, however on paper it looks mottled and blotchy at best. It is not clear and crisp as it should be. The other colors seem to print fine, and it does ok with grey as well just not black. See image below

The issue with the magenta has been identified as needing a new drum, so please disregard the magenta blotches.....

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

[Shadow1]

I assume the grey block is supposed to be black. Do yourself a favor and invest in some genuine Ricoh C-4 color test charts, or something with an assortment of density patterns, grey and black bars, alignment marks, and pitch lines. It really will save you a lot of head banging

Possibilities:

1: Really worn developer will cause poor solids, but this one looks too far gone just to need a developer change.

2: Dirty ID sensors / Bad Transfer Belt / Dirty Belt Rollers - anything that interferes with process control on these machines can cause light copies, but the machine usually starts throwing SC codes before it gets this light.

3: Developer Drive Stripped or disengaged. Sometimes its hard to get the drum stay seated properly when you tighten those 2 captive screws and the developer unit can work its way forward until the drive disconnects. The gears can also wear completely bald on the dev unit. The result is the same: no drive to the mag roller. Usually you see a good leading edge on a solid area, then fading as the developer on the mag roller gets all the toner sucked out of it. Probably not the case in your machine judging from your sample.

4: Toner Problem - 3rd party toner for this machine in particular has a really rotten reputation. Make sure they use OEM toner. If not you'll have to replace the toner, developer assy, and purge the toner lines... which brings me to another likely cause.

5: Clogged toner line - The density is low but its fairly even, so it looks mostly like the developer is just depleted. If the machine is not adding toner, pray it's just a clogged line.

6: Bad Toner pump. These do go bad eventually, especially as the click count gets higher and higher. They can be a real booger and a ball of snot to replace.

Good Luck!

Almost forgot - Damp Paper - usually all colors are weak, but sometimes the black is much worse than CMY, but its kinda hard to tell on your sample.

[eric8711]

Thanks

Thanks for the info!
The grey was intentional around the colors, to show shaded grey seems to be fine, but the splotchy square should have been solid black.