MPC4500/MPC2500 ranges PCUs

[FRIDGEMAGNET]

Hi all

Has anyone had a problem with these ranges over the last week with lines on copies. It seems only able to be fixed by replacing the PCU.

It does not seem to matter if the developer/dev units are over or way under life and a large number of the PCUs are under life. Some people say it could be weather related but this is the first year we have had the issue.

I have fitted 14 PCUs this week and we hear that they are now on back order.
Another company I know of is also having the same problem so I don't think it is just us and wondered how many others had.

If so, has anyone found a fix for it?

[TonerMunkeh]

We've been told to clean the charge rollers and cleaning brushes to get rid of the lines if the PCU's are under life. If they're over, it's no problem.

[slot]

We also seemto be fitting alot of pcu at the moment i will need to check with my guys on the life as up till now we have always got well over life on them i have also been told there is a shortage of units panic

[zico21]

Not trying to be be jerk, but I'm really surprised that this is a new phenomenon to you. Charge roller lines are, in our experience, the only real problem these excellent machine have. The most common scenario for charge roller lines has been relatively long runs of images with a heavy density of a single color. There have been numerous threads discussing this problem here. There have been a number of SP changes proposed to help prevent this problem as well as some mechanical modifications.

Like many copy quality issues, I would say that this problem is more common in the colder months of the year when the heat comes on and reduces the humidity. Occasionally a customer may call complaining about the lines and when you arrive they are not present because enough pages of a low density image have been run and the charge roller has cleaned itself up. We have come to the conclusion that in such situations, or when a Tech has cleaned the charge roller, that the lines will come back soon and it's more productive to the just replace the drum unit rather than clean the roller. Of course, we are using black drum in all positions since Ricoh's pricing practices are curious at best. For what its worth, it seems like the second generation (MPC2700/3300/4000/5000) are much less likely to experience this problem.

Sorry I'm not offering much in a countermeasures, but there have been several long threads on this subject last winter.

Cheers

[msaeger]

I agree the cold does it. When we got the first cold snap there were a ton of calls on these then it slowed back down.

I have had some go over and some under the rating. I'm sure it all depends on the coverage. Those ratings do list some kind of page coverage. You aren't getting 80k if they only print solid sheets of toner.

I have been cleaning charge rollers if they have really low counts otherwise I just put new ones in.

[FRIDGEMAGNET]

Not trying to be be jerk, but I'm really surprised that this is a new phenomenon to you. Charge roller lines are, in our experience, the only real problem these excellent machine have. The most common scenario for charge roller lines has been relatively long runs of images with a heavy density of a single color. There have been numerous threads discussing this problem here. There have been a number of SP changes proposed to help prevent this problem as well as some mechanical modifications.

Sorry I'm not offering much in a countermeasures, but there have been several long threads on this subject last winter.

Cheers

Thanks for your input Zico.

I have been servicing these machines since they were launched along with the whole Ricoh range and have indeed seen the problems you mentioned.

We have always had the usual surges in calls when the weather changes but never like this. What I am seeing now is that 50% of our calls over the last 2 weeks were on the MPC3000/4500 range (not the newer C2 range) and mostly for the same fault! This obviously started alarm bell ringing and I just wanted some input from other people. If the calls do tail off soon that will be great, but with a shortage of PCUs being reported I wondered if there was another problem.

We have also tried cleaning the charge rollers, clearing out the cleaner units etc but these normally cause a recall pretty soon so we are left with replacing the PCU.

As an update Ricoh have told us that this is a European wide problem with at least 4 countries reporting it to them.

[zico21]

Thanks for your input Zico.

Your welcome and I'm glad you took my remarks the way I intended. I live in Western NY where the winters are long and cold although we've enjoyed a relatively warm November (I follow the Prem and have noticed the gloves and cold breaths from the players) so perhaps your cold snap has come earlier than ours. I'll pay attention to our drum consumption to see if we get an unusual spike in usage.

[FRIDGEMAGNET]

(I follow the Prem and have noticed the gloves and cold breaths from the players)

Thanks.
But why Fulham? Do you have a history with them?

[Venom]

I have always gone through a lot of those. Those pcu's have a lubrication bar which is like a bar of soap that rubs on the drum. I believe that is what coats the charge roller causing the issues. If someone is brave enough, try removing the lubrication bar and see what mileage you get. Since I work direct, I have no incentive to experiment on one.

[zico21]

Well, it started with the signing of US players, Brian McBride, Boccanegra, Dempsey etc. but suffering through the relagation battles for a number of years really won my heart. I like the way Roy Hodgson has developed the team. Just finished watching the US lose 1-0 to Slovakia on a crap penalty after having 70% possession for the game, but then it's only a friendly. Don't get me wrong, I don't think the US are world beaters, but they continue to get better. Now settling in for England-Brazil!......back to copiers!

Cheers

[paulg]

From what I see the weather,high coverage as Zico21 says does seem to make a big difference.

Very true about the lube bar which on several models seems to have caused problems in my experience.

[Lagonda]

My two bobs worth on the subject.
Over the last two years we have run these boxes I am quite certain the C/Q problems are tempreture related. If the temp drops 5 to 10 deg over the week end its short odds that on Monday morning we will be inundated with C/Q calls.
It seems that they dont like sitting idle over a period of time without being turned off as the air flow over the drums is a different temp at the front of the drum to the rear as only the front end of the drum has problems.
It is only really noticable on drums that are at 75% or more of their life. Sometimes the problem comes good as the copier is used but rest assured it will return!
We have tried cleaning or replacing charge rollers and even polished the drums but the only permanant cure is replacement.

Last autumn I got the storeman to increase his PCU order only to find that as autumn comes earlier in the souther states they had beaten me to it and Ricoh Oz was nil stock and back ordered us for two months. It was a tough two months!

[msaeger]

Isn't it weird how outside temp changes effect this stuff. The offices all are climate controlled but still when the outside temp drops cq problems occur. I always figured it was really the humidity causing it.

[Lagonda]

Isn't it weird how outside temp changes effect this stuff. The offices all are climate controlled but still when the outside temp drops cq problems occur. I always figured it was really the humidity causing it.

And why is it only the front half of the drum thats affected?

[Smee]

We clean the charge rollers once and right the counter on the PCU in pen. Next time someone goes back there for the same issue and sees the writing, we put in a new PCU.

We've kinda found the second or third time cleaning the charge roller isnt really worth it - we just get called back sooner.