Ricoh 2238C registration is off on colour copies

[Rick]

It seems like the registration is off in full colour mode . what adjustments would be recomended ?

[GhostInTheMachine]

http://www.copytechnet.com/forums/ricoh-savin-gestetner/31283-aficio-3228c-line-postion-adjustment.html

Can't seem to get the link to work but look at this thread. You will find your answers there.

[Shadow1]

If the machine won't do an automatic line position adjustment, you either need to replace the transfer belt, or clean the upper roller and id sensors.

[Smee]

I was playing round with 2 of these in our workshop side by side last week. They both had the same problem, printing the internal colour test page had the lines of colour overlapping each other and was just a mess. Also the automatic line position adjustment wouldnt work on either of them. First thing I did was print out the grid pattern and align all four patterns - got them spot on but the line position adjustment still didnt work ( both rough and fine adjustments ) and the internal print page was still quite a bit out, although better.

A call to our tech support said it could be either NVRAM, Laser unit, BICU board or IPU board - but it was a bit of a gamble and they couldnt gaurentee a fix. Kinda got too costly so Ive left them in the too hard pile.....

[Smee]

And I had already replaced the transfer belt assy and cleaned the ID sensors - forgot to mention that!

[Rick]

I cleaned the silver end roller and the id sensors with alcohol . I then did a forced toner denssity adjustment and it ran for a while and completed . then I did the line position adjustment but it failed
so I dont know where to go from here . any ideas anyone ?

[Shadow1]

The error means it can't align the pattern properly because:
a) its not being printed properly due to a process problem - i.e. dirty charge roller, worn drum or developer, dirty glass slits, etc.
b) the belt is damaged and the extra marks are confusing the sensors.
c) the upper transfer belt roller is dirty - remember the belt is clear, so marks on the belt, marks on the roller and test patterns all look the same to the sensors.
d) the sensors are bad or dirty. Had a lot get contaminated with oil vapors - never see it under visible light, but the ID sensors use IR. Alcohol usually takes care of this though.
e) the machine cannot adjust the laser unit.

Check the SC codes. Sometimes the machine pops 2 codes and only the last one gets displayed. Its possible you have a hidden problem - As the machines age, I've had the motors in the laser unit get stiff. Remember line position (actually MUSIC - Mirror Unit Skew and Interval Correction) adjusts for skew by shifting mirrors in the laser unit.

I print a few tests to check the process components - a skyshot in each color is a fairly good test. If you don't get nice even solid colors start there.

Next I check the belt, cleaning assy, and roller. I've had belts come from the factory with dings that make it fail MUSIC adjustment, and the roller needs to be bright and shiny all the way around.

Then I run Forced Process Control, Auto Color Cal, then Line Position adjustment. If it fails after that, you can look at some of the result codes to see which color failed, and get a little info on why, but I'd have to look in the book to tell you more. I've had to do it before, but its not simple.

Before you dig deep into the shop manual you can try to do an Engine clear. BACKUP THE NVRAM FIRST and DO NOT do an all clear - just engine. Then try running ProCon, ACC, and Line Position again.

[Rick]

Thank you I will try these and get back to you.

[jwcheek]

registration

Thank you I will try these and get back to you.

Had a similiar issue on one reset nvram, put all original settings in then did all the registration adjustments.

[bob scheffer]

tech bulleton #34 is for color alignment. It is quite involved but i fixed one doing the same thing! i can email it to you but i dont have your email or there must be a way i can attach it to this response but i dont know how. i just started using thi service today. do

[Rick]

my email is bairds@vianet.ca

[Shadow1]

Let the spam begin.

Not good to post your email on a public forum - thats what PM messages are for

[hekotez]

Re: Ricoh 2238C registration is off on colour copies

Diggin up an old old tread... but might be handy for someone out there!
Today i finished fixing one of these... it too was failing the auto color adjustment... and in color print all colors were out of alignment... printing a color chart, all colors were off... but specially magenta was wayyyyy out compared to the rest...
At start machine was pretty dirty... cleaned it completly... 1 new black drum and dev installed, new transfer cleaning blade... but after all that it still was failing the adjustment.
At checking the result of the forced line adjustment under SP, i'd get a 070707.

After alot of checking and trying... come to the conclusion that the laser unit values for the magenta color were completly out of the factory default value... my guess is that with every "adjustment" made with the dirty transfer... the values started getting off... till it was so out of range that the machine stopped beeing able to auto adjust itself. After that the machine sucessfully adjusted all colors just fine.