Desperate plea: help with problematic Ricoh CL7000. Local professionals have failed!

[Herrmann]

seems, like your transfer unit doesent sit properly, reinstall and secure it with its screws

[104HeatonRoad]

i didn't touch the transfer unit yet! Damn, maybe it's time to look for another 7000...

[104HeatonRoad]

Hi everyone,

Well, some good news. I stripped out the transfer unit, took off the transfer cleaning section from that, it was chock full of waster toner, and the sprung blade mechanism seemed to be jammed by all the toner Gave that a good clean and reassembled, and lo! the printer is now firing up without making the awful grinding sound. So good progress! The printer is still going nicely and I no longer have to work out where I can get the money to buy a new one.

But! I still have the fuser unit misfeed problem, I'm pretty sure caused by the exit impeller. I took it off the fuser unit and can't see anywhere where a spring could possibly go, but it's just ain't dropping down enough to hit that photointerruptor and when it prints a sheet is stops half way out of the fuser. Can anyone confirm whether this is a sprung mechanism?

Thanks again! You guys have been lifesavers. Adam

[teebee1234]

The spring wraps around the actuator end of the shaft (where the paper contacts). It keeps the actuator in an upright position and springs back after the trail edge of the paper passes. Look around the exit area, you might get lucky and find it. You might try and contact a local dealer and see if the may have a junk fuser laying around that can be stripped. This is the same fuser used in the 2228c/2232c/2238c copier versions.
Here is the part number for the lower exit guide plate that includes the actuator. B1494010
It is attached with 2 screws and would be easy to swap out. I'd hate to see you have to pay for one though, those things get tossed all the time.

[sakura]

Here is a Service Bulletin on NOISE 4shared.com - document sharing - download G080G367_004.pdf

[104HeatonRoad]

Hi everyone. Well, I think I fixed it! The printer ran me off some stuff yesterday afternoon without problem. The spring on the fuser exit actuator is temporarily an elastic band, but it works just fine, and the printer no longer makes a noise. Thanks SO much to everyone who chipped in, I genuinely very much appreciate all your contributions. I have to say, having had this printer in bits (and being trained as a heating engineer myself), my respect for both the technology and the engineers who maintain it has risen exponentially.

Take care everyone, best regards, Adam

[teebee1234]

Sounds like you're fully trained on that model now. Give us an address on where to send your certification

[Shadow1]

Might not be a bad idea to order a transfer cleaning unit - did you happen to notice if the gears were starting to get eaten while you had it out. Usually when I see one clogged up I replace it because it doesn't have long to live.

[104HeatonRoad]

Thanks for the advice, I did have a look at the gears and they looked happy enough. I'll keep my eye on it. Since doing the work I am experiencing that paper drawn from the bypass tray (which is where I do most of my printing from) isn't printing quite straight. Is there an adjustment I have to run after removing with the transfer unit?

[Shadow1]

The machine should automatically run the color alignment and process controls when it warms up after you put it back together (provided the fuser was below 100 Deg - which is almost guaranteed) but you could try forcing the color registration. The transfer unit sometimes will not sit right in the lower guide, but it would be hard to get it back installed. Also, make sure the feed rollers are clean, and the side door is completely latched.

[zyqwiz]

There is no point spending any money on a CL7000 as they are so old - forget the CL7100 & CL7200/7300 (same crap but newer!) - get a SPC811dn or SPC820/821dn which are good