MP5000 SC553 Have tried everything we can think of!!!

[jonezy999]

Gday all,
Having an ongoing problem with only one MP5000 regarding fuser codes. Machine has around 340k on it. Have tried replacing all thermistors and thetrmostats, lasted a few days. Next visit installed brand new fuser, lasted a few more days. Have swapped power supply, I/O board and BICU, all brand new from Ricoh for troubleshooting. Still throws SC553 often. All fans are working and installed in the correct position. Have sent SMC to tech support today, but if anyone would like to help shed some light on this, Im all ears.
Thanks Jonezy

Oh yeh, firmware is up to date too.

[Smee]

Dude...I totally think a lot of the fuser SC codes are to do with bad power...Spikes or crap coming down the line and the thermostats or thermisters just cant handle it. Its like there is not enough tolerance in the machines to handle dirty power.

I look after a MP7500 - completly different beast i know - and it has an SC542 EVERY SINGLE MORNING. Like you we have tried everything and they are getting another entire machine.

We have put up with it for a year and pretty much given up....we couldnt find any answers. Prolly not much help really or the answers you wanted sorry!

But the first thing i would do is check what time the SC's happen - if its the same time every night or day is it something switching on or off? heating? Sorry I cant be more help but thats the first thing I would check out especially with fuser SC's.

[barratec]

I think you made all the possible , Smee said right things. I suggest only one thing: try to install an UPS only for the machine, maybe the electrical network has some problems(noises, voltage peaks, ......).

[Polo-022]

Hi barratec... Do you mean AVR instead off a UPS, maybe?

[jonezy999]

Cheers all, doesn't seem to happen at any particular time. Just gunna have to wait and see what Ricoh Asia have to say.
What is an AVR? Is it a voltage logger?

[teebee1234]

Automatic Voltage Regulator - It will smooth out voltage variances (also called a Line Conditioner). But you probably do want to put a monitor in line if you have one available to check for spikes and brownouts over time. A cheap one will give you a simple display of the highest and lowest recorded value and higher end ones can download data to your laptop and give you a graphical reading of constant changes over the period being checked.

Ricoh has a partnership with Innovolt and these devices can be ordered with an EDP code if you can talk your manager into investing in one. Here's a cut and paste from the announcement letter...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IntroductionInnovolt Line, Power Filter Products from Syratec

1. Voltage surges caused by lightning strikes in the immediate vicinity of the equipment
2. Voltage surges caused by grid faults
3. Voltage swells
4. Overvoltage
5. Voltage sags resulting in current surges
6. Under-voltage
7. Transients from power outage.

Note: Most existing power filtration products only protect against type (1) of these disturbances

In addition to meeting all seven main criteria, Innovolt Power Filter products provide on board diagnostics in every device, from the smallest plug-in protector to the power management devices that Ricoh TSSC currently endorses.

[jonezy999]

Thanks Teebee. Thouhgt thats what it was. We dont have one, might have to shout a box of beer to an electrician around town.

[jonhiker]

we used a line monitor in a case of a new install of an mp7500 throwing fuser codes from the first day. turned out to be bad wiring in the wall, the tech put a meter on the outlet and found it had problems.

[jonezy999]

we used a line monitor in a case of a new install of an mp7500 throwing fuser codes from the first day. turned out to be bad wiring in the wall, the tech put a meter on the outlet and found it had problems.

I haven't had much experience with electricity, before I started copier tech work, I was a marine diesel engineer which only really use 12 and 24 volt. Will I be able to check much with an ordinary multimeter? This box is 60km away so if Im asking silly questions forgive me, but I just want to be well armed when I make the (NEXT) trip.

Cheers again for all the replies.

[zed255]

I haven't had much experience with electricity, before I started copier tech work, I was a marine diesel engineer which only really use 12 and 24 volt. Will I be able to check much with an ordinary multimeter? This box is 60km away so if Im asking silly questions forgive me, but I just want to be well armed when I make the (NEXT) trip.

Cheers again for all the replies.

An easy check it to simply monitor the voltage with a simple meter on the same outlet as the MFP. You are looking for voltage sags, so if you have access to a really nice meter you may be able to set it to capture min/max events, or at least get hold of one with a reasonably fast refresh on the display. I had an MP4000 throwing various fuser codes (mostly SC552's) or a mysterious issue of poor fusing that intermittently came and went. When I checked I found the voltage on the wall sagging as low as 98v, and where I live the nominal voltage is supposed to be 120v. Ricoh specifies a +/- 10% fluctuation is allowable, therefore anything lower than 110v gives me a leg to stand on when arguing 'bad power' issues.

This machine was in a home office temporarily while these issues were happening. The house was a looooong way from the transformer, the MFP was as far from the panel in the house as could possibly be, and the final nail in the coffin was the fact that the circuit the MFP was on also had a laser fax and a laser printer on the same circuit - in a different neighbouring room. When I convinced them to move the device to a different circuit my issues almost disappeared and when they finally got into a real industrial office property the issues went away completely.

I'd love to get a small device that can record AC voltage events that I can download and display graphically. Does anyone know of one that is reasonably priced (as in cheap enough to own my own, not one for the branch)?

[jonezy999]

Hey Zed,
Found this, have a look and le tme know what u think. Cant find a price for it yet, but it appears to log for up to 24hrs and has a heap of different displays.

Power Parameters: /Product Search

[Prodigal Son]

I have a similar problem, with dirty power I mean, on a different machine. It doesn't give me SC codes though but a lot of other funny stuff. I talked to an electrician about the concept of "dirty power" and he confirmed there is such a thing first of all, and that it might also be "tones" (I don't really know how to translate it), in other words disruptions from other electrical equipment on the same circuit.

After that I called APC and asked them how exactly a UPS works, and they confirmed that a UPS actually "cuts" the circuit. The unit that is driven by the UPS isn't directly connected to the power outlet so to speak, it draws it's power from the battery and the battery draws it's power from the outlet. Therefore, if you have a machine with these kinds of problems, installing a UPS could solve it. It works much like the voltage regulator teebee's talking about. The problem with the UPS is that you need a pretty capable one to handle the power consumption a copier has. If the copier consumes 1600 watts max, then you need a UPS that has the same specification. I don't know what is the cheaper option though, a UPS of that size starts at about $600 so it's not a very cheap option. Unfortunally I haven't had the chance to test this theory yet, but I do believe it'd work.

[paulg]

Power is certainly a possible cause of SC codes/faults on Copiers. Worth keeping those excess chokes you get from installs. keep in a bag and use on power cords of either the MFP or if your allowed the device cause noise. Cheap mini paper shredders often have no choke on them simply adding one will make a big difference. First noticed the difference at home where the Digital receiver TV everytime the shreder was used the picture went crazy. A coil wrapped around the power of the shredder no problems.

Started doing in schools and small offices with shredders, fridges (you know the type a years old piece of junk brought in from home by worker) and in quite a few cases repeat calls melted away..

Changing the ring the devices are on can help but often this means speaking to someone who knows the layout of the wiring which is easier said than done in a typical workplace.

Smoothing the power would probably get rid of even more issues. it is evident in some bulidings where the buliding is well layed out and equipped random errors do seem to happen far less often.