MLP45 Constant Add Toner

[unisys12]

I have a MLP45 that will not come out of add toner. It will print the SMC Reports and of course it is over toned. Another tech has changed the TD sensor and ID sensor, as well as the the HV power supply and the IO board. Tech support suggested changing the NVRAM, but there's not part number so you have to order the controller. This is about a $2200 part and the machine only has 21K on it.

The other techs have changed the drum and dev several times, but it runs fine for just a little while. Then the machine gets stuck in add toner, followed by SC390 codes (TD sensor) and SC350 (ID sensor). The 350 is of course because the machine is so over toned that it coats the drum, hince the poor ID reading.

Suggestions welcome!!

[SGT_Snacks-64]

I have a MLP45 that will not come out of add toner. It will print the SMC Reports and of course it is over toned. Another tech has changed the TD sensor and ID sensor, as well as the the HV power supply and the IO board. Tech support suggested changing the NVRAM, but there's not part number so you have to order the controller. This is about a $2200 part and the machine only has 21K on it.

The other techs have changed the drum and dev several times, but it runs fine for just a little while. Then the machine gets stuck in add toner, followed by SC390 codes (TD sensor) and SC350 (ID sensor). The 350 is of course because the machine is so over toned that it coats the drum, hince the poor ID reading.

Suggestions welcome!!

It's a bit simpler than that... isn't it? Surley it's just 'something' to do with the toner hopper unit. I'd have imagined so anyway. Is it blocked, are the Mylars in the Toner Hopper unit intact, they break sometimes. Other than that I can't be of any help.... I wouldn't have thought this is NVRAM related though...

Well check these things and repost, just so we have a more clear idea of the problem..

>Check the chuck for the Toner hopper unit, is it grabbing the bung on the Toner bottle

>Have you tried a new toner bottle, failing that have you checked in the toner bottle, sometimes old bungs stay in the chuck and go on a new bottle, pushing the other bung into the bottle, causing Toner add problems. (This has caught me out before, it's really worth checking!)

>Check the Mylars inside the Toner Hopper unit, these sometimes break

>Vac the Toner Hopper unit, just to be sure that toner isn't blocked up in the unit.

>Is toner leaking into the front cover, this could be the sign of a broken seal between the Toner hopper unit and Dev unit

>Finally, tell us what you have done already. I'm sure you've checked the points above, but let us know.

I'm sure you've checked all this, but thought I'd post it just to be on the safe side before you order any NVRAM.

Hope this helps.

[unisys12]

Yeah, I forgot to mention what I had done with the machine didn't I...

- Today, I took apart and cleaned the toner hopper. No problems there.

- I verified that the toner motor was working, but swapped it anyway just in case it was a little weak.

- I did find that the bottle of toner that was in the machine at the time it reached our shop was a bit clumped up. In other words, it sounded more like sand in the bottle then toner. I did swap it out with a new bottle.

- I installed new upper right interlock switches. Although they seemed to switch fine when checking them with a volt meter and were clean, but I have seen these switches cause all sorts of crazy problems on the same family of MFP's. *

- Verified that the firmware was up to date.

* I noticed in the Gooses Guide, when looking under the B003 family listing, that there was a problem with the upper interlock switches being wired wrong. The 24VDC was wired to the wrong switch. Now, when looking at the Point to Point, there didn't seem to be a reference to a 24v line going to any of the switches (I might have been looking at it totally wrong, because even back in my Xerox days, I thought all interlocks worked off of 24v). When checking the switches with a volt meter, I was only able to measure 5v and 0v. What am I missing here... well other than the 24v.

[Scott_Lewis]

Some of the new Ricohs are NOT switching the 24v at the interlock switch. Switches 5v that drives another switch (relay, etc) on a PWB.

IOW, check the point-to-point to determine what the voltage really should be at the switch.

[unisys12]

The point to point states 5v, I am good there. Man! I was really hoping it was the interlocks.

[unisys12]

I did some more checking this morning...

The interlock I mentioned earlier - It was refering to the front door switch, which does have a switched 24v line to it. The voltages were good and wired correctly, so that ruled that out.

From there, everything pointed back to the TD sensor, so I pulled it and the service history on the machine and found that it was a used part. When I removed the part, I found that the sensor was not properly installed with the double sided foam tape. Rather it was installed with foam still on the underside of the sensor and SuperGlued to the dev unit. This of course damaged the sensor and slightly disfigured the mount on the dev unit. I was able to salvage the unit, I have a new TD sensor on order. As soon as it comes in, one day next week, I will update everyone.

[SGT_Snacks-64]

I did some more checking this morning...

The interlock I mentioned earlier - It was refering to the front door switch, which does have a switched 24v line to it. The voltages were good and wired correctly, so that ruled that out.

From there, everything pointed back to the TD sensor, so I pulled it and the service history on the machine and found that it was a used part. When I removed the part, I found that the sensor was not properly installed with the double sided foam tape. Rather it was installed with foam still on the underside of the sensor and SuperGlued to the dev unit. This of course damaged the sensor and slightly disfigured the mount on the dev unit. I was able to salvage the unit, I have a new TD sensor on order. As soon as it comes in, one day next week, I will update everyone.

Sounds a little more promising! I'm suprised other tech's wouldn't have spotted this sooner, surley they'd have fully tested the machine, especially as it seems to have been called in a good few times!

Botch jobs always come and bite you or someone else on the ass one day, lol

[unisys12]

Well, a little update on this machine...

I had to perform a memory clear on the machine to clear the add toner message. Once cleared and the new TD sensor installed (and fresh dev, which was trashed from overtoning), the machine passed TD Initialization just fine. I also had to reset the laser pitch, but that was ok. So long as this thing is fixed.

I was told this afternoon that I only had a day left to work with it, so I was really glad to be able to get it working again. I am going to set it up on the network, here in the shop, so we can all use it for the next day. I know of a big FFXII walk through I will print off on it. If anything will kill it, that will.

The other techs were told, by tech support, to change the NVRAM because the machine would not hold any of the process control settings. The tech told me that when he would make a change to something and open and close the front door, everything would change way off.

Everything seems to be working fine.... for now. {Fingers Crossed}

[SGT_Snacks-64]

{Fingers Crossed}

You fool! Luck isn't a factor with these machines! It's all something to do with the power of God... as far as I know..


Sounds promising though! Hope it all goes well.