[CQ] Ricoh 1015

[copicatt]

Customer wants me to get this thing going. I am canon tech, dont think ive ever serviced ricoh. I have the sm but want to get an opinion. The copies are really washed out, looks like developer to me, hasnt been serciced for several months. Anything else I should look at? Transfer roller looks ok to me. Anything special about replacing developer???? Thx

[Eric1968]

Re: Ricoh 1015

Looks like bad developer. There aren't any special things about replacing developer. If you have the service manual you should not have any troubles.

[teebee1234]

Re: Ricoh 1015

Also be sure to pull out and clean the laser glass shield. It's common for it to get dusted up with toner and give light copies (if that's the case then most likely it's due for a PM anyway).

[copicatt]

Thx guys, I will get some developer, do the initialization per the manual and clean it up...thanks!

[rthonpm]

Re: Ricoh 1015

Be very careful not to get developer in the gears of the developer unit: these models are notorious for having the gears get chewed up that way. Also be sure to take a crumpled piece of paper to use to clean the mag roller off, sometimes these old models get a coating from the developer on them.

[copicatt]

Re: Ricoh 1015

Thanks for the heads up.....

[copicatt]

Alright, installed developer. Cleaned it, made sure to initialize developer. Ran a copy and looks like crap. Background is present. Also on the first sheet of a run, there is always a black strip about half inch wide running from front to rear on the very lead edge, but on the Backside......then residue on down from that. Thats only on the first sheet of the run......took back apart and checked everything. Also at the end of a cycle, whether initialization or a copy run, theres always a little bit of a a ratcheting sound right before everything comes to a complete stop....what have I done...

[rthonpm]

Re: Ricoh 1015

Try this:

Take the drum unit apart (drum, charge roller, charge brush, cleaning blade) and put a little toner on the edge and top of the cleaning blade to lubricate it. Sometimes they will stick to the drum and cause all kinds of grief like this. These units should have the same kind of replaceable PCU like their slightly smaller cousins the LD117 family does.

Also check and make sure the developer isn't over full. There's often more in the bag then the machine can really take, which will lock up the drive gears.

I wish you luck on this bugger: this series has always been a PITA.

[banginbishop]

Re: Ricoh 1015

Alright, installed developer. Cleaned it, made sure to initialize developer. Ran a copy and looks like crap. Background is present. Also on the first sheet of a run, there is always a black strip about half inch wide running from front to rear on the very lead edge, but on the Backside......then residue on down from that. Thats only on the first sheet of the run......took back apart and checked everything. Also at the end of a cycle, whether initialization or a copy run, theres always a little bit of a a ratcheting sound right before everything comes to a complete stop....what have I done...

sounds like you have non oem toner - classic symptom of duff toner. I recommend you strip the dev box and check the white/black gears on the mag roller and the 2 inside th dev box as there probably mashed.

[copicatt]

Re: Ricoh 1015

sounds like you have non oem toner - classic symptom of duff toner. I recommend you strip the dev box and check the white/black gears on the mag roller and the 2 inside th dev box as there probably mashed.

I am sure it is generic toner, but the problem is worse because of all the background, there was some before but not this much. the gears seemed to turn ok.

[sandmanmac]

Re: Ricoh 1015

Never use a generic toner in any Ricoh machines. You're back to square one. Replace Dev again, but also remove the generic toner, disassemble the toner hopper and make sure to vacuum all excess toner out (there is a surprising amount in there). replace with OEM toner, then also disassemble the drum unit, and make sure to thoroughly vacuum all excess toner out of cleaning station etc. Clean the Charge roller, and cleaning roller. Reassemble, and problem should be solved

[copicatt]

I didnt realize they were using generic toner until after the fact, but should have checked. they want to see about upgrading now so maybe we can go this route. The company that sold them the machine wouldnt come service it, so they practically begged me to give it a shot. I told them I wasnt a ricoh man up front, so now I am quoting them a canon.....thx

[sandmanmac]

Re: Ricoh 1015

I didnt realize they were using generic toner until after the fact, but should have checked. they want to see about upgrading now so maybe we can go this route. The company that sold them the machine wouldnt come service it, so they practically begged me to give it a shot. I told them I wasnt a ricoh man up front, so now I am quoting them a canon.....thx

I've learned through trial (and a lot of error) trying to save a few bucks on service agreements, that no generic toner and very few generic consumables work reliably in Ricoh. It just results in way more frequent service calls, error messages, etc., etc. It's just not worth it.