Lanier LD430c (MPC3000) Uneven color

[seansbar]

Hi, I got a tough one. This machine is well used in a print shop, he likes to print lots of 11x17 full coverage. It seems that all the colors are coming out uneven, especially the dark blues. Process black looks pretty good though. The machine has 303k color and 144k black.

Look at the samples, these are all sky shots when the machine is set to single color mode. Ignore the thin white lines, they are artifacts from my cheap scanner

Here is what I have replaced:
everything!. The transfer unit is new, so is the roller on the right. The fuser has ~1000 pages. All new developer, 4 colors. The magenta drum is new, yellow drum has, 44k, cyan- 25k, black-56k.

Hey is trying to use 24 pound paper. I have tried all the tray settings, thick 1, thick2, middle thick, thick3, no changes.

A tech was helping me, tried different paper, same results. he then tried a thicker card stock, not pictured, it looked more even but still uneven. his theory is that the texture of the paper, being rough, is not mixing correctly in the fuser on the low spots.

I crashed stopped it and looked at the transfer belt, and it looks like the toner is laid on the belt uneven.

They only codes is 991 several times in the past.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm going try to help this guy, as I have seen this machine perform better, I know this machine is not meant for this kind of quality, but I need to exhaust all leads before giving up.

Thanks
Patrick
sg1.pdf

[rthonpm]

Re: Lanier LD430c (MPC3000) Uneven color

This is a limitation of the device. This machine was built as an office colour box, not a graphics box. Full bleed DLT will look good in spot runs, but full time or heavy use just won't hold up. This is all after the horse has left the barn so to try and improve things:

1. Have the customer use the best quality paper they can without murdering their budget. Paper is to a copier what gas is to a car: the better the fuel, the better the car runs and the same for a copier. 24# stock is well within range of the machine, but is he using standard bond, or laser paper? Laser paper will usually give better results than bond paper as it's a smoother surface than the pulpy bond surface. It also runs less risk of getting paper dust crammed into the developer.

2. Calibrate the print and copy functions and clean the optics. If the machine is seeing what it's supposed to see then it will work better. Print shops are usually full of paper dust and machines that run for a good chunk of the day. The other advantage of the calibration is that the customer can also do it. Just make sure to put a few extra pieces of paper behind the sample to keep light from bleeding through. Sometimes even using the laser toothbrush every few days can do a world of good.

Print shops are tough, and some of the most demanding customers. Good luck! For future, I always had salespeople try to get a fiery sold to them. The external print controller is much more durable when it comes to colour matching and such.

[trottinbob]

Re: Lanier LD430c (MPC3000) Uneven color

I tend to agree with rthonpm. On first look I would guess paper type/quality as your issue. This is a "Business Color" or "B to C" product . But I am a big fan of the Engine series that runs in the MPC3000 MPC4500 and do find them quite capable. Per Ricoh Bulletin # 12 (Reissue) For paper that is 82g-105g / 22lb-28lb, setting.
I sometimes tell my customers - when in doubt ..... choose thick 3. But the actual makeup of the paper is the key.

Since you have replaced so much hardware I would look for a voltage check. Does the customer run machine plugged into a dedicated power source ? Try a different plug. Run a quick check on your IPU with SP4904-2. This test is quick and should return all zeros if all is good with the IPU.
(any reading of 3 or 5 leads to a voltage/power/static electricity/high voltage problem)

Try switching drivers also. You do not mention what their using. I would assume a print shop is using postscript - that would be my first choice. Second - Try the RPCS driver and load up the PCL6 while your at it and send the same job using all 3 drivers and see if there is a difference. The RPCS driver is often overlooked and can be useful with custom settings for quality output

good luck

[Gift]

Re: Lanier LD430c (MPC3000) Uneven color

Looks pretty normal to me

his theory is that the texture of the paper, being rough, is not mixing correctly in the fuser on the low spots.

That's a fact - modern ricoh color copiers don't use a high amount of toner applied on the paper (compared to the old engines with oil fuser). That's why solid colors looks not really solid with standard-office quality paper surfaces. You can buy color copy laser paper that has an optimized surface for color laser producs. That paper isn't glossy style but way more smooth than standrd office paper. I think with this type of paper you can increase the results a lot - still it's not a professional or color-proof engine as already stated here.

[seansbar]

Re: Lanier LD430c (MPC3000) Uneven color

I understand that this machine is not production. I have seen it print colors more accurately than it is now, and switching paper is not helping. I just need to make sure there is no mechanical problem with the machine, as the customer is a demanding print shop, and my manager is not helping much. It seems when this customer purchased this machine, he was warned by the manager that it will not last long, but our company put it under maintenance contract anyways.

I have run the ACC for printing and copying. Funny thing is when doing the ACC for printing, the machine was not printing the calibration pages, it was putting them in the document server. Any one else have this issue?

I have tried all the thick/thin settings, has not made any difference in color, different results in fusing, but not in color.

I have ordered a high voltage power supply for now. I'll try the SP4904-2 next time I go, before changing power boards.

He has always used the RPCS driver, he is like the only client that does. I like the RPCS driver.

I'll post any results.
Patrick

[Gift]

Re: Lanier LD430c (MPC3000) Uneven color

It seems when this customer purchased this machine, he was warned by the manager that it will not last long, but our company put it under maintenance contract anyways.

At least there was a warning. Other companies put everything in contracts because everything is "no problem" with whatever^^

I understand that this machine is not production.

Even production/high volume engines doesn't always look good at this^^

and switching paper is not helping

Including color laser paper?

I have run the ACC for printing and copying. Funny thing is when doing the ACC for printing, the machine was not printing the calibration pages, it was putting them in the document server. Any one else have this issue?

No - that's strange. I've seen machines refusing to run the ACC if all trays uses non-default paper type/thickness settings.

[ucinn]

Re: Lanier LD430c (MPC3000) Uneven color

Hi, I got a tough one. This machine is well used in a print shop, he likes to print lots of 11x17 full coverage. It seems that all the colors are coming out uneven, especially the dark blues. Process black looks pretty good though. The machine has 303k color and 144k black.

Look at the samples, these are all sky shots when the machine is set to single color mode. Ignore the thin white lines, they are artifacts from my cheap scanner

Here is what I have replaced:
everything!. The transfer unit is new, so is the roller on the right. The fuser has ~1000 pages. All new developer, 4 colors. The magenta drum is new, yellow drum has, 44k, cyan- 25k, black-56k.

Hey is trying to use 24 pound paper. I have tried all the tray settings, thick 1, thick2, middle thick, thick3, no changes.

A tech was helping me, tried different paper, same results. he then tried a thicker card stock, not pictured, it looked more even but still uneven. his theory is that the texture of the paper, being rough, is not mixing correctly in the fuser on the low spots.

I crashed stopped it and looked at the transfer belt, and it looks like the toner is laid on the belt uneven.

They only codes is 991 several times in the past.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm going try to help this guy, as I have seen this machine perform better, I know this machine is not meant for this kind of quality, but I need to exhaust all leads before giving up.

Thanks
Patrick
[ATTACH]14793[/ATTACH]

You said developers.. I'm assuming just developer material and not the whole assy. I would try replacing the assy......for all the colors...from memory, I can't remember the life of them, but I think you're probably close if not over.

[PinevskiS]

Re: Lanier LD430c (MPC3000) Uneven color

Hi, I got a tough one. This machine is well used in a print shop, he likes to print lots of 11x17 full coverage. It seems that all the colors are coming out uneven, especially the dark blues. Process black looks pretty good though. The machine has 303k color and 144k black.

Look at the samples, these are all sky shots when the machine is set to single color mode. Ignore the thin white lines, they are artifacts from my cheap scanner

Here is what I have replaced:
everything!. The transfer unit is new, so is the roller on the right. The fuser has ~1000 pages. All new developer, 4 colors. The magenta drum is new, yellow drum has, 44k, cyan- 25k, black-56k.

Hey is trying to use 24 pound paper. I have tried all the tray settings, thick 1, thick2, middle thick, thick3, no changes.

A tech was helping me, tried different paper, same results. he then tried a thicker card stock, not pictured, it looked more even but still uneven. his theory is that the texture of the paper, being rough, is not mixing correctly in the fuser on the low spots.

I crashed stopped it and looked at the transfer belt, and it looks like the toner is laid on the belt uneven.

They only codes is 991 several times in the past.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm going try to help this guy, as I have seen this machine perform better, I know this machine is not meant for this kind of quality, but I need to exhaust all leads before giving up.

Thanks
Patrick
[ATTACH]14793[/ATTACH]

Try to print quality laser paper that supports over 200 degrees.
Questionoes the photocopier have a magnetic field such as a speaker or a electric motor?

Question is probably stupid, but believe I've had such problems.
These models have high quality a copy.

[Counsel]

Re: Lanier LD430c (MPC3000) Uneven color

I guess from looking at it, the straight magenta looks the best, the blue, green, and colors mixed with black look the worst, beings the magenta pcu is new and the others are half life or over half my guess would be charge roller & drum, i would either try cleaning the charge rollers really well, I think there was a post about rubbing off the green coating, or since this is a print shop and a demanding customer you might just replace the drum units earlier then normal. Those pcus are supposed to run like 80k, i am guessing your gonna be replacing them between 40k-60k in order to keep up qulaity or at least making early visits to clean the charge rollers.

I would go ahead and replace the black drum unit for sure, maybe see how it looks after that, if your mixed colors like greens blues then maybe go ahead with the yellow and cyan, but that black is 20k from pm anyway and it looks like any color mixed to darken it come outs crappy, not sure if its your scanner or not but the smc report looks washed out a little on the thick dark line. Thats the only thing i can think to do. I try to stick with occam's razor when fixing machines, the simplest answer is most of the time the right one.