CL4000DN Stripe missing color/toner

[jsulliva]

When I print with my Ricoh CL4000DN, there is an area (vertical stripe up the page) on the right side of the page (perhaps 1 - 1.5 inches from edge) where Magenta does not appear. May not be quite a solid stripe of lack of Magenta. The PCUs are fairly new, perhaps 5000 pages on them. Haven't used the printer for a month and left it off and unplugged (I get lots of lightning in the winter so unplug things when not in use). Also, if plugged in and turned on, every few hours it goes through a calibration cycle even when it is otherwise sleeping (low power state).
Prints were good when I last used it.
I have the service manual if you want me to refer to something in that.
Ideas and suggestions welcome.

[Iowatech]

Re: CL4000DN Stripe missing color/toner

Something is blocking the magenta toner from getting to the drum. Could be that while the machine was unused the ambient temperature caused the toner to fuse and clumps of it are now blocking the doctor blade. Could be paper dust, too.
On the other hand, a bug or something could have got on the magenta laser glass, you might try cleaning that first. (No laser = no image, after all.) You should be able to find how to do that in the user manual.

[jsulliva]

Re: CL4000DN Stripe missing color/toner

Thank you for the ideas. I will clean the laser glass - I didn't think of that.

[jsulliva]

Re: CL4000DN Stripe missing color/toner

How can I tell if the toner has clumped in the PCU?
Would it be possible to gently rock the PCU to get to un-clump i.e. break up?
Thanks,
John

[Iowatech]

Re: CL4000DN Stripe missing color/toner

How can I tell if the toner has clumped in the PCU?
Would it be possible to gently rock the PCU to get to un-clump i.e. break up?
Thanks,
John

Rocking the PCU might work if the clumps aren't too hard. Or at least there could be a chance it might move the clumps around, causing the stripe to move around, too. And if there is just a lack of toner in the area of the stripe it could mix things up to the point where magenta comes back.
Still, if you have cleaned the laser glass and rocking the PCU for a little while shows no changes in the stripe, the magenta PCU is done and needs to be replaced.

[jsulliva]

Re: CL4000DN Stripe missing color/toner

Great suggestions but no joy!
I pulled the PCUs and cleaned the glass although it did not appear to be dirty.
Rocked the Magenta PCU back and forth a few times and put it back in. Stripe remained in place.
Swapped in an old transfer belt (one of the suggested items in the service manual) and saw no change.
Replaced Magenta PCU with a new one I had been saving until it was time to replace them (they were new not long ago anyway) and the stripe is the same with a new PCU!

I made myself a test page with all 4 colors (CMYK) of individual horizontal lines across the page and tested.

Area missing only Magenta is 1.1/16 inches (28 mm) wide area (including the non-printable 1/4 inch margin) on right side of printed page extending from top to bottom of page. Also interesting is that there is a 1/16 (2 mm) area where the Magenta is not quite complete, i.e. slightly missing or slightly faint.
Other colors (C, Y, and K) are good and do not have a problem.

Also swapped the 2 memory memory modules with each other (between the 2 slots). No change.
Grasping at straws here!

Problem is same when printed from another computer with a different level of drivers, too.

Any other ideas, please?

[jsulliva]

Re: CL4000DN Stripe missing color/toner

Any other ideas or suggestions, please?
Thank you.
John

[slimslob]

Re: CL4000DN Stripe missing color/toner

You can try cleaning the doctor blade using a doctor blade cleaner. Ricoh part number A2949560. Packaged 5 to a set.

I have used them to clean color development units in the past. Sometime it works the first time, sometimes it just causes the light streak to move. Usually 2 or 3 tries does the job.

[jsulliva]

Re: CL4000DN Stripe missing color/toner

Thank you for your suggestion.
Unfortunately, for this printer, I do not understand what part of the printer this item is to be used for cleaning.
Are these for the Photo Conductor Units (PCUs)?
There are 4 PCUs and I have swapped the Magenta (Red) one (the only one with a problem) with a new one and it made no difference.
I have also swapped (with a used one) the image transfer belt (as the troubleshooting section mentioned a problem with this that could cause problems with only one color).
Anything after that, as the toner is moving towards the actual paper, would presumable cause all 4 colors to be messed up (e.g. if something were scraping toner off the transfer belt or physical page before fusing, it would get all 4 colors in that area - and probably smear as well).
So clarification would be appreciated.
Thank you.
RicohPrinterMagentaStripeProblem.pdf

[Iowatech]

Re: CL4000DN Stripe missing color/toner

As far as the doctor blade cleaner goes, you'd have to separate the drum and the developer portions of the PCU, and then you'd see the blockage on the magnetic developer roller and be able to clean it. Even on a new PCU that could be caused by improper storage.
Off the wall note - have you checked the print jobs on "print preview" before they printed? I've seen enough applications have unexpected outputs when set up incorrectly that I have to ask. Besides, the information we've tried so far hasn't worked, so it might be helpful to try something new.

[jsulliva]

Re: CL4000DN Stripe missing color/toner

Solved and fixed.
Problem was caused by the laser shutter seals, those little strips of felt seal glued to the underside of the shutter. One had come loose at one end and was partially blocking the laser.
Removed them all rather than wait for another one to come loose.
Thank you to all for their thoughtful suggestions.
John

[alissonsantana]

Re: CL4000DN Stripe missing color/toner

Hi, j sullivan.


I'm facing the same problem you had. It's no clear to me the pcu parts you're referring on your explanation.


Is the laser shutter visible outside the PCU or do I need to disassembly it to to see the shutter?


I'll appreciate a lot if you'll could help me.

Solved and fixed.
Problem was caused by the laser shutter seals, those little strips of felt seal glued to the underside of the shutter. One had come loose at one end and was partially blocking the laser.
Removed them all rather than wait for another one to come loose.
Thank you to all for their thoughtful suggestions.
John

[jsulliva]

Re: CL4000DN Stripe missing color/toner

If you remove the PCUs from the printer and look at the surface below where they sit, you will see a large metal sheet divided with separating rails that position the PCUs. In the middle of each of these areas is a long narrow slot, about 1 inch (25 MM) wide by 10 inches (250 MM), perhaps a little longer (I am writing from memory and not looking at one at the moment). The closed shutter plate assembly is visible through these slots. When the printer is operating, the plate moves and the shutter openings align so the laser can shine through the slots and through the large plate and through the corresponding slot in the bottom of each PCU and onto the photo-conducting material in the PCU. The shutters are a large plate with slits as part of a larger Shutter Assembly (tray with shutter plate). On the bottom of the shutter plate, around each shutter slot, is a felt wiper/seal. These are attached via glue. In my case, the glue was letting go and a portion of some of the wipers were lying across the window which was partially obstructing the laser beam on its way to the PCU.
My printer had sat in a warehouse in Texas (very hot in summer here), probably not Air Conditioned, for quite some time, so perhaps this led to the glue failure. A first attempt at repair (didn't have part on hand) was to simply remove the felt wipers.
This was not completely satisfactory as little bits of felt and glue tended to flake off after that (didn't take shutter assembly completely apart to clean it).
Also, they are also wiper, intended to remove any contaminants that get on the glass, so over time this would become an issue as well.

Perhaps someone who works on these will comment if the glue failure is a common problem as they age.

After a short while it became clear there was still a problem, so the repairman ordered a new shutter assembly.
In parts manual, this is G102-1990 "Cover: Optical Housing: Ass'y".
It was not too expensive, IIRC about $40 new from a local company that services Ricoh Printers. The work to replace it was an hour or more by a knowledgeable repair technician and involved taking a good bit of the machine apart, mostly from the Right Side.

After putting it back together, we had to manually force it to run its 2 calibration programs (second one first) through the Console in Service Mode as the colors were off until we did so. Running the first listed calibration program always got an error and didn't fix things, until we ran the second and then the first and it worked.

I hope that answers your questions and can help you.
John

[alissonsantana]

IMG_1134.JPG IMG_1135.JPG

If you remove the PCUs from the printer and look at the surface below where they sit, you will see a large metal sheet divided with separating rails that position the PCUs. In the middle of each of these areas is a long narrow slot, about 1 inch (25 MM) wide by 10 inches (250 MM), perhaps a little longer (I am writing from memory and not looking at one at the moment). The closed shutter plate assembly is visible through these slots. When the printer is operating, the plate moves and the shutter openings align so the laser can shine through the slots and through the large plate and through the corresponding slot in the bottom of each PCU and onto the photo-conducting material in the PCU. The shutters are a large plate with slits as part of a larger Shutter Assembly (tray with shutter plate). On the bottom of the shutter plate, around each shutter slot, is a felt wiper/seal. These are attached via glue. In my case, the glue was letting go and a portion of some of the wipers were lying across the window which was partially obstructing the laser beam on its way to the PCU.
My printer had sat in a warehouse in Texas (very hot in summer here), probably not Air Conditioned, for quite some time, so perhaps this led to the glue failure. A first attempt at repair (didn't have part on hand) was to simply remove the felt wipers.
This was not completely satisfactory as little bits of felt and glue tended to flake off after that (didn't take shutter assembly completely apart to clean it).
Also, they are also wiper, intended to remove any contaminants that get on the glass, so over time this would become an issue as well.

Perhaps someone who works on these will comment if the glue failure is a common problem as they age.

After a short while it became clear there was still a problem, so the repairman ordered a new shutter assembly.
In parts manual, this is G102-1990 "Cover: Optical Housing: Ass'y".
It was not too expensive, IIRC about $40 new from a local company that services Ricoh Printers. The work to replace it was an hour or more by a knowledgeable repair technician and involved taking a good bit of the machine apart, mostly from the Right Side.

After putting it back together, we had to manually force it to run its 2 calibration programs (second one first) through the Console in Service Mode as the colors were off until we did so. Running the first listed calibration program always got an error and didn't fix things, until we ran the second and then the first and it worked.

I hope that answers your questions and can help you.
John

[alissonsantana]

Re: CL4000DN Stripe missing color/toner

I've replied your message, but it seems the post has been rejected by the moderation.


I'll wait to see if it's going to be approved. If not, I'll write again. The content was a little bit extense.

If you remove the PCUs from the printer and look at the surface below where they sit, you will see a large metal sheet divided with separating rails that position the PCUs. In the middle of each of these areas is a long narrow slot, about 1 inch (25 MM) wide by 10 inches (250 MM), perhaps a little longer (I am writing from memory and not looking at one at the moment). The closed shutter plate assembly is visible through these slots. When the printer is operating, the plate moves and the shutter openings align so the laser can shine through the slots and through the large plate and through the corresponding slot in the bottom of each PCU and onto the photo-conducting material in the PCU. The shutters are a large plate with slits as part of a larger Shutter Assembly (tray with shutter plate). On the bottom of the shutter plate, around each shutter slot, is a felt wiper/seal. These are attached via glue. In my case, the glue was letting go and a portion of some of the wipers were lying across the window which was partially obstructing the laser beam on its way to the PCU.
My printer had sat in a warehouse in Texas (very hot in summer here), probably not Air Conditioned, for quite some time, so perhaps this led to the glue failure. A first attempt at repair (didn't have part on hand) was to simply remove the felt wipers.
This was not completely satisfactory as little bits of felt and glue tended to flake off after that (didn't take shutter assembly completely apart to clean it).
Also, they are also wiper, intended to remove any contaminants that get on the glass, so over time this would become an issue as well.

Perhaps someone who works on these will comment if the glue failure is a common problem as they age.

After a short while it became clear there was still a problem, so the repairman ordered a new shutter assembly.
In parts manual, this is G102-1990 "Cover: Optical Housing: Ass'y".
It was not too expensive, IIRC about $40 new from a local company that services Ricoh Printers. The work to replace it was an hour or more by a knowledgeable repair technician and involved taking a good bit of the machine apart, mostly from the Right Side.

After putting it back together, we had to manually force it to run its 2 calibration programs (second one first) through the Console in Service Mode as the colors were off until we did so. Running the first listed calibration program always got an error and didn't fix things, until we ran the second and then the first and it worked.

I hope that answers your questions and can help you.
John