2035esp Giving me a hard time!

[Happy Texan]

Re: 2035esp Giving me a hard time!

I had a thought about this machine. Perhaps they are POS because people do not take care of them, PM's are blown off, seals deteriorate and make the machine a mess and mysterious problems start. I have seen a several of these and the people who own them are cheap and run them into the ground. Has anyone taken care of one for a few PM cycles. Are they POS then, too? Or am I just naive?

About NA Trading...Is there any pattern about what I should avoid...All of it?

Thanks!

[mikadonovan]

Re: 2035esp Giving me a hard time!

Has anyone taken care of one for a few PM cycles. Are they POS then, too? Or am I just naive?

Dude, at one time this was Ricoh's solution for a mid-volume box, and I had about 20 of them in the field. They were always toner blowers like the B003. They NEVER went a full PM cycle even when using OEM parts and PM kits. It was a constant battle to keep them running well enough to avoid customer complaints. You have not even got into the fuser issues that await. If someone told you this was a good machine, they lied. BTW, it's too old, and WAY too many copies. Time for an update, like to a MP3500 (just joking, they suck too).
If you want to try a ground strap, dig through your old A096 (6645) inventory. They used a drum ground strap that works fine on a B079.

[rthonpm]

Re: 2035esp Giving me a hard time!

Ricoh's entire 35/45 range is terrible and quite notorious for copy quality issues. There's just too much toner that's able to blow around to keep from either keeping a clean machine, or a reliably working one. I got spoiled when I started with Ricoh by only having to deal with 22/27 and 1515's for the most part. The only way to even come close to keeping these reliable are to follow these tips, that have mainly been covered:

1. Never skimp on the PM: always do it as close to schedule as possible. When doing the drum, always replace the drum, charge, drum blade, developer and all filtres. Be sure to follow all of the steps in the manual for process control, even when you think you have them down. The brush for the charge roller I usually do every third PM since it's a little more robust than the rest of the components.
2. Always remove the charge roller cleaning blade: it's just a magnet for waste toner and ends up causing more issues than it ever resolved.
3. Always use OEM toner and developer. Even better is to use OEM PM parts as well: with all of the issues these get you may as well keep everything as close to spec as possible. The fewer variables the better.
4. Extend the life of the heat tube by using the thinner thermistors that were introduced with the MP 3500. I used those on all of my 2035 and higher boxes and the only result was fewer thermistor scars on the heat tube.
5. Replace the developer seals every two PM's even if they look good.
6. Replace the entire PCU around 750,000. By that point, the seals are shot and usually they just end up clogging up the cleaning augre in the top of the unit.
7. Waster toner gets cleaned on every EM call. No sense letting that crud build up.
8. Keep the optics and sensors as clean as possible. Before running your process control, clean the laser slit glass and use compressed air for the quenchers and ID sensor. If you're able to start with a good reading, the machine will keep itself 'right' (or as close to it as these ever got) for a little while longer.
9. Also, be sure to clean the mag roller with come crumpled paper so that it's nice and shiny as opposed to grey or dull. If it's more than 600,000 pages old, and still stays grey, order a new one.

Good luck!

[Tonerbomb]

Re: 2035esp Giving me a hard time!

Dude, at one time this was Ricoh's solution for a mid-volume box, and I had about 20 of them in the field. They were always toner blowers like the B003. They NEVER went a full PM cycle even when using OEM parts and PM kits. It was a constant battle to keep them running well enough to avoid customer complaints. You have not even got into the fuser issues that await. If someone told you this was a good machine, they lied. BTW, it's too old, and WAY too many copies. Time for an update, like to a MP3500 (just joking, they suck too).
If you want to try a ground strap, dig through your old A096 (6645) inventory. They used a drum ground strap that works fine on a B079.

AHH the old A096 trick! I forgot about that one!!!!!!! It's a softer copper than the hardened one from NA...............

[Happy Texan]

Re: 2035esp Giving me a hard time!

rthonpm - Very concise and valuable information. I will print it and carry it with me anytime I go around these machines. Thanks for taking time to share your hard-won wisdom!

With that, I will accept the wildly popular view that this machine is the essence of POS.