I am new and need some help.

[lindsayanng]

I am not in the copy machine business BUT my business NEEDS my copy machine. We have an old Toshiba 1550 but it has been working just fine for the last 15 years! I have never had an issue with it (other than the page feed for multiple page copies doesnt work) and the copies always come out perfect.

Recently it was showing that it needed toner, so i put a new toner cartridge in and it worked just fine for another week or so. That is when the problems started. Now the light that says ADD TONER keeps flashing even though there is a brand new toner cartidge in there. I tried cleaning what i could with an air can and a mini vacume, but other than that i have no idea what to do. If you can PLEASE help me i would greatly appreciate it. I would hate to have to pay for a tech to come out if it is something i can do here on my own.

[mckinley]

is the little blue lever to the left of the cart located correctly? you should see a spring loaded gear that conects with the toner cart gear, are they connecting? did you pull all the paper tab off the cart before installing it? have you tried taking the cart out & giving it a really good shake incase it's compacted? if all the above are ok, i guess you are looking at the developer being shot, no dev drive etc... which would require an engineer.

[lindsayanng]

I did shake it and try to make sure that the toner is not compacted or in chunks.. (and made a mess of myself) I also tried to make sure the wheels under the toner cartridge are cleaned.

All of the paper is off the cartridge as well.

I see the blue lever next to the cartridge, but iam not sure where it goes. It look slike a long blue stick (like a dip stick thing) What SHOULD it look like. That might help. I think that might be the issue, but i have no idea where the lever goes too.. i am going to look at it again now.

[dbrownlee]

The dipstick thing is for cleaning the main charge wire. You should pull it in and out a few times every time you put in a new toner. There is another one below the front cover, if you pull the paper tray open. Pull that one a few times also. The toner clip that Mckinley is talking aboput is a small blue lever just to the left and below the toner cartridge. It pulls back a gear that allows the cartridge to be released. Make sure that the gear engages again after putting in a cartridge. Sometimes you have to close the cover and let the machine cycle for it to catch properly. If there is no blue lever to release the toner cartridge, you will need a service call. Another thought... is it the toner light (yellow) or the waste toner light (red). If it is the red light you need to empty or replace the dump bottle. It is in the rear of the machine, behind the paper tray. Take the paper tray all the way out of the machine, there is a larger blue stem. Pull it forward to bring the bottle to the front. Watch out, it is messy.

[mysticus]

buy a new copier !! Or at least a newer used model. It is a wonder you can even get parts for that dinosaur.

[lindsayanng]

Well, i am happy to say that i got it working again. I took the cartidge out, cleaned EVERYTHING did the dip stick thing (still not sure what that does but i did it) and just moved a lot of parts around. Then all of a sudden it started to work again. So far i have made 300+ copies on it and no issue.
As for the light being red or yellow - it was yellow and when i took the dump bottle out and it was kinda full so i emptied that but on the intructions on the machine, it said that you were supposed to take a lid off the side of the bottle and screw it on top. THat really made no sense to me cause it would seem that then there would be no way for it to collect the old toner. But since there was no screw top on either the side or the top - it wasnt an issue and the copier works..

I will still be hanging around here since the thing is so darn old and it will probably crap out again and there is NO ONE around here that will touch that old dinosaur!

[dbrownlee]

The dipstick thing cleans a wire that is important to copy quality. The dump bottle usually has a lid that is stored on the side. You use it to close the bottle so you can throw it away and put in a new one. If you just dump it out, don't worry about the lid. The machine is pretty old, but lots of parts and supplies are still available. There out to be an independent service person around who will take care of it.

[Boogotshot]

Do you own a boat? It might make a great anchor.

[10871087]

Do you own a boat? It might make a great anchor.

Not really, it's way to heavy to pull up off of the bottom.

[jpcopy]

it wasn't that bad of a machine, have seen a lot worse

[lindsayanng]

Not really, it's way to heavy to pull up off of the bottom.

hey, thats not nice!! well, i just wanted to let you all know.. the copy machine was fixed by the ONE guy in the state that does repairs on anciet pieces of machinery and it works like a CHARM.. i can bet we get another 10 years out of it..a t that point, a copy machine will probably be a little light that reads the paper and then projects it on the wall.. no wires, no paper.. butr i will still have my anchor

[10871087]

hey, thats not nice!! well, i just wanted to let you all know.. the copy machine was fixed by the ONE guy in the state that does repairs on anciet pieces of machinery and it works like a CHARM.. i can bet we get another 10 years out of it..a t that point, a copy machine will probably be a little light that reads the paper and then projects it on the wall.. no wires, no paper.. butr i will still have my anchor

We are all happy your up and running again. We all like to pick on the old equipment because it kicked our butts so many times and compared to new equipment that we see today they are acient technology that somehow worked. It's part nostalga and part revenge (mostly revenge).

Good luck with the old clunker, it will probably outlive all of us.

[Jimbo1]

True but not many. And it's not too heavy if you don't completely fill it with Quikrete. I tried with the Lanier 6714 and 6716. Both actually made by Sharp.